Wicklow’s U-18s can hold their heads high
GIRLS FINALS AND UNDERAGE
MULLINGAR WICKLOW 31 0
THE Wicklow under-18 girls travelled to Navan on Saturday to play their postponed Leinster Premier final against Mullingar looking to cap off their superb season with a victory.
Having topped the league this year the Wicklow girls would have gone into this match as slight favourite but the four-week layoff appeared to leave the Garden County girls slightly rusty and they were not as slick as they had been all season.
It was the smoother and more aggressive Mullingar girls who took the game to the Wicklow girls and despite being under the cosh for most of the first half Wicklow turned having played into the wind in the first half only 12-0 down and the game was still there.
Unfortunately a couple of key decisions at breakdown went against them as they had in the first half and a penalty count of 32 against Wicklow and 7 against Mullingar meant that the Wicklow girls struggled to get a foothold in the game.
Mullingar scored a decisive try on another one of these calls and it looked like Wicklow would be overrun down 19-0 at this stage.
However, the Wicklow girls showed tremendous grit and pride and tackled their hearts out and when the final whistle went, despite losing 31-0, they were able to walk off the pitch with their heads held high.
The girls would like to thank the tremendous support they received all season. They had by far the biggest numbers in Navan with a large number of the senior ladies, underage teams,committee and Club President all in attendance.
The girls will look back on this season with tremendous pride and they should do.