Ballymackey Women traveled to Frank McEvoy Park in Killeigh Co Offlay to take on the reigning Combined Counties Football League champions Killeigh Ladies and came away with the win on a 1-3 scoreline. On a day with strong swirling wind and driving rain, conditions that weren’t conducive to good football both sides defied the weather to produce a very high standard of football. Ballymackey took the lead on 17 minutes, Christine O Keefe showed great composure when the ball broke to her in a packed penalty area from a corner to lay the ball back to Karan Hogan who rifled the ball to the net from 10 yards. Killeigh equalised on the half hour, a wicked wind assisted free kick from Killeigh was parried by Darra Bourke but Killeigh reacted quickest to drive home the rebound. Ballymackey played the second half at a super tempo and were creating chances, the Killeigh netminder made fine stops from Christine O Keefe and Amber DeLewis. The lead goal eventually arrived with a move of real quality. Chloe White did super to keep the ball alive right on the touch line with a strong wind to contend with, she found Aoibhìn Delaney higher up the field feet on the sideline and she did super to release Seonaid McGuigan one on one wide right. McGuigan chose to cut in field and she showed fantastic vision to play Christine O Keefe coming in off the left wing in behind the Killeigh defence and O Keefe finished well past the outcoming goalkeeper. The quality of that goal was matched by Ballymackey for their third, great play put Seonaid McGuigan in space centrally and she produced the perfectly weighted through ball to match Amber DeLewis perfectly timed run and DeLewis slotted home to put distance between the sides. A great win for Ballymackey and a top class performance full of terrific adventurous football by all 13 players who played, particularly in a purple batch from 50 to 75 minutes where the 4 under 18s in the side, Chloe Whyte, Thia McCarthy, Seonaid McGuigan and Amber De Lewis really cut loose and expressing themselves. Our player of the match was Zoey Gratton who performed her defensive duties superbly and has a huge influence in possession higher up the pitch in wide and central areas. Very pleasing to see the effort and intensity from training transferring onto the playing pitch. Squad v Killeigh: Darra Bourke, Chloe Whyte, Zoey Gratton, Chloe McAuliffe, Karen Hogan, Lisa Toohey, Allison McDonnell, Aoibhín Delaney, Christine O Keefe, Thia McCarthy, Amber DeLewis, Seonaid McGuigan, Leah Darcy, Shauna Egan and Ava O Rourke.