U17 Fai Girls soccer

 

U17 Fai Cup Final

Salthill Devon 1 ( Penalties 4)

Claremorris 1     (Penalties 2)

Eamon Deacy Park

Eoin Horkan

As the thunder and lightning arrived late into the night in Galway on Sunday night . It was Salthill who managed to prevail on penalties as both sides produced a great spectacle in what turned into a horrible night weather wise.

From the opening whistle it was the Galway side who started to take control of the tie. As they started to push towards the opposition goal striker Amber O’ Donnell managed to carve out an effort which whistled past the post from outside the box. As Salthill managed to control the play more in the middle they manufactured a free kick. This long range free flew wide of the Claremorris goal as the pressure began to mount on the Mayo side. Even with this pressure on them the Claremorris defence  were standing strong marshalled by Saoirse Ronayane and Emma Walsh at the heart of it.

After the  water break the Galway side made their first inroads into the opposition box, but O’ Donnell’s  controlled effort brushed the post as it went wide. The Mayo side manged against the run of play to break away on the counterattack as Katie Clarke burst through the defence before firing down the throat of the goalie.  This meant the sides were deadlocked going in at the break.

 

As the rain began to come down heavier after the break chances both sides started to create more goal chances as legs tired from both defences. Naoise Heffernan in the Claremorris goal managed to keep out another long range effort from the boot of Kaeiah Tobin. After this effort the Mayo side started to gain more control of the ball in the wet conditions. With the control they started to carve out chances, the first of these fell to Bree Hession who drove from the middle of the park before firing straight at the keeper. As the game headed towards the second water break it was Salthill who took the lead against run of play after ball bounced around the box from a corner  it was Rhia Stone who  managed to find some much needed composure to hit the back of the net and give her side the lead.

After the final water break it was all Claremorris up until the final whistle. They carved out two more half chances before Caoilinn Walsh ran down the wing and drove into the box, her effort was well saved by Frances Hardy in the opposition goal. As Claremorris pushed forward this was resulting in Salthill fouling players. Both of the Mayo sides midfielders had long range frees. The first fell to Roisin Horkan whose effort was kept out. The second free in a matter of minutes was taken by Bree Hession who drilled a fantastic effort low into the corner of the net, to level this cup tie. This was the last chance of note before the ref blew the full time whistle.

The extra time to follow was a much tighter affair as it looked like both teams were getting tired with cramp appearing on both sides. The only effort worth noting came from a corner from Claremorris . As the ball bounced around the box Amy Cummins couldn’t keep her effort down with pressure on her.

The second half was even tougher as both defences manged to stay strong keeping out attack after attack from both sides. This meant the game would be decided on the dreaded penalty shootout 

 

The Galway side won the toss and elected to go first playing into the shooting into the clubhouse end in Eamon Deacy Park. Kaeiah Tobin stepped forward and slotted away her sides first penalty. Then it was the turn of Claremorris. Captain Roisin Horkan stepped up for her side to level the tie. Sathill sent up centre back Klara Banek for their second penalty which she duly converted. Bree Hession did the same for Claremorris with a penalty that rattled the back stanchion and came back out. It was then the turn of Salthill’s captain Daisy O’ Connell who buried her penalty. It was then up to substitute Alyssa Murphy , but her penalty was expertly saved by Frances Hardy. Salthill’s goal scorer Rhia Stone who had been taken of came back on before sliding her penalty into the bottom corner. Caoilinn Walsh stepped up for the Mayo side but unfortunately drilled her effort over the bar to give Salthill the victory.

Salthill Devon: 1. Frances Hardy, 2 Isabel Fahy, 3Anna Daly, 4 Maria Costello, 5 Klara Banek, 6 Daisy O’ Connell (C), 7 Daria Brennan, 8 Kaeiah Tobin, 9 Elle Brennan, 10 Lauren O’ Donnell, 11 Rhia Stone

Subs Used: Aoife Summerville for Rhia Stone

Claremorris: 1 Naoise Heffernan, 2 Ashling Cummins, Siomha McNulty,4 Saoirse Ronayne, 5 Emma Walsh, 6 Jessica Higgins, 7 Amy Cummins, 8 Roisin Horkan (C), 9 Bree Hession, 10. Caoilinn Walsh, 11 Katie Clarke.

Subs Used: Clara Higgins for Jessica Higgins , Alyssa Murphy for Katie Clarke.