Nenagh Hockey Club
Under 18 Girls: Nenagh 7-0 Dungarvan
Nenagh travelled to Dungarvan on Saturday hoping to extend their lead at the top of the table and conscious that Kinsale are right behind them in second place.
The visitors started well with Jane Carroll pouncing on confusion in defence to score the opener inside two minutes. Nenagh continued to pile on the pressure and consecutive short-corners yielded two more goals - one a powerful strike by Katya Shorten, the other from Aoibhinn Murphy precisely placed just inside the left post. Nenagh were 3-0 up at end of the first quarter and comfortable.
Quarter 2 continued in the same vein with Nenagh attacking in waves. Shorten scored another excellent goal from play in her now typical style. Sophie Tooher added a fifth after latching on to a laser like through ball from Ruby Benn at the end of the quarter. A scoreline of 5-0 at half time meant the Nenagh side were comfortable.
To their credit, Dungarvan tried to get back in the game after the half time break. Sitting bottom of the table they have struggled this year with a young team but there is certainly potential, and they didn't let Nenagh have it all their own way. Wing backs Katie Ryan and Oriana O'Brien had to stay sharp throughout. Jane Quigley was a stalwart in the centre as usual, but goalie Alannah Stanley had little to do. More pressure by Nenagh on the Dungarvan D led to more short corners which ultimately yielded a sixth goal and third for Shorten when she rounded the defender at to the top of the D and clattered the ball home.
She brought her tally to four in the fourth quarter from a breakdown in play, nipping in to finish swiftly with a fine strike. The game finished at 7-0 with Nenagh glad to put the game on the grit pitch behind them as they look to the next fixture in two weeks’ time.
Under 16 Girls: Nenagh 1-0 Kinsale
The U16 team travelled to Bandon to take on Kinsale in the Munster League.
Despite a reduced squad, the team took to the pitch with great determination and teamwork on display.
There was little between the two teams in the first two quarters with action end-to-end. The Nenagh defence held their shape to keep the Kinsale forwards out with Naoise Correia making several great interceptions at the back. Hollie O’Brien displayed great skill on the ball to make several runs forward into the Kinsale defence but the scoreline remained 0-0 at half time.
The third quarter saw Nenagh push forward with renewed determination. Ruby Bourke worked tirelessly in midfield displaying great tenacity to win the ball. Clever passing by Isabelle Hegarty laid the ball onto Tina Vuyk whose powerful shot rebounded off the Kinsale goalkeeper to Hollie O’Brien. Her strike was again deflected by the goalie to fall to Laylyn Reid who took her shot decisively to give Nenagh the lead.
Kinsale took to the pitch in the fourth quarter in search of the equalising goal. Despite the Nenagh players tiring due to their immense work-rate during the match they withstood a sustained Kinsale attack in a tense final few minutes to emerge the victors. Coach Nanno Vuyk expressed his delight at the result, praising the great teamwork on display to take a well-deserved win. The team’s next fixture is home to Crescent HC in two weeks’ time.
Under 14 Girls: Nenagh 4-4 Fermoy
Nenagh played the last game of the league before playoffs in Thurles against Fermoy Navy who sit second from the top in the standings. This was a crucial game for Nenagh who are battling for a place in the playoffs.
Nenagh started brightly but Fermoy drew first blood with a goal in the first quarter. The girls remained composed and continued the game at high tempo causing the Fermoy defence all kinds of problems with some lovely wide play and great positive runs on the wings from both Abigail Murtagh and Hollie Clarke. This lovely passing play eventually resulted in an equalizing goal by Hollie Clarke.
A second Nenagh goal came from a short corner, struck beautifully by Lilly Delaney, which was a reward for all the pressure from the Nenagh side. Fermoy were always going to respond and with their pacey runners and strong technical skills, they came back at Nenagh with a superb goal leaving the score at 2-2 at half time.
The second half saw Nenagh rotate in other members of their squad and the high work-rate from both teams continued. Fermoy went 3-2 up and Sarah Spillane in the centre midfield worked tirelessly in attack and defence with strong ball distribution. This resulted in a third goal, a strong shot sent in by Hollie Clarke, deflecting off a Fermoy stick into the goal. It was three goals apiece and all to play for as the game entered the final quarter.
Nenagh's defence had to work overtime as Fermoy fired in shot after shot but solid defending and excellent goalkeeping from Aibhlinn Cantwell kept the game on a knife edge. Fermoy eventually did find the back of the net to bring it to 4-3 in the final quarter. Nenagh never gave up however and were awarded a short corner for their efforts which was finished by Mae Gannon into the back of the net in the last minute.
"That was a great game of hockey by both teams", said coach Hilary Curley.
"We spoke about work-rate before the game and every one of the girls put in a huge effort and kept the tempo up for the whole match, playing some lovely hockey to boot. We couldn't ask for more".