TG4 All-Ireland Junior Championship

Group B

Carlow 3-7 Antrim 8-16

At Netwatch Cullen Park

ANTRIM senior ladies topped Group B after a flawless campaign which saw them romp to victory in their final group game against Carlow at Netwatch Cullen Park on Sunday afternoon.

The Saffrons looked to maintain their unprecedented invincible run under the stewardship of Chris Scullion and Micky O’Kane, after the ladies made it 16 games without defeat since the pair took over in January.

Antrim entered the contest as heavy favourites, winning their previous two games in convincing fashion as they thumped Longford in the opener by a margin of 22 points, before hammering London in an impressive shut-out at Randalstown a fortnight ago.

Carlow may have proved a tougher test on Sunday though as the Dolmen County needed the victory to have any hope of qualification, whereas the Saffron ladies had already secured their semi-final place.

The game started in a frantic fashion as Theresa Mellon had the ball in the net for Antrim within the first seconds of play, but Carlow responded instantly with a goal of their own to level proceedings after just a minute of play.

St Paul’s star Lara Dahunsi struck her first point of the day when Niamh McIntosh and Maeve Blaney combined allowing the midfielder to attack the space before placing an effort between the posts to reset the Antrim tempo.

Shortly after Maria O’Neill saw green flags raised once again for the Saffrons. The home-side saw their kickout overturned by Carla McKenna in the middle of the park, the midfielder clipped a lovely pass onto O’Neill who collected the ball and drove an effort into the roof of the net to maintain the gap between the sides.

Antrim kicked on from here extending their score tally courtesy of points from Anna Mulholland and Lara Dahunsi.

Maria O’Neill was on hand again to score her sides third goal of the game after she rifled an effort into the bottom corner of the net. Aoife Kelly and Ciara Brown stretched Antrim’s lead to nine as their relentless nature proved to be deflating for Carlow.

Dahunsi was on form as she punted another two scores from play before Theresa Mellon was keen to get in on the act after her first minute goal, with the forward pointing from close range.

The home side did show some spirit when they tucked away a penalty just before the break, but it was merely a consolation as Sara O’Neill found the net for Antrim once again on the 21st minute of play.

The forward made no mistake from close range after being the recipient of a pass from Aoife Kelly who spotted her teammate free in space, O’Neill burst through the Carlow backline with ease before slotting home Antrim’s fourth.

Maria O’Neill would end the first half with a hat-trick for the Saffrons after the Ulster ladies caught Carlow out once again after overturning the kickout. Laura Agnew retrieved the ball in the centre of the pitch before feeding a fantastic pass into the path of the Moneyglass native who struck another on to Antrim’s goal tally on the day.

Just before the half-time whistle blew, Antrim all-but secured victory when the previous pairing of Agnew and O’Neill linked up once again, this time it was the former, Laura Agnew who claimed the goal after her one-two with O’Neill granted her an effort on goal which she made no mistake from.

St Paul’s stalwart Dahunsi ended the impressive half for the Antrim ladies as her free called an end to proceedings.

Antrim led their opposition by a healthy scoreline of 6-9 to 2-2, with the Saffrons out of sight before the break.

The second half began with further Antrim dominance as Ana Mulholland and Maria O’Neill pointed three scores in as many minutes after the restart, with Maeve Mulholland turning provider for O’Neill as her hot streak continued.

Carlow did manage two scores of their own early on, but it was once again just to soften the blow.

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Aoife Kelly got her much-deserved goal after she took the ball and jinked past her defensive marker, before skipping around the goalkeeper to roll the ball into the empty net ever-increasing Antrim’s heavy lead.

The Saffron’s concluded the day with an eighth goal from Blatihin Ní Cathail after the forward nipped in front of the Carlow full-back line to fist the ball into the goal after Maria O’Neill stroked a pass into the danger area.

Antrim are favourites now for an All-Ireland title as they head for the final four in a fortnight’s time.

The ladies will face a tough test when they take on Sligo at Clones Park on Sunday July 13th, with Louth taking on Longford in the other semi-final.