- Brian de Salvo
- Sun, Nov 13 2011
No shortage of excitement at the inauguration of the Bus Eireann Women's National League, Wexford Branch, at Ferrycarrig. Castlebar are clearly the real deal; they prepared for the match by overnighting in Dublin, were splendidly kitted out in black and had most of the stereotypes from the mens’ game, the giant central defender, the powerful, speedy striker, the action woman midfielder. Wexford Youths Womens AFC (what marketing genius saddled the team with that for a name?) looked as though they were playing in clothing donated by some charity who provided shirts that didn’t fit and which the players couldn’t be bothered to tuck in properly. And yet, thanks to unfathomable resources of spirit and resolve, they almost won the contest.
The home side started nervously, donating possession and committing unforced errors. They could only harry and hope as the well organised Castlebar team got into its stride. Wexford keeper Charlotte McCormack flicked a high ball behind but was generally a liability with crosses. Since the visitors won no less than seven corners in the first 28 minutes this was living on borrowed time. Having flapped at a couple, McCormack was eventually called to account in the 17th minute when she allowed Kilkelly’s flag kick to slip through her hands. The impressive Emma Mullin was on hand to benefit at close quarters.
McCormack repeated the error three minutes before the break but this time a phalanx of defenders put their bodies on the line to prevent a second goal. Instead it was Wexford who equalised. This was not a good day for goalkeepers generally although visiting central defender Jenny Byrne was perhaps even more culpable when, with no real danger apparent, she allowed Fiona Bennett to nip in and take the ball round statuesque keeper Concannon and slip it into an empty net in the dying seconds before the interval.
“Patience!” advised Castlebar manager Jeremy Dee and when Gilroy slipped Mullin in for a second a quarter of an hour into the second half it looked only a matter of time before the visitors consolidated their superiority. Perhaps the way the diminutive Wexford teenage striker Fiona Bennett muscled the formidable Byrne off the ball suggested the shape of things to come. Particularly since Bennett, who performed the thankless role of lone striker with skill, determination and inexhaustible energy, was, nevertheless, not the Woman of the Match.
Obviously no one has told Nikki Dunphy that she is too small to be a central defender, she tackled throughout with the ferocity of a tiger, blocking a series of thunderbolt drives at point blank range and displayed seemingly inexhaustible stamina. She saved the best for late in the game, preventing a Mullin hat trick when it seemed inevitable and racing back to clear when Hansbury had put the ball past McCormack and it was trundling towards an empty goal.
By then Wexford had equalised, Rianna Jarrett squeezing the ball home from an almost impossible angle on the left. Again you’d question the goalkeeping although it’s fair to add that Ashling Concannon might have taken a knock in the scramble leading up to the equaliser. Certainly the keeper was limping subsequently and when Byrne was adjudged to have fouled Kylie Murphy with just eight of the ninety minutes remaining you felt the experienced Ciara O’Brien was unlikely to fail from the penalty spot. Her kick was crisply hit but at a good height for the goalkeeper and the injured Concannon, displaying surprising agility, dived to her left to beat the ball out.
Under 19 international Jarrett, who started on the bench, made a big difference when she came on after 66 minutes not least because she provided young Bennett with a partner to share the load up front. Her international colleague, central defender Jessica Gleeson had already been called into action late in the first half to replace the injured Clare Conlan who had hobbled around for some minutes before the powers that be in the home dugout took it into their heads to get a sub warmed up. The changes gave
Wexford a better second half shape. But in the end it was the stocky Concannon’s unexpected spot kick save that gave Castlebar a share of the spoils.
Wexford Youths Womens AFC: Charlotte McCormack; Linda Douglas, Nikki Dunphy, Clare Conlan (Jessica Gleeson 39); Edel Kennedy; Maria Delahunty, Kylie Murphy, Ciara O’Brien, Lisa Power (Rianna Jarrett 66); Fiona Bennett (Rachel Hutchinson 81).
Castlebar Celtic: Ashling Concannon; Carol Hegaty, Katie Walsh (Lauren Boles 39) Jenny Byrne, Avril Kilkenny; Aileen Gilroy, Rachel King (Grainne Barratt 73), Ruth Fahy, Emma Hansbury, Shaunagh Jackson (Niamh McLoughlin 58); Emma Mullin.
Referee: Michelle O’Neill
Attendance: 525 (est)
