U14 Wicklow v Laois - Late surge cost Wicklow a victory

The Wicklow u14 ladies faced Laois in the third round of the division “A” championship. The matched were played in Stratford under very good conditions, this was an important one for Wicklow to win to keep alive their hopes to reach the first four in the group and make the play offs.

The Wicklow team started of strong but despite their efforts conceded a goal in the 4th minute and a further point a minute later. The midfield of Calvin Swart and Suzanne O’Neill steadied the ship which let to point scored by Jessica Hurley. Quality ball came into the full forward line but Siofra Heffernan found it hard to beat the Laois defence. The next ten minutes saw a very good battle between the sides and it was Laois that scored next, two points and a goal before the 25 minute mark. The half back line of Aine MacDonald, Bridin Geoghan and Emma Marshall work very hard and got some excellent ball to the Wicklow forward line. This paid off as Claire O’Rourke scored a point and minutes later a great goal by Aine O’Reily. Laois scored a goal in the 30th minute what seemed to be the end of the first half but Wicklow wasn’t done yet. Josephine Doyle capitalised on a ball that bounced of the cross bar to score another goal. Georgina Canavan had the final say in this half as she scored another point for Wicklow. Half time score Laois 3-3 Wicklow 2-3.

The Wicklow full back line worked hard to keep Laois at bay but they still managed to score 3 goals within the first 12 minutes. Injury disaster struck Wicklow and Bridin Geoghan had to leave the field with a dislocated shoulder, also followed by Marie Clarke with an injured hand. Wicklow brought on Tara Brady, Joy O’Brien, Niamh Kenny and Beth Murphy in the back line and also later Amy Murphy, Rebecca Bowes and Megan Swart in the forwards. Laura McCarthy did her job well in goals with some great saves and accurate kicks from the goal line. Wicklow did not have much to celebrate in this half, Georgina Canavan scored another goal and Aine O’Reiley also added another point to het tally. The final score Laois 9-5 Wicklow 3-4.

This team have some very talented players that have played county football in u12 and u14, management decisions on the day did not work and we hope to see the true potential of these players in the remaining matches. Wicklow’s next game is against Wexford on Easter Monday in Pearses Park, Arklow at 1pm, all support will be welcome.