Gaeltec U-14 Roinn D County Final
Young Irelands Gowran 6-5
Tullogher 3-4
A superb team performance saw the Gowran girls take control from late in the first half, as they defeated the gallant, hard-battling efforts of Tullogher who refused to wilt having to fight back from an impossible situation.
Playing with a very strong wind advantage throughout the opening half on a warm sunny autumnal afternoon in Thomastown, Young Irelands completely dominated possession for the majority of the half as they led 5-2 to 1-0 at half-time.
The Young Irelands girls opened their account when Eilish Keating flicked home a goal after she got on the end of a long-range goal from Eimear Brennan, 1-0 to 0-0.
Eimear herself was on target for goal number two in the 9th minute, when she brilliantly dispatched a penalty after Chloe Pitt was fouled, 2-0 to 0-0. Chloe added a point from play as they led 2-1 to 0-0 at the first water break.
Tullogher was starting to enjoy more possession, & with the highly impressive Ciara Nolan just denied by Young Irelands goalkeeper Holly Drennan in the 14th minute, Ciara made amends with a well-taken goal two minutes later (16th minute), 2-1 to 1-0.
Goal blitz
However, the Young Irelands girls responded with a goalscoring blitz to put themselves in a very commanding position by half-time.
They scored a hat-trick of goals in a five-minute spell between the 19th & 24th minute, as goals from Alex Brennan, a speculative effort from Eilish Keating & a Chloe Pitt shot from an acute angle that flew past the goalkeeper suddenly put them 13 points clear, 5-1 to 1-0.
Eilish added an excellent point from play to complete the first-half scoring as they led by 14 points at the interval (5-2 to 1-0), & her hat-trick of goals was completed early in the second-half courtesy of a superbly taken effort, 6-2 to 1-0.
However, massive credit must be given to the Tullogher girls for the way they battle ferociously while facing a mission impossible task.
They restricted the Gowran girls to just three points for the remainder of the game, as they added 2-4 to their account.
A well-taken goal from Ava O’Leary in the 36th minute began the fightback before points from Lily Ryan & Aoibheann Ryan narrowed the deficit further.
The strong running centre forward Alex Brennan pointed to keep the scoreboard ticking over (6-3 to 2-2) before Lily Ryan & Ciara Nolan added further points for the Tullogher girls. 6-3 to 2-4.
Tullogher’s persistence was rewarded further when Ciara Nolan rifled home a goal in the 52nd minute to reduce the advantage further, but it was Young Irelands who had the final say as Alex Brennan added two late points.
