U17 Girls Cruise to Ulster Final

Match report and photos by TY students, Rosie McLaughlin and Kelsey McColgan

CCS 7-1 St. Aidan's Cavan

On a grey and windy Letterkenny afternoon, CSS played St. Aidan's of Cavan in the Ulster Semi Final. From kickoff the game settled into a physical battle and the windy conditions played their part. CCS started brightly with a couple of long range efforts from Niamh Lafferty and Orla Ward but the St. Aidan's keeper stood firm. It took until 24 minutes for CCS to create another meaningful chance, this time Aimee McLaughlin picked up on a loose clearance and played a precise through ball into Maeve Doherty who dispatched neatly under the advancing keeper, 1-0.

St. Aidan's rallied and on 27 minutes a corner taken from the right and was finished at close range by their striker, 1-1. Just before the break, Maeve scored two quick-fire goals to complete her hat-trick. The goals were identical. Two rasping shots by Orla Ward resulted in the keeper spilling both into Maeve's path and she finished tidily. 3-1.

After the break and with the wind at their backs, CCS dominated the game. Five minutes in it was 4-1, Maeve scoring an impressive fourth goal. A ball swung in from the right by Emily McLaughlin landed at Maeve's feet and she duly finished in the bottom left. The CCS defence was solid throughout, controlled by Imogen McCallion, Holly Fallon, Georgia Lafferty, Ava McGonagle, Sasha Doherty, and Keeva Conaghan. With 20 minutes to go, CCS added three further goals. Another excellent cross resulted in Aine McLaughlin scoring a brilliant header at the back post. Holly Fallon added number six as she tucked-in a goalmouth scramble and Niamh Lafferty added number seven as she skilfully chipped the keeper to score from 20 yards. A great victory for the CCS girls. Onto the final now!