A beautifully sunny night seemed to light up the U14 Ladies squad at Musgrave tonight as they ran out comfortable winners against a tenacious and disciplined St James’s squad. Fast out the blocks, St Brigid’s quickly found themselves out in front with some pinpoint scores from Maeve Blayney and Emma Ferran. The first 20 minutes saw the Aldergrove girls pinned tightly in their own half with only the occasional sojourn into the opposition half. With a couple of confidently taken goals from Blayney, it was clear that the game was going to be an uphill struggle for St James’s, but with the rotation of a large St Brigid’s squad, and some youthful naivety from some of our less experienced girls, the visitors closed the half strongly with a couple of fine scores.
The second half saw the hosts start brightly despite some erratic shooting from the front row and the game settled into a pattern of slick hand passing from St Brigid’s mid-field, counterbalanced by some beautiful linkage play from the strong Aldergrove half forward line.
As the second half progressed, the Local ladies again found their range and scores started to come in from all sides of the park. Right up to the final whistle, the visitors gave a strong account of themselves but ultimately, the determination of the 2014 Antrim Feile Champions shone through like the evening sunshine and they closed out a competitive but well won game 9-18 to 3-6.
Particular mentions go the twins from Aldergrove, Maeve Blayney, strong showings from our goalkeeper Tara Graham and defender Fionn Laverty. Lots of good things to applaud and lots of things to work on in the run in to Feile weekend of June 27-29. Thanks to all parents, mentors and officials who attended.
