Ladies: Houlihan brace steers Kerry past Tipp
July 14, 2018
Kerry's Sarah Houlihan.
©INPHO/Cathal Noonan.
<p>Kerry 3-13<br />
Tipperary 2-10</p>
<p>By Daragh Small</p>
<p>Sarah Houlihan scored 2-3 as Kerry bounced back from their Munster final defeat to Cork to open Group 1 of the TG4 ladies All-Ireland seniorchampionship with victory over Tipperary at MacDonagh Park in Nenagh.</p>
<p>In the only all-Munster tie of the round robin series Eddie Sheehy’s side held a comfortable 2-9 to 1-3 lead at half-time. Houlihan and Andrea Murphy scored the first-half goals for them. </p>
<p>Roisin Howard scored Tipperary’s goal in the first-half and when Aisling Moloney did likewise after half-time they only trailed by four points. But Houlihan’s second goal made the difference for Kerry.</p>
<p>Tipperary lost the influential Jennifer Grant before throw-in and she was replaced by Lucy Spillane, while Samantha Lambert dropped deep in defence where she was used as a sweeper.</p>
<p>Both defences stifled their opposing attackers in the opening quarter. Aisling McCarthy kicked Tipperary’s first point after only 45 seconds but Louise Ni Mhuircheartaigh equalised in the fourth minute.</p>
<p>Kerry raced into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead with Eilish O’Leary, Sarah Houlihan and Ni Mhuircheartaigh on target. Aisling Moloney had moved into full-forward and she scored twice to reduce the arrears for Tipperary.</p>
<p>And their goal arrived in the 21stminute. Moloney was central again, she set up Orla O’Dwyer and her pass put Howard through for the first goal. Tipperary were 1-3 to 0-4 ahead.</p>
<p>Ni Mhuircheartaigh and Houlihan levelled the game again in the 24thminute. And Kerry struck for a crucial goal shortly after. Centre-forward Ni Mhuircheartaigh passed to Houlihan and she showed her speed to apply the finish.</p>
<p>Murphy and O’Leary added further scores and on the half hour Houlihan’s long ball wasn’t dealt with by the Tipperary defence. Ni Mhuircheartaigh gathered possession and she assisted Murphy’s goal.</p>
<p>Amanda Brosnan rounded off the first half scoring with a fine effort and Kerry were 2-9 to 1-3 ahead at half-time. That lead was whittled down to 2-10 to 2-6 by the 39thminute.</p>
<p>McCarthy (two) and Moloney both scored points and then Moloney drove through the heart of the Tipperary defence to score a brilliant goal.</p>
<p>Houlihan scored Kerry’s second point of the half two minutes later and it was a vital score because Tipperary hit three in a row after that again. Gillian O’Brien scored twice off the bench but Kerry held on with Houlihan and Ni Mhuircheartaigh scoring again late on.</p>
<p>Scorers – Kerry: S Houlihan 2-3 (2f), L Ni Mhuircheartaigh 0-6 (3f), A Murphy 1-1, E O’Leary 0-2, A Brosnan 0-1</p>
<p>Tipperary: A Moloney 1-4, R Howard 1-1, A McCarthy 0-3 (1f), G O’Brien 0-2. </p>
<p>Kerry – L Fitzgerald; L Coughlan, S Murphy, E Lynch; D Kearney, A Desmond, A O’Connell; L Scanlon, A Brosnan; S Lynch, L Ni Mhuircheartaigh, A Foley; A Murphy, S Houlihan, E O’Leary.</p>
<p>Subs: K O’Sullivan for Scanlon (23), E Dineen for Murphy (43), B Ryan for Foley (58), A O’Callaghan for Houlihan (66).</p>
<p>Tipperary – L Fitzpatrick; M Curley, L Spillane, B Condon; L Dillon, S Lambert, O O’Dwyer; A Moloney, S Condon; N Lonergan, A R Kennedy, C Condon; R Howard, M Morrissey, A McCarthy.</p>
<p>Subs: R McGrath for C Condon (44), K Davey for Lonergan (44), G O’Brien for Morrissey (44). </p>
<p>Ref – Jonathan Murphy (Carlow).</p>
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