St Patrick’s girls battle hard in difficult Division 1
LAST weekend the John West Féile na nÓg took place with the St Pat’s Under-14 Girls team making the trip to their hosts Nemo Rangers in Cork City with their management team of Eddie Leonard, Brian McSorley, Gary Fitzpatrick, Tara O’Gorman and Deirdre Dickenson.
The St Pat’s girls got off to a tough start in their defence of the Féile title they won last year.
The girls knew they were in for a tough battle playing in Division 1 but they fought hard.
They faced a very well drilled Lucan Sarsfields team in their first game and gave a competitive performance. They found it difficult to gain possession. The Lucan side scored freely and were 5-03 to 0-00 up at half-time. St Pat’s regrouped and put in a much more competitive effort in the second half, restricting the Dublin side to two points. Final score: 5-05 to 0-00.
Cork side Carrigaline were up next. After losing their first game they weren’t going down without a fight. Behind by one point at halftime (0-02 to 1-00), the home side scored another goal immediately after the break. Pat’s clawed their way back into the game with a goal from Sophia Porter and then two points from Niamh Caffrey, the winner coming four minutes into extra time. St Pat’s girls came out on top in a tense encounter with the final score, Pat’s 1-04, Carrigaline 2-00.
Their third game also proved tough with Nemo Rangers, their hosts. Nemo Rangers got the result, 7-07 to 0-02, they required to top the group.
With one victory the girls made it to the Division 1 Shield quarter-final against Eire Óg Hurling and Football Club in Rathmore. Unfortunately, the game didn’t go their way losing 1-03 to 1-09.
The team of Aine Kavanagh, Michaela Dickenson, Jessica Lyons, Ellen Griffin, Holly McSorley, Lucy Dunne, Aisling Walsh, Siobhan Gorman, Eve Cowdrey, Leah Byrne, Lauren Gregory, Eva Phelan, Sophia Porter, Layla Hitchen, Chloe O’Donovan, Georgia Kelly, Naoise O’Reilly, Laura Newsome, Zoe Armstrong, Heather McInerney, Niamh Caffrey, Keela Dunne, Sara Carroll, Emma Arnold, Katie Shea, Kate Connolly, Amy O’Doherty, Grace Montgomery, Ciara O’Brien, Eimear Ni Mhaonaile, and management, showed great spirit and determination and should be very proud of themselves for competing at such a high level!
A big thank you to our hosts Nemo Rangers who made us most welcome to Cork City. We had a fantastic time. The girls really appreciate the gifts they received from Nemo Rangers. To all the parents and supporters who made the journey, thank you.