MGL U16: Leixlip 8 Dunboyne 2 (Photo above)
Dunboyne knocked us out of the cup last season but a number of our girls put in their best ever performances this morning and Dunboyne just couldn’t live with us.
We scored after 4 minutes and kept going - a Lucy Morris goal, a forced OG and a Cara Moriarty hattrick had us 5-1 up after 25 minutes. Grace Kelly and Mare-Isabel Merenciuc-Sadoveanu playing out of their socks to support. In the second half Lucy ran half the pitch to score at close range and Sophie Dalton then added a fine brace. Dunboyne got very little joy all morning as right across the pitch the girls out worked them and kept control of the ball.
U16s B Leixlip 3-1 Templeogue
The league recently moved us up a division so this was our first league game of the season. Lads went ahead after 15 minutes with a bullet header from Tadhg O'Meara from a James Gaynor corner. Cillian Gamble made a great save to keep it 1 nil at half time. Templeogue got a deserved equaliser after some sustained pressure at the start of the second half. The lads responded well. Marti Jubert restored our lead midway through the second half with a sharp finish from the edge of the box. Jack Kelly scored a third goal with a great free kick with 15 minutes to go, and the lads closed out the game well. Templeogue won their league last year and went unbeaten, so this was a really good result for the team today.
Major 16s Lucan Utd 2-1 Leixlip.
Tough one to take, 1-0 up in the first half from a header from Robertas and playing well, then conceded 5 minutes before halftime to take it into the half level. 2nd half was a scrappy affair and it was decided with 15 mins to go by a mistake from us, and a great strike from them, We pushed but couldn't get an equaliser. A lot of positives to take from the game, but ultimately 1 mistake leaves us empty-handed.
U12A Tallaght Town 1-2 Leixlip United
Not the prettiest game on a blustery morning in Tallaght. We found ourselves 1-0 down inside the first minute after an in-swinging corner took a deflection and went in off the back post. Sam Cribben kept it to one with a finger tip save a few minutes later. We struggled to create chances until Eoghan Fahy picked up a loose pass from the Tallaght keeper and found the far corner to make it 1 all after 15 minutes. We created more chances in the second half and deservedly went ahead when Eoghan Fahy again pounced on a defensive error and got his second. Both teams saw a man sent off after a little scuffle, but we held on for a hard fought win.
U14A Leixlip 4 Sacred Heart 4
A great start saw James H Smiths quick throw put Rian Fahey through to score in the 1st minute.
We went on to really threaten from corners and James Smith headed against the post. Rian’s second came from us defending a corner well & captain Brendan battled well to put Rian through.
They drew one back by getting a penalty from a challenge in scrappy play - Dan saved but the penalty taker got to rebound first.
Then from great work from Brendan Carolan it was our turn to win a penalty and Aidan McConville scored calmly.
They scored a breakaway to make it 3-2 on stroke of half time
Second half turned into a very scrappy end to end game. Sacred heart equalised from a free kick into the box and again they were quicker to react. We hit back straight away and Rian Fahey raced through onto a ball over the top to get his hat trick. Sacred heart turned the screw but Aidan McConville came close when he chipped the keeper but it hit the bar . With the last attack of the game Sacred heart hit a speculative shot that Dan O'Reilly saved but again they were quicker to react and bundled it home. A draw probably a fair result but disappointing to concede so late.
Mission Accomplished for Senior Women's Team! A note from Manager,Terry Cassidy
Now that the dust has settled on the Senior Women's League, I want to say thanks for all the congratulations and good wishes for the Senior Women's A team. I also want to say thanks for the support we got from the club in general this season, and from Paul in particular.
By winning the league, not only have we got ourselves into the best division in the country but we've also created a pathway to the highest level for our fantastic underage players coming through. Any players that don't go on to play in the National League (or beyond) will now have the opportunity to play at the highest level and hopefully won't feel the need to go to other clubs. I think that's a massive thing for a community club like ours.
But it was very much a struggle to get going this year. We lost 11 players from last year's team and for a while it looked like we weren't going to have a team at all. We went to our first match of the season with 12 players and no goalkeeper but somehow managed to win 1-0. That win was against one of the teams that finished just behind us in the league so it turned out to be even more important than we first thought. By the end of the season our squad was down to 12 fit players but thanks to a massive dig out from the Under 18's and some of the B team players we got the job done.
At the start of the season my aims were firstly to get a team on the pitch and secondly not to get relegated,so I suppose we can say mission accomplished!
