U14'S POWER TO LEAGUE CUP FINAL VICTORY
GREAT COMEBACK SHOWS GRIT
Monday 24/07/2023
The under 14 ladies’ division 4 league final between Dunmore McHales and St. Gabriels was played in glorious sunshine in Dunmore on Monday evening.
The first half was a tight affair with Dunmore starting the brighter of the teams. They applied a lot of early pressure with long ranging runs from their midfield and lead by 2 points to no score early in the first half. Saint Gabriel’s slowly grew into the game and important scores from Maia Nevin, Della Griffin and Shiona Bowes left a single point in it at the break, with Dunmore leading 4 points to 3. Despite having missed a couple of scorable chances, St. Gabriel's remained determined.
In the second half Dunmore opened the scoring again to go two points up. Scores again were hard to come by with both sets of defences on top. However, midway through the second half the breakthrough came for Dunmore with their midfielder powering through a stubborn defence to score a powerful goal.
St Gabriel's hadn’t scored since the final minutes of the first half and now trailed by 5 points well into the second half. The Dunmore goal seemed to spur St Gabriel's on and a few minutes later Della Griffin powered through to score a much needed goal for St Gabriel's. This gave St Gabriel's great momentum and the forwards sparked into life. Amy Broderick making great moves tackled on a point. Della Griffin added two more points and another great goal to give St Gabriel's the lead for the first time in the game.
St Gabriel's half back line began to dominate with Keela Donnelly Meehan and Ruth Jennings powering forward at every opportunity. Our two U12 girls Rebecca Newton and Isabella Brady came on and slotted in seamlessly. St Gabriel's captain Shona Mannion whom played really well in defence moved up to bolster the forward line and contributed another goal from a long range effort. Substitute Aoibheann Smyth came close to adding another but for a fine save by the Dunmore goalkeeper.
Dunmore tried hard but couldn’t break down the St Gabriel's defence with Isabell Costello putting in a fine display at full back alongside Rebecca Clancy & Katie Gallagher. Erin Nevin displayed great tenacity in goal preventing what could have been two certain goals with outstanding saves. Midfielder’s Ella O’Meara and Maia Nevin worked tirelessly covering every blade of grass. Both girls got great scores and set up countless attacks. Lily Campbell, Lorna Jennings and Lauren Walsh Sheppard showcased tenacious tackling throughout the game, causing headaches for Dunmore's defence in their attempts to clear the ball.
St Gabriel's displayed great character to get back into the game after going 5 points down in the second half. Their outstanding performance saw them outscore Dunmore 3-7 to 1-7, fully deserving the victory and claiming the cup.
Onwards and upwards to the championship in September.
U16 DIVISION 5 SHIELD CHAMPIONS
ALL ROUND TEAM PERFORMANCE WINS IT
Match Summary 18/07/2023
On a beautiful evening in Aughrim, St Gabriel’s Ladies came away with a brilliant and well deserved win against a very competitive and determined Claregalway side.
St Gabriel’s started the match very strongly, and put together some lovely passages of play, leading to some great early scores. This set the tempo for the rest of the game, and drove St Gabriel’s onto victory.
Saoirse Conway put in a superb performance in goal for St Gabriel’s, whilst also driving up the pitch creating numerous attacking opportunities for Gabriel’s.
Racheal Malone, Isabelle Costello, Emma Burke, all worked tirelessly throughout the game, putting in solid performances with Megan Daly, Keela Donnelly Meehan, and Kieara Manning all doing super work, just in front of them, cutting out all danger.
Our midfield duo of Ribh Fournet and Ella O’Meara, covered every blade of grass on the pitch, both putting in a serious effort, which drove the team on even further.
Maia Nevin was superb throughout the match, with absolutely nothing phasing her, as she pushed forward at every opportunity, getting some great scores herself too. Likewise on the other side of the pitch, Della Griffin put in a super performance, linking up well with all around her.
Shiona Bowes, took score after score in her stride as she converted a majority of St Gabriel’s points tally. Some super scores from Shiona, a wand of a left foot. Up top with Shiona, Ciara Hillary, Aishling Keighrey and Sienna Malone also put in some shift, working very hard up there, breaking up play, and creating scores also.
Lily Campbell was tremendous, when introduced, along with Sarah Manning and Amy Brodrick, who all worked very hard to keep the momentum going to ultimately win the game.
A massive thanks to Claregalway for a great match. A special mention must also go to Padraig Downey, Gerry Greaney and everyone involved in having the pitch looking so well.
And a big thanks to Valerie for hosting the players and parents afterwards up in Valerie’s.
A massive thank you to the committee as always for their support of this team.
UNPRECEDENTED TIMES
MATCHES DURING COVID
There is no doubt that the worldwide Covid 19 pandemic curtailed many sporting events across the island of Ireland and as such many matches were cancelled & postponed during 2020 onwards, through to the lifting of many of the restrictions in 2022. St Gabriel's Ladies GAA Football Club endeavoured to help in stopping the virus spreading by it's adherence to HSE & Government rules and regulations when applied to sporting clubs and associations in the state. St Gabriel's Ladies hope to bring more match reporting from their 2023 season as it gets underway.
Please view links to other match reports for previous seasons below.
2020/2021
2020/2021
2020/2021
CLICK ABOVE FOR 2020/21
St Gabriel's Ladies
MATCH REPORTS
2019
2020/2021
2020/2021
CLICK ABOVE FOR 2019
St Gabriel's Ladies
MATCH REPORTS
2018
2020/2021
2018
CLICK ABOVE FOR 2018
St Gabriel's Ladies
MATCH REPORTS
2017
2017
2018
CLICK ABOVE FOR 2017
St Gabriel's Ladies
MATCH REPORTS
2016
2017
2016
CLICK ABOVE FOR 2016
St Gabriel's Ladies
MATCH REPORTS
2015
2017
2016
CLICK ABOVE FOR 2015
St Gabriel's Ladies
MATCH REPORTS
the biggest small club in the west
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