U-16’s Win Thrilling County Final...
Aghada made the trip to Glanmire to take on Éire Og in the County U-16 B Football Final on Saturday. With all the good weather we had over the summer, this was a miserable day for a match with a misty rain and slippery underfoot conditions all the way through but to be fair to both teams they adjusted very well to the conditions.
With the game a minute old Ciara Ryan broke through the Éire Og rearguard only to be upended in the square. Up stepped Aine Mc Grath and she rattled the back of the Éire Og net, it was a dream start to the game. Éire Og thundered into the game and kicked the next five points to lead by two after the first quarter. Kaitlin Smith kicked another point to bring the game back to the minimum. On the next attack Éire Og lay siege on the Aghada goal and what can only be described as “save of the year”, was produced by Olivia when a ball heading to the top corner of the net was finger tipped over the bar, a save even Stephen Cluxton would be proud of. Mary Leahy kicked the next score and again Olivia came to the rescue on the next Éire Og attack. Then the turning point in the game came when on the 29th minute Mary Leahy ran the guts of a 80 meters to rattle the back of the Éire Og net to leave the half time score Aghada 2-02 Éire Og 0-06
Aghada started the second half in blistering fashion with points from Mary Leahy, Katie Terry and two from the boot of Aine Mc Grath, to push the lead out to six. Éire Og came attacking again and once more Olivia was equal to the task tipping another shot at goal over the bar. A minute later Éire Og were rewarded with a goal after some relentless pressure to leave two points between the sides. This goal put a pep in the step of the Éire Og team. In the 42nd minute they were awarded a penalty which was stopped by a full length diving save from Olivia another one from the top drawer. Katie Terry pushed the lead out to three when she split the posts from thirty meters out, but this was quickly cancelled out by another Éire Og goal and now the game was in the melting pot with 18 minutes to go. Rachel Leahy restored the lead for the seaside girls as both teams went at it tit for tat. Kaitlin Smith kicked a free to push the lead out to two with four minutes to go a dangerous lead in any game. Éire Og pushed hard in those remaining minutes to see could they rescue the game but with the Aghada rearguard playing out of their skins there was no way through and Aghada ran out winners on a score line of Aghada 2-09 Éire Og 2-08 to be crowned County U-16 B County Champions 2018.
After the match the cup was presented by Ken Whelan on behalf of the County Board to the victorious winning captain Aine Mc Grath. Aine thanked the management team of Shane, Cathal and Johnny for looking after the team, Joe Larkin referee for his handling of the game and last but not least the Éire Og team for contributing to a wonderful game of Ladies Football.
After the photos and celebrations it was back in convoy to GoGos for refreshments with the County U-16 cup in tow.
Panel: O. Dzijak, C. Mc Innes, E. Cronin, M. Moran, C. Boylan, A. Burke, N. Bennett, A. Mc Grath, R. Barry, C. Ryan, M. Leahy, K. Smith, K. Terry, R. Leahy, S. Mc Allister, M. Murphy, A. Gilroy, E. Lewis, S. Geary, H. Whalley, M. Ryan, R. Sheehan, L. Dwane O’Neill, K. Owers.
