Doyle does the trick Coláiste Bhríde substitute makes a telling contribution
COLÁISTE BHRÍDE DOMINICAN COLL 3-17 3-9
THE impact of second-year student Sarah Doyle off the bench helped put this entertaining and competitive Senior girls schools semi-final between Coláiste Bhríde Carnew and Dominican College Wicklow to bed and send the Carnew side to the county final.
Doyle’s late 2-1 gave Coláiste Bhríde room to breathe and brought an end to a bizarre run of missed goal chances brought about by wayward shooting and fine goalkeeping from Ellen Griffin.
The story of this semi-final is one of missed chances, with both teams squandering a host of goal chances over the course of the hour.
Dominican’s misses came in the opening half when they had the wind and were playing down the slope in Carnew and this, ultimately, proved fatal.
Trailing by three at the break with the Coláiste Bhríde side coming out with the wind and slope in their favour, Dominican would need a monstrous effort to clinch victory.
However, although they threw everything they had at the home side, and although Coláiste Bhríde made hard enough work of it until Doyle’s introduction, anything other than victory for Denis Finn’s side would have been a major shock.
Another major factor in the game was panel sizes.
Dominican made the journey to the Wexford border with the bare 15 players.
Carnew were able to make six substitutes and it was the fresh legs that helped Coláiste Bhríde seal their spot in the county decider to be played after Christmas.
Siofra Byrne and Emma Tomkins got Coláiste Bhríde off to a great start in the opening two minutes before Niamh Caffrey got Dominican off the mark.
The first goal chance arrived in those opening five minutes, but a lost ball made the opportunity that bit more difficult and all that Dominican could harvest was their opening wide of the game.
Coláiste Bhríde led by 0-4 to 0-3 by the time the first goal arrived and it came from the boot of Dominican College corner-forward Clodagh Irwin after she gathered a saved shot from Emer McNulty by Shona Byrne to rifle home after nine minutes.
Things were looking very good for the visitors when they opened up a 1-5 to 0-4 lead through two points, one from McNulty and the second from Naoise O’Neill after a great ball from Niamh Caffrey.
But Coláiste Bhríde rallied. Two Keelin Stafford points and another from Zoe Katus brought the home side back to within one and bear in mind that they also had two missed goal chances.
Coláiste Bhríde’s opening goal came after 22 minutes and arrived when full-forward Lauren Byrne fired home past Ellen Griffin who did manage to get a half-block on the shot but couldn’t keep it out of the back of the net.
The home side built on this when Keelin Stafford and Emma Tomkins pointed to make it 1-9 to 1-5 before a late rally from Dominican saw Niamh Caffrey fire over two scores while both sides missed another glaring goal chance apiece to leave it 1-9 to 1-7 at the break.
Six minutes into the second half Coláiste Bhríde led by 1-13 to 1-7 and things were looking bleak for Dominican who were employing a sweeper with little rewards.
But a Jess Lyons goal brought the Wicklow town side screaming back into the game and Denis Finn must have been scratching his head at the amount of goal chances being squandered by his side which was leaving the door open for a talented Dominican side to get a major foothold in the game.
Points from Orla Kealy and Zoe Katus widened the gap between the sides and then Sarah Doyle announced her arrival with a fine goal at the end of a sweet move from Sarah Byrne and Keelin Stafford.
But again, Dominican College just wouldn’t go away. A stunning 1-1 from Niamh Caffrey made it 2-15 to 3-8 for the home side and an upset was briefly on the cards until Sarah Doyle proved ruthless with a fatal 1-1 condemning the Wicklow town side to defeat.
A thoroughly enjoyable battle on a cold December morning. Both teams possessed some very talented young footballers.
Both goalkeepers certainly proved their worth over the course of the hour with Shona Byrne and Ellen Griffin saving superbly on numerous occasions.
Sarah Byrne will obviously get the plaudits for putting the finishing touches to a fine victory for Coláiste Bhríde with Sarah Byrne, Siofra Byrne, Zoe Katus, Lauren Byrne and Keelin Stafford shining.
Dominican were very well served by Kellie Phelan, Abbie O’Loughlin, Lucy Dunne, Niamh Caffrey and Emer McNulty with Jess Lyons really catching the eye.
ColáIste Bhríde await the winners of St Kevin’s and Loretto College Bray in the Senior county final.
Scorers - Coláiste Bhríde: Sarah Doyle 2-1, Keelin Stafford 0-5, Lauren Byrne 1-0, Zoe Katus 0-3, Siofra Byrne 0-2, Eimear O’Brien 0-2, Emma Tomkins 0-2, Sarah Byrne 0-1, Orla Kealy 0-1.
Dominican College: Niamh Caffrey 1-5, Clodagh Irwin 1-0, Jess Lyons 1-0, Emer McNulty 0-2, Eva Phelan 0-1, Naoise O’Neill 1-0.
Shona Byrne; Amanda Kidd, Caoimhe Murphy, Abby Doyle; Anna Lalor, Jade Shannon, Orla Kealy; Sarah Byrne, Eimear O’Brien; Emma Tomkins, Siofra Byrne, Aisling Winterbottom; Zoe Katus, Lauren Byrne, Keelin Stafford. Subs: Roisin Byrne, Sarah Doyle, Eimear Mutton, Karen Tomkins, Niamh Mutton, Roisin Kennedy.
COLÁISTE BHRÍDE CARNEW:
Ellen Griffin; Aoife Dunne, Kellie Phelan, Georgia Brennan; Chloe O’Donovan, Amy Kavanagh, Eva Phelan; Abbie O’Loughlin, Lucy Dunne; Naoise O’Neill, Niamh Caffrey, Jess Lyons; Clodagh Irwin, Emer McNulty, Niamh McSorley.
DOMINICAN COLLEGE: REFEREE:
Christy O’Rourke