Abbeyfeale U15 Girls Continue To Thrive

After winning the Munster League it was straight back to training for the Abbeyfeale U15 girls and with the U18s joining them to get ready for the Munster Cup/Shield/Bowl Competitions.

Courtesy of:- Mary Teahan

As it was the first year it was done it became very popular as it gave all teams a chance to play another couple of games.
 
The Abbeyfeale U15 girls got lucky with the first game being conceded by Kilrush but their U18 teammates were not so lucky as their bad run seem to continue from the Munster League Final and came home with their 2nd loss of the season but you could not have anything but admiration for these girls are they didn’t give up hope and kept smiling.
 
Both teams were eager for the next round which saw the U15s play a strong Shannon/Bruff team and as throughout the season saw the Abbeyfeale pitch being unplayable so thanks to the co-operation of the other teams involved it was moved to UL where the Abbeyfeale U15s got some hard tackles and were victorious which meant they were through to the Munster Cup Final.

The Abbeyfeale U18s were next to face Bantry Bay again which resulted in the same outcome as their Munster League Final with Bantry Bay winning and onto the Munster Shield Final. Abbeyfeale U18s did get another lifeline as they went into the Bowl Semi-final but struggled as it was in the middle of mocks and with too many injuries were unable to field a team therefore had to give in and concede the points putting an end to their journey.
 
 
In all fairness the Abbeyfeale U18s set the way for their U15s teammates and now it was up to them to try and bring home some more silverware.
 
It came to the day of the Munster Cup Final in Garryowen FC with the rain beating down the Abbeyfeale U15s were up against a very strong and determined Carrick/Fethard team whom kept Abbeyfeale out as much as possible from scoring too easily. It was Abbeyfeale’s Diane O’Connor (Vice-Capt) with help from her backline and winger to score the first try but was unlucky with the conversion as it was from the right corner. With some hard tackles and unbelievable defensive work from both sides there was to be no score again till the last minute of the first half where Carrick/Fethard within 5 metres of their try line got a penalty and took it quickly to score at the left corner, missing the conversion making the score 5 – 5 at half time.
 
With it all to play for in the second half the intensity was huge as the rain continued to pour down and it was back and forth for the next twenty minutes as all the girls fought hard to kept anyone from scoring. Carrick/Fethard denied Abbeyfeale two tries by holding them up on the try line and it was to be the 3rd attempt that saw Abbeyfeale’s Aoife Ryan score a try with abit of a push from her teammates under the post making the conversion easy for Abbeyfeale’s Mary Bates to put over. Now the Abbeyfeale girls had to sink deep again to keep a very determined Carrick/Fethard girls from scoring for the last five minutes. The final whistle blow even though Carrick/Fethard put up a good fight it was Abbeyfeale who were the Munster Cup Champions.
 
Well done to the Munster Branch and Youth Committee for organising an enjoyable and excitable day for all the U15s and U18s girls teams.