Athlone Ladies U12 D Final Vs St.Paul's/Delvin-  Saturday  6th Sept

The Sun was shining but the Athlone U12 girls were beaming twice as bright as they lifted the Cup on Saturday in a comprehensive win over ST. PAUL'S/ DELVIN on Saturday in Rochfortbridge.
In a very fast free flowing encounter where the ref put down her early marker that no contact, really meant no contact, the Athlone girls won the throw-in and showed that they were going to control the centre of the park this day, with Kasey Quinn relishing her captain's role and giving a commanding performance along with her equally impressive midfield partner, Keiva Reid.
The opening score came 2 minutes in with Kasey Quinn snatching up a clearance ball in the half forward line to slot over the first point for Athlone. This was followed rapidly by Keiva Reid as she put one over the bar.
St.Paul's battled bravely, but struggled to get the ball out past Athlone's half-forward line, Kate Faller, Aoibhe Wykes and Edel Cleary, who all gave excellent performances. The opening goal of the match came after 10 minutes when Ellen O'Connell at wing forward, charged towards goal, only to have her shot blocked by solid defending by ST. PAUL'S/ DELVIN full backs. The rebound fell to Alannah Farrell at full forward and she too was blocked, but Molly Larking at left wing forward snatched up the ball and made it third time lucky as she buried the ball in the back of the net.
This day was one for the Athlone forwards but the Backs showed how solid they can be on the couple of rare occasions when ST. PAUL'S/ DELVIN got past midfield. Ella McGlynn at centre half forward did as she has done all season and patrolled the centre of the park,  winning opposition ball when she had no business to do so, through skill and determination. Ella was aided capably in the half back line by Caroline Greene and Terry Byrne, who both pushed up into midfield to keep the opposition in their own half.  The full back line of Leah Nugent, Lucy Sheridan and Kalie Reynolds thankfully, saw little of the ball, but kept their opposition charges always in check and closed down any attacks, so that Niamh Tallon in goals had no stops to make in the match. Indeed the few breaks that ST. PAUL'S/ DELVIN got were pressured into going wide so that the first half finished with Athlone ahead by 2 Goals and 4 Points to no score as Keiva Reid drove a superb shot into the top of the net and Ellen O'Connell slotted over her first point, followed by Edel Cleary, who scored an incredible point for the score of the match from an almost impossibly tight angle on her right wing.

In the second half, this time with the wind, Athlone wasted some chances as the ball over carried beyond the end line for the first few minutes and it was ST. PAUL'S/ DELVIN who got the scoring off with their only score of the match, as their Big no. 9 was deemed to have been fouled and slotted over her free from about 30 yards out. Clare Reidy and Amy Nugent joined the fray in replacement for Alannah Farrell  & Molly Larkin after Molly took a knock just before half time and the fresh legs soon showed as Athlone got back to scoring ways.  Ellen O'Connell played off the ball her other full forwards won and relished the chance to find the back of the net, not just once,  but twice, also kicking over the first 2 points of the second half for Athlone to bring her match tally to 2 goals and 2 points. Ciara Lough came in to right half back along with Naoise Prendergast at left full back and helped win back the ball and close down any notions of attack from ST. PAUL'S/ DELVIN.
Roisin Kenny came in to replace Aoibhe Wykes in Centre half foward and was joined by Rosin Ni Dhuibhir who replaced Kate Faller. Rebecca Duddy came in to replace Terry Byrne at left half back and Aoife Dully also joined the defence at right wing back. Shauna Webster and Lucy Denby also got to fight for the ball as they came on to join the attack in replacement for Ellen O'Connell and Clare Reidy and then Marianna Doolan and Maire Siswanna were there to see the final whistle blown and the Cup lifted by Kasey Quinn as the Athlone girls lined up to do their by now customary "Wiggle" dance. Great credit must go to the beaten finalists ST. PAUL'S/ DELVIN as they battled valiantly and never gave up, giving an entertaining and free flowing match.

Final score- Athlone 4 Goals 7 Points, ST. PAUL'S/ DELVIN 1 Point

Athlone U12s- Forwards-  Edel Cleary, Lucy Denby, Kate Faller, Alannah Farrell , Roisin Kenny , Molly Larkin, Roisin Ni Dhuibhir, Amy Nugent,  Ellen O'Connell, Clare Reidy, Shauna Webster,  Aoibhe Wykes, - Midfield-  Kasey Quinn (C),  Kieva Reid - Backs- Terry Byrne, Marianna Doolan,  Rebecca Duddy, Aoife Dully, Caroline Greene, Ciara Lough,  Ella McGlynn,  Leah Nugent , Naoise Prendergast , Kalie Reynolds, Lucy Sheridan, Maire Siswanna - Goals- Niamh Tallon
Coaches- Sheila Buckley-Byrne, Dan Nugent, Adrian Quinn, Brian Tallon

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