YLFC Notes

U10’s Vs  Aghada (Sponsored by Doyles Restaurant & Take Away)

After a wonderful league campaign which saw the girls finish on top of the table, the draw was made and we got to face Aghada again at home in the East Cork A-grade semi-final.  On a cool very blustery Mondayevening under the lights at H.Q. the girls showed once again why it is they finished on top of the table in a very tense, tight affair (as most semi finals usually are).  It was only a few short months ago that these teams met and played out a hard fought draw so both teams were a little apprehensive going into the game.

The game started out at quite a fast pace with Youghal getting out of the blocks early with Aine Walsh scoring a lovely point – no, you are not seeing things – a point!  This settled the nerves a little for Youghal but Aghada looked dangerous every time they broke into the Youghal half.  The Youghal nerves were settled a little further when a lovely flowing move started with Emily Gallogoley playing the ball forward to Aoibhe O’Flynn who in turn played the played to Kaiah Bulman who then played the ball across to the irrepressible Aine Walsh to score her first goal of the evening.  If the Youghal nerves were settled slightly by the goal, they were certainly very frayed by the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half where Aghada enjoyed a period of dominance where they scored 3 unanswered points including a beauty by their midfielder.  In truth were it not for some heroic defending from Cassie Irwin, Caoimhe McMahon, Carragh Connolly and Lucy Nicholson and a wonderful save from Ellie Atkinson in goals, the score could have been very different following Aghada’s period of dominance.

The second half saw Youghal weather the storm and ever so slowly they began to put pressure on Aghada and started to get a foothold in the game.  The Youghal girls were running themselves into the ground with Aoibhe O’Flynn, Ciara Hanna, Emma Hickey and Mary Flavin working particularly hard for their teammates.  This hard work resulted in a further 2 goals from Chloe O’Connell and yes you’ve guessed it, Aine Walsh.  As Aghada pushed forward in search of scores a lot of space opened up in the middle of the park and it was Jenny Doyle who fed the ball into the excellent Hannah O’Keeffe who in turn played the ball to Aine Walsh who fittingly got the final score of the match when she put over a point for a fantastic personal tally of 2-2 from play.

But in reality this was a fabulous team effort from the girls who demonstrated a wonderful “never say die” attitude to knuckle down and do the hard work and subsequently reap the rewards.  This is nothing new of course as the girls have been doing this all season long and hopefully will continue to play football like this for a long time to come.  The entire U10 squad have been the reason the girls have reached this final and it is a credit to them that they have done so playing some beautiful football along the way.

Our thanks as always go to the supporters who turned out in droves to help their team along and we look forward to seeing you all again for the final against Glanmire.  Congratulations again girls on what is a fantastic achievement and best of luck in the final.

Team: E Atkinson, L Nicholson, C Irwin, C McMahon, C Connolly, J Doyle, E Gallogoley, C O’Connell, A O’Flynn, H O’Keeffe, C Hanna, E Hickey, K Bulman, M Flavin, A Walsh

Subs: L Daly, C Kennedy, B O’Flynn, N Kilgannon, M Tobin, R Walsh, A Cashman, K McCarthy, C Whelan, J Nicholson, C Hannon, E Kinsley

U10’s Vs Glanmire East Cork A-Grade Final (Sponsored by Doyles Restaurant & Take Away)

After the amazing scenes the previous night in Pairc Ui Rinn, the U10’s were hoping to do the double and bring home some silverware of their own.  Glanmire had already won the toss for home advantage and so the scene was set for who would take top honours at this level in East Cork.

The game didn’t exactly get off to a good start when a mix-up with the pitches in Glanmire meant that the match was delayed by approx. 30 minutes and this seemed to unsettle the Youghal girls more than the Glanmire girls.  Glanmire made the most of the seasiders slow start to the game and got a very early goal which seemed to leave Youghal even more shell shocked and there was worse to come.  A couple of minutes later some confusion about whether the ball had crossed the end line led to the Youghal girls effectively stopping whilst the Glanmire girls kept playing and got another goal.  This was followed very quickly by a third goal and so the match was pretty much over in the opening 5 minutes but once the Youghal girls got used to the faster tempo of the game at this level, the remainder of the match turned out to be a super game.

This was a real test for Youghal and the one thing this young squad of players never do is give up and so it was on the day of the final also.  Glanmire didn’t have it all their own way however, and Youghal were causing them problems when they were able to get past the Glanmire midfield.  Ten minutes into the game Youghal were going through a period of sustained dominance and were very unlucky not to get a goal or two during that period of the game.  The players to a girl were absolutely magnificent in how they went about playing the game as they have been all season.  Despite the fact that Glanmire went on and scored another 3 unanswered points, the way this Youghal team played for each other was superb and they never once dropped their heads but kept on playing football until the bitter end.  The moment of the match came towards the end of the game when all 25 of Youghals players were after getting a run.  Some space finally began to open up in the forward line and when the ball was played through it was Aine Walsh who latched on to the ball and put the ball over the bar to the delight of the crowd who let out a huge roar.

Although the scoreline reflected badly on the Youghal girls, in truth the game was a lot closer than the scoreline suggested and Youghal didn’t look out of place at all at this level.  This is the level Youghal want to be at and it was a real achievement in getting to this final in the first place.  The girls will have learned a lot from the experience and I have no doubt this game will stand to them in the years ahead.  This was another step on the ladder of what we hope will be a very successful future for this squad of players.  They were a credit to themselves, their parents and the club and we as a coaching team are very proud of what they have achieved this season.  Well done girls.

A special word of thanks to Ger Galvin (Costcutters) who kindly sponsored goodie bags for all the girls after the game and also to Mike and Tara Landers (Doyles Restaurant and Takeaway) who kindly sponsored the finger food for the girls when we got back to the clubhouse.  We would also like to say a special thank you to all the people who so kindly made sandwiches and teas/coffees for the troops on our arrival home and to all who helped make this a special day for the girls no matter what the result.  Thank you all so much.

Team: E Atkinson, L Nicholson, C Irwin, C McMahon, C Connolly, J Doyle, E Gallogoley, C O’Connell, A O’Flynn, H O’Keeffe, C Hanna, E Hickey, K Bulman, M Flavin, A Walsh

Subs: L Daly, C Kennedy, B O’Flynn, N Kilgannon, M Tobin, R Walsh, A Cashman, K McCarthy, C Whelan, J Nicholson, C Hannon, E Kinsley