The Ladies 1st played their final league match in the Bull Ring on Saturday versus Rathgar. Clontarf went in gunning for their first win. The ladies had a sluggish opening half and quickly found themselves 1-0 down. After a talking to at half-time, they came out all guns blazing for the second half. Great work up front led to a short corner. Ciara’s deflection from Sorcha’s sweep fell into Robyn’s path on the back post and she made no mistake.
Knowing there was more than a draw for the taking, Clontarf continued to apply the pressure. With about 10 minutes to go, good work up the left hand side got the ball to Robyn on the baseline. She left the defenders for dead and passed across the keeper to Ciara who was waiting on the back post. The next 10 minutes felt like an eternity as Rathgar continued to press forward but having found themselves in this position on plenty of times over the season, Clontarf were calm and defended strongly. (Apart from the “squeaky-bum” time when Sadbh was tackled by a Rathgar forward with 1 minute to go and nearly conceded). Dan blew the final whistle and the celebrations lasted into the early morning in Sinnotts!
The win may not have meant much in the grand picture but shows the progress this team has made over the season. A play-off date versus Naas will have to be played and this win will do the world for our confidence. A huge thank you to Dan Ashton for umpiring and well done to Lucy Dooley for winning MOTM. Finally, a big thank you to Dave and Stephen for all the hard work they have put in over the season.
Match Report: Clontarf Ladies 1s vs Rathgar, Division 1, 24th March 2018
Goal Scorers: Robyn Merrey and Ciara Byrne
Written By: Sadbh Quinn