The Bower first year B hockey retained the Cahill Cup for the school for the second year in a row following an exciting final against Salerno of Galway. The match took place at Athlone Regional Sports Centre on Tuesday, 5 April in horribly wet conditions that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of either team. The Bower girls got off to a good start when the backline of Ava McKee, Ciara Egan, Katie Connolly and Sinead Reidy worked together to repel the many Salerno attempts at scoring. Emma Kinsella was a very steady presence in goal, while captain Sadbh Beirne led the way by example. However, Salerno managed to go into the half-time interval with one goal in their favour.
The second half saw the crowd of supporters go wild as the Bower notched up their first score when Megan Reid slipped the ball past the opposition’s keeper. Shortly after, Eva Kelly, Jennifer Boland and Aisling McKiernan combined well in midfield and up front to allow Niamh Coughlan to score the Bower’s second goal. The local girls then dug deep to prevent any possibility of equalising . This young team were delighted to go home with the cup which was presented to them by Pat Fox of Athlone Hockey Club and Connacht Branch straight after the final whistle.
