Round Towers Under 9 girls took on Balinteer St Johns on Broadford Road on Sunday June 07th , match report by Ken Byrne.
Two 40 minutes matches, 9 aside.
The Towers Girls took to the field 20 minutes before the whistle for their warm up. Their blood was pumping and gander up from the start. This all added to the warm temperature on the day.
An electric start to both halves paved the way to a pulsating battle. The sides were evenly matched in midfield with Towers Girls of Rebecca Nolan, Maria Byrne, Isabelle Kiernan, Sadhbh Keane, Melissa Moseley and Aishling Mc Gratton playing as if their lives depended on it. This was like a Championship battle and these Girls did the Club proud. They hassled and harried there shielding which they had been working on in training paying dividends.
Sadhbh Keane, Aishling Mc Gratton and Isabelle Kiernan deserve special mention with Sadhbh making the step up from U8’s, observers would never have known; Sadhbh has natural ability and surely one for the future. Aisling Mc Gratton putting in a determined display after a spell on the sidelines through injury. Isabelle Kiernan had a challenging day, given the task of man-marking one of Balinteers shining stars; it’s safe to say that Isabelle won the battle; she never gave up giving her all.
A fine defensive display from the Girls with Muirinn Ward, Emma Fogharty, Shónagh Byrne and Aoife Roberston putting in strong performances. Shonagh Byrne deserves a mention here as she also made the step up from the U8’s to pull off some superb body catches when under pressure from Balinteers high balls; catching and clearing balls that she described as “like bombs falling from the sky”.
Muirinn Ward and Emma Fogharty worked well together in defense with one Girl covering the back line while the other covered the half backs. Muirinn was truly in the wars today, this Girl has courage and the skill to back it up. Maria Byrne tracked back from midfield contributing to an all-round fine team display.
Ballinteer tried to boss our Girls from the whistle, but Towers ladies hassled and harried in numbers, turning over ball with some great blocks and winning frees from the pressure of shielding. Balinteer were penalized for barraging and over-carrying on numerous occasions. Towers lost possession all too easily from kick outs. It’s still early days for these Girls and time to work on kick outs.
Niamh Downes, Ciara Kenny, Emma O’Brien and Emma Fogharty all had spells leading the attack upfront contributing to the score board, with Niamh also lending a hand in mid-field. Ciara Kenny holding her forward position well and never giving up.
Maria Byrne & Rebecca Nolan were busy on the right side of midfield today both taking some fine scores. Niamh Downes pushed forward on the left side of midfield contributing to some fine scores.
Holly Redmond and Fiona Jackson stayed tight to their players, beating Balinteer to the ball; breaking down many attack.
Once again the Towers Girls were buzzing coming off the pitch and the mentors happy with the effort. The parents showed great support from the touch line.
Towers U9’s Girls train every Thursday evening at 5.45pm, they are always looking for new players. Spread the word. For more information, contact Ken on 087 99 83 484
Round Towers : Melissa Moseley, Maria Byrne, Shónagh Byrne, Sadhbh Keane, Niamh Downes, Lauren Fitzpatrick, Emma Fogarty, Fiona Jackson, Ciara Kenny, Isabelle Kiernan, Muirinn Ward, Rebecca Nolan, Emma O’Brien, Holly Redmond, Aoife Robertson, Aisling Mc Gratton,
