Trinity Sports Grounds in Santry was the place to be this week, with many high-quality performances from Trinity GAA in different codes making the cold evenings much more bearable with much skill and talent on display. Trinity Ladies’ Gaelic Footballers were no exception, with both first and second teams putting in impressive performances during the week to kickstart their League campaign.
Tough competitive games saw a win for the second team on Wednesday evening in Division Five against Dublin City University (DCU), with a very unfortunate loss for their club-mates the previous night against DCU St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra.
The first team faced DCU for their first game of the season under their new management team, with Gaelic Football Chairperson Eoin O’Neill and former Trinity Ladies Footballer Michelle Peel taking the reigns. Trinity started off on a high with Amy Conroy kicking over the first scores of the game.
Pat’s retaliated with a score of their own, but the Trinity women showed determination to maintain their advantage. Excellent play in the full-forward line saw Cliodhna Hayes score the first goal of the game, sending a strong message to their opponents. St Pat’s kept adding to the scoreboard but the Trinity girls held their cool and did not panic. Scores from Conroy, Anne-Marie Troy, Niamh Sheehan saw their side go in at half time with 1-6 to 0-6 in their favour.
The second half proved to be a much more even affair. A point from the throw-in saw Trinity take advantage, with Galway senior footballer Megan Glynn scoring a point in the first few seconds of the half. Further scores by Sheehan and Hayes extended the gap between the teams, although this did not last long. A period of time saw Trinity tire, with St Pat’s capitalising on this by bursting out of the blocks and getting their first goal of the game, which would prove to be the game’s defining moment. The opposing side seemed to regain a burst of energy, scoring a further 1-1 within a short space of time and putting immense pressure on the Trinity defence. Sheahan scored 1-1 in the last few minutes at Trinity.
However, it was too little too late as the scoreboard favoured Pats with 2-11 to 2-10 at the end of the encounter. Considering this was the first match of the season with new players on the team and that Trinity had led for the majority of the game only to fall in the final few minutes, this was a promising start to the league with some strong individual performances all over the field. Building on the momentum will be key for these girls as they go in search of their first win of the year.
The ladies’ second team brought the same intensity to the field the following night as they came up against DCU Glasnevin in the opening game of the Division Five League. Considering that this team had quite a number of freshers and new players in general, they put in a creditable performance to claim the spoils. Trinity were a goal up within two minutes thanks to a cracking shot by Elaine Kennedy, who drove the ball into the top left corner of the net. DCU tried to retaliate straight away, but their efforts were made difficult by the intense tackling of Laoise Fagan and Orla Brennan. DCU eventually got a point on the scoreboard, but Trinity responded perfectly with a brilliant point that was worked well over the bar by Ruth Shaw.
DCU fought hard, but their sloppy handling was easily cleaned up by Trinity. Nevertheless, DCU did nearly hit the back of the net themselves only for it to be shut down by Kate Fagan who sent it back up the field once again. Link-up play from Kennedy and Caoimhe O’Hare saw the ball worked into the forwards, with Shaw finishing the team effort with a point. Trinity hit four more points in quick succession. DCU eventually made it down to the other half of the field, with their shot on goal deflected by Trinity goalkeeper Eva Wall. DCU came back and Wall was unlucky to see the ball trickle past her into the net.
The second half did not start the way Trinity wanted it to, with another goal converted by DCU within the first few minutes of the game. Both teams experienced a dry patch in the game, with no scores coming from either side for a few minutes. Trinity eventually got back into the game, with scores from Orla Newell aiding their efforts. A dangerous ball from DCU was superbly dealt with by Eavan Fitzgerald, a clear demonstration of the intensity of Trinity.
The hosts would have the last say on the scoreboard, as a fantastically defended ball from Ciara Brennan saw the ball turned over and passed to Megan O’Malley who finished the ball into the back of the opposition’s net. Trinity left Santry the happier of the two teams, recording a win of 3-15 to 2-6.
Although there was some disappointment, the positivity from both teams to drive forward in the leagues will be crucial to their success. The seconds have a break for next week, with the Ladies’ firsts travelling to play DCU Glasnevin in their first away game this year.
