U12 Girls Cup Wexford

 

U12 Girls Cup

Wexford  3

Galway   1

Evergreen Park Kilkenny

Eoin Horkan

It was Wexfords day in Kilkenny as Mia Whelan’s hat trick was enough to see them get the better of Galway in there All Ireland final Saturday afternoon.

It was Wexford who got off to the perfect start as they won an early free from thirty yards out. The crowd expected the ball to be crossed into the Galway box but Mia Whelan had other ideas as she let fly an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net. It was the southeast side that kept the pressure  on the westerner’s goal as inside ten minutes they had nearly doubled  their lead but Ella Robin Casey effort flew over the bar.  As Wexford pushed forward Galway managed to clear the ball for  a corner. This corner  was swung in by Emma Fitzpatrick it landed on  the head of Whelan who angled her header into the corner of the net to double her sides lead.

These quick fire goals woke Galway up and with their first meaningful attack of the game Mairéad Mulkerrins drove forward before sliding a ball to Tilly Carroll who finished expertly into the corner of the net. Moments later Carroll troubled the goal again but her effort flew narrowly wide of the upright . This purple patch for Galway didn’t last long  as Casey was causing havoc up front as she managed to carve out the last two chances of the half which were expertly kept out by the opposition rear- guard.

The second half began much like the first as the Galway rear-guard were standing strong at every opportunity. The next chance in anger fell to Ruby Meaney for Galway but as she drove through the Wexford defence Amy Dwyer managed to keep her at bay. With ten minutes left in the tie and both midfields cancelling each other out up stepped Whelan again. She managed to collect the ball inside the opponent’s half, she then  spotted the keeper  off her line and duly let fly to finish off her hat trick and the contest as a whole.

 

 

Wexford; Amy Dwyer; Tabitha Byrne, Emma Fitzpatrick, Brooke Clancy; Mia Wright; Mia Whelan, Freya Pender, Ella Robin Casey, Ellie Byrne .

Subs Used: Shona Larkin for Ella Robin Casey, Charlotte Stafford for Ellie Byrne, Orlaith Burke for Mia Wright, Grace Redmond for Freya Pender.

Galway: Catherine Halleran; Hannah McHugh, Siún Cullinane, Aidean Kilgannon; Laragh Downes, Mairéad Mulkerrins, Róisín Sammon; Ruby Meaney, Tilly Carroll.

Subs Used: Cassie Gleenon, Erin McCarton, Martá MacAdam.

Referee ( James McGivern Dublin)