Meath Ladies U-15 Division 2 Shield Final
Seneschalstown 1-07 Oldcastle 1-02
Seneschalstown deservedly won the Girls U-15 Division 2 Shield Final at a chilly Dunganny.
The group game between these two sides in Oldcastle was a very close affair with the North Meath side winning with an injury time point and the early exchanges in this game were very tight as well as both sides played their way into the game.
Meath Ladies U-15 Division 2 Shield Final
Seneschalstown 1-07 Oldcastle 1-02
Seneschalstown deservedly won the Girls U-15 Division 2 Shield Final at a chilly Dunganny.
The group game between these two sides in Oldcastle was a very close affair with the North Meath side winning with an injury time point and the early exchanges in this game were very tight as well as both sides played their way into the game.
The Seneschalstown girls missed a few good scoring chances as they tried to get a foothold in the game but it was Oldcastle then opened the scoring in the tenth minute with a point from play. The Furze girls kept plugging away, hitting the post on two occasions and the old saying of “If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again” was clearly in evidence. Eventually Sorcha Gough open the winners account from play in the fifteenth minute which was followed up two minutes later with an excellently converted free from the right by team captain Katie Geraghty. Oldcastle who were defending excellently and winning a lot of breaking ball equalised from a free in the Ninteenth minute.
The Seneschalstown rearguard were performing excellently in particular Chloe Williams and Leanne Clarke who were winning a lot of ball and well assisted by the keeper Shauna Gordon, Caragh Monaghan, Aoife Darby, Leah Ryan and Aoibhe Monaghan who had the task of following Oldcastle’s most influential forward. The midfield partnership of Chrystal Delamere and Aoife Lenehan were winning their fair share of possession as well as driving forward at times. The forwards of Gough, Loughran, Geraghty, Lauren Donnelly, Kelly Smith and Aoife Mulvany were working hard and although the shots weren’t going between the sticks they were working hard at hassling the Oldcastle rearguard and not letting them get easy clearances. In the twenty eighth Minute Shona Loughran hoisted over a sublime point from play with her weaker left foot to leave the HT score at 0-03 to 0-02 to the Seneschalstown Girls.
The second half began with a few positional switches with Caragh Monaghan moving to full forward and Lauren Donnelly to the back. Seneschalstown had two early chances to increase the lead which came to nothing and Oldcastle got the upper hand for the next few minutes but the Seneschalstown defence kept them scoreless with some great tackling and anticipation. Lenehan and Delamere were beginning to get the upperhand in midfield and with corner forwards Mulvany and Kelly keeping the game wide, Seneschalstown were getting more ball in space inside.
Scores were at a premium but the pivotal moment in the game arrived in the forty third minute when Geraghty drove the ball past the excellent Oldcastle netminder to give the Seneschalstown girls some breathing space and it was Geraghty again in the forty seventh minute who raised a white flag to push the lead out to five points. Oldcastle certainly weren’t giving up and on several occasions got back to make telling interceptions while some efforts from the Seneschalstown girls fell short and were excellently dealt with by the Oldcastle keeper.
In the fifty fifty minute Kelly Smith popped over a point from play which was followed three minutes later by a point from Aoife Lenehan who along with her midfield partner Delamere and wing forward Sorcha Gough were linking up well and having a big influence on the game. Oldcastle who fought right to the end were awarded a penalty which was excellently dispatched to the corner of the net in the fifty ninth minute. The deficit was down to four points with a few minutes injury time expected and a long delivery into the Seneschalstown square was misjudged by the keeper who then made an excellent recovery to prevent the ball crossing the line before it was cleared to safety. A minute late Lenehan was on hand to close the scoring with a point from play and shortly afterwards Sarah Stanley blew the final whistle on a deserved victory for the Seneschalstown girls.
The Oldcastle girls were very gracious in defeat and came as a group congratulated the winners. Afterwards Mary O’ Shaughnessy presented the u15 Shield to team captain Katie Geraghty. Both teams deserved great credit for their skill and effort in a game that was played in a very sporting manner.
Seneschalstown: Shauna Gordon, Aoibhe Monaghan, Chloe Williams, Aoife Darby, Leah Ryan, Leanne Clarke, Lauren Donnelly, Aoife Lenehan (0-02), Sorcha Gough (0-01), Katie Geraghty (1-02), Shona Loughran (0-01), Caragh Monaghan, Kelly Smith (0-01), Chrystal Delamere, Aoife Mulvany.
Subs: Ava Jane Ryan, Sinead McLarney.
