U17 League match report
March 30, 2015
U17 League Round 3
Suncroft 1 - 2
Sarsfields 6 - 8
Sarsfields made the short trip to Suncroft for round 3 of the U17 league and came out on top in a thrilling game. The Sash girls were up against it from the start playing into a strong wind for the opening half. Despite this they were first on the scoresheet with a point from Aine Fisher and a goal from Lauren Farrelly giving them a dream start.
Suncroft fought back but they met their match in the determined Sash rearguard with the full back line of Aoife Sharkey, Aoife Farrelly and Roisin Cullen stopping virtually all attacks. In front of them Sarah Brady, Madeline Ronayne,Hayley Donohoe and Orlaith Taylor worked tirelessly closing down all runs from the Suncroft attack. The excellent work of the Sarsfield rearguard restricted Suncroft to a solitary point for the first period despite playing with the wind. Sarsfields were unlucky not to extend their lead as Etain Keeley rattled the woodwork with a super shot, however they managed to add a couple of scores before the break with a goal from Molly Cassidy and a point from Lauren Hetherington.
In the second half Sarsfields went out full of confidence as they now had the wind in their backs, however first blood of the half went to the home team as Suncroft pointed with their first attack. Sarsfields broke forward quickly and responded with an Emma Reilly point. Suncroft refused to give up though and quickly hit back with a goal to bring the deficit back to four. Again the Sash responded in kind and Lauren Farrelly hit another goal to keep her team on top. The home team launched another attack and broke through the Sarsfields defence but this time were met by the Sash keeper Iva Mekarova who pulled off a superb save from close range. This seemed to deflate the home team and the rest of the match belonged to the visitors. Kellie Fisher pointed for them before a brace of goals virtually finished the game as a contest. Sarsfields Emma Reilly scoring the first before Lauren Farrelly fired to the net to complete her hat trick. Molly Cassidy then put over three points before another Emma Reilly goal completed the scoring.
Despite the poor conditions both sides contributed to an excellent game of football and full credit must go to the girls of both teams who displayed such fight and skill throughout the match.
