Kildare star scores three two-pointers in Club Championship game

After the recent TG4 LGFA Senior All-Ireland Football Final, there was a discussion on that evening’s Sunday Game about the effectiveness of the newly introduced two-point arc in ladies football.

Points were made that the 40-metre distance might be too far to have an impact on the game but one player stepped up in the Kildare Intermediate Championship on Tuesday evening to show what can be done.

Senior county player Aoife Rattigan scored three two-pointers for Cappagh as they beat Confey by 1-20 to 1-7 on Tuesday evening in the opening round. Rattigan kicked two in the first half and then added a third after the break as she picked up where she left off after a strong finish to the inter-county season.

The increased score from beyond the 40-metre arc was only brought into the ladies game at the start of the year and Rattigan said that it has taken some time to adjust.

“When you're a forward, it's probably the rule that you're most excited about when you're watching the men's game, the two-pointers. I think it just took that full Kildare season to kind of get your range in,” said Rattigan.

Confidence and belief are important when taking on these long-range shots but Rattigan feels those scores will become more prevalent as the players get more accustomed to the rule.

“I think it was just a very open kind of game on Tuesday, so there were more scores and shots. Then you just kind of back yourself from those two-pointers just to kind of give it a go and hope for the best.

“I think it was similar with the men's game, the first year you weren't seeing the big scores of the two-pointers and then this year in the Championship, the number of them increased massively, you saw the likes of Mayo in the All-Ireland Final.

“I think it just takes time. We didn't really have long leading into the league this year to get that range in. So, I think there's no need to change it, give it another year and see what it's like then.

“The first year of the new rules, there's so much to get used to. You can even see it now going back to the club championship. It does take getting used to, you can play as many challenge games as you like but nothing replicates Championship football. I think it's the same with the two-pointers. You will see more and more of them coming into the Club Championship, and then again into the National League with Kildare next year as well.” 

Rattigan did concede that familiarity of her own club pitch did help. In theory, a 40-metre arc on the field in Cappagh should be the same as a 40-metre arc in Croke Park, but, of course, any forward will tell that is not the case.

“They are definitely not (the same),” she laughed.

“It’s a lot more daunting in Croke Park. It’s always great to get back and play on the home pitch, it’s a good way to start the Championship,” she added.

The new rules also led to a change of position through the inter-county season. Rattigan spent much of her underage career with Kildare either in midfield or the half-forward line but as the 2026 campaign wore on, she was moved to one of the inside three forwards. It was something that took some getting used to but Rattigan was flourishing as the season progressed.

“It was a new position for me this year for Kildare, playing up in that front three. It’s probably something I wasn't too happy about at the start! But I kind of grew into it as the year went on.

“I think it creates so much more space as a forward up there when there's only three there for most of the game. You get more shots, and then the more shots you get the more confidence builds,” she said.

Rattigan said it was after a conversation with the now departed Kildare manager Pat Sullivan that convinced her to give the position a go.

“I've always been working around the middle, or around a wing forward position. I had a chat with Pat at the start of this year and he backed me in there in that full forward position. I think I grew into it as the year went on, but definitely he backed me up there so that I could take those shots on. I think he gave me that confidence to take shots on that I probably wouldn't have taken in previous years,” said Rattigan.

Her two-pointers helped Cappagh to the perfect start to their Championship and Rattigan said there is a responsibility on her, and her inter-county team-mates Aine and Aoife Mulligan, to come to their club and be role models for the younger players.

“I think there is a brilliant underage section in the club and again this year we have five or six girls, not just breaking onto the panel but breaking into the team.

“It’s a huge boost for the three of us when we come back from Kildare to see fresh faces, and all of them so eager and such good footballers. The future is bright in Cappagh.

“Hopefully, we can get a good run in Championship this year and give those girls confidence as a senior player. They are very young players and they all held their own there the other night, so that was good to see,” said Rattigan.

It’s not so long ago that the 24-year-old was a fresh faced youngster breaking on to the senior panel but now she is one of the players that younger players in the club look up to.

“It's something you probably don't think about, or realise at the time. When I was coming into these teams, there were the girls you looked up to and wanted to play with your whole way up in Cappagh. I'd be down standing beside the Cappagh senior team waiting for that chance to get in and play with them. So, to see these girls coming up, you know they want to be there, you know that the senior club team is what they want to play with. It's great to see them coming up and it's great to be playing with them, they're brilliant footballers, they all have a bright future for Cappagh and Kildare,” said Rattigan.

Whether the debate around the two-point arc continues or not, Rattigan's display against Confey showed exactly what the rule was designed to do. She will look to carry that form into Cappagh’s second round tie in the Joe Mallon Motors Intermediate Championship, away to Carbury on Tuesday (18 Aug) at 7.30pm.