The sun shone on Aghaderg’s home ground this morning as the U-14 Girl’s Football team put in a blistering performance to outclass the opposition and record a significant win to finish top of their league in the team’s first year of competitive girl’s football.
The Aghaderg front line opened strongly dominating early exchanges. The reds placed Olivia Devlin on the corner of the box as a target full forward, an area which she dominated. She was ably supported with the quick movement and slick footwork of Coldagh Simpson, Cara Brackenbury and Shannon Moore-Hanratty providing the prefect balance between physical presence and footballing skills.
Between them the forward line racked up an impressive 5 goals and 9 points in the opening half.
The Aghaderg back line is also proving to be a force to be reckoned with. Their strength, tenacity and fearlessness will be a challenge for any forward line. The girls were in front of their markers and quick decision making meant they were first to the ball throughout the opening half, limiting the Bredagh forward line to just 1 point in the first 30 minutes.
The half back line of Mairead Stewart, Ciara Stewart and Sophie McComiskey are gelling into a really impressive defensive line that operates well as a unit.
The midfield duo of Aine McGrady and Niamh Moran, who are two serious athletes, were the driving force behind the team’s movement. Both girls had a significant number of ball contacts and worked tirelessly up and down the field throughout the game. They were an effective link moving the ball quickly from defence to attack when the opportunity arose.
The pattern of the game continued in the second half with Aghaderg continuing to dominate adding a further 6 goals and 6 points to the first half tally. This gave the management an opportunity to blood all the players in competitive football and everyone had the opportunity for significant game time.
This team is blessed with some very talented footballers and there were some very impressive individual performances today, too many to single any one player out. This team has a very good grasp of the skills of Gaelic football and can read a game really well. Both are evidence of the work that has been done with the girls to date through the club’s underage coaching structure, which are a credit to the club and coaches involved.
Stiffer challenges lie ahead with the Championship fixtures in the next few months, home to Burren (B) on 27 September and away to Loughinisland on 11 October, but winning their section of the League has been a great start.
The final score:
Aghaderg 11-15 points to Bredagh(B) 1-3 points.
With a continued focus on improvement and fun this talented and promising group of players have the potential to go a long way in the world of Ladies Gaelic Football.
Team and scorers:
Cara McCauley (0-1),Emma O’Kane, Katie Mooney, Sara Handcock, Sophie McComiskey, Ciara Stewart, Mairead Stewart, Aine McGrady, Niamh Moran (1-2), Georgia Goodman, Cara Brackenbury (3-6), Clodagh Simpson (2-2), Shannon Moore-Hanratty (0-1), Heidi Devlin (1-0), Olivia Devlin (4-3), Kate McCardle, Aisling Burns, Kacey Kane, Emma Handcock
Management Team:
Sinead McGrath, Sharon Carr, Mark O’Kane, Donal Moran.