Meath 4-10, Wicklow 2-11 AET

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon last, James Stephen’s GAA in Kilkenny was the venue for the Leinster U-16 C final between Wicklow and Meath B.

From the throw-in, Wicklow tackled hard and closed down the Meath girls and opened the scoring after two minutes. Meath were made work very hard for their scores and it wasn’t until the 8th minute when player of the match Lilymae O’Reilly struck over. Wicklow were winning a lot of the breaks and frees from Leah Keogh and the particularly impressive Danielle Shannon were keeping Wicklow on top. Some fine saves from Meath’s Abbie McCormack and a lovely point from Chloe O’Neill and a kicked goal from Zara McKeigue gave the Meath girls the lead but Wicklow fired over three points to lead at the break 1-05 to 1-03.

Chloe Lynagh restored the Royals lead with a crucial goal from a lovely though ball, but momentum swung back to Wicklow with a fortunate bounce of the ball to the net. The work-rate and determination from players such as Aoife O'Shea, Lauren Cooney, Callie Hagan and Lucy Crinion and the direct running of Isabelle Lynch, O’Reilly and McKeigue was something to behold. Scores were tit for tat, in an enthralling match that had such high intensity, with both sets of supporters really finding their voices as the excitement built. The final score of normal time saw O’Reilly tap over a highly pressured free to bring the game to extra time with a scoreline of 2-07 apiece.   

Extra time continued in the same vein with no team giving any quarters. In the closing minutes with Wicklow clinging onto a one-point lead, the defining moment of the game saw the outstanding O’Reilly cut straight through the Wicklow defence and flash the ball to the net straight from her solo run off her stick to score a goal that was worthy of winning any final. This was quickly followed by a cracking goal by Sorcha Coffey which put the result beyond doubt. The final whistle blew to a rapturous applause from the Meath supporters and disappointment for the Wicklow team. Wicklow played their part in such a high-quality game that no one deserved to lose and will be remembered for a long time for those in attendance. 

Meath: Abbie McCormack; Ellie O’Donnell, Niamh Purcell, Harriott Copeland; Lucy Crinion, Fiadh Dorgan, Bronwyn Whelan; Aoife O’Shea, Lauren Cooney; Lily Mae O’Reilly (1-6), Zara McKeigue (1-1), Niamh Delaney; Chloe O’Neill (0-3), Sarah Connolly, Ella Taaffe. 

Subs: Callie Hagan for Whelan, Isabelle Lynch for Delaney, Chloe Lynagh (1-0) for O’Neill, Sorcha Coffey (1-0) for Connolly, Eleanor Dixon for Taaffe, Anna O’Rourke for O’Donnell, Eleanor Fallon, Emily Comerford and Lauryn Comerford.

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