U13 Girls Match Report

Our Girls travelled to the AUL Complex by coach on Sunday, leaving Kicoole around 12:30.

A first for both our girls and the club in that the club have a Girls U13’s squad reach the final of the Division 1 DDSL League Cup.

The girls were buzzing on arrival to the venue. There were multiple finals going on with hundreds of supporters cheering on their clubs.
There was an energy around the place that added to the excitement of reaching the finals.

Once we reached Pitch 4, the girls quickly settled and got into their pre match routine. If the girls were nervous it wasn’t showing as they warmed up and set themselves out for the match start.

St.Anthony’s Girls spent most of the first half defending against the pacy forward line of Leicester Celtic and did so well until 5 mins to go from half time when a deflected shot ran through the defence into the back of the St. Anthony’s net.

The second half started brightly for our girls who managed to string some good passing play together but Leicester Celtic regained possession and attacked Grace Smiths goal with pressure. Many great saves from our shot stopper, last minute tackles from the defence and always supported by the forwards having to sit deep to ensure the Leicester Celtic lead was not doubled.

Our girls shifted gears with around 10 minutes to go and created 3 nail biting chances. One being nodded over the bar from Grace F, one deflected behind by Amelia and one almost placed inside the post from Annabelle. St. Anthony’s girls finished the half on top but unfortunately ran out of time in the tie and finished runners up in this years U13’s Club Force Division 1 League Final.

Credit to Leicester Celtic, they played at a really high quality of football and just nicked the tie this time around.

Our Girls (and coaches) picked up our runners up medals in the presentation arena and clapped in the winners before heading back to the coach.

Amazing achievement for a squad that only began playing competitively 8 months ago, moved up 2 divisions and should be proud to return with their Runners up medals.

This achievement becomes a benchmark for future success.

As always, the travelling support was just amazing, they never ever run out of energy when it comes to their support and the coaching team thank them for their efforts.

Finally thanks to our captain for the match Millie Dunne for her great contribution and leadership.

Suzanne, John and Tom