On a beautiful sunny afternoon, the Celbridge Ladies Under 14 team travelled to St. Laurence's in Narraghmore to play Suncroft in the 2023 Under 15 Division 8 Final.
It had been a tough campaign with loses to very good Castledermott and Suncroft teams in the round robin phase of the competition. However, with a full squad and a fine semi-final win over Castledermott under the belt, we travelled in a positive mood. Celbridge won the toss and played with the slight wind in the first half.
Starting very strongly, Celbridge had the ball in the Suncroft half for most of the first 15 minutes, scoring 1-4, but Suncroft showed their danger, scoring a goal with their only attack of the quarter. Celbridge continued to apply pressure as the half wore on with some fine scores ending the half ahead 5-5 to 2-1. The girls committed at halftime to stay focused and protect the lead in the second half.
Some beautiful kick and hand passing, keeping to ball low and using our fitness to keep running at Suncroft left the score 6-7 to 3-3 at the second water break. The girls had committed to each other before the game that they would all commit for the full 60 minutes and that they did. Buckling down for the final quarter, several Suncroft attacks were broken down and Celbridge kept applying pressure.
The game ended 7-7 to 3-5 in a fine victory for Celbridge with 8 separate girls scoring in an all-around team performance.
