Last Sunday morning, 12 March 2017, Enniscorthy Ladies 1st hockey team managed to secure themselves a place in the third round of the Ladies Hockey Association Trophy by beating Wexford Ladies 1st team 1-0.
The match got off to a poor start for Enniscorthy as the Wexford Ladies attacked in full force. This was the fourth time that these two strong teams have play each other this year and Wexford were thirsty for a third win. They attacked mainly down Enniscorthy’s left side, the more difficult side to defend, but excellent work by Olive Lett, Katie Owen and Julie Watchorn managed to keep the Wexford ladies out of the circle. Powerful hit-outs by Watchorn were unfortunately intercepted by Wexford, which got them a shot on goal, thankfully the skilled goalkeeper, Fiona Rothwell saved the first attempt, but a second shot which looked sure to be a goal for Wexford was stopped by Owen and was cleared by one of Enniscorthy’s youngest players, Laura Smith. The older Flood sister, Jessie, moved the ball around the pitch to switch the play to the right side. Fantastic passing between Sonja Rynhart, Marti Rudd, Leah Chapman and Anna Flood got the girls into the circle where they were awarded a short corner. To Enniscorthy’s disappointment, the Wexford ladies saved the goal and moved the ball quickly down to the other side of the pitch. The Enniscorthy ladies put their fitness to the test by racing back down the field to defend. An accidental foot resulted in a short corner for Wexford. However, the Wexford attackers were no match for Enniscorthy’s defenders, Smith showed no fear and defended a high ball into the circle, keeping the score level at 0-0 for the half time whistle.
The Enniscorthy Ladies came out of the team talk with their coach, Donal Doyle, eager for victory and dominated for the entire second half. Accurate passing from May Wickham kept and quick frees taken by Ruth Harrington up the right line to Rudd. Passing from Rudd to Stephanie Kinsella and Rynhart caught the Wexford girls off guard. Rudd managed to win the Slaneysider’s a second short corner by hitting a Wexford foot. A fantastic pass from the younger Flood sister, Anna, directly to Rynhart gave her that extra second to pick her target before she powerfully hit the ball directly past all the Wexford defenders and goalkeeper and into the back corner of the goal putting our ladies in the lead. After push back the Wexford ladies fought back bringing the ball into the circle, but a high ball injured young May Wickham who had been playing brilliantly. Laura Bailey, another of the younger girls, subbed on for May and dominated her skilled marker from the word go. The Wexford ladies managed to win another short corner as the final whistle blew, but ‘Scorthy’s defence was too close to victory to let in a final goal, the game finished 1-0. Fantastic play by the ladies on both teams but Enniscorthy Ladies triumphed leaving them to look forward to the next round of the LHA trophy.
Enniscorthy Squad: Fiona Rothwell, Katie Owen, Julie Watchorn, Laura Smith, May Wickham, Jessie Flood, Olive Lett, Ruth Harrington, Marti Rudd, Sonja Rynhart, Anna Flood, Laura O’Leary, Leah Chapman, Laura Bailey, Stephanie Kinsella. Coach: Donal Doyle. Manager: Irene Doyle
The match got off to a poor start for Enniscorthy as the Wexford Ladies attacked in full force. This was the fourth time that these two strong teams have play each other this year and Wexford were thirsty for a third win. They attacked mainly down Enniscorthy’s left side, the more difficult side to defend, but excellent work by Olive Lett, Katie Owen and Julie Watchorn managed to keep the Wexford ladies out of the circle. Powerful hit-outs by Watchorn were unfortunately intercepted by Wexford, which got them a shot on goal, thankfully the skilled goalkeeper, Fiona Rothwell saved the first attempt, but a second shot which looked sure to be a goal for Wexford was stopped by Owen and was cleared by one of Enniscorthy’s youngest players, Laura Smith. The older Flood sister, Jessie, moved the ball around the pitch to switch the play to the right side. Fantastic passing between Sonja Rynhart, Marti Rudd, Leah Chapman and Anna Flood got the girls into the circle where they were awarded a short corner. To Enniscorthy’s disappointment, the Wexford ladies saved the goal and moved the ball quickly down to the other side of the pitch. The Enniscorthy ladies put their fitness to the test by racing back down the field to defend. An accidental foot resulted in a short corner for Wexford. However, the Wexford attackers were no match for Enniscorthy’s defenders, Smith showed no fear and defended a high ball into the circle, keeping the score level at 0-0 for the half time whistle.
The Enniscorthy Ladies came out of the team talk with their coach, Donal Doyle, eager for victory and dominated for the entire second half. Accurate passing from May Wickham kept and quick frees taken by Ruth Harrington up the right line to Rudd. Passing from Rudd to Stephanie Kinsella and Rynhart caught the Wexford girls off guard. Rudd managed to win the Slaneysider’s a second short corner by hitting a Wexford foot. A fantastic pass from the younger Flood sister, Anna, directly to Rynhart gave her that extra second to pick her target before she powerfully hit the ball directly past all the Wexford defenders and goalkeeper and into the back corner of the goal putting our ladies in the lead. After push back the Wexford ladies fought back bringing the ball into the circle, but a high ball injured young May Wickham who had been playing brilliantly. Laura Bailey, another of the younger girls, subbed on for May and dominated her skilled marker from the word go. The Wexford ladies managed to win another short corner as the final whistle blew, but ‘Scorthy’s defence was too close to victory to let in a final goal, the game finished 1-0. Fantastic play by the ladies on both teams but Enniscorthy Ladies triumphed leaving them to look forward to the next round of the LHA trophy.
Enniscorthy Squad: Fiona Rothwell, Katie Owen, Julie Watchorn, Laura Smith, May Wickham, Jessie Flood, Olive Lett, Ruth Harrington, Marti Rudd, Sonja Rynhart, Anna Flood, Laura O’Leary, Leah Chapman, Laura Bailey, Stephanie Kinsella. Coach: Donal Doyle. Manager: Irene Doyle
