O’Dwyer comes to the rescue while James Stephens survives the Clara scare

James Stephens is through to the senior semi-finals after a hard-fought win over Clara.

The City team got off to a good start at Canon Kearns Park on Sunday morning when Sophie O’Dwyer scored the opening goal in the first minute. She added a second point three minutes later

Roisin Leahy secured another point for the Village straight from the puckout. The one-way traffic continued as Hannah Scott scored a fantastic point from her own 65-yard line to take the score from 0-4 to 0-0 after nine minutes.

Keara Ryan scored Clara’s first point with a placed ball in the 10th minute, before Grainne Glynn doubled her tally with another goal.

However, they had no answer for Sophie O’Dwyer, who kept the Village on top with a good goal performance. She scored via three free kicks and extended the Village’s lead to five points (0-7 to 0-2).

Sensing they needed an answer, Clara raised their game and scored three points through Mary O’Connell (two free kicks) and Lucy Boyd. It was a decisive run that reduced the deficit to two at the break (0:7 to 0:5).

James Stephens quickly found his feet on the restart and managed a goal that saw them leave their rivals behind. Sophie O’Dwyer was the architect of the first score when she hit a free throw towards the goal. Hannah Larkin won the ball, turned and quickly shot into the net. With O’Dwyer adding two more points, Village’s lead was now seven points (1-9 to 0-5).

The lead was great, but Clara didn’t panic. Every time Mary O’Connell was the inspiration for her team and every time she got the sliotar she caused chaos in James Stephens’ defense. She started the comeback with a free kick before hitting the net in the 39th minute after falling on the pitch. O’Connell brushed off and took the penalty, which was initially saved and cleared, but when the sliotar landed at her feet, O’Connell doubled the ball and the net shook. As O’Connell and Keara Ryan each added another point, the gap narrowed to the bare minimum.

Clara now had the initiative and equalized seven minutes before the end. Mary O’Connell restored parity with another free kick, leaving the teams 1-9 each.

The stalemate continued as Sophie O’Dwyer and Grainne Glynn swapped points. It seemed as if nothing would separate the two teams until Sophie O’Dwyer showed cold nerves on the way to the final whistle, scoring another free-kick and sending her side into the semi-finals. In the Final Four, the Village will face city rival, reigning district champion Dicksboro.

Teams and goal scorers

James Stephens – Sophie O’Dwyer (0-9, 0-6 frees); Hannah Larkin (1-0); Roisin Leahy, Hannah Scott (0-1 each).

Clara – Mary O’Connell (1-5, 0-4 frees), Keara Ryan (0-2, 0-1 frees), Grainne Glynn (0-2), Lucy Boyd (0-1).

James Stephens – Tara Murphy; Niamh Leahy, Michelle Teehan, Emma Gaffney; Aoife Cantwell, Niamh Deely, Hannah Scott; Emily Smith, Anna Doheny; Caoimhe Moran, Rachel Leahy, Sophie Meagher; Roisin Leahy, Hannah Larkin, Sophie O’Dwyer.

Substitutes: Lucy Coomey for Caoimhe Moran, Tara Maguire for Sophie Meagher.

Clara – Aoife Glynn; Lucy Cody, Katie Ryan, Aine McDonald; Tamsin English, Laoise Nolan, Grace Barcoe; Rebecca Nolan, Aisling Curtis; Mary O’Connell, Grainne Glynn, Lucy Boyd; Emma Shortall, Niamh Byrne, Keara Ryan.

Substitute: Margaret O’Connell for Niamh Byrne.