By Michelle Ryan
Waterford 1-17 Westmeath 0-17
A dominant second half display saw Waterford ladies footballers safely come through their relegation playoff of the Division 1 National Football league versus Westmeath this afternoon.
Despite playing with a very strong wind at their backs in the first half and having the majority of the possession, Waterford struggled to break down the congested Westmeath defence.
Sarah Dillon opened the scoring in the second minute and proved to be the main scoring threat for Westmeath, posting 0-4 in the first half. Waterford found it difficult to convert scoring opportunities at first, but two frees from Lauren McGregor and points from Aisling Mullaney, Megan Dunford and Aileen Wall left the sides at 0-5 apiece at half-time.
The second half saw a much improved and more cohesive performance from the Waterford side, posting 1-12 in the second half to Westmeath’s 2 points. Karen McGrath, Caoimhe McGrath & Emma Murray began to dominate the midfield area, creating gaps in the Westmeath defence and supplying the inside forwards of Katie Murray (0-3), Bríd McMaugh (0-3, 2f) and Aileen Wall (0-2). Substitute Sheena McGuckian was introduced for Aileen Wall in the 24th minute and found herself at the end of a quick passing move on the edge of the square to score Waterford’s goal on the 27th minute. The two final scores, posted by Bríd McMaugh and a Chloe Fennell free, left the final score at 1-17 to 0-17.
Waterford performed very well defensively throughout with excellent performances from Laura Mulcahy, Emma Murray and Áine O’Neill, while Katie Murray, Aisling Mullaney and Bríd MCMaugh all made excellent contributions in attack in the second half.
