A black day for Guinness
SWORDS 5 GUINNESS 0
SWORDS put in a much improved performance on Saturday to come away with a convincing victory over Guinness and retain their position at the top of their division.
Swords were fast out of the blocks, and pressed for an early breakthrough against a Guinness defence that struggled to deal with the pace of their forwards.
The goal finally came from a short corner. After Guinness failed to deal with the first shot, some scrappy play in the circle saw Marion O'Brien's goalbound shot pushed over the line by Lee-Ann Wood.
The second goal followed soon after from another short corner, when Siobhan McKittrick's strike from the top of the circle went straight into the bottom corner.
Swords kept up the pressure and won yet another short corner. This time a clever switch at the top of the circle from McKittrick to Fiona Walshe ended with Walshe's strike being finished superbly at the far post by O'Brien.
Then O'Brien struck for her second of the game before half-time, after she was played in one-on-one with the keeper by McKittrick – 4-0 at the break.
The second half was played at a slower pace. However, Swords kept control of the game and mid-way through the half struck for goal number five. Some good pressure from the forwards saw a Guinness defender stop the ball on the goal-line with her foot and a penalty was rightly awarded. Swords captain Cerrie Byrne stepped up and scored convincingly from the spot.
