U14 girls:
Tullylish vs Ballymartin (02/05/10)
On an overcast Sunday morning Tullylish took on Ballymartin in a high scoring match with the local girls emerging successful after a keenly fought contest.
Despite opening the scoring with a well taken point Tullylish lost centre half forward Niamh Toner after only three minutes through injury. With no substitutes on the bench it left the girls with only 14 players for the duration of the match against Ballymartins 15. This seemed to dismay the girls as they conceded three goals and a point in quick succession with only a single point from full forward Mise Connolly in reply. Tullylish needed a lift and it came from inspirational captain Ciara Hendron. Winning the kick out Ciara strode forward beating a number of tackles to put the ball over the bar before nearly repeating the feat minutes later only to be denied by the bar.
A point for point display of football took place for the next five minutes but the relentless Ballymartin pressure and the presence of an extra player was causing severe pressure for the Tullylish team. The hard work of the full back line Ursula Mc Clatchey, Sinead Mc Cartan and Claire Weir and the brilliance of goalkeeper Chloe O Hanlan was just about keeping the girls in the game as the attacks from Ballymartin were now continuously coming.
At half-time the score read Tullylish 1–5 Ballymartin 5-4. It seemed there would only be one winner at this stage but the Tullylish team were about to show otherwise with an outstanding second half display amongst the best this team has ever produced.
With Ciara Grimley dropping into a defensive midfield role this allowed her midfield partner Ciara Hendron to push further forward, this was to prove the source of the Tullylish revival. Both girls combined to score many points in quick succession. Good support play from corner forwards Shannon Doran and Krista Miller helped Mise hit a goal and two points and suddenly Tullylish were back in the game.
Shortly after, Ballymartin made two substitutions to try and halt the Tullylish impetus but to no avail. Centre half forward Sophie Byrne and full forward Mise continued adding to the scoreboard leaving only two points between the sides. Ballymartin retaliated with a goal but the Tullylish half back line of Mary Mc Cartan, Caoimhe Brady and Tracy May Mc Atamney ensured this would be the last one with an excellent display of defensive work. Tullylish finished the game with two goals from the excellent Sophie, three points from the green boots of Mise and a great goal from Ciara Hendron which came from half forward Leah Connolly winning a hard earned free deep in her own half. The time the referee blew for full time the score read Tullylish 6–18 Ballymartin 7–5.
This was an incredible display of football by each and every one of the girls and they should take great pride in their performance. Big thanks to all the supporters who turned up to cheer the girls on.