Knockbride ladies claim U16 Division 1 title
U16 Division 1 League final
Knockbride 4-14
Mullahoran 4-7
Aideen Coyle
Knockbride and Mullahoran met in the U16 Division 1 decider after a highly competitive league campaign. Knockbride finished top of the group unbeaten with four wins and one draw which came against second placed Cornafean. Whilst finalists Mullahoran finished third after three wins and two losses. In the semi-final they faced a strong Cornafean side and recorded a 5-10 to 2-14 victory with Knockbride defeating Kingscourt 4-13 to 5-05 in their respective last four meeting.
An entertaining evenly contested battle was expected with numerous county underage stars in action in the meeting in Annalee Park. When the sides previously met in round three of the league Knockbride narrowly picked up the win by two points. Mullahoran were dealt a blow from the start as captain Fainche Higgins started on the bench after recovering from a foot injury with the talented youngster coming into the fray after halftime with a strong showing in attack.
Knockbride opened the tie with two quickfire points from Abby Reilly and Aoibhinn Smith to open up an early lead which they would hold on to throughout the entire contest. A superb strike from Shonagh Brennan left the minimum between the sides momentarily as Ellie Reilly sailed over a fine effort followed by the first of eight goals coming from Abby Reilly with seven minutes played.
Ten minutes after their opening score the outstanding Etain Higgins rattled the Knockbride net to bring the deficit back down to two. A dominant closing quarter for Knockbride which seen them outscore Mullahoran 3-04 to two goals gave them a six-point lead at the break. Hardworking Gia McCabe hit the net followed by another Reilly point. Emilia Mussi hit back with a goal after excellent play from Brennan to keep her side within reach.
Ahead by three, Knockbride pushed further into a lead hitting 1-03 in quick succession with Reilly adding 1-02 to her tally and Kayley Connor pointing after good play in defence from captain Lauren Tully. The final score of the half went to Mussi who brilliantly found the net for the second time to keep her side within reach at half time.
The excellent Reilly opened the scoring after the break before the Higgin’s sisters Fainche and Etain added one apiece. Knockbride further extended their lead with three quick-fire points from Cait Galligan (2) and McCabe and with 18 minutes played in the second half the tie was all but wrapped up as Reilly converted a penalty to complete her hattrick.
To their credit Mullahoran, led by captain Fainche Higgins, kept battling with Higgins adding a further four points to her name. Reilly and McCabe pointed at the other end as Mullahoran hit a consolation goal in the closing minutes from corner-forward Moynagh.
Knockbride Scorers: Abby Reilly 3-07 (1-02f), Gia McCabe 1-02, Cait Galligan 0-02, Aoibhinn Smith 0-01, Ellie Reilly 0-01, Kayley Connor 0-01
Mullahoran Scorers: Emilia Mussi 2-00, Fainche Higgins 0-05 (1f), Etain Higgins 1-01, Kayley Moynagh 1-00, Shonagh Brennan 0-01