U16 Girls reach SFAI Munster Trophy Final

Great win for the girls last Sunday away to a solid, speedy & skillful Cork side in a game that had practically everything. The lead changed hands 3 times. There was a penalty. There was extra time. There were some brilliant saves & tackles from the keepers & defence on both sides. The post was hit..the crossbar was rattled & then there was a screamer of a 30 yard free kick from Lucy Mcinnes to win it. A brilliant game to watch & a great advert for girls soccer…although not the best for the heart…especially for the coaches.

Limerick Desmond went 1 up inside 5 mins with a great finish from the edge of the box from Sarah Curtin & they looked comfortable as they tried to get into their passing game. But Cork had excellent pace on the wings & got 3 goals in 20 mins by getting behind our backline & despite the best attempts of Sara Mae Murphy in goals they scored 2 from play & a penalty to go 3-1 ahead.

The Desmond league girls dug deep & got the all important next goal when Julia Sobczak struck before half time which gave us the momentum as we finished the half. Credit to the girls for not giving up when it would have been easy to & digging in deep to keep us firmly in the game. We made a number of changes at half time to freshen the attack & how it paid off with Gemma Leahy scoring twice in the 1st 10 mins to pull us ahead. The 1st was a poachers goal from close range but the 2nd was an excellent team goal as we broke from defence to attack with a brilliant Ciara Curtin ball & Gemma dribbled into the box before slipping the ball under the advancing Cork keeper.

We piled on after that to try get a 2 goal lead & try put a resilient Cork team to bed but some great goalkeeping & some near misses kept them in it & we were caught again as they broke at pace, got in behind & the cross took a few ricochets before trickling over the line to draw the sides level which is how it finished after normal time meaning extra time & 2 more 10 min halves. Both sides went for the win & the game was end to end with the Desmond girls having the better chances.

However the Cork keeper was letting nothing more pass & a penalty shoot out looked inevitable. But then up stepped Lucy Mcinnes who had a number of long range efforts stopped earlier but not this time as her 30 yard screamer flew in over the Cork keeper to screams of celebrations from her team mates, coaches & great travelling support. It capped off a player of the match performance from Lucy who was everywhere & the game actually ended with her clearing a last minute Cork corner to give Limerick Desmond the win & a place in the Munster U16 girls Interleague trophy final this coming Saturday in Cahir park. A true team performance with every girl giving everything & leaving their coaches, parents, league & county full of pride.

Team: Keepers – Sara Mae Murphy, Hannah Neville. Defence – Laura Browne, Lucy Mcinnes, Grace Fitzgibbon, Julia Sobczak, Isabel O’Carroll. Midfield – Kelsey Quinn, Zoe Kilbridge, Ciara Curtin, Emma Harris, Sarah Curtin, Catrina Gabor. Forwards – Kayley O’Dwyer, Aoife Geary, Gemma Leahy, Natalia Rybakowski.

Thanks from the coaches Kevin, Ciara, Niamh & Ray for the huge support which made a huge difference.