League Match - Division 4 - LGFA U14's Round Towers Vs Celbridge - (Pitch in Kildare Town)

Match Report

This match was originally scheduled to take place on the 28th of March, but! due to a number of girls on both teams making their Conformations on the same week, Round Towers GAA suggested we move the match to the Monday before (20th Mar 2017), under flood lights @7.45pm and Celbridge agreed.

However! this posted its own problems for the Celbridge U14's girls football team on the night, as some of the girls had played a Camogie U14's blitz the day before and 3x girls out of the starting players from the U13's football final had got injuries at the camogie blitz on the Sunday and were unable to play the match, of course it got worse, as 3x more key players were ruled out of the match as well, because of school confirmation prep mass commitments. So with 6x players out from the original division 6 winners team from October, the U14's management team had allot of changes to make!

It was a very cold night, but! the pitch at round towers was in excellent condition and a credit to the club and it was under full flood lights for the match. Both teams had never played each other before, so neither team knew each others strengths or weaknesses. It had all the making of an excellent game! With lots of Parents & Guardians ready to watch the game and give support.

Emma Lynch the Celbridge U14's football captain had won the coin toss and picked to play from left to right for the first half into the wind. The game was on and within 5 mins of play, Celbridge had scored a goal, but! that was short lived, because Round Towers scored a goal within 1 min and the sides were level. Then, within another 5 minutes, Round Towers had two shots at goal saved from the Celbridge goalkeeper Niamh Barnes, who was on top form tonight, unfortunately a free kick which was then deflected into the Celbridge goal was unpreventable and now had Round Towers with two goals, this was followed by a great point from play and it was Round Towers 2-1 to Celbridge 1-0 after 15 minutes of play.

The U14's management team (Paul & Brendan) made a substitution and changed around 3x players within the team into different positions, to resolve any gaps (around the 17th minute) and then the game completely changed. The Celbridge defense with Emma, Meabh, Nikki, Tara, Orla held strong, the midfield were also in full form, with some excellent battles and solos, followed by points from Megan and Laura and before long, some excellent scores from Laoise in the full forward line, this was helped by Rebecca. The Celbridge full forward line had full drive on and every player was making fantastic strides within the team, like Eaibhin, Erica, Vivienne and by the end of the first half whistle, the score had changed to Round Towers 2-1 to Celbridge 3-3.

It didn't get much easier for the towers on the second half, as even all the Celbridge subs were in top form and all made impacts on the game at hand. It was impossible to pick who the best player was on the night, as all of the girls were a credit and the scores just kept going. Round Towers did score another great point near the end, but! with the heavy rain now coming down, the game had gone beyond reach. A truly fantastic game from all of the girls on both sides, but! Celbridge were the team of the night! with the score ending:

Round Towers U14's Girls 2-2, Celbridge U14's Girls 6-7

Needless to say, the U14's Celbridge Management Team were delighted with the girls, as even missing 6x players from the team had made no difference to the teams work ethic: "Working together as a team for each other, to the end". 

Final Score: 

Round Towers U14's Girls 2-2 Celbridge U14's Girls 6-7 

(Division 4 - Kildare LGFA U14's League - Match 1)