It was a dry and cold match day for the U16 girls who welcomed Barnhall (from Leixlip) to Gorey for the first round of the Leinster Girls Youth Cup.
The coaches urged the team to get the first score and not to be chasing the match, and after 2 minutes the girls delivered on that when Aoibhin broke through the Barnhall defense to score between the posts. Emer knocked over the conversion to give Gorey an early lead.
Within another 3 minutes Ciara scored a try out wide to increase that lead to 12-0. Five minutes later Aoibhin got a second try and Emer got the 2 points for the conversion, which left the score at 19-0. At 22 minutes into the half Orla touched down for a super try and as the half ended, Barnhall got their first try, leaving the half time score at 24-5 to Gorey.
Like the first half, the second half opened with a flurry as Ciara and then Amy scored tries in the first 5 minutes. Another 15 minutes later, Emer got a try and Amy got the conversion.
Barnhall then fought their way for a second try and got a good conversion to bring the score to 41-12. Right at the end of the match, Ciara got her third and the final try of the match. The final score was 46-12, which was a super result.
Aside from the scoreline, the performance was good, the lineouts worked well, the scrum was under-pressure but fought well, the team played with a structure which worked well. And there was also good running, rucking, jackaling and kicking.
Player of the Match went to a well-deserved Amy for her general play, leadership and encouragement to the team. Happy birthday Amy !
Next week, the team are travelling to Old Belvedere to play the Vipers in round 2 of the Leinster Youths Cup.
