Greystones U14s Girls Calmly Crush Rush

It was all go – and all goals – for Greystones United AFC this afternoon, as the U13s made crumble of Crumlin, and the U14s girls (above) did pretty much the same to Rush.

Here’s the bould Paul Smith with the full match report…

Our U14 girls advanced to the final of the Carlton Hotels Cup this morning with a testing but deserved victory over Rush. That means two of our teams will be involved in finals weekend, with these girls joining the U11s at the Oscar Traynor in May.

With the wind at their backs, Rush had the better of the opening quarter of an hour but found themselves a goal down, thanks to Lucy Jones, after superb work by Caoimhe Swan on the left. Rush got the equaliser they deserved when their striker evaded 3 tackles before blasting past Jill Shanley in goal.

The goal shook the home team into action, and Emily Short and Katie Andrews started taking control of the middle, and one move started by Emily – after an excellent Saoirse Caffrey tackle – passed through three players before Caoimhe Swan added the finish for a half-time lead.

Straight from the re-start Greystones pushed, with Emily Gaines driving us on from midfield. The visitors’ defence was resolute, and their keeper magnificent, with one save as good as any you’ll see this weekend, but Emily was firing on all cylinders now, and her pass set Sophia King in on goal for number 3 before Emily stormed through for three quick fire individual goals that killed the tie.

Rush kept probing but found Rachel O’Toole imperious at the heart of the defence, ably supported by Molly Lamson and Alice Low, both tenacious in their tackling. Laura Higgins was now filling in at left back, and her calmness on the ball, dummying and passing inside to Emily, set up another attack, leading to Emily’s corner being volleyed home by Lucy again. There was still time for Emily to hit the post and set up Katie Andrews for another goal before being helped from the pitch with cramp, to rousing applause.

A fantastic team effort against stern opponents who contributed in no small way to an excellent cup tie.

Result! Congrats to the entire team today – incredible result. You can find out more about Greystones United AFC right here, and check out their upcoming Guinness record attempt right about here.