New York GAA - what’s going on this week on the field

Armstrong to the rescue, Second half a breeze for Leitrim, Ladies thrill in Dublin tie, Dubs go extra mile for win

Man of the match: Rory Woods (Leitrim).
Referee: John Fitzpatrick.

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Ladies thrill in Dublin tie

New York 0-9 Wicklow 0-9

With two minutes left in a riveting contest, New York was holding a slim one point lead in the All-Ireland junior final last Sunday.

With breaths being held on this side of the Atlantic in front of TV and computer screens, and in Croke Park shouting for Phil Sheridan’s side, substitute Laura Hogan salvaged a replay for Wicklow with a late equalizer.

New York had produced a brilliant display, in particular the back line who held up to tremendous pressure with a number of players having brilliant outings.

Emma Clarke was the scorer-in-chief at the other end of the field as she scored 0-8 from frees and play to lead the Big Apple, almost to the promised land.

The sides will need to do it all again, with October 8 a tentative date for the replay. The ideal circumstances would be to have the game in New York, but no word yet on the possibility of that becoming a reality.

New York opened the scoring with an Clarke point in the first minute. What was to be the theme of the day, however, was for the sides to be level, something that happened on no less than seven occasions.

Wicklow replied with a brace of scores, but Clarke did the same to give New York a 0-3 to 0-2 lead after 12 minutes.

New York was already showing their defensive prowess with timely interceptions by Joanne Monaghan, Tracy McCullough and Cathriona Brady. They were giving the forward line early ball, with the kick pass working particularly well.

Three wides from frees and play kept Wicklow in the game, however, and they put three points back to back to again grab the lead. Lucy Mulhall was showing her talents and would go on to have a very productive hour.

As the half came to a close New York regained parity when Courtney Traynor was fouled twice after good runs with Clarke able to fire the ball over from the resulting frees. It left the sides all square at 0-5 at the break.

Hogan and Mulhall kicked early second half points for Wicklow as they regained the initiative but New York, appearing in their first All-Ireland final since 1999, came roaring back with points from Mary O'Rourke and Clarke.

New York were defending doggedly, and corner back Imelda Mullarkey put her body on the line in the 10th minute of the second half , blocking Niamh Carroll's goal-bound effort with her face.

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Nster.com