Birr Town 2 Mungret Regional 0 - January 28th
Birr Town U14 girls were back in action today in the next round of the SFAI Trophy Competition. Today they were hosting Mungret Regional team travelling up from Limerick. The lunchtime kickoff saw the game start in mild conditions at Frank O'Connell Park. Birr Town started strongly and were quick to put pressure on their opponents. They hit the post after 3 minutes and were unlucky not to score from the rebound. The opener followed soon afterwards. Katelyn Canham was quick to profit from a misdirected goal kickout taking the loose pass to slot home the opener. The opening goal settled the girls down and they continued to press hard. They were rewarded for their efforts ten minutes later. Town's captain Lacey Byrne scored directly from a superbly taken free kick on the edge of the box. The remainder of the first half saw Mungret grow more into the game despite any obvious clear goal chances.
The second half was a more even affair with Town working hard to maintain their two goal lead. The defence was controlled by Ceola Scully. There were several other notable performances throughout the team today with the recent runs of games benefiting the girls, in particular player of the match Nadine Ryan. The final whistle was greeted with great celebrations as this victory was a historic one for the Club. They are the first girls team to progres this far in a National Competition.
Thank you to the home support for their encouragement on the day.
Tullamore United 0 Birr Town 3 January 21st
Birr Town u14 girls were back in cup action today. No bus was required for today's short trip to Leah Victory Park to take on Tullamore. In bitterly cold conditions the game got underway with Town having the advantage of the breeze. The opening minutes was a tight exchange with both midfields seeking to gain an advantage. Town were captained today by Lacey Byrne who partnered Ali Smyth in midfield. Approaching the 20 minute mark Town got the vital breakthrough following some clever link up work amongst the forwards saw Georgia Vickers slot home from inside the box. Following the breakthrough Town enjoyed the better possession and were unlucky not to add to their tally before the break.
At the start of the second half Tullamore started strong with the breeze behind them. They tested Aoibhinn Slattery in goals on a few occasions. The outcome of this game seemed to hang in the balance who was going to get the vital next goal. Midway through the second half Katelyn Canham got the vital goal with a well taken finish. To their credit Tullamore continued to battle hard and didn't allow Birr any easy moments. Inside the final few minutes Cara McLaughlin who was having a fine game danced her way into the box only to be hauled down. She then duly stepped up to score the resulting penalty with a great shot to the bottom left corner giving the keeper no chance. With the game looking secure at this stage, the remaining minutes were about keeping composure and a clean sheet. The defensive line was marshalled brillantly by Ceola Scully who was also the referee’s player of the game. She pipped Anna Rothwell to the post for this award.
Overall a very strong team performance with all the girls working hard and playing some nice football.
The girls now move into the last 32 of the competition with a home-tie in the next round.
Thanks to those who travelled over today to support the team.
Kilcock Celtic 1 - Birr Town 3 - SFAI Shield - Jan 07 2023
Birr Town U14 Girls were on the road for their first outing of 2023. They travelled to Kildare to take on Kilcock Celtic in the cup. Town were captained today by Tess Liffey playing in defence. After five minutes the girls had found their edge with two quick goals in succession. The opener came from Katelyn Canham and the second just two minutes later from her strike partner Georgia Vickers.
Town continued to enjoy the majority of possession with Orlaith Conway largely untroubled for the first twenty minutes. KIlcock did strike back ten minutes from the half with a well taken goal. Crucially Birr restored their two goal advantage just before the break courtsey of Cara McLaughlin.
The second half was a closer affair with both teams tiring and cancelling each other out to a large degree. Ali Smyth enjoyed a fine game in midfield and was player of the game. There was several notable performances throughout the team. A job well done and the girls can now move on to the next round.
Thanks to Boylan travel for the travel assistance and putting up with the music!
Mountmellick 4 - Birr Town 4 (Mountmellick advance after penalities) - Oct 29th
Birr Town Girls U14 team had their debut outing today at Conor Davis Park to face Mountmellick in the SFAI cup. The girls were captained by Aoibhean Slattery who had a sterling performance in goal today. The opening exchanges were evenly matched with both teams coming to terms with a sticky pitch in wet conditions. Town opened the scoring on 10 minutes with a well-struck goal from Lacey Byrne to the corner of the net. The Birr goals were keen to get a second before half-time but were caught out on the half-hour with Mountmellick scoring from close range. Mountmellick followed up with two minutes to pounce on a mistake in the Birr defence to score their second goal.
Birr Town made some positional changes at half-time, which paid dividends as the game wore on. The opening minutes of the second half saw Town go 1-3 down with a well taken goal from Mountmellick coming in the fourth minute. Birr girls to their credit got stuck in and started to get on top as the conditions deteriorated. Tess Liffey switched up front in the second half assisted Katelyn Canham to put Birr back in the game after 17 minutes. Birr's equaliser followed within five minutes as the momentum clearly swung in their favour. Town's midfield combination of Nadine Ryan, Cara McLaughlin and Maeve Hanniffy worked hard throughout. The equaliser came from a super assist from Ceola Scully breaking from defence to setup Katelyn Canham who was put through and finished cooly into the corner.
Mountmellick looked to have got the vital winner with their further with less than 10 minutes to go. To their immense credit, Birr responded almost immediately with Katelyn Canham having struck the post moments earlier was not to be denied her hatrick to leave the teams 4-4 with less than five minutes to play. The game was to finish 4-4 and go into extra time. Extra time was played in poor conditions with neither side wanting to lose it as the inevitable penalties loomed. The shoot-out was a dramatic affair with some great stops pulled off by Aoibhean Slattery. In the end there was heartbreak for the girls coming out the wrong-end after 6 penalties.
For a new team having never played together, this was a very encouraging performance with lots of positives to be taken from the game.
