AGP and Bosco share the spoils
By Alex Dunne
A LATE goal from Caroline Thorpe rescued a point for Arthur Griffith Park as they played out an entertaining draw with St John Bosco in their DWSL Inter One league clash at Esker Drive.
A tense affair remained goalless until Rachel Maher tapped into an empty net after a defensive mix-up to seemingly seal the win for the visitors.
St John Bosco's Ali Kavanagh gets her pass away as AGP's Karen Thorpe closes in during their Inter One clash
But AGP piled on the pressure late on, spurning several late chances before Thorpe finally struck the winner in the dying embers added time.
The homeside were quick to test St John Bosco goalkeeper Rebcca O'Brien, with Abby Delany forcing her into a save after just two minutes.
Karen Thorpe also tested the Bosco resolve, as they required a last-ditch intervention from Ali Kavanagh to deny her a one-on-one with O’Brien, after which she scuffed a good chance on 13 minutes when put through by Shauna Murray.
The homeside kept up the pressure, not allowing Bosco to establish the passing rhythm they were looking for, though Megan Roberts did pounce on a good chance on the break that saw the ball sail wide.
O’Brien was again called upon to make a good save in the 37th minute after Karen Thorpe’s corner popped up in her direction, before Roberts and Katie Malone combined well on the counter right on the stroke of half time, only for Roberts to slice wide.
Karen Thorpe again forced O’Brien into a clawing low save ten minutes into the start of a scrappy second half, while Murray’s effort travelled just wide after she had carved out the opening.
AGP continued to press and harry the visitors, and O’Brien was often left with quick decisions to make in possession. While there were misplaced passes, the homeside were nowhere near clinical enough to capitalise.
This was never more evident than in the 70th minute, when Smith’s shot forced a save from O’Brien, with the rebound falling fortuitiouslyto Ciara Burtenshaw, but she was unable to turn the ball home from close range.
Sliced clearance
And Bosco inevitably made them pay in the 76th minute, when a sliced clearance looped up over the head of the entire AGP defence and Maher was on hand to nudge the ball into the empty net.
The blitz had to come from AGP, but O’Brien came into her own in the last 15 minutes, impressively stopping a Caroline Thorpe free kick in the 78th minute.
Thorpe then smashed the crossbar before Murray missed another golden opportunity from close range.
But a Burkenshaw interception in midfield in the 90th minute would prove crucial, as she rolled in Thorpe past the Bosco defence to finally slide past O’Brien and clinch a point for her hard-working side.
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