Go-Ahead Adult League Division 1b, Wednesday 30th June 

Ballyboden St Endas v Cuala on Pairc Uí Mhúrchú

Yes it was a fair beating but it has to be said that Cuala lined out without their Dublin stars Jennifer Dunne and Martha Byrne who were not released to play due to the upcoming Inter County Championship. Dunne, in particular, was a huge loss as she is regarded as among the best midfielders in the country and is a current All Star. The first 3 points of the game were all notched by top scorer Orla Scollard who ended up with a personal match tally of 2.05. She is an inspiration to all ladies footballers, particularly those who think that motherhood heralds the ending of their sporting careers as this lady has 3 children, all under the age of 6! Simmone Reilly came on as a blood sub midway through the 1st half and almost immediately scored our 2nd goal which effectively ended the game as a contest. Cuala took 20 minutes to register their 1st score and added a second before the break leaving the half time score Boden 4.13 Cuala 0.02

The Dalkey girls were always going to rally and in the second half, their Dublin panelist and full forward Rachel Harnett cut through the home defence to rifle a shot past Sarah O’Brien. This was followed by a neat point by centre forward Grainne O’Driscoll. In the final ten minutes however Boden reasserted themselves with Hannah Murphy and Reilly, in particular, featuring prominently on the scoreboard. Our midfielder Ciara Ruddy probably got the score of the game with a wonderful team goal having arrived late to collect a pass and firing the shot to the roof of the net. Overall a very satisfying opening win in the league but one suspects that we won’t get an easier match than this in the coming weeks!

Next up away to County Champions Foxrock Cabinteely.

Scorers: Orla Scolard 2.5, Simmone Reilly 2.3, Hannah Murphy 0.5, Ciara Ruddy 1.0, Natalia Hyland 0.3, Maria McGrath 0.2, Bronagh Lynn 0.1.

Result: Ballyboden St.Endas 5.19  Cuala 1.07

Many thanks to Cliona Mellett for the photos. For more, see here