St Ergnat’s [Moneyglass] 0-0 St Brigid’s 7-9
On Thursday evening 6th April St Brigid’s U-14 girls opened the club’s account in a historic first ever match in the Co Antrim Ladies Under 14 League. Due to injuries and other commitments, only 15 girls travelled to Moneyglass to record a fantastic win.
This was a great team effort – with all 15 on the pitch playing their full part in what was an excellent performance – though not as one-sided an affair as the score-line suggests. St Ergnats battled bravely for much of the match but in the end the girls from St Brigid’s showed greater determination in 50/50 situations, in their tackling and in ability to take crucial scores from play.
St Brigid’s started well against a stiff breeze with points from captain Katie McMullan, Anna Finnegan and full forward Aoife Montague. The halfback line of Kate McCormack, Aoibhe McCann and Claire Brennan ensured that any inkling of a St Ergnats attack was quickly broken up. This allowed the mid-field partnership of Katie McMullan and Maria Blaney to control matters and feed the roaming forward lines.
Half-forwards Hannah Loughran and Sarah Toner ably assisted Anna Finnegan and Katie McMullan who had some storming solo-runs at the Moneyglass defence. Together with Aoife Montague they registered goals apiece to leave a first-half score-line of 3-4 to 0-0 in favour of the visitors.
However the strength of the wind to be faced in the second half was a concern and St Brigid’s knew that they would have a real fight on their hands.
A stirring team-talk from Greg Finnegan and Orla Montague ensured everyone was fired up for the second half.
St Brigid’s continued as they had left off before the interval with great interplay between full-forwards Julie Curran and Catriona Montague as they provided passes for Hannah Loughran to score a fine point and Anna Finnegan a goal. Despite a number of shots at the woodwork another goal from Anna followed. Then perhaps one of the best scores came from a pass provided by Catriona Montague for her older sister Aoife to hit a dipping blast over the goalkeeper’s head for the final goal.
The strong wind meant that play moved rapidly towards St Brigid’s back-lines. Goalkeeper Sarah Smart’s kick outs were accurate as she found Aoibhe McCann. Katie McMullan and Maria Blaney time after time. Corner backs Kate Campbell and Melissa Timoney provided great support for Rose McKeogh at full back who put in very strong performances, breaking up numerous attacks to leave Moneyglass scoreless throughout the hour.
Team
Sarah Smart, Kate Campbell, Rose McKeogh, Melissa Timoney, Kate McCormack, Aoibhe McCann, Claire Brennan, Maria Blaney, Katie McMullan (1-1), Hannah Loughran(0-1), Anna Finnegan (4-4), Sarah Toner, Julie Curran, Aoife Montague(2-3), Catriona Montague: Subs (None)
