Cróga Newsletter

Cróga Newsletter

The St Johns Ladies Minor Team

FINAL PREVIEW AND BACKGROUND

Welcome to the Cróga for minor ladies. The idea of cróga is to keep you up to date with games, plans and schedules. It’s also designed to keep the ladies engaged as it reports on their games and their great performance with action packed photos!

Cróga means brave and regardless if our ladies win, lose or draw what’s important is their competitive bravery. Our ladies have proven over the last few years that there is no shortage of that. Thanks to the mentors and parents who help set pitches up.

Ballinteer St Johns Minor Team

Final Score BSJ 4-10 Crumlin 2-5

Another day another final. After a replay, our senior team won the division 2 championship and will be playing division 1 next year.

What a result! We have the chance to do the double and win the Division 3 Championship and move into Division 2. Exciting day for these talented ladies and their amazing mentors. For a number of the ladies’ memories of Devine Word and Cumann na mBunscol final win in Croke Park. We got the whole school out that day hopefully we will get the club out this time. I guess there are about 6 from that day.

How have we got to the final?

The championship 2022... After games against Skerries, St Annes and Clontarf there were three teams on the same points. Every point and goal mattered! Thankfully St John, the saint responsible for close calls, intervened got us over the line. Big respect is needed to the team that played against Clontarf in the end of September and especially the younger players who had to step in! We were missing so many players we were expecting damage limitation. All went to plan, and we were losing the game by 7 points ten minutes into the second half. I was about to head to the Marley Market for a coffee and blueberry muffin when the comeback started. You could feel it like a strong breeze. They dug deep and found a hidden Duracell battery. Somehow, we raised our game and put in an unreal last 20 minutes to win the game by a few points. The younger players stepped up. Incredible display of skill and grit. Never write a BSJ team off! As a result, we came second on goal difference. On the other half of the table Good Counsel and Crumlin won all their games with Crumlin on top on goal differences. The stage was set for a great semi-final.

On Sunday our line-up was strong with the return of some key players…

1. Alice Smyth

2. Eibhlin Barry

3. Rachel Cullen

4. Ruth Keoghan

5. Aisling Larkin

6. Lauren Burke

7. Eve Leslie

8. Hazel Grady

9. Emily Adderley

10. Ciara Andrews

11. Sophie Fearon

12. Laura O’Connor

13. Niamh ni Baoghaill

14. Leah kavanagh

15. Eve O’Callaghan

16. Caoimhe Comerford

17. Clodagh Murphy

18. Millie Nolan

19. Ellie O’Connor

20.Isabelle Mulholland

21. Ellen O’Callaghan

That’s some pool of talent…

How did the game go?

The game was a classic with Crumlin storming into a good lead scoring a few points and a goal to a point or two from BSJ. They were winning the 50 50 ball and on occasion they were getting the bounce as well. They had a super loyal group of supporters that cheered every strike and win. (Good news, I have hired them for our final.) Our attacks were good, but our first touch let us down. We clearly had not settled.

After 15 minutes we began to impose our game plan and there was a real shift in momentum. A few goals followed and the physical clashes went our way. Crumlin are a strong team with some very talented players, but they lacked the depth of BSJ. A few injuries to their players did not help their cause and there seemed to be no subs on their side line. Not ideal. In fairness they would have needed Aoife Donohue and Hannah Looney to change the final result.

Our team have exceptional talent right across the squad and there was no decline in standards when the subs came on. Clontarf had two scouts at the game busy with pen and paper and they looked on nervously. No doubt at themoment they are probably scheming our downfall. Need to check for alien drones at training. To counter their intelligence, I propose we all change position for the first ten mins! Also, players need to dye their hair and swap your helmets!

The second half was tough, and it was a wonder all the 30 players were still standing by final whistle.

The ref did a good job but allowed for robust physical play and at times needed to be sterner on some of the tackles by both teams. I suspect there was a lot of achy muscles and bones on Monday morning and Tuesday and… Its fair to say BSJ stood up to the challenges. All the action was on the Crumlin side of the pitch. Their keeper stuck to that side 90% of the time keeping the BSJ parents away from the action. With the positive vocal local support our ladies had to be strong, and they were! There was some ding dong battles going on and each player had to be at their very best. Sparks flew and Roy Keane would have been proud of the courage and determination of every player on both sides. I hear he can be hard to please. It’s a Cork thing. (Subtle jab at Colm)

Our defence was like the great wall of China, and we mopped up every ball that came into our half and sent it back up the pitch with interest. Our midfield controlled the game, and their distribution gave the forwards ample scoring opportunities. The forwards ate the opportunities with skill, vigour and accuracy. As the half progressed our lead grew, and I estimate that we had 15 chances of points/ goal to 5 from Crumlin. Despite a few injuries Crumlin never game up and it was never a done deal. They never dropped their heads, and a late goal gave them some hope and extra energy. In the end the best team won and won well. Well coached by Padraic O hEithir, Colm O’Callaghan and Neil Leslie. Thanks for all your hard work and time. Incredible commitment to the ladies. Final Score BSJ 4-10 Crumlin 2-5.