Louth continued their preparation for the National Football League with a practice match against Carlow in Leixlip on Sunday 16th May.
Prior to kickoff there was a thunderous downpour that made underfoot conditions very slippy but the Louth Ladies adapted quickly. From the throw-in Denise McKenna caught the first ball and with good fluid movement and accurate passing Louth had their first score, a point from Eimear Byrne after 2 minutes. This set the tone for a dominant display from Louth for the 1st period with points scored by Eimear Byrne (2), Lauren Boyle (2), Rebecca Carr (1) Kate Flood (2) Laura Collins (2) and Aine Breen (1) 6 different players leading to a commanding 10 points to 3 at the end of period one. A strong defensive performance including a fantastic save from our goal keeper Una Pearson kept the Carlow score to 3 points.
Period 2 turned out to be a tighter affair with Carlow scoring a penalty very soon into the period. Louth responded well with points from Lauren Boyle and Laura Collins and 1-4 coming from Niamh Rice. At the end of period 2 the score was 1-16 to 1-5 in favour of Louth.
Both management teams made several changes for the 3rd and 4th period which were limited to 20 mins each. Louth maintained their upper hand assisted by Sub Goalkeeper Rebecca Lambe Fagan who saved a penalty in the 13th minute. Louth Ladies ran out convincing winners on a score line of 1-20 to 2-5.
This practice match against Carlow proved to be good preparation for the start of the National Football League next week. Manager Wayne Freeman and his management team availed of a good opportunity to give all the squad a run. This will be useful when selecting his starting 15 for the match against Leitrim next weekend.
Louth Ladies Panel: Una Pearson, Eimear Murray, Sarah Quinn, Seoda Matthews, Michelle McMahon (Vice Captain), Shannen McLoughlin (Captain) Ceire Nolan, Aine Breen, Eimear Byrne, Rebecca Carr, Lauren Boyle, Aoife Russell, Denise McKenna, Kate Flood, Laura Collins, Rebecca Lambe Fagan, Holly Lambe Sally, Louise Byrne, Aoife Halligan, Claire Donnelly, Seona Halligan, Roisin Kavanagh, Niamh Rice, Grace Traynor, Eilis Hand, Rachel Leonard, Grainne Murray, Mia Duffy, Emily Norton, Aisling O’Doherty, Caitlin O’Reilly, Roisin Maguire