Galway senior ladies footballers take a break from national league action this weekend to prepare for their final round against Donegal on April 7.
With Galway, Donegal and Dublin having all lost one fixture, the last round will determine the seedings for the semi-finals due to take place the following weekend.
Already through to the semi-finals, Galway were the only unbeaten side in the Lidl NFL division 1 until they lost to the Dubliners 2-8 to 1-7 last weekend in Moycullen.
Dublin produced a great start when Sinead Aherne palmed to the net after eight minutes, but Galway responded immediately with an Olivia Divilly point.
In a low scoring first-half, it was Dublin who looked the more clinical in front of goal. Firstly, a long-range effort from wing back Aoife Kane put them back into a three-point lead, which was quickly followed up by a well-taken point by midfielder Jennifer Dunne.
The Galway Ladies were spurred on by a large home crowd and Hannon’s smart finish to the net cut the gap to a point. Almost straight from the kick-out Divilly drove at the Dublin defence and set-up Roisin Leonard who tapped it over from close range to level the game on 26 minutes.
The final score of the half came by way of a super Nicole Owens point, but Dublin were the happier, leading 1-3 to 1-2.
Aherne and Tracey Leonard exchanged frees to start the second half, but the move of the game resulted in Siobhan Woods’ goal after 38 minutes, which proved decisive.
Galway continued to battle hard and Roisin Leonard reduced the gap back to three points with 15 minutes remaining. But that was as good as it got for Galway as Aherne and Owens pointed Dublin towards the win.
Scorers : Dublin, S Aherne 1-3, S Woods 1-0, N Owens 0-2, A Kane 0-1, J Dunne 0-1, L Davey 0-1. Galway, B Hannon 1-0, R Leonard 0-2, T Leonard 0-2, M Glynn 0-1, S Conneally 0-1, O Divilly 0-1.
Galway: R Ni Chonghaile; O Murphy, S Lynch, F Cooney; S Burke, B Hannon, C Cooney; O Divilly, L Ward; L Coen, T Leonard, M Glynn, L Hannon, R Leonard, L Gannon. Subs: M Seoighe for Hannon (21 ), S Conneally for Coen (34 ), S Molloy for Burke (38 ), M Coyne for Cooney (48 ), R Ni Flaharta for Gannon (55 ), L Noone for Divilly (60 ).
Dublin: C Trant, M Byrne, N Collins, R Ruddy, A Kane, O Carey, S Goldrick, J Dunne, L Magee, O Nolan, N McEvoy, C Rowe, S Aherne, N Healy, N Owens Subs: L Davey for McEvoy (h-t ), S Woods for Nolan (h-t ), N Hetherton for Dunne (45 ), S Killeen for Owens 50, H O’Neill for Magee 60.
Referee: Gerry Carmody (Roscommon ).
