WYW v Peamount

[ForzaForth]

Draw a reasonable result between the two top sides in the league at Greenogue this evening, with both sides having periods of domination and coming close to snatching the three points at the end. WYW began with Sophie, Nicola, Jess, Lolly,Lauren, Linda, Becky, Aoibhin, Kylie, Aisling and with Claire up front. Wexford began sloppily with passes regularly going astray. It cost Wexford the first goal on only five minutes when Wexford gave away the ball in their own half and a decent pass put ace goal-poacher for Peamount, Amber Barrett, through on goal and she rounded Sophie Lenehan with ease to put the home side a goal ahead. The concession of the early goal seemed to galvanise Wexford and they had a long dominant spell from then on during which they notched two goals. Kylie Murphy hit the post soon afterwards after connecting with a long free by Jess Gleeson, and then Kylie had an effort on goal from a long way out which went just overthe Peamount crossbar. The goal which Wexford were pressing for came soon afterwards when a bad clearance fell to Aisling Frawley and her direct chip from outside the box found the net to put Wexford level at 1-1. Wexford continued to press and a poor back-header by a Peamount defender put Claire O’Riordan in the clear and she slotted it past McAloon in the Peamount goal to put Wexford 2-1 ahead and looking like the team which was going to secure the three points. However, just before the half-hour mark, Peamount got back into the game again when a curling effort from a long way out beat Sophie Lenehan in the Wexford goal and Peamount were back level at 2-2. Wexford continued to make chances when Kylie had a touch which McAloon saved at point-blank range and Claire O’Riordan hit the bar when connecting with a cross from Aisling Frawley. However, Amber Barrett was also to shoot just wide when well-placed before the break leaving Wexford and Peamount even at two goals apiece at half-time but with Wexford having had the better of the half particularly down the flanks where Aisling Frawley and Linda Douglas had been impressive.

[ForzaForth]

For whatever reason, Wexford didn’t start the second half well with lots of misplaced passes and a failure to get anywhere near the Peamount goal as a result. It led to a long period of Peamount dominance, particularly from set-pieces, but Sophie Lenehan in the Wexford goal can fortunately dominate her own penalty area to good effect and had to do so again in this game. An early substitute for Wexford in the second half was Katrina Parrock for Aoibhin Webb. It took Wexford until the 70th minute to create a goal-scoring chance in the second half, but Kylie Murphy was ruled offside after putting the ball into the Peamount net. Next substitute for Wexford was Emma Hansberry who definitely made an impression after coming on. With both sides realising that three points could be gained by registering a third goal, it proved to be an exciting finish as Jess Gleeson hit a smashing volley just over the bar, Kylie Murphy had a header cleared off the Peamount goal-line and Sophie Lenehan had to stretch to push an Amber Barrett shot onto her own cross-bar just before the final whistle. Final chance fell to Wexford right at the end when sub Edel Kennedy made up acres of ground to show for Claire O’Riordan’s pass, but with only McAloon to beat, couldn’t get her shot away before the saving tackle by a Peamount defender came in. 2-2 at full-time after an absorbing game and four WNL sides still look like they could end as champions if they could go on a sustained run of form. Best for Wexford were probably Sophie Lenehan, Jess Gleeson, Aisling Frawley, Linda Douglas and Claire O’Riordan while, for Peamount, Amber Barrett as usual impressed.