The sun was shining on Sunday morning when Lucan Sarsfields visited Páirc Ui Mhurchú for the first time since beating us in the Championship semi-final last year. A few late withdrawals through injury and illness gave some new faces a chance to shine in the home side.

Boden started very brightly, picking off some fine points through Darina Ryan, Emer Lucey & Jodie White before Sile Nic Coitir burst through the Lucan defence to score a terrific solo goal. Boden brought a high level of intensity to the game which resulted in them turning over possession a number of times. Lucan did score an opportunist goal before half time to leave the score 1-8 to 1-2 at half time.

Lucan began the second half well, and Boden struggled to gain possession in the middle third. In the opening 10 minutes of the half Lucan scored 1-3 to a solitary point from the home side. However a fine point from Emer O’ Leary gave Boden a boost, and from there to the end there was only going to be one winner.

Máiread Luttrell came on for the last 15 minutes and brought great calmness to the proceedings. Some fine points were picked off and a great move saw Emer Lucey finish to the net to give the final score-line of 2-12 to 2-6 a fair reflection on the performance.

Ciara Lucey performed very well in goal, with one late reflex save from close range a particular highlight. A special mention to Eve O’ Donoghue who had a fine game in her first start at this level, while Rachel Ruddy is getting stronger each week after her injury problems. Another feature of the game was some fantastic fielding in the air by Grace Walsh, who was one of the standout performers in a good team display.

If the girls continue to bring this level of intensity to every game then we can look forward to competing at the business end of the Championship later in the year. Next up is a trip to play Oliver Plunketts on Tuesday 17th.

Team: Ciara Lucey, Aoife O’ Neill, Susan Kennedy, Eve O’ Donoghue, Rachel Ruddy, Fiona Corcoran, Grace Walsh, Martha O’ Donoghue, Sarah Nagle, Laura Burns, Emer Lucey, Sile Nic Coitir, Jodie White, Orla Smith, Darina Ryan, Orla Tevlin, Emer O’ Leary, Máiread Luttrell