Jones double not enough to save Westmeath from defeat

Tipperary 3-14 Westmeath 2-6

Westmeath remain rooted to the bottom of the table after another loss in the Lidl Ladies National Football League Division 2, this time away to Tipperary at Fethard Town Park on Sunday.

They outscored the home side by 1-5 to 0-3 in the second half, but all the damage was done in the first when they conceded 3-11 to a rampant Tipperary, for whom returning star forward Aisling Moloney was outstanding.

Westmeath scored just 1-1 in the first thirty minutes, the goal from Anna Jones in the eighth minute, and a point from Ashley Ruane on the stroke of half-time. The sixteen points interval deficit was just too much to claw back in the second half despite a vastly improved performance, with a huge input from Anna Jones, the Mullingar Shamrocks player adding another 1-1 from play and three points from frees.

However, manager Frank Browne was left bemoaning another slow start from his side, who have just a point on the board after five rounds. “Starting poorly in games has been the story of our season so far. We conceded 3-11 in the first half and you just cannot do that. We let the shackles off a little bit in the second half, played with a bit more abandon and got results,” he said.

But he knew it would be a struggle to rein Tipperary in. “Ten minutes into the second half, when we were going well, I said to myself that the clock would be our enemy because we were starting to get a little bit of a foothold. But fair play to Tipperary, they needed the win as we did.”

Browne wasn’t happy with some of referee David Hurson’s decisions, calling them “interesting”. He said: “I couldn’t fathom some of them and I’ll probably get into trouble for saying it, but you have to be true to yourself. There was a 45’ we should have had. It wasn’t the referee that put us in the position we were but at the same time these things frustrate you.”

Tipperary received a huge boost for the game with the return of marquee forward, Aisling Moloney, making her first appearance of the campaign after picking up a leg injury playing in Australia. She opened the scoring with a sweet point in the third minute, added a further 1-2 and provided the assist for a Kirsty Crotty Ryan goal.

The Cahir player added cohesion and composure to the Tipperary attack. That fluency disappeared in the second half after manager Ed Burke decided to use her for just thirty minutes – a decision he admitted after that might have been premature based on the major improvement in the Westmeath display in her absence.

Moloney’s pass for a Crotty Ryan tap-in to the net in the seventh minute put Tipperary 1-3 to no score ahead but Westmeath hit back quickly, with a ball through the centre from Caoimhe Kilmurray finding Anna Jones in space and she turned to shoot past Tipperary captain and goalkeeper, Lauren Fitzpatrick.

But the visitors couldn’t build on that, and by the 20th minute it was 2-7 to 1-0, the second Tipperary goal from Maria Curley. Moloney was still orchestrating everything that was good in the Tipperary attack and she got the goal her play deserved in the 24th minute when capitalizing on a poor kick-out to shoot past Amy Donlon. Tipperary added on another four points before Ashley Ruane finished a great run through the centre with a superb point to leave it 3-11 to 1-1 at the break.

Two half time substitutions, including the withdrawal of Moloney, and another six changes in the second half, disrupted Tipperary’s cohesion, and Westmeath took advantage. Sarah Dillon had their first score of the second half after just 23 seconds, and as they continued to press forward in a way that was missing in the first half, they had their second goal six minutes later when a great move saw Vicky Carr provide the final pass for Anna Jones to shoot home.

Tipperary needed a score to settle and they got it from an Emma Morrissey free following on a foul on Anna Rose Kennedy. As Tipperary continued to ring the changes, Westmeath grew in confidence and hit four points without reply in an eight minute period, all from Anna Jones, the first a great score from play followed by three in a row from placed balls.

But time ran out on them and the issue was already well decided by the time Tipperary scored the last two points of the game from Emma Morrissey, one a free, with a gap of twenty minutes between Tipperary’s first and second points of the half reflecting how the tide had changed.

Manager Frank Browne summed it up in the aftermath, saying: “We outscored Tipperary in the second half but they were exceptional in the first, especially Aisling Moloney. We couldn’t get to grips with them, gave away possession, turned over stupid ball, and did ourselves no favours. We will now regroup and hope to win our last two games and hope that other results go our way as well.”

Scorers - Tipperary: Aisling Moloney 1-3, Emma Morrissey 0-6 (4 frees), Kirsty Crotty Ryan 1-1, Maria Curley 1-0, Sarah English 0-1, Anna Rose Kennedy 0-1, Aoibhe O’Shea 0-1, Clara English 0-1. Westmeath: Anna Jones 2-4 (3 frees), Ashley Ruane 0-1, Sarah Dillon 0-1.

Tipperary – Lauren Fitzpatrick; Elaine Kelly, Lucy Spillane, Emma Cronin; Sarah English, Maria Curley, Bríd Condon; Anna Rose Kennedy, Neassa Towey; Kirsty Crotty Ryan, Ava Ryan, Aoibhe O’Shea; Clara English, Emma Morrissey, Aisling Moloney. Subs: Caitlin Kennedy for Moloney (HT), Nora Martin for Kelly (HT), Hazel Brennan for Ava Ryan (42), Kate Cashman for Condon (42), Ava Fennessy for O’Shea (47), Michelle Cronin for Sarah English (47), Nicole Shelly for Clara English (47), Eva Cremins for Crotty Ryan (50), Heather Spillane for Towey (52).

Westmeath – Amy Donlon (Loughnavalley); Lara McCartan (St. Loman’s), Sarah Murphy (Moate Ladies), Megan Ennis (St. Loman’s); Chloe Kelly (Tyrrellspass), Lucy Power (The Downs), Fiona Coyle (St. Mary’s Rochfortbridge); Tracey Dillon (Milltown), Vicky Carr (St. Loman’s); Ashley Ruane (Loughnavalley), Anna Jones (Mullingar Shamrocks), Ayesha Roche (Kilbeggan Shamrocks); Grainne Byrne (Milltown), Caoimhe Kilmurray (St. Loman’s), Sarah Dillon (Milltown). Subs: Caitriona Dunne (St Mary’s Rochfortbridge) for Ennis (21).

Referee – David Hurson (Monaghan).