Longwood’s U13 girls advanced to the League final with a excellent display against St Colmcille’s on Wednesday evening.

On a bitterly cold evening, the girls produced a strong performance from start to finish, dominating possession and restricting their opponent to very few chances. The industry and energy of the team was apparent from the start and they worked tirelessly to support each other throughout the game.

This work rate, combined with the scoring prowess of Katie O’Sullivan was too much for St Colmcille’s to handle and, when they did manage to break forward, they were met by a defensive wall ably marshalled by Gabrielle Smyth and Ellie Saunders.

But in truth it was a collective effort with every player contributing to a convincing victory. The coaches will have been delighted with the performance, while at the same time highlighting that there is room for improvement given that Longwood did kick a number of wides and, on occasion, took shots from acute angles when there was a team mate in a better position. However, this happens with all teams and is all part of the learning process for a young team.

Longwood: Ashling Alawiye, Abbie Lomax, Gabrielle Smyth, Zoe Butler, Ellie Saunders, Roisin Murray, Lucy Mooney, Ella McCann (0-2), Aisling Foran (0-1), Katie O’Sullivan (2-3), Katie Holton, Lucy Moran, Izzy Fahey, Airah Alawiye, Shannon Meagher.

So the girls move on to the League Final and will look to add to what has already been a very successful year for Longwood LGFA. Hopefully there is more silverware on the way.

Maigh Dearmhaí abú! 🤍🖤🤍🖤