Midweek action for our W1s as they travelled to Mount Temple to take on Clontarf and their excellent form and run of three wins was brought to a sudden halt as their opponents pinched a narrow 1-0 win. Having conceded early on in 1st quarter, our W1s stepped it up after that and piled on the pressure for the next 3 quarters but struggled to get the final finishing touch. Avoca certainly had their chances as the side dominated play for the majority of the game and even had an effort off the post. As time ticked on and the short corner count soared; it seemed it was not to be Avoca’s day and finished off as a very frustrating 1-0 loss.
A fantastic 3-0 win for our W4s against Corinthian now gives them breathing space at the top of Division 7 as they have now opened up a 4-point gap; Lauren Doyle Shaw, Suzanne Cullen and Orlaith Duffy were all on target.
The W5s had a double weekend and draw with Bray in the cup on Saturday before winning in another shoot-out. It was 1-1 at normal time after Emma Meir had converted a short corner. Then in the shoot-out, Tiggy Hudson Fowler stopped 4 including a stroke while Emma Meir and Molly converted their 1v1s. Paul Cronin said, “Brilliant gritty performance against an evenly matched Bray side.” Ellie O’Brien claimed the Player of the Match accolade for a fine performance. On Sunday, Avoca’s Deadly 5s faced a Kilkenny 2s side that had scored 36 goals and conceded only 1 before meeting Avoca today. A few sore limbs following the previous day’s match, but great team led planning chat beforehand, and everyone knew their jobs. From the off it was clear that KK had a sophisticated attack force but after only 2 minutes a through ball to midfield was quickly fed to Emma Meir who spotted Alison Magee to the right of the goal; clever thinking by Alison led to an assured push past the goalie’s feet. KK were a bit shell shocked at the end of Q1 but came out then to do battle. Avoca’s second goal came from a beautifully lifted ball from Hilary Long to Keelin O’Brien who expertly slotted it home. KK put immense pressure on our back line who created a barrier that was only pierced once in normal play. Alas, 3 KK goals came from short corners to ensure they took home the spoils and continued their charge for the title. Player of the match for pure passion and leadership went to Emma Meir; the team would like to wish Emma all the very best as she now goes into surgery this week and the side will certainly miss her…
Elsewhere, the W3s picked up a very good point against North Kildare with Hilary Long and Ella Lawless both netting to secure a much-needed point and Hilary Lennon fired in a consolation goal for the W2s against the students as UCD remain undefeated and earned a 3-1 win.
W1 0-1 Clontarf
W2 1-3 UCD
W3 2-2 North Kildare
W4 3-0 Corinthian
W5 2-1 Bray Cup
W5 2-4 Kilkenny
The men’s 1s completed a convincing 6-1 win over Trinity in Santy Sports Grounds who prior to the match, were only three points behind the boot boys. Getting off to a good start, Avoca took the lead through an Oran O’Sullivan rebound from a short corner. The defender shortly followed up the goal with an excellent goal line clearance at the other end, to keep the momentum in Avoca’s favour. Two more short corner conversions in Q2 from Ziggy Agnew and Jonathan Elmes meant Avoca were in a comfortable position come half time, assisted by a good save from Ben Mayberry to repel a Trinity short corner of their own. Trinity pulled one back in Q3 but Andrew Ramsay swiftly cancelled out that effort, restoring the 3 goal cushion for Avoca. As the game opened up towards the end, which included Trinity pulling their keeper, Jonathan Codd chipped in with another corner rebound for Avoca, and Jonathan Elmes completed a brace to continue his rich vein of scoring form. All told, an undeniably comprehensive win from Avoca, who continue to top the table two points ahead of Railway, albeit giving up a game in hand.
The mighty 3s picked up another 3 points as Ian Keogh’s men earned a valuable 2-1 win on their travels into county Kilkenny and in doing so keep up with leaders Enniscorthy. The M2s led at Monkstown by a goal from Cian Funge and were holding on to a win only to concede in the final quarter to share a spoil of the points.
Team of the week goes to the Fearsome 4s who notched an incredible victory against Trinity, although having checked their league progress, have suffered similar fate to other teams this season it appears. Conor Robinson bagged himself a hat-trick while Dan Bolger and Mo Ghia scored a brace each. Leo Sex, Niels O’Flanagan and Lucas Davenport were also on target as the side edge to the table summit.
M1 6-1 Trinity
M2 1-1 Monkstown
M3 2-1 Kilkenny
M4 10-0 Trinity
Team of the Week Leaderboard
1 M1 – 2
2 W1 W2 M3 W4 W5 M5 M4 – 1
3 W3 M2 – 0
***League Table Standings***
W1 D1 | W2 D2 | W3 D4 | W4 D7 | W5 D9
M1 D1A | M2 D1B | M3 D3 | M4 D5 | M5 D6