Ballymackey Ladies progress in Leinster Cup

Ballymackey Ladies moved on in the Leinster Football Association Women's Cup following a 6-1 away win over Baldoyle United in Dublin on Sunday.

Baldoyle took an early lead as the home side started brightly, moving the ball well around, but Ballymackey soon got a grip and started creating chances.

The equaliser came on seventeen minutes, Aoibhín Delaney's long throw made its way to Allison McDonnell on the back post and she showed great composure to take a touch before slamming the ball to the net.

Ballymackey continued on the front foot, Delaney and Amber Delewis both missed from one-on-one opportunities with the goalkeeper but the pair made amends on 33 minutes as Delaney dribbled through the centre of the defence and squared the ball for Delewis to stroke home.

Ballymackey took that lead to the half time break, but the game was far from over. Baldoyle attempted to get themselves back in the game in the early stages of the second half, upping the tempo. The Ballymackey defence stood up well and the visitors increased the tempo of their own play and took back command of the game again.

Ballymackey scored a third goal on 54 minutes, a carbon copy of their second, Aoibhín Delaney dancing through the centre of the Baldoyle defence and laying the ball off for Amber DeLewis to finish for her second goal. The hard working Joanne O’Brien pushed Ballymackey three goals clear with a trademark well-timed run and finish.

Baldoyle soon after reduced the deficit from the penalty spot but with energy and quality coming off the bench, Ballymackey pushed on again. Aoibhín Delaney grabbed Ballymackey’s fourth with a unstoppable free kick from 30 yards, and Seonaid McGuigan rounded off the scoring with a near post finish from a throw-in.

Another great win for the ladies against a good footballing side. Karan Hogan was the pick of a very good back line, while Kate Cavanagh made a huge contribution from the bench and was the focal point of all Ballymackey’s play after her introduction.

Aoibhín Delaney and her ability to take on and beat players was a huge factor in the game and the player of the match was Amber Delewis producing a second performance of attacking menace and huge workrate out of possession in just over 24 hours following her outing the previous day with the U19.

All sixteen girls who got on the pitch contributed to this fine team performance and Ballymackey can now look forward to the draw for the next round of the Leinster Cup as one of the sixteen names left in the draw.