Na Fianna make statement in Midweek

Thanks to Eugene Kyne for the report

Na Fianna 3-21 Cavan 2-10 Cavan and Na Fianna played off the last group game in the Ladies championship on Wednesday with Na Fianna getting the win in a high scoring contest. While the win made a statement in the division it did not change the seedings for the semi final as Cavan had already locked up the regular season crown and will face Fermanagh on Sunday the 8th at 10 am in the first semi final of the championship while Na Fianna will face off against Kerry/Donegal, a repeat of the titanic Anne Kearney final that went into extra time, at 11.30 am. Cavan and Na Fianna were very close in the opening twenty minutes with both sides getting some tremendous scores before they reached that point with Na Fianna leading 0-10 to 1-06. The goal for Cavan came from Caitlin Hynes when she grabbed the rebound of a Colleen Jordon shot that came back of the post and shot home. Molly O’Rourke had four of the Na Fianna points while Brianna Tierney had already garnered two from play. When Linda McKeon soloed forward 25 minutes in and blasted a trademark goal the Breffni girls were ahead 2-06 to 0-10. What was about to happen next however, could not have been foreseen. Na Fianna answered with 3-02 before the break in blistering style. Noelle Tierney, after a full field move started the Tsunami, with Fiona McHale, and Mary O’Rourke grabbing the other majors. Joanne McKenna and Brianna Tierney had the points. Cavan had four of the first six points to open the second half as they tried too mount a revival. While Joanne McKenna had the first point, Colleen Jordon and Linda McKeon answered before Rosie O’Reilly and Molly O’Rourke swapped scores. McKeon with the fourth of the mix had Cavan back within six at 3-13 to 2-10. While Na Fianna was not scoring at this time they did have four clear-cut goal chances. Molly O’Rourke hit the post, while Jeannine Rynne, Aine Dwyer and Kathrin O’Sullivan all went close also. The Cavan revival was short lived as Na Fianna had the final eight points of the game as they mounted a series of attacks that pushed Cavan back on their heels. to win in convincing style. Fiona McHale and Joanne McKenna were the leaders with two points a piece and their sides finished the regular season with a flourish. Outstanding for the winners were Noelle Tierney, Catherine O’Sullivan was attacking constantly down the wing, Katrina Lynch and Imelda Mullarkey also had prominent moments. Fiona McHale is a dynamo in the middle, while Brianna Tierney and Joanne McKenna added seven points combined in a scoring spree. They also did a lot of work in open play; McKenna is excellent at picking out the open teammate. Molly O’Rourke did not have it all her own way against Nicole Rogan but was tremendous with seven points to boot. Mary O’Rourke was a super addition off the bench. Cavan have work to do before the playoffs but were missing a couple of players in this one. Emma Clarke was quite but that was because of an injury. Aimee Gomez and Shauna Kiernan had some very good moments at the back while Fiona McLoughlin was very active with an excellent outing. Linda McKeon and Caitlin Hynes in the first half were even steven with their opponents, McKeon’s goal was brilliant. Colleen Jordon battled throughout while Nicola King also did well at times. Na Fianna 1 Alison Leydon 2 Imelda Mullarkey 3 Katrina Lynch 4 Aisling Brophy 5 Catherine O’Sullivan 6 Noelle Tierney (1-00) 7 Stephanie Tierney 8 Aine Dwyer (0-01) Fiona McHale (1-04) 10 Brianna Tierney (0-03) 11 Joanne McKenna (0-04) 12 Kelly McCormack 13 Jeannine Rynne (0-01) 145 Molly O’Rourke (0-07) 15 Sharon Spillane Subs Mary O’Rourke (1-01) Cavan 1 Fiona McLaughlin 2 Bridget Mulligan 3 Nicole Rogan 4 Katie McEvoy 5 Caroline McBrien 6 Aimee Gomez 7 Shauna Kiernan 8 Linda McKeon (1-02) 9 Caitlin Hynes (1-01) 10 Rosie O’Reilly (0-01)11 Colleen Jordon (0-03) 12 Kelly McArdle (0-01) 13 Nicola King (0-01) 14 Emma Clarke (0-01) 15 Nora Kilkenny