Ballyconnell NS 1-6 Tinryland NS 1-2

After the historic drawn game in Fenagh Centre of Excellence, this replay, played in Tullow’s Brother Leo Park, was once again a tight and tense affair for the most part.

There were a couple of key differences, however. This game threw in at 6pm, which meant playing under the natural light of a bright Tullow evening as opposed to under the artificial light of a dark Fenagh night. This meant two things – better light for football and no need for a bedtime extension for the players!

The weather at the start of the game was not promising, with dark clouds gathering and rain beginning to fall. Luckily, the football being played by the girls in the dearg agus dubh was highly promising. Last week, it was Tinryland who took the initiative, scoring 1-2 early on. This week, Ballyconnell were not so generous and started dominating possession of the ball early on.

Ballyconnell’s build up play was very smooth with lots of good inter-passing between Sarah Keogh, Chloe Lambe, Millie O’Neill and Órlaith Farrell. At the back, Saoirse Cahill, Croí Deegan, Elizabeth McCarthy and Meadhbh Ward were battling hard for every ball. However, try as the girls might, the ball would just not go over the bar in the opening period. The strong wind was no doubt a factor in this.

Millie battling hard for the ball!

It was a real knock then, when Tinryland opened the scoring with one of their first shots at the target. To make matters worse, captain Sarah Keogh then picked up a knock to her thigh. It was then, though, that Ballyconnell really got going! Ella O’Neill showed great vision to find her namesake Millie in space in front of goal. Millie pulled the trigger, her shot only being stopped by a great save from the Tinryland ‘keeper. Creah Doyle was on hand to smash home the rebound to give Ballyconnell a vital lead on the stroke of half-time – 1-0 to 0-1.

Miss Kennedy took her players into the now-customary huddle at half-time. Whatever was said, it worked! Ballyconnell came out with renewed determination at the start of the second half.

Half-Time Huddle

At this stage, the clouds had dispersed and the rain stopped. This allowed Ballyconnell to really get their passing game going. One such passing movement saw Creah Doyle shoot Ballyconnell’s first point of the evening after great play from Millie O’Neill and Isabella Holligan. Chloe Lambe followed this up with a point on the run and suddenly, Ballyconnell were on a roll.

Millie O’Neill, who was on fire at this stage, then found Sarah Keogh with a pass and the captain, having bravely battled through her injury, fired over another point to make it 1-3 to 0-2.

Just when you thought Ballyconnell were at last starting to put some daylight between the sides, Tinryland struck for a goal and all of a sudden, there was only 1 point between the teams.

A real trademark of these Ballyconnell girls is their calm. This was in evidence once again here as their response to the goal was to go straight up the other end and hit a point through Sarah Keogh.

Not content with a dangerous 2-point lead, Ballyconnell pushed on. Creah Doyle took a pass from Ella O’Neill to score her second point and put a goal between the teams. The insurance point came shortly after when Chloe Lambe sauntered stylishly forward to put 4 between the teams. Indeed, Chloe almost had a goal just before that, her shot coming back off the underside of the bar.

Creah moving the ball quickly

The final whistle was music to the ears of the Ballyconnell players, parents and supporters who ran onto the pitch in celebration of a fantastic achievement – a three-in-a-row and a first double since 2005!

Cailíní an-sásta!

Carlow Cumann na mBunscol’s James Connolly presented the trophy to Ballyconnell captain, Sarah Keogh. He commended both teams on two very exciting matches. Sarah gave a lovely speech thanking the referee (Séamie Doyle), Tinryland, and, of course, their coach, Miss Kennedy.

Once again, it was great to see so many parents and members of the boys’ team in attendance. Support like that shows just how strong our school spirit is in Ballyconnell NS. Míle buíochas also to Tullow GAA for hosting the game.

Ballyconnell NS: 1. Saoirse Cahill, 2. Elizabeth McCarthy, 3. Croí-Lily Deegan, 4. Órlaith Farrell, 5. Meadhbh Ward, 6. Chloe Lambe (0-2), 7. Sarah Keogh (0-2), 8. Millie O’Neill, 9. Creah Doyle (1-2), 10. Erika O’Grady, 11. Ella O’Neill, 12. Allie Lacey, 13. Isabella Holligan, 14. Arabella Harding, 15. Zoey Doyle, 16. Kate Rooney, 17. Mollie Bolger, 18. Zara Hutton, 19. Katie Connors, 20. Natalie Byrne, 21. Megan Mernagh

Captaen – Sorcha Nic Eochaidh