Arklow U-14's compete at the very higest level

LADIES ALL IRELAND U14 7-A-SIDE COMPETITION

AGB U/14 All Ireland sevens competition 2007

The reigning U/14 ladies county champions Arklow Geraldines Ballymoney,
represented Wicklow at the All Ireland U14 7-a-side competition
held annually at Kilmacud Crokes, Dublin, last Saturday the 22nd
September. A panel of 14 girls travelled to Dublin – Jessie McElheron,
Aife Kavanagh, Sam Kelly (captain), Rebecca Condren, Hannah Tew,
Naomi Roche, Kayleigh Crammond, Calvin Swart, Shauna Fleming, Lucia
O’Grady, The competition had 32 teams involved divided into 8 groups
of 4. Each group was played on a round robin basis. Arklow was drawn
in a group including- Carryduff from County Down, Robert Emmets
from Donegal and Tullamore from County Offaly. Arklow’s first match
was against Carryduff. The team started slowly and took a long time
to settle into the game. After five minutes both teams had a goal
and a point, Arklow’ scores coming from Aife Kavanagh. However in
the latter period Arklow settled and rattled in three goals, two
from Aife Kavanagh and one from Calvin Swart who seemed tireless
in her pursuit of the match. Arklow then relaxed and ran out easy
winners after scoring three goals in the second half. The final
score was 7-1 to 1-1.

The second match was against Robert Emmets who had also won their
first match. In this game the girls were out of the blocks very
quickly and were 7-1 to 1-3 at half time . The scorers were Aife
Kavanagh- 3 goals, Kayleigh Crammond – 2 goals, Calvin Swart – 1
goal and Jessie Mc Elheron 1 goal and a point. Arkow took the foot
of the pedal in the in the second half and scored 1-4 to Robert
Emmets 1-2. The final score was 8-5 to 2-5. Great play was demonstratedby
Naomi Roche, Sam Kelly and Hannah Tew in the backs and mid field.
The final match in the group was against Tullamore. Even though
the play in the first half was evenly matched Arklow led by 3-1
to 1-3 at half time.

In the second half Arklow ran away with the game and score 5-1 to
Tullamore’s 1 goal. The final score was 8-2 to 2-3. The scorers
for Arklow were: Kayleigh Crammond – 5 goals, Jessie Mc Elheron
– 2 goals, Aife Kavanagh 1 -1 and Shauna Fleming 1 point. Having
topped their group Arklow now qualified for a play-off against the
second team in another group. Again Arklow’s play was top quality
and playing with skill and confidence scored 4 goals to 1-1 in the
first half with Kayleigh Crammond ramming home 3 goals and Aife
Kavanagh 1 goal. In the second half Kayleigh Crammond and Aoife
Kavanagh added a goal a piece and Jessie Mc Elheron scored 1-1.
The final score was 7-2 to 3-3. Arklow drew Clare Galway in the
quarter final and approached the game full of confidence and self-belief.
Their opponents were also secure in the knowledge that they had
scored an average of 10 goals against their opposition on the road
to the quarter final. Arklow started the game very poorly with their
opponents three gaols and a point to the front after 5 minutes of
the first half. Arklow managed to steady the ship and got to the
half time break down 4-3 to 1 goal scored by Lucia O’Grady. In the
second half Arklow were more competitive and despite squandering
a numbe of chances succumbed by 6-2 to 2-1.

Arklow’s disappointment was somewhat tempered when Clare Galway
went on to beat the Banner of Clare in the semi-final and Oldcastle
of Meath in the final by victories in excess of 8 goals. It was
a great day for the players. A lot was learnt by playing some of
the best ladies u 14 footballers in Ireland and it demonstrated
that the team can now compete at the very highest level.