CAILINI FAOI 16
Duagh 4-8 Ballymac 4-6
After seeing a very defensive All Ireland Ladies final on Sunday we were treated to quite the opposite Monday evening in Ballymac as our U16 girls took on Duagh in the North Kerry League shield final . In a high scoring entertaining game Duagh won by 2 points , their ability to make the most of their scoring chances the main difference .
Ballymac started very well and Mary Healy kicked a great point to start the scoring . Niamh & Aisling dominated midfield & Mary , Aine & Maeve Pierce made life very difficult for Duagh kick outs . Having created numerous chances we failed to take them in this period , Caoimhe Carroll won a great ball out on the wing & soloed forward to kick a good point after 8 mins . Niamh Rahilly drove forward to be fouled on the 21 & she got up to take the free herself and found the back of the net leaving us 1-2 to no score after 12 mins but it should have been a lot more . Duagh however got a foothold and kicked 1-1 to bring them back into the contest , 2 more points for Duagh had them 1 up but Ballymac responded through Aisling O Connell following good work by Lucy Murphy & Rachel Godley . Duagh’s no 11 Ella Morris was be coming more dominant & she kicked a point from a free and converted a penalty coming close to half time . Robyns good kick out found Niamh Rahilly and a good team move involving Aisling , Maeve & Mary resulted in Aine Rice kicking a point to leave half time score 2-4 to 1-4 .
A whirlwind start to the 2nd half saw Niamh score a point straight from the throw in , from the kick out Mary Healy fed Elle Mc Elligott who put Aine into space and she found the net to put us up one . Celebrations were short lived as Duagh’s full forward had the ball in our net a minute later and they added a further 2 points through their no 11 Ella Morris . Ballymac responded again with another Aine Rice goal to leave a point between us 3-5 to 3-6 , Duaghs no 13 Allie Buckley though small in stature was having a big influence for Duagh as they dropped players deeper & she used her speed to good effect to be a good outlet for her team , their no 6 Katy Jordan’s raking clearances were a feature too . Ballymac were coming under a bit of pressure but Tara & Michela Murphy , Claire Kenny, Rose Ann and Leah O Neill were defending bravely . Duagh’s no 11 Ella Morris kicked 2 massive points from frees to stretch their lead to 3 . Elle Mc Elligott gathered a few of Robins kick outs and carried well down the wing to create a few more scoring chances & from one of these Aine Rice got her 3rd goal of the night to level it up again 4-5 to 3-8 . Duagh created another goal scoring chance but Robyn got out quickly to save . A miskick by a Duagh forward saw the ball skid towards an unmarked girl and she finished to the net to make it 4-8 to 4-5 with 5 mins left , the Ballymac girls laid siege to the Duagh goals for the remaining period . Rachel Godley at half forward showed well again , Elle Mc Elligott brought a save from the Duagh keeper as did Aisling , Aine pointed , Emily O Donoghue & Lisa Curran combined only to see the ball sail wide . Time ran out on us and the long whistle from ref Dell Whyte saw us fall short by 2 points . Maurice Mc Namara of the NK board presented the shield to Duagh shortly afterwards.
Though our girls were disappointed with the result it was a performance to be proud of and they gave our supporters plenty to shout about on the night . Congratulations to Duagh on their win , Ellie Morris no 11 , Katy Jordan no 6 and 13 Allie Buckley were outstanding for them on the night .
All the Ballymac girls gave it their all and performed to a high standard Aine Rice with 3-2 on the night deserves a special mention
Team : Robyn White , Tara Murphy , Claire Kenny , Michaela Murphy, Caoimhe Carroll 0-1 , Leah O Neill , Rose Anne O Shea, Niamh Rahilly 1-1 , Aisling O Connell 0-1 , Maeve Pierce , Aine Rice 3-2 , Mary Healy 0-1 , Lucy Murphy , Therese Keane , Rachel Godley …. Subs Maeve O Sullivan , Emily O Donoghue , Heather Jones, Lisa Curran ,Eve Creedon , Cait Rice, Ellie McElligott
CAILINI FAOI 6/8 YEAR REVIEW
The 2016 u6 & 8 girls academy will shortly be drawing to a close. The year started off in March in Ballymac hall for the U6 girls and some great fun was had by all involved. The hall was a gentle introduction for the new kids away from the harsh weather that was experienced this year.
In late April the weather had improved so the U6’s were ready to join their U8 counterparts in the main pitch, The 8’s had already been playing on the pitch for a couple of weeks and immediately forged friendships with the newcomers that will last a lifetime , they also helped their more inexperienced team mates master some of the basics of the game.
The academy ran very successfully only being cancelled on a handful of Sunday’s , The Munster final, Feile and a
couple of Sunday’s due to monsoon downpours .
A larger exposure to go games was the order of the day and some new friendships were forged with local clubs namely Castleisland, Cordal, John Mitchells , Austin Stacks and Firies twice. Ballymac competed very well in these games and it helped the kids put into practice some of the skills they were learning at training. It was remarkable how they improved with each game.
To their credit the girls were a pleasure to work with and all possessed the key attributes that make coaching them
such a pleasure punctuality, positivity and energy. So a big thank you to the girls namely, Laura,Hazel & Abagail,Alicia, Michelle,Grace, Saoirse,Sorcha, Sinead,Mary & Aine, Niamh, Alice, Kate,Kate,Katie & Natalie, Aisling, Emma, Niamh, Amy, Aimee, Julie, Alannah, Fallon, Tara, Sinead, Caitlin, Sophie, Emily & Emma,. Keep practicing over the closed season tell your friends how much fun it is and come back next year.
Spearheaded by Donal everyone had an enjoyable season and a big thanks to all the mentors Kieran, Roy, Gretta, &
Michelle. Three U14 girls who helped out when needed at go games Cora Savage, Holly Geary and Kate o Connor deserve a big thanks maybe future mentors in the making.