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Aug 26, 2023

Baile Dubh Tíre see off gutsy Glnn

WexfordWexford & District--> The triumphant Baile Dubh Tíre Minor squad. Baile Dubh Tíre 3-16 Glynn-Barntown 4-7 THERE WAS a fascinating battle between two clubs of contrasting styles in St. Patrick’s

WexfordWexford & District-->

The triumphant Baile Dubh Tíre Minor squad.

Baile Dubh Tíre 3-16 Glynn-Barntown 4-7

THERE WAS a fascinating battle between two clubs of contrasting styles in St. Patrick’s Park recently, but in the end Baile Dubh Tíre came away with a well-deserved ladies’ football Minor Division 2 crown.

The Enniscorthy District club were the smoother side, moving the ball through the hands, running off the shoulder, and building attacks with patience and precision.

It was all very pretty on the eye but there were two things that kept Glynn-Barntown right in the game to the end: the champions’ casual approach around the goal and the opposition’s superior athleticism.

The Killurin-based girls might have been a more direct, more powerful team but they lacked some of the nuance of top level football. They had great guts and were fiercely competitive, with several raw but really strong performers in their ranks.

When they did move the ball through the hands, a lot of the damage was done by Robyn O’Connor powering from midfield into attack. Baile Dubh Tíre didn’t have an answer for those bursts and they inevitably ended in goal chances for Sophie O’Leary.

In the end O’Leary top-scored with 4-4, which was an incredible effort in the circumstances. At the other end the accuracy of Anna Roban proved key for Baile Dubh Tíre, as they were able to slice Glynn-Barntown open on multiple occasions in the first-half but almost exclusively took the easy point.

While the first quarter belonged to the champions, Glynn-Barntown showed in flashes what they were about. It was enough to suggest that, despite falling 1-7 to nil behind, they weren’t about to quit and let the game pass them by.

Roban got two of the first three points in the board, with Kaylee Doyle also on target. Sarah Kehoe and Lauren Smyth increased that advance to five after eight minutes as the points flowed.

Sarah Kehoe (Baile Dubh Tíre) in a race for the ball with Izzy Wilde.

A brace from Roban was followed by the game’s opening goal, a strong finish by Sarah Kehoe after excellent work by Heather Bolton-Lee in the build-up.

Yet Glynn-Barntown quickly responded and right at the end of the opening quarter O’Leary lashed home her opening goal.

That was a springboard for a strong second quarter in which the Wexford District club outscored their opponents by 0-4 to 0-2. Roban and Bolton-Lee pointed for BDT but a pair from O’Leary and scores from Lauryn Murphy and Ellie Stafford left just five between them at the break (1-9 to 1-4).

Both teams had missed major chances in that quarter, but the game got tighter in the early stages of the second-half. Glynn-Barntown registered first through Jasmine Gore in the 37th minute and that opened the floodgates.

A Kaylee Doyle point was followed by an O’Leary brace at the other end to make it 1-10 to 1-7. Back came Baile Dubh Tíre with a Smyth single and three in a row from Roban to take control heading into the final quarter.

Yet it still felt like Glynn-Barntown were right in it, and when O’Leary smashed home after her initial attempt came back off the crossbar the deficit was four (1-14 to 2-7) with eight minutes left.

Points from Roban and Doyle helped their side keep their noses in front, only for O’Leary to fire in again after an O’Connor assist in the 62nd minute to leave just a kick of the ball between the battlers (1-16 to 3-7).

Niamh Doyle making inroads for Baile Dubh Tíre.

But there would be no sense of panic from Baile Dubh Tíre, as they went back down the other end and showed there was a serious eye for goal waiting to break loose. A swift counter-attack saw Roban and Eva Nolan link up to get Kehoe in for her second goal.

Less than a minute later Kehoe was denied a hat-trick but Katie Bowe followed up to fire home. To their credit Glynn-Barntown had no quit in them and O’Connor and O’Leary combined for a fourth goal in the sixth minute of added-time, but there was no denying Baile Dubh Tíre their win and championship trophy.

Baile Dubh Tíre: Ellie Watchorn; Caoimhe Kinsella, Libby Cullen, Jessica Bolton-Lee; Emer Tobin, Hannah Lawless, Aoife O’Gorman; Kaylee Doyle (0-3), Katie Bowe (1-0); Heather Bolton-Lee (0-1), Lauren Smyth (0-2), Niamh Doyle; Sarah Kehoe (2-1), Anna Roban (0-9, 3 frees), Chafia Flynn. Subs. - Eva Nolan for Flynn (51), also Caitlin Doyle, Nicola Cullen, Charley Fitzhenry, Sarah Phylan, Libby Moore-Nolan, Carla Cloney, Danielle Cloney, Niamh Doyle-Kinsella.

Glynn-Barntown: Tina O’Reilly; Emma Walsh, Jane Duggan, Izzy Wilde; Rachel Whelan. Josie Mullen (capt.), Niamh Walsh; Sophie O’Leary (4-4, 0-3 frees), Ellie Stafford (0-1); Lauryn Murphy (0-1), Robyn O’Connor, Anna Sinnott; Ciara Laffan, Jane Murphy, Jasmine Gore (0-1). Subs. - Catherine O’Reilly for Laffan (51), also Ella Codd, Áine Connolly, Emma Cullen, Rachel Cullen, Layla Stafford.

Referee: Ger Cullen (Ballyhogue).

There is deep shock among Wexford politicians after the publication of The Boundary Commission report on Wednesday, which seeks to create a four-seater Wexford district, with north Wexford being subsumed into south County Wicklow in a three-seater.