MGL U18s Lee Brothers Cup Final
Leixlip United 2 - Lusk 1
The girls won their first silverware (after 9 years hard work!) last night in a tense cup final out at the AUL. It has been a long season for the girls, with not a huge number of matches - their last match was the semi final a month ago and initially the rustiness showed as we started on the back foot and took some time to adjust to the pace of the game. The water break came at the right time! We came back into the game much steadier. After 30 minutes, on the counter attack Katie Allen played a superb through ball that Emily Lynch controlled ahead of the centre back and as the keeper advanced, Emily rolled it home for 1-0. It wasn’t long for the second goal, with Emily harrying the defence in possession, winning the ball back and striking a speculative shot from the edge of the box that put us 2-0 up after 35 minutes. We were playing well at this stage, but just before the break Lusk pulled one back with a well taken finish inside the box for 2-1.
The second half was similar to the first with both teams having chances. Aine Murphy covered a huge amount of ground from midfield. The defence held strong as Lusk attacked. We came close with a long distance free kick from Maia Mulligan, Irina Canizares tested the keeper and late on Ava Carey had a shot that drifted wide. We had a few injuries in the second half, cramp was a factor for both teams, and it was great to see our strength in depth as the subs played very well. The last 10 minutes felt like half an hour, but the girls worked really hard to see out the win. Alison O’Connor was calmness personified in goals!
Emily was awarded a deserved Player of The Match. It really was a huge team effort from all 15 girls - everyone gave their all for the team and the trophy is a well earned reward!
Leixlip United 2 - Lusk 1
The girls won their first silverware (after 9 years hard work!) last night in a tense cup final out at the AUL. It has been a long season for the girls, with not a huge number of matches - their last match was the semi final a month ago and initially the rustiness showed as we started on the back foot and took some time to adjust to the pace of the game. The water break came at the right time! We came back into the game much steadier. After 30 minutes, on the counter attack Katie Allen played a superb through ball that Emily Lynch controlled ahead of the centre back and as the keeper advanced, Emily rolled it home for 1-0. It wasn’t long for the second goal, with Emily harrying the defence in possession, winning the ball back and striking a speculative shot from the edge of the box that put us 2-0 up after 35 minutes. We were playing well at this stage, but just before the break Lusk pulled one back with a well taken finish inside the box for 2-1.
The second half was similar to the first with both teams having chances. Aine Murphy covered a huge amount of ground from midfield. The defence held strong as Lusk attacked. We came close with a long distance free kick from Maia Mulligan, Irina Canizares tested the keeper and late on Ava Carey had a shot that drifted wide. We had a few injuries in the second half, cramp was a factor for both teams, and it was great to see our strength in depth as the subs played very well. The last 10 minutes felt like half an hour, but the girls worked really hard to see out the win. Alison O’Connor was calmness personified in goals!
Emily was awarded a deserved Player of The Match. It really was a huge team effort from all 15 girls - everyone gave their all for the team and the trophy is a well earned reward!
- Big thanks to all the supporters who came out to cheer on the girls too, it made for a great atmosphere. Definitely one of the highlights was Paul Martin's post-match congratulations.
