CONTROVERSIAL ONE POINT WIN FOR ST GALL’S OVER NAOMH BRID
An enthralling encounter between these two sides was marred by a controversial refereeing decision to award a hotly disputed goal to the home side thus giving St Gall’s a one point victory.In fairness to the referee she was not helped by the absence of an umpire but despite her uncertainty she awarded a goal instead of the point which the St Brigid’s girls were adamant had been scored. To compound the visitors sense of injustice the issue was only raised after the final whistle blew when the referee requested clarification of the score in question (scored early in the first half) which was inevitably met with protests from both sides.A referee’s task is certainly an unenviable one!
However that should not detract from what was otherwise a marvellous advert for ladies football.The visitors showed their mettle in the physical battle and more than a little skill as well.St Brigid’s got off to a flying start and were 1-3 to 0-0 up after 15 minutes.Aoife Montague opened the scoring with a fine point from play before Anna Finnegan scored the first of her two goals,her second coming at a crucial time in the second half after a superb run and unstoppable shot.Both of these 12 year olds are prolific scorers and were very well supported by selfless play from their teammates including a very lively Aoife McCann and a strong midfield pairing of Naoimh O’Hare and Maeve Ferguson who was playing her first match after a long lay off from an injury sustained in the Antrim Feile.She had a brilliant first half before running out of steam when she was replaced by the in form Niamh Henvey .They have all been greatly helped by the coaching skills of minors Aiden Owens and Niall Corrigan.
Niamh Henvey and Catherine McAuley also added points to the final tally and all of the visitors scores came from play unlike St Gall’s who were very dependent upon their very talented centre forward Merrisa McGourty who gave a superb display of free taking.She is a very talented player with a great future and one can only hope that the Antrim Board takes note of the prodigious talent on show among all the teams who have competed in this years u14 league campaign.
Invariably the forwards get all the attention but the St Brigid’s defence was outstanding.Lucy McGread was the hero of the day with her manmarking of Merrisa McGourty and Katey McMullan fielded some superb high balls at the heart of the defence.Ellen McGrath had another brilliant performance both at half forward in the first half and half back in the second half when she mopped up a lot of ball.
The drama continued up to (and after!) the finish when St Brigid’s spurned numerous scoring oppoortunites and Aoife Montague hit the upright before the final whistle blew after a frantic last five minutes during which Greg Finnegan ran even more that his daughters as he encouraged his players and advised the referee from the sideline.
In spite of the controversy it requires to be emphasised that this was a very sporting match and the St Gall’s head coach,Denise (from Carrickmore),in the spirit of all Tyrone people,was a very welcoming host and is keen to foster good relations with our club.We had hoped for a friendly rematch at YMCA on 28th June but unfortunately this fixture cannot be fulfilled.However we look forward to doing battle again.
SCORERS: A Finnegan 2-1; A Montague 0-4; N Henvey 0-1 and C McAuley 0-1.
Half time St Gall’s 1-4 St Brigid’s 1-5 :Full time St Gall’s 2-8 StBrigid’s 2-7
