Charlestown Ladies came unstuck this evening in near monsoon conditions at Fr. O’Hara Park. In truth both teams were closer matched than the score line suggests. However, the key difference was that Kilmovee played with the conditions in mind while Charlestown did not adjust their game to match.
The intricate and elaborate hand passing moves that had served them so well up to now were not suited to such a wet and slippery evening. On the other hand Kilmovee’s more direct game, kicking long ball into their full forward line worked to perfection. Kilmovee only needed to win around 50% of balls sent in so close to goal to do real damage. They would raise the green flag 6 times over the course of the game, almost all of them coming from quick, long balls into an isolated full-forward line.
Conversely, especially in the first half, many of Charlestown’s attacks broke down around the 45 after long sequences of short hand passes ended in one invariably going astray in such slippery conditions.
To Charlestown’s credit, they came out in the second half and looked like staging an unlikely fightback with a few early scores. However, inaccuracy in front of goal would cost them dearly as whatever momentum they managed to build was halted again and again by poor shooting in and around the 21 metre line. They would finish with around 10 or so wides in the second half alone, with many more dropping short into the Kilmovee goalie’s hands.
Kilmovee would eventually tack on a couple more goals near the end of a half where they did little else of note against a now tired looking Charlestown.
Charlestown will look to bounce back in their final league game of the year against Hollymount in a week’s time. Best on the day for Charlestown were Kelly Crean, especially when moved to midfield, and Abigail Doherty, who never stopped running in the Charlestown forward line.
