Congratulations to the OLB Senior hockey side who claimed the Halliday Cup with a 1-0 victory over Ursuline College, Sligo in the Connacht Final on January 17th.
Freezing conditions in Sligo meant a delayed start, with an eventual change of venue being agreed upon. The Sligo girls would be playing on home turf with strong side-line support. The game was always going to be a close encounter, between two excellent teams. A few nerves were evident from both sides as the first whistle was blown.
The Bower side settled well and got into a rhythm quite quickly. The play was end to end with both defences playing comprehensively as a unit. As always, Roisin O’Neill in goal confidently dealt with anything that came her way.
The passing game was strong from OLB. Sally O’Hara and Marian Nolan set up some lovely opportunities which just
went wide of the posts. Laoise O’Donovan was looking dangerous throughout. Eva Fitzpartrick was also getting things moving up front, but the final finish was yet materialise. These moves kick-started an 8 minute domination of play by the Bower. The strong Ursuline side came close to opening the scoring just on half-time with a shot coming off the post.
A constructive and reassuring team talk left the girls in no doubt that the tactics were right and they should continue to do more of the same in the second half. Ursuline came out of the blocks faster, putting the Bower defenders under pressure. Gracie Loftus, Molly Horan and Cara Fitzpatrick showed their skill and calm control when under pressure.
Captain, Marian Nolan continued to rally her side and created a number of opportunities. Aisling Nally and Gracie Loftus showed great skill and pressure by forcing short corners, but still no goal. Individual efforts and coordinated team movements meant the chances kept coming, but resulted in wides and goal-mouth scrambles.
With 21 minutes gone and 4 minutes of normal time remaining OLB won another short corner. The ball was sent in perfectly to Laoise O’Donovan, who calmly and skilfully took it on her stick, before smashing it into the bottom left corner. The closing minutes were tense and the final whistle could not come fast enough.
Tension gave way to joy and well-deserved celebration. Congratulations to each player and coach, Gudgie Moran. A special mention to the 6th Year students whose school hockey career now comes to a close. Thank you for the dedication you have shown to your sport during your time in OLB. We are thrilled that it has ended on such a high.
Our Lady’s Bower Senior Hockey Squad: Róisín Nally, Cara Fitzpatrick, Eva Fitzpatrick, Molly Horan, Gracie Loftus, Sally O’Hara, Marian Nolan (Captain), Aisling Nally, Siofra McMahon, Ella Dowling, Laoise O’Donovan, Ava Martin, Leah Duffy, Ava Shortall, Jane Connaughton, Róisin Ní Dhuibhir, Kirsty Colsh & Jessica Collins.