Rose Hotel Division 2 Champions Ballymac v Beale Ballyduff Match Report.

Ballymac 3-9 Beale Ballyduff 2-7 IMG-20180701-WA0005
Ballymac U14 girls followed up the U12 Div 1 success earlier in the week with the Div 2 Co League title .
Played in Ballyrickard in bright and breezy conditions , Ballymac elected to play with the wind in the first half but it was Beale Ballyduff who kicked the first score. It was nip & tuck for the first 1/4 with Ballymac leading by 0-3 to 0-2 . As the half wore on Ballymac got more on top & created 4 good goal opportunities with the Beale Ballyduff goalie making a good save & a missed penalty resulting in all chances going a begging .
Beale Ballyduff goaled in the 22nd minute following a fine run from their midfielder but Ballymac responded by kicking the next 4 points with 2 a piece from Yvonne Hurley & Roisin Rahilly . Another point from a free from Beale Ballyduff and a Ballymac point from Ella Quirke left the half time score 0-8 to 1-3 in Ballymac’s favour .
Ballymac made a blistering start to the 2nd half with goals from Kate Feeney & Roisin Rahilly , however aided by the breeze Beale Ballyduff became more dominant and kicked the next 3 points with county U14 player  Katie Dunworth very prominent . Great defending from Ballymac’s Alyssa Leen at centre back & full back Grainne Galvin kept the scores at a premium for Beale Ballyduff . A great save by goalie Lorna Daly from Beale Ballyduff’s corner forward was important as Ballymac worked the ball forward through Ciara Palmer & Roisin Rahilly for Yvonne Hurley to kick her 4th point of the night .  Following on from another turnover by Alyssa Leen , Ella Quirke found herself in a goalscoring position and she made no mistake . Beale Ballyduff kept coming and the final 4 minutes saw them own the ball scoring 1-1 but not enough to change the outcome . Frank Mc Loughlin’s ( who did a fine job) final whistle signalled celebrations by the girls in blue .
A great team performance by Ballymac led by the outstanding Roisin Rahilly (1-2)  & Alyssa Leen who played themselves to a standstill , Ciara Palmer’s clever link play & Yvonne Hurley’s return of 0-4 were very important & Kate Feeney caught the eye with 1-1 as did Ella Quirke 1-2  . Goalie Lorna Daly make a couple of great saves & her handling & kick outs were flawless .
Beale Ballyduff lost nothing in defeat with K Dunworth , E O Donaghue & A Riley   prominent.
Fixtures Secretary Selina Looney presented the sheild afterwards to Ballymac’s captain Alyssa Leen
Ballymac Team : Lorna Daly , Sarah Mason , Grainne Galvin , Geraldyn Cassidy , Nicole Walker , Roisin Rahilly (1-2), Shonagh Griffin , Alyssa Leen , Ella Quirke (1-2) , Alexia Weiss , Yvonne Hurley (0-4), Ciara Palmer , Kate Feeney (1-1) , Eimer Curran , Cathy Palmer .
Subs : Rachel Griffin , Kate Collins & Niamh Lynch played . Emma Leen , Charlotte Geary , Allie Tarrant , Roisin Raggett , Orla O Connor , Lauren O Connor , Shona O Connor , Abby Leahy & Kerry Hennesy (inj)