St Brigid's v's Ballyboden St Endas semi final match report
- Jul 28,2016
BRILLIANT ST BRIGID’s - led by outstanding Dublin goalkeeper Ciara Trant and points machine Elaine Kelly - pulled off a phenomenal late late victory against rivals Ballyboden St Enda’s in the Dublin Senior Ladies’ Championship semi final, having twice stood on the brink.
The hosts, though, will be kicking themselves, as they twice went defensive in critical periods of injury time, and paid for attempting to stifle Brigid’s rather than press home their advantage.
Things were closely matched right from kick off, with early points from Brigid’s reeled in by Simone Reilly’s well taken goal at the near post for the hosts. Reilly was to be at the heart of much that was good about Boden, closely matched by her opposite number Elaine Kelly, with both number 14s scoring fluidly and efficiently wherever space allowed.
The ‘Boden goal sparked the home team into life, with Maria McGrath pointing impressively from distance off a run by half-forward partner Emily Flanagan during a period of dominance, before Enya Farrell and Kelly swiftly hit back to give Brigids a 0-7 to 1-3 halftime lead.
The second half was a continuation of a theme: Trant saved from close range, and swiftly appeared at the other end to stroke home a sharp penalty after Sally Jones was taken out by ‘Boden goalkeeper Jenny Flaherty.
Flanagan immediately hit back for ‘Boden, beating Trant’s desperate hand as she struck into the far corner from close in. Kelly and Reilly exchanged further pot shots, and leading by a point going into injury time, ‘Boden shut up shop.
For three minutes it worked: twice Brigid’s threatened, twice attacks were snuffed out, before the ever-effective Reilly popped up to point with the last kick and force injury time.
With ‘Boden still in a state of shock as the game restarted, Brigid’s snatched three quick extra time points, only to be pegged back by an almost petulantly brilliant flicked finish from Reilly, looping a loose ball over the head of Trant. Trant herself had athletically snatched at a close-range goal effort to palm it around her far post only a minute earlier.
The dominant Reilly added two more points to put the home side in charge, but the tiring hosts once again chose to crowd their own half and try to close out. With Trant charging up to kick frees from distance, Brigid’s clawed back a two point deficit as added time elapsed, before a frantic penalty area scramble saw the ball dropped to Leah Mullins ten yards out during one final attack.
Mullins made no mistake, turning and lashing past Flaherty with the final kick to give Brigid’s the most gutsy and spectacular of wins.
If ever there was an advert for ladies football, this was it: evenly matched, impassioned, played at pace and a real rollercoaster. Brigid’s 2-17 to 3-11 victory was pure nerve; both sides nothing less than sensational.
Report by,James Hendicott as published in the Dublin Gazette Thursday 28th of July 2016