Junior Girls soccer vs St Colmcilles CS

On Wednesday the 22nd of April our Junior Girls' soccer team faced a competitive match against St Colmcilles in Greystones United. After advancing to the Leinster championship, the girls were eager and ready for a tough competition. 

The first half kicked off at half twelve. From the start, the team were dominating, with some great saves from goalie Hazel Prendergast. A very strong offensive line kept pushing against the opposition, with some great tackles from Niamh O'Neill. St Colmcilles scored a penalty, bringing the score to 1-0 at half time.

Tensions were high in the second half, with the pressure on to level the score. Lily Cullen duly delivered, scoring a fantastic goal the minute she stepped onto the pitch. As the minutes ticked down, the girls fought hard until the last second. The teams were still tied at full time, and so went into 20 minutes extra time. At this point both teams were exhausted, but continued to fight up to the nail. Tied again, the result was left up to penalties. The winner, determining who progresses in the championship.

Each team had to take 5 penalties. St. David's top strikers Alanna Synnott, Lily Cullen, Poppy Smith, Emily O Driscoll and Hazel Prendergast lined up to take their shot. Unfortunately, it wasn’t our day, with a very narrow loss of 5-4 after penalties.  

After a very long, hot and intense day, the loss was very hard but the team took it on their chin and looked onto the next match. Thank you to St Colmcilles for such a nail-biter of a match! Thank you to Coach Mr. Geoghegan, and shout out to Lena Gleeson for winning player of the match also!

Reporter: Melanie Porter

Photographer: Beth Deery