Connacht Senior Ladies Football Semi-Final – Sunday, 21st October 2018
Kilkerrin/Clonberne 8-19 Kilbride 0-3
Darren Kelly in Clonberne
Another victory! Another Professional Performance! And now the eagerly awaited rematch with Carnacon has arrived as Kilkerrin/Clonberne go in search of provincial silverware.
The Galway champions came into this semi-final as red hot favourites but left nothing to chance. Louise Ward and Annette Clarke scored two goals each in the first half while Lynsey Noone, Olivia Divilly, Ailish Morrissey and Katelyn Mee also raised green flags.
If anything, injuries were the major concern but knocks to Lisa Murphy and Olivia Divilly don’t look serious while Kilkerrin/Clonberne should welcome back Nicola Ward and Chloe Miskell for the Connacht Final. And manager Kevin Reidy acknowledged they were in a good place.
GALWAY LGFA: “It’s Great to Win a County Final” – Kevin Reidy https://t.co/ommrynBHKN
— Galway Page (@galwaypage) October 11, 2018
“We’re happy enough,” said Reidy. “We hit the ground running right from the start. We got vital scores early on and just snowballed from there really.
“There’s no point in letting them settle into the game. We knew that they were dangerous. And we just had to get at them right from the start.
“That’s the one thing we’re trying to say to play for 60 minutes. There’s good competition. We brought on four girls there today and there was a couple of changes from the county final. And they’re all trying to make an impression which is great. We’ve a very strong panel.
“Lisa (Murphy) got a knock there on her knee. Ah, she’s fine. She’ll be fine. And Olivia (Divilly), she just got a knock on her head. She’s fine. It’s just a precaution really (that) she came off.
“We’d be pretty confident Nicola (Ward) will be back as well. And Chloe (Miskell) will be back as well. We’ve a strong panel as it is, a panel of 32. They’re all putting a big effort. We’re happy with the panel we have.”
And Carnacon?
“It’ll be a big game for us,” added the former Galway manager. “We’d be looking forward to it. We’ve worked hard all year so we’ll go there looking forward to the game.
“We’re always working on the same things every night at training – our team work, to keep that going, to keep it going and working for the full 60 minutes.”
The final word was kept for Leah Pettit who came on as a second half substitute to save a penalty from Casey Keane and the Kilkerrin/Clonberne managaer was full of praise.
“Leah is a great girl,” concluded Reidy. “She played minor this year with Galway as a corner back. She’s played sub goalie with us at different times. She’s played wing back with us in championship. She’s a great girl and a very good ball player.”
Kilkerrin/Clonberne challenge reigning All-Ireland champions Carnacon in the 2018 Connacht Senior Ladies Football Final on Saturday, 3rd November.
