Division 3 Championship Thursday 17th September Na Fianna 0-5 Ballyboden St Endas B 0-11
Parnells was the venue for this Divison 3 Championship encounter on Thursday evening. After beginning their campaign with a struggling home win over Crumlin, hopes were high that we could put up a strong performance against a Na Fianna side who had a comprehensive win in their first game.
A bright start to the game by the Boden girls was encouraging, and all over the pitch we were on top. This first half performance is as good as we have played this year, and some great scores were picked off by a variety of players including Aoife Tobin, Aisling O’ Leary, Claire Kirwan, Aoife O’ Neill, Jodie White & Danielle White to leave the half time score 8 points to 2 in our favour. The high work rate was notable, and the question was could we repeat this for the second half.
The second half was more competitive, with much of the play confined to the middle third. It was encouraging that when Na Fianna did score, we immediately responded with one of our own. The defence was on top throughout, well martialled by Jane Nolan & Grace Walsh(the night before her debs!), with young Fiona Masterson very strong throughout. Emer O’ Leary was composed in goal, and her accurate puck-outs were a great asset. The 6 point margin was well deserved. All 4 substitutes made a fine impact when they entered the fray with 15 minutes to go. There is no room for error in this Division, with the 6 teams playing each other, and the top 2 straight to the final. Next up is Portobello at home on Sunday 27th, and we fell to them at the semi-final stage last year.
A special mention for Aisling O’ Leary who made the trip up from Galway for last weeks fixture, and returned at 6am on Friday morning. This week she went one better, again making the trip up on Thursday afternoon but then returning to Galway on the midnight bus, terrific dedication from her.
Team: Emer O’ Leary, Sarah Lambert, Grace Walsh, Fiona Masterson, Rebeka Kamvar, Jane Nolan, Gráinne Corcoran, Laura Burns, Aoife Tobin, Claire Kirwan, Aisling O’ Leary, Aoife O’ Neill, Danielle White, Aoife O’ Brien, Jodie White, Ciara O’ Neill, Eimear BUtler, Orla Tevlin, Leanne Barrett