1st year girls Gaelic football vs Loreto Bray

Mr. Cummins' First Year Girls' Gaelic football squad kicked off their year with a friendly against a very skilled Loreto Bray team on Friday, the 17th of October. The team arrived early at 10:45 with roaring enthusiasm to play. With almost 30 players eager to get on, Mr. Cummins had to make many substitutions throughout the match.

The match began at half eleven, with strong defensive play from Eliana Stokes. Both Ella and Olivia played outstandingly in the midfield, each of them running past several players before taking shots on goal. The girls' hard work began to pay off when Ella Moran scored a point. The ball was kept in Loreto's half, with Millie O’Neill challenging the opposition's defenders and goalkeeper at every chance she got and Ciara Davis weaving in and out of the opposing players. We were unlucky not to score in this period of time, but the defense kept their heads during immense pressure from Loreto, especially Arian who made some excellent clearances. 15 minutes in, Mr. Cummins swapped the entire team to give all the girls the opportunity to show their excellence as there is such a high number of girls interested in playing. Our goalkeeper, Amy Nolan displayed her quality and skills in goals by saving many strong shots and preventing Loreto from scoring. David's continued to break down Loreto's pressure with their powerful defensive line. 

The girls started the second half off with the same starting team. The girls dominated the second half with Millie O’Neill scoring a point and Ella hitting the post. David's kept up their flow and won free after free, unluckily hitting the post around 6 times! Their effort continued to pay off and Ella Moran scored yet another amazing goal. Two more goals from David's were soon followed and the girls kept up their efforts keeping Loreto on their toes. 

Unfortunately, the match didn't go our way this time, with the final score going 4-2 - 3-9. This didn't dampen the girls spirits as they keep improving by coming to training and trying their best to win more and more in the future. A huge thanks to Loreto Bray for coming down today, Bray Emmets for facilitating the match and Mr. Cummins for coaching the girls. Well done girls!

Reporter: Laoise O’Gorman

Photographer: Niamh O’Neill