WestmeathLadies Gaa Minor Championship Quarter-Final: Mullingar Shamrocks 7-9 The Downs GAA Club 5-10.
The cracking frost did nothing to curb the enthusiasm of the Mullingar Shamrocks and The Downs girls on Wednesday evening in this high scoring contest played in The Downs. It’s not every day you get 12 goals in a match in which both goalkeepers played superbly.
The Downs dominated the early stages but great defending kept the hopes alive and The Downs total to two goals. Staying in the game is vital and this is exactly what happened and when Molly Maguire scored Shamrocks opening goal the deficit was halved. Three points from The Downs extended the lead again to six points before Alexa Gavigan’s brilliant solo run (one of several) ended with a smashing shot to the net. A third goal from Caoimhe Farrell brought the teams level (2-3 to 3-0). A point worked from a 45 edged The Downs back into the lead before Grace Daly netted for the first time and Mullingar Shamrocks were in the lead for the first time. The Downs hit their fourth goal and it might have been more but for a few great saves from Emily Forde. The minutes before the break belonged to Grace Daly as the full forward added 1-2 to the Shamrocks total before Mick Gordon ended the first half with Shamrocks leading by 5-2 to 3-5.
Grace Daly continued to hit the scores after the break with two more points, Órla Nohilly also pointed twice but The Downs dominated for long spells and with 5 minutes remaining had established a lead of 5-10 to 5-6. An injury break broke the momentum and the Shamrocks finished with 2-2 to secure the semi-final place. Aya Hacini began the spree with Shamrocks sixth goal and Alexa Gavigan equalised. A superb volley from Aya secured the seventh goal, Alexa pointed beforeGrace Daly signed off with a pointed free to bring the final score to 7-9 to 5-10 and victory for a very young Mullingar team..
There is a resilience to Mullingar Shamrocks LGF players these days – they don’t surrender easily. Goals win matches but so does great defending and despite conceding 5-10 the Shamrocks girls engaged in some great defending led by Emily Forde in goal, Ella Briody at full back, Ellie O’Donnell at centre back helped by Seoidín Thornton, Saoirse Clinton, Rosie O’Grady and Eabha Moran. Zara Corroon was a superb midfielder getting great support from Alannah Burke and Aideen Langtry in the area. A forward line that scores 7-9 speaks for itself and second half substitutes Katie Matthews, Roisin and Órla Nohilly made a significant impact on the outcome.
Mullingar Shamrocks: Emily Forde; Seoidín Thornton (Roisin Nohilly), Ella Briody, Rosie O’ Grady; Eabha Moran, Ellie O’Donnell, Saoirse Clinton (Orla Nohilly, 0-2); Zara Corroon, Aideen Langtry; Aya Hacini (2-0), Caoimhe Farrell (1-0), Alannah Burke; Alexa Gavigan (1-2), Grace Daly (2-5), Mollie Maguire (1-0) (Katie Matthews), Abi Matthews, Ece Ozdemir, Layla Dowd.
The cracking frost did nothing to curb the enthusiasm of the Mullingar Shamrocks and The Downs girls on Wednesday evening in this high scoring contest played in The Downs. It’s not every day you get 12 goals in a match in which both goalkeepers played superbly.
The Downs dominated the early stages but great defending kept the hopes alive and The Downs total to two goals. Staying in the game is vital and this is exactly what happened and when Molly Maguire scored Shamrocks opening goal the deficit was halved. Three points from The Downs extended the lead again to six points before Alexa Gavigan’s brilliant solo run (one of several) ended with a smashing shot to the net. A third goal from Caoimhe Farrell brought the teams level (2-3 to 3-0). A point worked from a 45 edged The Downs back into the lead before Grace Daly netted for the first time and Mullingar Shamrocks were in the lead for the first time. The Downs hit their fourth goal and it might have been more but for a few great saves from Emily Forde. The minutes before the break belonged to Grace Daly as the full forward added 1-2 to the Shamrocks total before Mick Gordon ended the first half with Shamrocks leading by 5-2 to 3-5.
Grace Daly continued to hit the scores after the break with two more points, Órla Nohilly also pointed twice but The Downs dominated for long spells and with 5 minutes remaining had established a lead of 5-10 to 5-6. An injury break broke the momentum and the Shamrocks finished with 2-2 to secure the semi-final place. Aya Hacini began the spree with Shamrocks sixth goal and Alexa Gavigan equalised. A superb volley from Aya secured the seventh goal, Alexa pointed beforeGrace Daly signed off with a pointed free to bring the final score to 7-9 to 5-10 and victory for a very young Mullingar team..
There is a resilience to Mullingar Shamrocks LGF players these days – they don’t surrender easily. Goals win matches but so does great defending and despite conceding 5-10 the Shamrocks girls engaged in some great defending led by Emily Forde in goal, Ella Briody at full back, Ellie O’Donnell at centre back helped by Seoidín Thornton, Saoirse Clinton, Rosie O’Grady and Eabha Moran. Zara Corroon was a superb midfielder getting great support from Alannah Burke and Aideen Langtry in the area. A forward line that scores 7-9 speaks for itself and second half substitutes Katie Matthews, Roisin and Órla Nohilly made a significant impact on the outcome.
Mullingar Shamrocks: Emily Forde; Seoidín Thornton (Roisin Nohilly), Ella Briody, Rosie O’ Grady; Eabha Moran, Ellie O’Donnell, Saoirse Clinton (Orla Nohilly, 0-2); Zara Corroon, Aideen Langtry; Aya Hacini (2-0), Caoimhe Farrell (1-0), Alannah Burke; Alexa Gavigan (1-2), Grace Daly (2-5), Mollie Maguire (1-0) (Katie Matthews), Abi Matthews, Ece Ozdemir, Layla Dowd.
