Moate VS Bower
The first year girls lined out against the Bower in the group stages of the Leinster league in what promised to be a great match between the local sides.

The Moate girls were the first to threaten the goal as Niamh Noone broke free in the 2nd minute barely missing the goal and showing the Bower girls that Moate came to play. The Bower however took this challenge well and went up the far side of the pitch with a strike on goal which was swatted away by Caoimhe Brady in the 5th minute. The Bower kept pressure on the back line but the Moate girls were hard broken down and came away with the ball.

Leah Concannon was a danger down the wing as she forced a great save from the Bower keeper to keep it 0-0 in the 17th minute. The Moate girls kept possession well for the majority of the first half but the last attack of the half came from the Bower. This promising attack was broken down by great defensive work from Riona Foley and Niamh Treacy, with that the half ended 0-0. Two half time substitute’s for moate in the form of Katie Meares for Ruby Phelan and Anna Hamilton for Doireann Keena.

The girls started the second half with great intensity with Leah Concannon once again making the Bower keeper work with a great shot on target in the 31st minute. It didn’t take long after that for Leah to find the back of the net in the 36th minute to put Moate ahead 1-0. However, the Bower weren’t going down without a fight and in the 40th minute they found the goal from a powerful kick after some good ball retention making the sides level.

It was the Bower girls who pushed on in the 45th minute and once again scored making it 2-1 and giving the Moate girls a hill to climb in the last 5 minutes of play. The Moate girls never dropped their heads and after a well taken Leah Concannon free the ball dropped to Katie Meares who made no mistakes in finding the top right corner in a cracker of a goal to make the sides level once again in the 48th minute. The battle ended in a 2-2 draw which was the fairest result on the day.

Moate VS Roscommon CC
In the group stages of the Leinster league, the first year girls played Roscommon CC in an action packed match. The Moate girls wasted no time getting scores on the board in the fist play of the game. Leah Concannon rattled the back of RCCs net to put the girls up 1-0. The game slowed down for the next few minutes as RCC held the ball well and in the 12th minute they found the net to make it 1-1.

A Moate corner in the 17th minute led to Doireann Keena slotting the ball in the bottom left corner to make it 2-1, once again the teams went into a stalemate after the second Moate goal but in the 25th minute an incredible switch of play from Heidi Murray left Chloe Malone one on one with the RCC keeper and calmly placed it in the corner making it 3-1 at half time.

Moate showed no signs of stopping in the second half as many chances from Chloe Malone, Leah Concannon and Heidi Murray just narrowly missed the goal. It wasn’t until the 36th minute that Doireann Keena put it passed the RCC keeper to make it 4-1 and also get her second goal of the match.

Leah Concannon then got her second goal of the match in the 40th minute with a wonderful strike that was very difficult for the RCC keeper to keep out. In the 42nd minute, Katie Meares took a shot on goal and scored making the score 6-1.

With the game coming to a close, Leah Concannon found the net again for her hatrick and ended the match 7-1 to the Moate girls. This was a dominant display from the girls with great football played throughout from both teams.

 

Photo  – Leah Concannon

Photo – Chloe Malone