Sligo/Leitrim U12 Girls finish runners-up after the Gaynor Cup
THE Sligo-Leitrim U12 Girls travelled down to Limerick last weekend, following nine months of training and development after the selection process for the team began last September, to face the Galway League in the national Semi-Final (Kerry and the MGL (Metropolitan Girls League from Dublin) making up the other Semi).
S/L qualified for the second year in a row in the Qualification Tournament, topping a group that contained Donegal, Inishowen, Mayo, Roscommon and Longford Leagues to go to Limerick in the top-4 competition.
The team of 16 players, accompanied by 3 of the Development players, travelled down on Friday and got a chance to savour the atmosphere of the Gaynor Cup competition at UL, including going to support their S/L u14 & u16 colleagues in some of their matches and a final training session on Friday evening in preparation for Saturday.
The U12 Semi was played at 1pm on Saturday.
S/L were well matched by a good Galway side, and the first half (the games being 15 minutes each way) was an excellent beginning with both sides getting chances but the deadlock was broken when substitute Rachel McGoldrick latched onto a good through ball to beat defender and keeper with an excellent finish just seconds before the half-time whistle.
Sligo-Leitrim had some staunch defending to do in the 2nd half against a bigger and more physical Galway side but Captain Cara King, alongside Lauren Devanney, Vice Captain Anna Meade and keeper Sarah Kiernan at the back were resolute in keeping Galway out, combined with energy sapping forward play at the other end keeping Galway occupied, with Aine McLaughlin, Alice Lillie, Alannah O’Dowd and Keeva Flynn working tirelessly in midfield, and exemplified by an excellent last 10 minutes by sub Tess Longworth who won ball and drove into the Galway defence multiple times to keep them pinned back.
The game finished 1-0 to Sligo-Leitrim and the Final beckoned at 6pm against an MGL side who had triumphed 6-0 over Kerry. Cara King got the coaches vote for player-of-the-match on this one for an excellent game.
The final proved to be a truly excellent game of football between two well-matched sides, watched by a very large crowd including Irish Women’s team manager Colin Bell. S/L took the lead well into the first half – Cara King scoring direct from a long-range free. MGL however evened things up to 1-1 before the break.
An unchanged Sligo 9 battled hard in the second half against a very tough MGL side but conceded again late in the game despite an unbelievable performance from keeper Sarah Kiernan and were to finish on the losing side of a 2-1 scoreline, but did it with the knowledge that every possible effort had been made against a very good MGL.
The coaches player-of-thematch went to Keeva Flynn on this one, a fantastic performance from a girl who is under-12 again next season.
On top of that the FAI Playerof-the-Day award for Day3 of the Gaynor Cup (across all U12, U14 & U16 games on the day) went to keeper Sarah Kiernan, a well-deserved accolade and she was presented with a pair of Boots by Ireland Manager Colin Bell.
A truly excellent season from the Sligo-Leitrim U12 Girls, representing their League and their Clubs with pride.
The 2 Girls jointly voted as Players Player of the Year on the return trip were Alice Lillie and Sarah Kiernan.
The Girls are to be guests of honour at the Sligo Rovers home game this Saturday. SQUAD: Cara King (Capt) (Real Tubber). Anna Meade (V. Capt), Tess Longworth, Kelli Conway (Calry Bohs). Sarah Kiernan, Alice Lillie (Arrow Harps), Aine McLaughlin, Lauren Devaney (Manor Rangers). Jillian Monaghan, Orlaith Scanlon (Yeats Utd). Alannah O’Dowd (Boyle Celtic), Rachel McGoldrick (St. John’s), Keeva Flynn (Kilglass/ Enniscrone), Eva White, Sophie Quinn, Anna McDaniel (Strand Celtic), Development Players: Hannah Hargadon, Sophia Calvey (Real Tubber), Vanessa Wochnik (Benbulben FC), Mairead McIntyre (Ballisodare Utd). Coaches: Brian Chambers, Laura McGuinn, Amy Hyndman, Yasmin Connolly.
THE GIRLS ARE GUESTS OF HONOUR AT THE SHOWGROUNDS SATURDAY