Limerick Ladies see off Sligo to book All-Ireland junior semi-final spot

LIMERICK Ladies footballers qualified for a fourth All-Ireland junior championship semi-final with a game to spare when two first half goals from skipper Cathy Mee inside as many minutes set up their 2-7 to 1-7 victory over Sligo in Sunday's second round group clash in Newcastle West.

Upsetting the odds against opponents who had spent most of the past decade competing at intermediate ranks, Limerick made the most of their early breakthrough to relentlessly smother the Connacht girls' attempts to recover ahead of their next outing against Down whose sole purpose now is to decide which is the top-rated qualifier from the group.

While Mee may have starred on the scoreboard, this was real team performance from a defence that grew in composure as play progressed and from a forward unit that was more reactive and more focused than that of their opponents.

Sligo managed to get just two names on the scoresheet while Limerick breaks were always supported by colleagues making themselves available for the lay-off or opening the spaces by running wide.

More important than the win, however, may be the game management that Limerick had struggled to master since they returned to junior ranks four years ago. Unlike their opponents whose response grew more anxious as the clock wound down, Limerick kept their shape on the field with enough bodies in the right places to suck the life out of their opponents' attacks while still managing to have targets to aim at whenever they broke from the back.

With the breeze behind them, Limerick enjoyed a few early minutes of possession, giving Deborah Murphy the chance to give them the lead but, once Sligo settled in midfield, they began to dominate possession and, after Leah Duffy's equaliser was met Amy Ryan's strike on the turn.

They then took the lead when Katie Walsh's free was followed by another Duffy point from out on the wing.

However, they were finding difficulty in getting clear space inside the scoring zone and the hosts hit them on the break, Iris Kennelly exposing cracks in the Westerners' defence when bursting through and shooting just over the crossbar, while Karen O'Leary followed up by breaking the tackle to restore her side's advantage.

Walsh replied immediately but then the house fell down on Sligo's containment of their opponents' wind advantage when Kennelly's shot dropped short only for Cathy Mee to pounce on the clearance and volley to the net.

If that wasn't bad enough for the visitors, the next movement saw Mee's shot also stopped on the line only for the umpire to judge that Ellen McGuire had stepped back into her goals.

Sligo pressed hard to respond but the best they could manage was a Walsh free which was met in kind by a Mee point to leave her side leading 2-5 to 0-5 at the break.

Limerick struggled to get out of their half on the restart and were lucky to see Walsh's shot after intercepting a misdirected kickout missing the unguarded goals.

The Shannonsiders' defence finally succumbed to the unrelenting pressure when Walsh climbed highest to fist Aoife Haran's long shot to the net.

However, Sligo's attempts to draw closer floundered on hasty shooting which allowed the home defence to grow in confidence.

Breakaway attacks saw a Róisín Ambrose shot clatter back off the crossbar off McGuire's deflection, Mee sending over a free as the Sligo wide tally continued to grow.

Another pointed free from Mee was the signal for a renewed rally which began with Duffy pointing on the run, but follow-up attacks were corralled by the home defence into conceding the turnover.

A breakaway attack saw O'Leary's goal shot stopped by McGuire on the line and, before she spent the remainder of the game on the sideline after collecting a yellow card, she had a second chance minutes later after being fed by Caoimhe McGrath to put the result beyond doubt stopped again by the Yeats' County goalie.

Five minutes of stoppage time followed, Sligo's frustrations continued and the Limerick rearguard held together to the extent that Duffy's final stiike didn't matter.

SCORERS: LIMERICK: Cathy Mee 2-3 (0-3 frees), Deborah Murphy, Amy Ryan, Iris Kennelly, Karen O'Leary 0-1 each. SLIGO: Katie Walsh 1-3 (0-2 frees), Leah Duffy 0-4.

LIMERICK: Carol Bateman; Fiona Bradshaw, Yvonne Lee, Alva Quaid; Grace Lee, Laura Walshe, Lauren Ryan; Róisín Ambrose, Katie Heelan; Deborah Murphy, Cathy Mee, Iris Kennelly; Leah Coughlan. Amy Ryan, Karen Ó 'Leary. SUBS: Ellie Woulfe for Katie Heelan (38 minutes), Clare O'Meara for Amy Ryan (50 minutes), Caoimhe McGrath for Iris Kennelly (53 minutes), Rose Hyland for Cathy Mee (61 minutes)

SLIGO: Ellen McGuire; Claire Dunne, Aoife Morrisroe, Cara King Jade Lyons, Sinéad Naughton, Tara Breheny; Sarah Cunney, Sinéad Regan; Aoife Haran, Sarah Reynolds, Ciara Gorman; Katie Walsh, Lauren Normanly, Leah Duffy. SUBS: Maeve Casserly for Ciara Gorman (35 minutes), Sarah Curley for Cara King (43 minutes), Megan McCormack for Lauren Normanly (43 minutes), Leah Kelly for Aoife Haran (50 minutes), Róisín Molloy for Sinéad Naughton (53 minutes).

REFEREE: Ciarán Groome (Offaly).