Junior Roinn C County Semi-Final
Young Irelands Gowran 10-19
Piltown 3-4
An awesome individual tally of 7-7 from play by the exceptional Julie Lennon led the way for the Young Irelands Juniors, as they strolled to a staggering 36 point victory over Piltown on a most glorious Summer’s morning in Gowran on Sunday morning.
Kate Drennan also gave an exceptional 5 star display as she scored 2-7 all from play also, as all of Young Irelands 10-19 tally came from play.
The Gowran girls dominated from the outset & points from Kate & Ciara Bryan(2) gave them a 0-3 to 0-0 lead after just three minutes, before a Piltown goal in the 5th minute brought them level. 0-3 to 1-0.
That goal was as good as it got for Piltown, as the Gowran girls completely dominated afterwards.
Julie Lennon added her first goal, before clever intelligent play by Nessa Farrell found Kate Drennan who slotted home Young Irelands 1st goal in the 8th minute. 1-4 to 1-0.
Julie with a superb effort from play extended Young Irelands lead(1-5 to 1-0) in the 9th minute, before Piltown added a second goal moments later. 1-5 to 2-0.
Young Irelands added two further goals sandwiched in between a brace of Piltown points as they led 3-5 to 2-2 at the first water break.
Julie grabbed the first of her 7 goals in the 10th minute, before Kate Drennan returned the compliment as she turned provider for Nessa Farrell to finish superbly.
The Gowran girls accelerated their dominance further during the second quarter as they outscored Piltown 3-4 to 0-1 to lead 6-9 to 2-3 at the interval.
Julie Lennon & Ciara Bryan added further points in the 17th & 18th minutes respectively, before Julie added her second goal in the 22nd minute. 4-7 to 2-2.
Piltown added a pointed free shortly afterwards, before Kate Drennan grabbed her second goal in the 24th minute finishing off an superb team move.
A long clearance by the imperious Niamh Walsh found Julie in space who turned provider for Kate to finish. 5-7 to 2-3.
Kate added a brace of consecutive points in the 26th minute, before Julie Lennon completed her hat-trick of goals in the 28th minute as she scored an individual tally of 3-3 in the opening-half.
The Gowran girls continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over into the second-half, as they added further points from Kate Drennan, Julie Lennon(2) & the excellent Leah Brennan to stretch the lead further. 6-13 to 2-3.
Julie added her 4th goal in the 42nd minute followed by a point two minutes later. 7-14 to 2-3.
Piltown added a third goal in the 46th minute, but Young Irelands finished the closing quarter strongest as they outscored Piltown 3-5 to 0-1 with Julie adding a further three goals.
Further points came from Kate Drennan(3), Julie Lennon & Amy Lennon – goalkeeper who moved to the attack in the final quarter – to conclude the scoring.
A superb team performance from Young Irelands, but no doubt they can expect a far stiffer challenge from St. Brigids in the final who easily defeated Mooncoin 5-19 to 2-1.
As already mentioned, Julie Lennon & Kate Drennan led the way with 9-14 between them, while Niamh Walsh was magnificent at full-back with Aine Delahunty, Aisling Fitzpatrick, Marie O’Keeffe & Nessa Farrell doing plenty of good work.
Leah Brennan also made a highly valuable contribution with her strong work ethic around the middle third area.
YOUNG IRELANDS TEAM: Amy Lennon(0-1), Orlaith Byrne, Niamh Walsh, Aine Delahunty, Aisling Fitzpatrick, Eimear Naddy, Laura Langton(Captain), Ruth Loughlin, Marie O’Keeffe, Sinead Naddy, Ciara Bryan(0-3), Nessa Farrell(1-0), Julie Lennon (7-7), Kate Drennan(2-7), Leah Brennan(0-1)
U-16 GIRLS GAIN LAST GASP DRAW
The Young Irelands U-16 Girls gained a last gasp draw against highly fancied Mullinavat in a thrilling contest in the first round of the Championship in Gowran last Wednesday evening.
On a most glorious Summer’s evening, the match finished 3-4 apiece on after Mullinavat led 2-2 to 1-1 at the interval, with the Young Irelands goal coming from a long range effort by Doireann Farrell.
A brilliant goal from a penalty early in the second-half by the outstanding Julie Lennon narrowed the deficit to a solitary point(2-2 to 2-1), but Mullinavat responded with consecutive points to stretch the advantage by the end of the third quarter. 2-4 to 2-1.
Following the second water break, the Gowran girls kept plugging away, & points from a Julie Lennon free & the tireless working Lucy Coomey left just a point between the teams entering the final 5 minutes. 2-4 to 2-3.
When Mullinavat scored a fortuitous goal with just a few minutes remaining, they appeared to have secured victory as they led by 4 points. 3-4 to 2-3.
However, there was a further twist to follow.
Julie with a long range point narrowed the gap to three points, before an attacking move from Young Irelands deep into stoppage-time saw a goalmouth scramble develop as persistent pressure forced the sliothar over the goal line for the equalising goal.
It was a deserved share of the spoils for Young Irelands who displayed great character & determination throughout.
Julie Lennon led the way with an exceptional performance, while Eimear Brennan, Aine Delahunty, Doireann Farrell & Lucy Coomey were highly solid & in particular epitomized the fighting spirit shown throughout.
Meanwhile, the Minors & U-14s are both in action on Wednesday evening in Gowran.
The Minors play Ballyhale Shamrocks at 7.30pm, while the U-14s host Danesfort at 7.15pm.
