fRoad to the final

Having performed inconsistently throughout the league campaign Lucan Sarsfields U-16 girls commenced their championship journey with an away fixture to Ballyboden, which they won by five points. Next up was St. Finians, who were their opponents in the last year’s final, Lucan notched up an impressive 11-17 in this victory.

Their semi-final opposition came in the form of Kilmacud Crokes, who overcame St. Brigid’s with relative ease in the previous round. Again, Lucan’s impressive work rate was to the fore and they ran our 8-point winners. 

Lucan’s opposition in the final was Na Fianna, who unlike Lucan, had shown impressive form in the league, winning six from six, and who also made light work of their opposition in the group stages of the championship.      

Day of the final 

Sunday 21^st October 2018 dawned with low-lying dark clouds enveloping the city. Thankfully as the morning progressed and we headed across the city to Pairc Ui Thuathaill the clouds dispersed and the sun emerged spilling gold across the autumn landscape.

For a few hours leading up to the game your palms are sweaty, your stomach has that light, unsettled feeling and your mind races eagerly from thought to thought - and that was just the management team! Then the doubts starts to sink in – a flurry of negative thoughts rage through your mind from have we prepared well enough to what happens if someone is injured. 

No matter how we try to disguise it or deny it, the fear of failure is an innate part of the human experience and for me that fear always seems to rear its ugly head the morning of a match. You would think that these feelings would be less pronounced the older you get but unfortunately, they only seem to get stronger and more belligerent and no matter how hard you try there just does not seem to be any escape.

Thankfully this group of girls do not suffer the same demons as the management team and they don’t let fear of failure get in their way, in fact its seems to inspire them. They seem to have that unique ability to push those feelings down and stomp them with their feet.

The Match

The first quarter was a cagey affair and there was little advantage on either side and the play was sustained in an unrestrained style without any sign of relaxing. The closely fought exchanges and the low scoring kept the spectators at the height of expectancy. Eventually the deadlock was broken and Roisin Egan fired over Lucan’s opening score. As the half progressed Lucan began to press with vigour and the excitement was rising. Na Fianna’s backline were enduring an anxious time and Lucan were playing with extraordinary determination. The relentless pressure eventually paid dividends when a brilliant team move ended with Abbey Shiels firing to the net.          

This goal was followed by yet another series of excellent defence splitting passes, which resulted in Faye Murphy effortlessly guiding the ball pass the oncoming goalkeeper. Lucan’s battle for scores proceeded with unflagging enthusiasm through the remainder of the half and further points were added by Caitlin Maguire & Abbey Shiels. After 30 minutes of excellent football, Lucan went in at the break leading 2-3 to 0-1.

On the resumption, Na Fianna pressed hard but throughout the game our impressive half back line of Aoife Whelan, Ellen Dunphy and Aisling Kavanagh never flinched and these players proved an unsurmountable obstacle to all Na Fianna’s attacks. They were ably assisted by Amy Clyne Farrelly and Emma O’Brien who came on in the second half to further reinforce the barricades. In addition all forward movements by Na Fianna’s inside line were repulsed with grim determination by our ever dependable full back line of Rebecca Flanagan, Ali Dunne (Captain for the day) and Laura Sharkey.                   

As the half progressed Lucan resumed the offensive and increased their advantage when the omnipresent Aoife Coffey intercepted a kick-out and delivered a pass to our top scorer over the last four years, Abbey Shiels, who finished superbly to the net. Further points followed from Aoife Coffey, Roisin Egan and the versatile Alannah Cassells. The score of the day goes to Aiso Aikhionbare who put over a glorious point from an almost impossible angle.       

Some thrilling bouts of play were witnessed at midfield where Caitlin Maguire and Mia Dunne were tireless workers and their excellent distribution laid the foundation for many of our successful attacks.

Na Fianna battled bravely and their efforts were rewarded with two unstoppable  goals late in the half, in fact it could have been three were it not for an excellent save by Ellie Larkin, who has being a model of consistency over the last few years. As the game progressed, fresh legs were needed to maintain our advantage and the fast moving direct play of Aishling Smyth and Aoife Seery caused endless problems for the Na Fianna defence. In addition, Bella Fay entered the fray to strengthen the forward line. Bella deserves a special word of thanks as she deputised for Ellie in goals when she was injured during our league campaign and she is probably one of the few players that has played in nearly every position on the field.      

The final whistle was greeted with a wave of rapturous cheering and Lucan were crowned U-16 Division 1 Champions on a score line of 3-7 to 2-4. Throughout the field Lucan’s work-rate and tackling was of an unrelenting character and bit by bit they wore down Na Fianna’s attacks and asserted an unmistakeable supremacy. In a game where Lucan’s defence was defiant, midfield was dominant and the forward play was dashing, the Lucan girls certainly merited their victory.  

Recipe for success .

When you analyse the teams we have played over the last four years, there would not appear to be much difference in the skill or ability levels of most of the top teams. So why have these girls won four Division 1 Championships in a row? The answer is very simple, unlike many other teams, they have never taken the comfortable path and have always challenged themselves in training and in games and always gave it their best. In an age when teenagers are often maligned about their attitude to hard grafting and labelled as the snowflake generation, this group has ripped that perception to shreds. As a management team, we allowed them to set the goals and then we tailored the training to achieve these goals. This meant that over the last few years, we have had plenty of hard sessions and never was there any utterances of discontent from any of the girls. There were times when we felt that we might be pushing them a bit hard but they were setting the agenda and they were the ones that were charging ahead and embracing the hard work and the challenge, which was fortified by the team mantra of Winners Do Extra.   

Having this attitude has made our job as coaches’ very easy and no matter how we try to express in words the massive achievements of this group; we do not think it will do them justice. Even a cursory glance at the table below will leave you in no doubt about the magnitude of their successes. They are a unique group of girls in that in addition to having an excellent attitude to training, they also have a genuine respect and appreciation of each other, which is a far more important attribute. Whilst they have an insatiable hunger for success, they do not allow this to cloud their judgement or attitude to each other. These qualities will stand them in good stead in life in general and not only will they be successful in their sporting pursuits but also in whatever career path they pursue.                         

Apart from the obvious qualities that underpins most successful underage teams, one of the most important and probably often ignored ingredient is the support and encouragement of the parents. From a personal perspective my father attended nearly every game I played, it was hugely important to me, and some of the fondest memories I have as a child is analysing games with him. It is far more important to a child/teenager to make their parents proud of them than impressing any coach or teammate.  Never underestimate the positive effect this has had on the girl’s success and their enjoyment of the game so a huge thank you to all the parents for their unwavering support - and girls, count yourselves lucky to have parents who take a genuine interest in your pastimes!                

Having conquered all before them at underage level, the girls now move onto adult competitions next year and it would be remiss of us not to acknowledge the huge contributions made by all involved in coaching the girls since the first day they ventured up to the club. JJ Hegarty, Glen Maguire, Billy Egan, Gemma O’Connor and Betsy Keating were the real driving forces behind this team and laid the foundations for what the team has evolved into over the years. In addition it should be noted the sterling work done by Phil Murphy and JJ with our other U-16 team.

So from the current management team of Glen, Billy and myself - thanks for the great memories girls     

And finally to quote Winston Churchill” Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts” 

Aidan Coffey

Panel: Ellie Larkin, Bella Fay, Rebecca Flanagan, Ali Dunne, Laura Sharkey, Aisling Kavanagh, Ellen Dunphy, Aoife Whelan, Amy Clyne Farrelly, Emma O’Brien, Caitlin Maguire, Mia Dunne, Roisin Egan, Alannah Cassells, Faye Murphy, Aoife Seery, Aishling Smyth, Aiso Aikhionbare, Abbey Shiels, Aoife Coffey.