Laois 1-10 Waterford 2-9
Ladies National Football League Division 2
Laois suffered their first defeat of the Ladies National Football League as they went down by two points to Waterford this afternoon.
The Kevin Doogue managed team fell behind early on to a brace of Waterford goals and although they showed incredible character to pull the deficit back to the minimum in the early stages of the second half, they just couldn’t manage to get level.
Laois began the scoring in the first minute when Rachel Williams split the posts from close range but the hosts took control soon after and hit 2-3 without reply.
Goals from Aileen Wall and Lauren McGregor put the Deise in front and the same pair also added points to put their team eight clear after 13 minutes.
Laois showed a lot of resilience last week to defeat Kildare and they showed their metal once again to find their way back into the game. A brace of points from Clare Conlon was added to by Meaghan Dunne before Kevin Doogue’s team grabbed a classy goal.
Clare Conlon picked out a lovely pass for substitute Laura Nerney and she beat the advancing Waterford keeper with a deft finish into the bottom corner.
The sides traded points from here until half time with Emma Lawlor, Caoimhe Simms and Meaghan Dunne on target for Laois but they still trailed by 2-7 to 1-7 at the interval.
Laois began the second half brightly with two points, one each from Noirin Kirwan and Caoimhe Simms, to narrow the deficit to the minimum.
Waterford only managed two points in the second period with both coming from dead balls courtesy of Lauren McGregor.
But it was enough for the home side to hold on for the win as Laois could only register one more point, courtesy of Mo Nerney, which ultimately led to their defeat.
Kevin Doogue’s side have a week off before their next league action sees them on the road again as the head west to take on Clare in round 3.
SCORERS: Laois – Laura Nerney 1-0, Meaghan Dunne, Emma Lawlor, Claire Conlon (1free) and Caoimhe Simms 0-2 each, Mo Nerney and Noirin Kirwan 0-1 each
LAOIS:
Ciamh Dollard (Portlaoise)
Amy Potts (St Brigids)
Jenny McEvoy (Sarsfields)
Martha Kirwan (Shanahoe)
Aine Haberlin (St Conleths)
Mags McEvoy (Sarsfields)
Anna Healy (Park Ratheniska)
Maggie Murphy (Timahoe)
Eva Galvin (St Conleths)
Caoimhe Simms (St Brigids)
Clare Conlon (Sarsfields)
Erone Fitzpatrick (Park Ratheniska)
Rachel Williams (Sarsfields)
Meaghan Dunne (Sarsfields)
Emma Lawlor (St Pauls)
Subs:
Laura Nerney (Foxrock-Cabinteely) for M. McEvoy (20mins)
