On Tuesday 28th November our Minor Squad travelled to a midpoint venue (South Lakes Leisure Centre) to play Sullivan Upper in the first round of their Shield Competition.
The girls were both excited yet nervous too. They had never played in as important a match nor in as large a venue before.
The match comprised four quarters of 7.5 minutes per quarter.
From the start the girls began well, playing the ball skilfully around the court. Within seconds, the ball was in our shooting circle, but excellent defending by Sullivan ensured that no goal would be scored. Instead, Sullivan turned this defence into attack and came away with the first goal of the match. This only spurred our girls on. They tightened up their play, with great work happening in midfield. It wasn’t long therefore before the ball was back in our circle and the equaliser was scored.
The rest of this quarter was then dominated by the young ERGS side, with their 5th goal being scored just on the whistle.
No changes were made for the 2nd quarter to allow the girls time to settle into a good rhythm. Despite the solid play on both sides, only one goal was scored by Sullivan in this quarter. Halftime score 5-2 ERGS.
Changes were made in the 3rd quarter, to allow for fresh legs. Unfortunately, this proved to be unsettling instead. The Sullivan girls began to come back, scoring two goals to our zero in this quarter.
In the final quarter, despite another reshuffle and opportunities to score, we were not increasing our lead. A final few substitutions part way through this last quarter gave the girls the confidence to drive forwards and score again giving us that extra little cushion. Final score 6-4 to ERGS and a very relieved and happy squad of girls.
Next round will be against either St Ciaran’s, Ballygawley or Strangford.
Squad
- Kaitlyn Read
- Andreja Budriute
- Evie Dundas
- Abi McCordick
- Beth Bradley
- Clodagh Donaghy
- Alice Black
- Mia McCabe
- Leah Topping
- Iona Tyson
- Ella Wylie
- Alex McDonagh
- Maisie Blackford
- Eliana Foy
