| NUIG 1:06 Athlone IT 1:04 NUIG qualified for the semi final of the Ashbourne Cup, on Saturday with a deserved two point victory over Athlone I.T. In front of a sizeable crowd at Dangan, Lourda Kavanagh opened the scoring with a pointed free, and although Athlone applied much of the pressure in the opening stages, it was NUIG who scored again; Deirdre Murphy�s unstoppable shot finding the back of the net to give NUIG a four point advantage after ten minutes. Lizzy Glennon was unlucky not to increase that lead when her fine long range shot at goal hit the post. Athlone replied immediately however, with two pointed frees from Therese Maher. Two more frees from Kavanagh and one from Maher, left the half time score reading NUIG 1:03 Athlone I.T 0:03. Due to the poor conditions, frustrations sometimes boiled over in this passionate encounter, and Athlone were reduced to 14 players shortly after the break. Maria Cribben gave NUIG a four-point advantage with a well-taken point, followed by two frees from Lourda Kavanagh which saw NUIG enjoy a six-point advantage. Athlone battled hard however, and a Therese Maher point kept them in touch before a loose ball around the NUIG goal was pounced on and hand passed high into the Galway net to see just two points between the teams. The closing stages saw wave after wave of Athlone attack thwarted by the resolute defending of NUIG players Amy Colleran, Michelle McNamara, Susan Regan, Sinead Crowe, and Niamh Kingston, and the final whistle was greeted with scenes of joy as NUIG celebrated their qualification for the Ashbourne Cup, where they will meet defending champions Waterford I.T on Saturday February 16th in Cork. |