Minor Division 1 Ladies Football took centre stage on Saturday afternoon at Páirc Uí Mhurchú as Ballyboden Minor A took on St Brigids in the Championship Semi-Final. It was clear from early on that Brigids meant business as their large cohort of players and management arrived into the car park early in the afternoon well in advance of throw-in as the flags being put out for the pitch.

When the ball was thrown in to start proceedings it was clear that Brigids were up for the challenge ahead. They fought for every ball, defended well and when they did attack they did so with intent and precision. Boden played well too with neat, patient interplay trying to find the holes in the tight Brigids cover. Finally Kate got off the mark with a point but the response from Brigids was quick after some pressure resulted in them winning a penalty which was converted calmly to give Brigids the lead much to the delight of their travelling support. There was no panic from the Boden girls as they gradually worked their way back into the game. Over the next 20 minutes they converted 6 points without reply, the pick of them being a brace of points from Caoimhe, one off her right and one off her left. However as half time approached, their lead was wiped away after a Brigids point was followed by a goal leaving the teams level at half time.

Half time Ballyboden 0-7 St Brigids 2-01 

After some stirring speeches from the team, the Boden girls went out with intent in the 2nd half. They kept the score board ticking over with points and stifled every Brigids attack to build up a lead. Brigids were always a threat on the counter attack and with 10 minutes to go there was still only 2 points in it. When Brigids lost a player to a yellow card and Boden put the gap up to 4 there was a little bit more comfort and when Aine popped over a point with a couple of minutes to go the Boden girls knew that the final was in sight.

A great victory overcoming a strong Brigids challenge sets up a final next Saturday away to St. Vincents in Pairc Uin.

Full time Ballyboden 0-13 St. Brigids 2-02

Many thanks to Miriam Doyle for the photos. For more, see here

Best of luck to the girls as they take on St Vincents in the Division One Championship Final in Pairc Naomh Uinsionn next Saturday 24th September at 3pm. 

 

Minor Ladies through to Home Semi Final in Division One Championship!

The final group games took place on Monday night in Ladies Football Division 1 Minor Championship with Semi Final places up for grabs. Ballyboden took on Vincents in Pairc Ui Mhurchu and with 2 victories each, both teams had already qualified for Semis with the prize at stake for this match being a home Semi Final against runners up from other group.

With the light fading on a pretty dour night, the ref got proceedings under way early disrupting the meticulously planned warm-up routines. When the match got going, the Boden girls quickly got into their stride with good movement and interplay amongst the forwards and when Vincents did break out with the ball they were shut down quickly by some organised and controlled defending. With a lot of Vincents players back in defence, scores were hard to come by but Karyn put up a couple of early points finishing off some good moves. From there the Boden girls slowly built up a score and were 5 points to nothing ahead. Vincents came back in to it for a short time when a speculative shot looped into the top corner of the Boden net. This goal gave Vincents a lift and they pushed forward but were punished by a quick break which was finished off by Shauna for a goal for the home team.

The score at half time was 1-7 to 1-0

In the 2nd half, the match continued in the same vein. The Boden girls kept control and without being too clinical in front of goal, the result was never in doubt. Boden notched up another 5 points with 1 more consolation score for Vincents.

Final Score 1-12 to 1-1

Attention now switches quickly to this weekend with a 5 day turnaround to the home Semi Final against St Brigids.

Many thanks to Miriam Doyle for the photos. For more, see here

With the home Semi Final secured, we would hope for a great Blue & White turnout tomorrow, Saturday at 3pm on Pairc Uí Mhúrchú cheering on and supporting our girls.

Boden Abú