WATCH: Wasteful Limerick Ladies fall to Wicklow in Junior Championship round one

DONAL Ryan and his side lost their opening round fixture in the All Ireland Junior Ladies Football Championship on Sunday to Wicklow.

Played out in John Locke Park in Callan, Limerick had a strong first half but with only two scores in the second as Ryan’s side fell to a 1-6 to 1-13 defeat.

The game was tightly contested up until the half time break as the sides went in at the interval with only three points between them. However, with Wicklow turning up the pressure and Limerick failing to cope, Mark Murnaghan’s side snatched the opening round win.#

Both sides had a number of wides throughout the day as last year’s beaten finalists Wicklow had 10 while Limerick had 11. The Treaty side couldn’t get a grip on the game, particularly in the second half.

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Laurie Ahern had Wicklow off to a strong start as they had the first two scores of the game before Louise Ryan replied for the Shannonsiders to get off the mark in the 11^th minute of the game.

The water break came after 16 minutes with Wicklow ahead by two points, 0-3 to 0-1. Following the break in action Rioghna McGettigan got on the board for Wicklow to stretch the lead to three.

Against the run of play, Katie Heelan scored for Donal Ryan’s team, whether intentional or not she hit the ball from the right-hand side of the posts and somehow looped the keeper to find the back of the net in what looked like an attempt for a point. However, Limerick didn’t care and were immediately in a strong position taking the lead for the first time in the game.

Limerick’s Andrea O’Sullivan was consistent from the boot all day as she slotted over several scores from frees to keep her side ticking over throughout the game. Her second of the first half had them in a strong position heading into the break.

Catherine Dempsey stepped up minutes later to grab a goal for Murnaghan’s side which turned momentum quickly, momentum that Limerick could not claw back for the remainder of the game.

Wicklow had a 1-04 to 1-07 lead at the half.The second half saw a drop off in intensity from Limerick as Wicklow began to run away with proceedings.

Clodagh Fox scored the first point of the second to build a four-point lead on Limerick after 33 minutes.

The second half water break came in the 47^th minute with Ryan’s ladies losing a grip on the game with the score 1-04 to 1-11 to the Garden County.

Limerick’s first score of the half came from Andrea O’Sullivan with another free on the 50^th minute mark, quickly followed by a Wicklow response through Rioghna McGettigan after 54 minutes.

Both sides went down to 14 players towards the end of the game with Yvonne Lee and Catherin Dempsey the players sent to the sideline.

Donal Ryan and his side couldn’t pull back the lead as they kicked six wides in the final quarter of the game.

The victory was a deserved one for Wicklow. However, Limerick will be proud of their first half showing but will be disappointed with the intensity and lack of aggression and clinical finishing in the second.

The final result finished Limerick 1-06 to Wicklow’s 1-13.

Ryan’s team will now face Derry in round two next week, followed by fixtures against Antrim and Carlow.

The post WATCH: Wasteful Limerick Ladies fall to Wicklow in Junior Championship round one appeared first on Sporting Limerick.