Tower stand tall in Shield Final
By Fergus Balfe
RUTHLESS Round Tower delivered a finishing masterclass, as they powered to a big win over Whitehall Colmcille in the Ladies Football Under 17 Division Three Shield Final in Moyle Park College on Saturday.
The Towers forward line was in flying form throughout the one-sided affair, as a prolific first-half spell saw them take an 11-point interval lead, before they held off a spirited Whitehall showing to clinch the title.
Round Tower's Lucy cullen is tracked by Whitehall's Gabriella Douglas
Colmcille’s converting of chances frequently let them down, as was in evidence early on, when a good ball downfield from midfielder Lisa Maher put half-forward Sarah Quinn through on goal, but she struck the post with her effort on goal.
Meanwhile at the other end, Towers kept the scoreboard ticking over, as forwards Megan Hoyte, Kate Whelan and Chloe Fallon Corcoran all got off the mark.
Maher eventually broke her side’s duck midway through the half with a well-taken free from the right, but Towers hit back in perfect fashion, when an excellent flowing move involving Hoyte and midfielder Emma O’Malley was finished into the net by half-forward Kirsten Gaffney.
This was the first of three quickfire goals, shared among the forwards, as the Clondalkin side seized control of the game, with the impressive Whelan feeding full forward Aoife Kennedy to dispatch the second moments later.
Just one minute afterwards, they netted a fortuitous third from the outstanding O’Malley’s long forward pass, as the bouncing ball deceived the Whitehall defence and Fallon Corcoran got her hand to it to direct it past goalkeeper Erin O’Dowd.
Both O’Dowd and opposing keeper Nora Aga came to their sides’ rescue to prevent further goals before half-time, denying Hoyte and Aoibhinn Quinn respectively, while a further score apiece from Whitehall’s Maher and Towers’ Kennedy made it 3-4 to 0-2 at the break.
Despite the large deficit, Whitehall were determined to go down fighting, and notched a couple of wonderful scores from substitute Claire Rigbey when play resumed, after powerful running from fellow replacement Ciara Douglas.
Nonetheless, Round Tower simply bided their time, and when the opportunity arose they hit the net once again, as sub Hannah Clarke picked out Whelan with a clever pass, and she fed Hoyte for an ice-cool finish into the corner.
Towers’ fifth three-pointer minutes later was a somewhat fortunate one, as Whelan hit the crossbar and the ball fell for Hoyte to slip home the rebound.
In the final quarter, the ever-willing Whitehall got the consolation goal their efforts deserved, when Aoibhinn Quinn turned her marker and slotted into the net.
However, there was no doubting this was Round Tower’s day, and they even had time for one last goal when replacement Leah Doyle eventually forced the ball home following a goalmouth scramble, rounding off a dominant display, with captain O’Malley raising the Shield.
RD TOWER….6-7
WHITEHALL..1-5
ROUND TOWER: N. Aga, N. McGattan, K. Doyle, A. Dowd, C. Skikun, C. Morris, E. O’Brien, E. O’Malley, E. Roebuck, K. Gaffney, M. Hoyte, K. Whelan, C. Fallon-Corcoran, A. Kennedy, E. Kiely. SUBS: L. Cullen, A. Byrne, H. Clarke, L. Doyle.
WHITEHALL COLMCILLE: E. O’Dowd, R. Connolly, K. Hayden, R. Fitzsimons, G. Douglas, D. Conway, M. Cullen, L. Maher, H. Meehan, A. Finlay, S. Quinn, K. Connolly, J. Barry, A. Quinn, E. Hallion. SUBS: L. McDonald, C. RIgbey, C. Douglas.
TAGS Sport
