[caption id="attachment_66514" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="The New York team."]
The New York ladies returned to participate in the All Ireland junior football championship after a 10-year hiatus with a comprehensive win over Carlow at the Eire Og grounds on Saturday. They now progress to meet Wexford in the semifinal at Birr on next Saturday. New York were forced to reshuffle the selected squad before the start as Johanne Monaghan was ruled out through injury and consequently Katrina Lynch was deployed in defense and Courtney Traynor was drafted into the attack.
The opening 10 minutes was rather scrappy as both teams attempted to adapt to the heavy conditions. Carlow opened the scoring after three minutes with a point while Emma Clarke was unfortunate to see her goal bound effort end up in the side netting. However despite playing against a stiff breeze the Big Apple's midfielders McKeon and O'Dwyer began to take control and in the process setting up viable chances for the forwards. Clarke was on target with her next attempt as dodged her way through the defense to blast the ball to the net after ten minutes.
New York now had the lead and control, which they pressed to full advantage. The versatile Mary O'Rourke followed up with a point from play while her name sake Molly was on target with a free. New York's attackers were taking their opponents on a merry dance as the opening half progressed as Maebh De Burca waltzed in for a score and Molly enhanced her stats. with another score. New York's last score of the period was a trademark goal from Aine O'Dwyer as she cruised through the middle with consummate ease and composure to bag her team's second goal. Carlow had the last score as the buzzer sounded to send in the Big Apple ladies leading by 2-4 to 0-2 at the break.
On the resumption Carlow appeared with a greater sense of purpose and urgency which soon resulted in the opening score but it was quickly cancelled out by a Molly O'Rourke point. However Carlow kept the pressure on and created some consternation for the New York rearguard. The Carlovians did create two good goal chances but they failed to convert them. The New York defense responded to the let offs with Lilly, Brady, McCullagh and company tightening up and launching preemptive strikes of their own. Meabh De Burca had her second point which was soon cancelled by a Carlow score. However midway New York put the game well beyond reach, as Molly O'Rourke, the captain and top scorer, capitalizing on good support play from Kelly Roche and Courtney Traynor, cut through to send a screamer inside the post for goal number three. Still despite the increasingly lob sided score Carlow did get a break when Imelda Mullarkey was sin-binned with 10 minutes left and they were awarded a penalty with five minutes left. New York managed the player deficit by shuttling more players into defense though overzealous tackling led to the penalty. However keeper Alison Leyden, one of New York's longest, versatile and most consistent players parried the spot kick to safety and kept her slate clean. Carlow did manage to land two late points but New York's thoughts at this stage were on bringing their next opponent, Wexford, into focus. Granted New York will be quite happy to have easily dispensed with Carlow, but they were not exactly of the killer bee category.
Wexford will present a much sterner challenge as they previously were in the intermediate grade before being relegated. In 2007 they lost the Intermediate final to Leitrim and naturally they will be keenly motivated to return to the higher grade. They were beaten by Wicklow in the Leinster championship by a point but when the two teams met in the group stages recently Wexford ran out winners by a score of 6-11 to 5-13. This is an experienced and battle tested squad and New York will be at a disadvantage as they will not have the match experience of their opponents. However they will not be coming to the fray with just skim milk either as there is quite a bit of experience interspersed throughout the team. A number of players such as Mullarkey, Brady, McKeon, O'Dwyer, O'Rourke, Monaghan, Clarke, McCullagh and McElroy have had extensive intercounty experience plus they will be well supported by the rest of a strong, skillful and fit cast. They certainly won't be wanting for effort , energy or enthusiasm as they battle Wexford on next Saturday in Birr and a chance at reaching an All-Ireland final.
New York Alison Leyden, Louise Lilly, Tracey Ann McCullagh, Imelda Mullarkey, Jessie Garcia, Cathriona Brady, Katrina Lynch, Aine O'Dwyer (1-0), Linda McKeon, Courtney Traynor, Kelly Roche, Meabh De Burca (0-2), Mary O'Rourke (0-2), Molly O'Rourke (1-4). Emma Clarke (1-0) Subs Nora Kilkenny, Michelle Brennan, Aoife Gibson, Niamh Britton, Karen Henry, Claire McElroy, Fiona O'Dwyer, Rosie O'Reilly, Joanne Monaghan, Aislinn Gormley, Michelle McVann, Ashley Callery, Caroline McBrien
