Dublin Minor Ladies snatch a draw in All Ireland Final
Peter Hickey pictures at gaapics.com
The Minor A final was even more exciting between Dublin the 2012 All
Ireland Champions and Galway who had knocked out Cork in the Semi Final.
Sylvester's had Niamh Harney starting at left corner back and Ciara Lynch
listed with number 18 on her back as third sub. This game started at a very
fast pace with the favorites Galway running into a very big first half
lead. For some reason the Dubs seemed to suffer stage fright at the start
and with Thomas Davis talented corner forward Ciara McGuigan double marked
the Dubs were 9 points down at half time. Some changes were made in the
second half and Dublin began to find a bit of form. They had had a good
deal of the play in the first half but seemed to have left their shooting
boots in Dublin.
Galway were fairly physical but were giving away frees outside the 20 meter
area on both wings which the Dubs in the first half were failing to
convert. Sean Kavanagh would be proud of the Galway backs, but I don't
think Joe Brolly will be taking them out for a drink any time soon.
The plan as far as the Dubs were concerned changed with a couple of big
girls going into the full forward line. Aoife O'Brien & Maria McGrath of
Ballyboden St Enda's, Margaret Mohan Clontarf & Kate Dwyer St Margret's all
came in and made a big impression in the second half. However the player of
the match Carla Rowe of Clan Mhuire put in a man? of the match performance
in pushing the whole team forward to come back into this game.
Our own Niamh Harney also made the big St.Sylvester's following very proud
with her effort at pushing the Dubs team forward. Unfortunately Niamh
suffered a calf injury and was carried off in the second half. Apparently
she will receive the best treatment next week and there is a good chance
she will be back for the replay.
As the title of this article indicates the Dubs came back with two late
goals to provide one of the most exciting finishes to a game we have seen
for a long time. The replay should be another great game. The date will be
decided in the next couple of days.
Our own Peter Hickey will post some very good photographs of this game.
Suas Leis Na Dubs.
Eddie Ó Mórdha