AGB win Wicklow U-12 League Cup

Arklow Geraldines Ballymoney 5-5. St. Nicholas
3-5.

Arklow Geraldines Ballymoney’s Whitney Roche will a personal tally
of four goals and three points looked like the cat that got the
cream as she watched her team captain Calvin Swarte lift the Morans
of Avoca sponsored U/12 league title cup, after they defeated
a much improved St.Nicholas side on Saturday last in Newtown.
Both sides put on an excellent display of football, playing with
determination, pride and passion, and there was never a lot between
the sides, but it was probably Arklows experience in a number
of crucial areas on the pitch that was the difference, full back
Vivienne Walsh gave her usual one hundred per cent performance
shoring up the Arklow defence while Aine Reilly showed her class,
especially in the second period when she was moved into midfield
along side Calvin Swarte, where Reilly seemed to be in two places
at the one time and her link up play with Whitney Roche was the
deciding factor in the final quarter.

Since both sides met last season, St. Nicholas have improved two
hundred percent, and will be one of the main contenders for the
U/12 championship, in particular their number eleven Samantha
Mills, Mills notched up 1-3 in this encounter and was unlucky
on a couple of other occasions. In the midfield area Emma Byrne,
Laura Miley, and Phoebe Bulman maintained a high work rate through
out the game. Arklows Jessica Hurley was first to rattle the St.
Nicholas net and raise the green flag with in the first minute,
Hurley’s team mate Whitney Roche returned the puck out over the
bar to notch up her first point of the game. St Nicholas’s response
came in the fourth minute, their top scorer Samantha Mills tagging
on her first point, however at this early stage the girls from
the west had notched up three wides that should have exercised
the umpire with the white flag. At the end of the first quarter
St. Nicholas’s Sam Mills brought her tally up to three points
to pare Arklows lead to the narrowest of margins as they took
a foot hold in the game, Mills was back on target again in the
eighteenth minute, when her lobbed shot dropped in under Lauren
Martin’s cross bar to put St. Nicholas into a two point lead and
apart from raising the green flag it also raised the blood pressure
of the Arklow mentors.

St Nicholas were starting to string accurate pass’s together and
were working the ball well from their hard working back line of
Sarah Kelly, Sinead Keogh, Niamh Sinnott, Aoife Brophy, and their
outstanding full back Anna Kelly. However Whitney Roche was on
hand to restore calm in the twenty second minute when she rifled
the ball past Anna Figgis to notch up her first goal of the game
and put her side one point ahead. And Arklow continued to find
the target, Roche adding a second goal and point, while team captain
Calvin Swarte tagged on two points to open a seven point lead
as Referee Michelle Brown signalled for the half time break. St.
Nicholas were not going to go down with out a fight, and they
took the game to Arklow Gers from the restart, Jade Manly and
Aoife Case reeled Arklows lead back to three points with a point
and goal with only four minute of the second half played. Arklow’s
manager Cathy Forde moved Aine Reilly into Centre field from corner
forward, a move that started the Reilly and Roche Double act,
and with in minutes of the change, Roche locked on to Reilly’s
accurate pass to slip the ball past Figgis to increase her goal
tally to three, Arklow were now two goals clear (4-4 to 2-4) going
into the final quarter. But St. Nicholas were having non of it
as Laura Miley’s long shot beat Arklows Lauren Martin, followed
by a point from Rebecca O’Neill to reduce the gap to two points
(4-4 to 3-5 ), and St Nicholas could have gone in to the lead
with O’Neill,Cathy Byrne, Emma Byrne and Aoife Case all going
close to reduce the gap, but were unable to break down the Arklow
defensive wall of Leona Byrne Vivienne Walsh, Sinead Arthur, Laura
Moseley, Kathy Furlong, Clionadh Byrne, and Dannielle kaye.

Arklow turned the screw by adding a further goal and a point from
the boot of their top scorer Whitney Roche ably assisted by Emma
Marshall , Jessica Hurley, Paula Maher, Beth Murphy, and Megan
Swarte. Wicklows Ladies fixtures secretary Dominic leech congratulated
both sides for a very sporting game, reminding these young players
that it not all about winning, its about enjoying the game, there
will be great games between these two sides on many occasions
in the future. Arklows captain Calvin Swarte raised the cup to
cheers from all the Arklow supporters, the cup was paraded through
Arklow, to finish off the celebrations.

Arklow Geraldines Ballymoney: Lauren Martin, Leona Byrne, Vivienne
Walsh,Laura Moseley, Danielle Kaye, Sinead Arthur, Clionadh Byrne,Calvin
Swarte Capt.( 0-2), Emma Marshall, Aine Reilly, Jessica Hurley
(1-0), Beth Murphy, Niamh Werder,Whitney Roche (4-3), Megan Swarte.
Subs: Kathy Furlong for Leona Byrne, Paula Maher for Niamh Werder,
Isobelle Geoghan, Kayleigh, Emma Furlong.

St. Nicholas: Anna Figgis, Sarah Kenny, Anna Kelly, Sinead Keagh,
Niamh Sinnott, Aoife Brophy, Phoebe Bulman, Emma Byrne, Laura
Miley (1-0), Jade Manly (0-1), Samantha Mills (1-3), Rebecca O’Neill
(0-1), Cathy Byrne, Aoife Case (1-0), Aoife Sinnott.

Referee: Michelle Browne (Valleymount).