U15 Girls Soccer - Ulster Semi-Final
CCS 4-2 Inver College Carrickmacross
Match Report by Aoife Doherty TYF
The game started at a frantic pace. CCS, playing against a strong wind, had the first meaningful attack as Maeve Doherty beat her defender and crossed for Aine McLaughlin to shoot narrowly wide. CCS continued their early dominance as Orla Ward's precise corner was met at the near post by Keeva Connaghan, missing the target by inches. With the wind at their backs, Inver College settled and came into the game more prominently. After a spell of concerted pressure they opened the scoring on 15 minutes when a vicious 20-yard effort flew into the top of the net, giving the CCS keeper Imogen McCallion little chance.
Inver College really applied a lot of pressure on the CCS defence for the next 15 minutes but Zara Devlin, Holly Fallon, Eimear Doherty and Saoirse Monagle held firm to keep the score at 1-0. This resilience paid off...Five minutes before the interval, Niamh Lafferty won the ball in midfield and played a lovely pass down the channel to Keeva Connaghan. Keeva beat two defenders and neatly laid the ball back to Orla Ward who finish clinically from close range...1-1. Minutes later, Aine McLaughlin and Niamh Lafferty combined in midfield, the latter hitting a rasping shot that the keeper could not hold. Orla Ward was on hand again to tuck away the loose ball...2-1.
After the break, Inver College pushed hard for an equaliser, but Imogen McCallion pulled off a number of notable saves to keep them out. However, they did equalise 10 minutes into the second half when their centre forward hit a thunderbolt of a shot from 20 yards which went in off the post, giving Imogen no chance...2-2. CCS rallied; a through ball played by Aine sent Orla away on the right. She cut inside and with a right foot finish scored in the bottom left corner - an excellent goal from Orla to complete her hattrick. Ella McLaughlin caused the Inver defence many problems with her direct running, resulting in CCS wrapping up the game. One of Ella's mazy runs resulted in the Inver keeper clearing the ball to Maeve Doherty who expertly dispatched the gift into the bottom right corner, finishing this enthralling match as a contest. The final whistle blew to the jubilant cheers of the CCS team...final score 4-2.