ANTRIM Ladies took one giant step closer to potential All-Ireland glory as they made short work of Ulster counterparts Monaghan in the All-Ireland Intermediate quarter-final at Davitt’s Park on Sunday afternoon.
The Saffron ladies took on Monaghan with a semi-final spot up for grabs between the sides in what proved to be a momentous day in Belfast as Antrim breezed past Monaghan to book themselves a last four showdown with Clare in a fortnight’s time.
The home-side started the game with a serious intensity as midfield star Lara Dahunsi won the initial throw-in and put Antrim ahead with a fantastic 25-yard strike which soared high between the posts – completely setting the tempo for the game.
Antrim stormed past Monaghan to book their semi-final spot
This score was followed up almost instantly when full-forward Orlaith Prenter caught the ball inside and drilled her shot beyond Alanna O’Donaghue in the Monaghan goal.
Antrim found themselves up by eight points on the 17th minute of the first period when corner forward Gráinne McLaughlin linked up with Dahunsi who found the Glenavy forward in tons of space. McLaughlin proceeded to cut inside and bury a shot on her favourite left foot to cement Antrim’s early dominance.
The ladies almost duplicated the same move moments later only this time she was to be denied by O’Donaghue in goal with a strong stop.
Antrim found most of their success off their well-drilled formation on the opposition kick-outs. Both Dahunsi and her midfield compatriot and newly-wed Áine Tubridy were high on the press towards the goal – which proved very successful as Antrim scored three consecutive scores off these interceptions.
The clear tactical approach taken by the Saffs was something that delighted manager Emma Kelly throughout her sides victory.
“We pride ourselves in training and everything we do is at a match tempo, there is no point in half-pacing in training. They’ve been going hard in training and giving it full-pelt and we saw that today they really got stuck in and showed our best today.”
Órlaith Prenter notched 2-3 for Antrim on Sunday
After a tremendous half of football from Antrim it was Maria O’Neill who rounded off her sides first half scoring after a nice one-two pass between herself and star forward Orlaith Prenter before O’Neill made no mistake in front of goal and thundered home an effort just moments prior to the whistle.
However, Antrim’s first half display looked to become overshadowed when Lara Dahunsi went down screaming in agony as the whistle was set to be blown. Dahunsi attempted to catch the ball, but the awkward spin supposedly dislocated the midfielder’s thumb. The St Paul’s woman proceeded to pop the thumb back into place and soldier on for her side.
The Saffs looked set to shut-out Monaghan in the first period until Jodie McQuillan popped a close-range effort over the bar for her sides first score of the game followed by a brace of frees from Leanne Maguire.
At half-time Antrim led Monaghan by nine points as the score read 3-3 – 0-3.
Antrim started the second half with more of the same intensity as Prenter scored a point almost straight away.
So there we have it. @AntrimLGFA will take on Clare in the Intermediate All-Ireland semi-final in a fortnights time. Huge congrats to Emma Kelly and her side for a dominating performance against a good Monaghan side. 🌕
— Maghnus Dunne (@mags6788) July 9, 2023
Monaghan though seemed to pick up a few scores early in the second half. Midfielder Chloe McBride looked to galvanise her side as she struck consecutive points before Maguire reduced the score to five points.
The Saffrons looked to counteract this momentum and did so brilliantly when Maria O’Neill grasped the ball inside the 13-yard line, the forward beat her marker and made enough space for herself to get a strong enough effort off and net Antrim’s fourth goal of the afternoon and swing the momentum back in favour of her side.
It was O’Neill who once again collected the ball, but this time sought to find her teammate Prenter who’s dummy was enough to fool the Monaghan backline and open the goal for what would be the easiest goal of the afternoon extending their lead to 13 points.
Céile Murphy did point a free for Monaghan late on, but it too was matched by the Saffs when substitute Theresa Mellon completed Antrim’s victory with a fantastic point from 20-yards out.
Antrim boss Emma Kelly spoke about her side's victory and mentioned how she is ‘hopeful’ that a few of her players can make it back into the squad to strengthen them ahead of the semi-final against Clare in two-weeks' time.
“We got the weather that is for sure. But the girls really stepped up between the starting 15 and the five substitutes they all proved their worth and showed they were ready for the challenge.
“I am delighted for the girls, and I am hoping that we’ll get some of our players, who were on unavailable through holidays and injuries, back on the pitch in a fortnight’s time. Obviously, Lara dislocated her thumb and Orlaith Prenter took a sore one to the nose, but they should be good to go.”
The Antrim ladies achievement is nothing short of remarkable, especially after falling short last year in the Junior level of the All-Ireland, taking the step-up in competition and managing to continue to advance and beat sides which seemed a pipe-dream a mere 12 months ago. It certainly is testament in showing the tremendous progress Antrim have made under the stewardship of their hard-working manager Emma Kelly.
Now Antrim have set-up a semi-final showdown with Clare after the Banner County defeated Westmeath earlier on Sunday. The tie is set for the weekend commencing the 21st of July – a game which should be a spectacle as both sides go toe-to-toe for the first time this season with the neutral venue making it an even playing field for both teams.
Check out our photo gallery here.
Antrim: A McCann, D Coleman, E Ferron, M Mulholland, O Corr, C Brown, S O’Neill, T Mellon, Á Tubridy, G McLaughlin 1-0, C Carey, L Dahunsi 0-1, B Devlin, O Prenter 2-3, M O’Neill 2-1 (0-1 frees)
Subs: A Devlin, T Mellon 0-1, A Keenan, A Mulholland, C McKenna, C Taggart, A Taggart, L Agnew, C Emerson, R Mulholland, M McGarry, N McIntosh, B Nic Cahill, A Kelly, S Tennyson.
Monaghan: A O’Donaghue, M Monaghan, J Duffy, E Clerkin, S Brady, S Coyle, B McNally, A Hamill, C McBride 0-2, R Courtney 0-1, A Garland, J McQuillan 0-2 (0-1 frees), M Atkinson, L Maguire 0-2 (0-1 frees), L Garland
Subs: Ó Kelly, A Carolan, M McCabe, H McQuaid, C Murphy 0-1
