Maynooth claim Newbridge double
Well done to the Senior and u16 girls football teams who both beat Newbridge Holy Family last week in their respective competitions.
The senior game, played on Monday, was a comeback tail for the ages with Maynooth coming from 8 points down with 3 minutes to go, to win by a point with the last kick of the game. The first half was an even affair everywhere but the scoreboard, as Newbridge held a 3-3 to 0-3 lead. Maynooth had plenty of goal chances, the best one a rasping shot from Ava Cullen which hit the crossbar, but the ball just wouldn’t go under or over the bar for the girls in the first 30 minutes. The second half didn’t start much better with Newbridge extending their lead out to 12 points with a goal straight from the throw in. The Maynooth girls never gave in though and took over the game from this point on, with Ella Hayes, Sile Flood and Ali Cullen starting to dominate around the middle and Niamh Krahn and Aine Caffrey making great runs from wing back. The girls continued to chip away at the Newbridge lead with points from Ciara Mahon, Sile Flood, Eabha Cahill and the Cullen sisters, but another goal from Newbridge put the difference at 11 points with about 10 minutes remaining. Finally all the Maynooth pressure started to tell with Niamh Hayes getting a goal which cut the deficit to 8 points. With 4 left on the clock Aisling Gaffney then rifled one into the top corner and Maynooth’s tails were up. Ava Cullen cut in from the wing to hit the back of the net (must of been the boots!) with 1 minute left to play. The resulting kickout was Newbridge’s and as they attacked it looked like the comeback was in vain, but the Maynooth backs created a great turnover getting the ball quickly up the wing. Ciara Mahon took a shot from a tight angle which went across the face of the goal and super sub Niamh Hayes was there to toe poke the ball to the net. With that the final whistle went and miraculously Maynooth got out of Newbridge with a 1 point win! The last 5 minutes of the game were worth watching alone for any Maynooth supporter, with as dramatic a finish as you will see, but the effort and never say die attitude of the girls throughout the game was immense and hopefully it’s a sign of things to come for this fantastic team! Final score Maynooth 4-9, Newbridge 5-5
The u16 game on Friday was a much more straight forward victory as the girls ran out convincing winners on a score line of 8-15 to 1-9. Maynooth we’re missing two of the heroes from Monday’s game as Niamh Hayes and Ava Cullen weren’t available but the talent in the school meant that the girls weren’t missed in the starting line up. Hannah Davis and Hannah Prendergast tore it up at 11 and 14 scoring 6-4 between them and 0-4 coming from the midfield pairing of Aine Caffrey and Ella Hayes. The Maynooth backs were immense throughout the game, marshaled by Emma Tilly at centre back and Aine Dooley at full back. Newbridge’s only goal coming from a last minute penalty that the ref did very well to see from the half way line! Well done to all the girls on the panel who started the campaign off on a emphatic note!