The Connacht U15A hockey finals took place yesterday with Our Lady's Bower hosting the event at Athlone Regional Sports Centre.
Seamount College faced Colaiste Iognaid (The Jes) in the first fixture if the say in semi final one whilst semi final two was played after between The Bower and Salerno.
Seamount College came out the better of the finest semi final but the Jes didn't make it easy for them in what was an extremely tight game. The final score was 2-0.
Semi final two kicked off at 12PM and a very strong Bower side came away with a comprehensive win over Salerno. The Salerno girls showed great heart in fighting to the final whistle.
The final was set up for 2PM between Seamount College and the Bower. The two having previously met are very familiar with one another as the girls have all played club games against one another. The Bower had previously beaten Seamount in the league games but the Seamount girls were confident they could put up a good fight.
The pace was electric and the first half was end to end. The Bower took the lead deep into the first half and the Seamount girls were on the back foot. Late into the second half when all seemed lost Seamount were awarded a penalty corner which Ava Kilkelly calmly slotted into the bottom corner of the Bower goal.
One all and game on the girls fought to final whistle with the score remaining at 1-1. For two teams who had already played a semi final each the players are to be commended for the fitness and resilience throughout. Extra time beckoned and we had 5 mins of game time each way or the game would go to penalty shuttles if no result was achieved. Again the pace was furious with both sides giving everything.
In the last minute of the first half the ball fell to Mia Rodgers who made no mistake about finding the back of the Bower net. Screams of delight rang out among the travelling Seamount supporters. Five minutes remaining, the Bower were pushing for an equaliser but the Seamount back four of Lauren Cullinane, Ava Doody, Ruby Hayes and Sweeney kept calm and made some great tackles.
Caoimhe Walsh was superb in goals making some great saves. The final whistle went to the delight of coaches, parents and players. For the first time since 1998 Seamount College were champions. The All Ireland finals await the girls in Belfast on April 6th and 7th.
What the Seamount girls achieved is phenomenal. There is no hockey pitch in Kinvara and these players travel an hour into Galway City for every game whilst training on a 5 a side 4G AstroTurf. Their commitment and resilience overcame the lack of facilities.
