Nab under18's lose in 2006 championship qtr final
31 Aug 2006

It was a case of who would win the break that decided this enthralling encounter between the Nab and Keady under 18 teams in this years championship.

St Brenda’s however exited the championship after an enthralling encounter with Keady in last Thursday’s quarterfinal. There was just one point between the teams at the final whistle of a hard fought and sporting game where a draw would have been a fair result as both teams put in everything they had. In the end it was to be Keady’s night as the excellent Laura Comiskey pointed an injury time free to snatch the game. Indeed young Comiskey was the real difference between the two sides as her free taking was superb throughout scoring five pointed frees from all angles and all distances whilst the Nab’s free taking was much less assured. Most the St Brenda’s scoring came from play with the exciting prospects of  Petrina Cosgrove and Amy Lavery, both still at juvenile level being excellent when introduced to the game, Petrina scoring three great points from play and Amy scoring 1-1, with Amy very unlucky  not to have registered her second goal when a rasper was stopped on the line. The Nab’s other scorers were Orla O’Hare 0-1 and Michaela King 0-1.

After a shakey first 10 minutes the Nab defence were very steady throughout where Mairead Short, Edel McParland, Aileen McParland and Emma McParland were particularly good. Catherine Toner in goals was steady as a rock and made some great clearances under pressure. The Nab’s early midfield pairing of Shauna McKee and Michaela King struggled to curb Keady’s dominance in this sector and Aileen McParland and Carina McKee had more success in midfield in the second half with Michaela battling hard when moved to the forward line and Shauna moving to her more familiar half backline. Upfront Orla O’Hare looked the most dangerous but after an intial bright spell when she scored a great point and was unlucky in other efforts, her game was subdued after receiving a bad injury to her finger. Mairead McClelland also looked dangerous upfront when on the ball but was very closely marked.

Overall the two teams were very evenly matched but lack of match fitness from some of the Nab players, some good goalkeeping from the Keady goalie and the Keady freetaking were the difference between winning and losing and while the Nab could have won this game had luck gone their way, they won’t have any qualms about the result on the night. Best of luck to Keady in the next round.

Final score Keady 1-7, Ballymacnab 1-6