The second game day of the Women’s Newtownards Cup was hosted by Galway Lacrosse on Saturday the 15th of November. In the Newtownards Cup each of the four teams plays each other twice over the three game days. The first game day was hosted by UCD on the 11th October. More information on the Avengers performance at that game day can be found by clicking here.
At this game day, four matches were held and the results were as follows:
[tb_results comp=”36″ season=”30″ venue=”25″ linktext=”View all results” title=”Results”]
First Game Day Without #17
This was the first game day that the Avengers were without Katelin Billups. Katelin has recently moved for work and so is unable to play with the DALC Ladies any more. As a sign of appreciation for Katelin, all members on the team had her number written on their wrists to show that we were playing for her. Other teams commented that it seemed as though she was dead… but for the Avengers this is a great loss and also a huge change for lacrosse in Ireland.
Through her dedication, hard work and energy Katelin has passed on her passion for lacrosse to all of us and coached and motivated us to become the players we are today. We all took great pride wearing Katelin’s number and tried to make her proud of all the players
she has helped to create. Katelin has contributed so much to Ireland Lacrosse over the years, and we wouldn’t all be here if it wasn’t for her. While we have no doubt that Aisling Casey will be able to fill her shoes, it is a huge change for lacrosse and we want to show our sincere gratitude for Katelin and everything she has done for the Avengers and lacrosse in Ireland.
We wish you the best of luck on your new adventure and look forward to having you back as soon as possible 🙂
Saturday was the second and final time that Dublin would play UCD Blue in the Newtownards Cup. As Dublin is largely made up of UCD Alumni, the rivalry is high between the two teams. This rivalry brought out aggression for both teams – both sides were guilty of warding, swinging, slagging and dangerous shooting which put a dampener on the match for some players.
While all members of the Avengers team played to a high standard, unfortunately it was UCD Blue that came away with the win. The Avengers’ defence, led by Rebecca Headon, was strong and worked hard to keep the UCD players out. The lack of substitutes available to the DALC side meant that players became tired towards the end of the match which allowed UCD Blue to make fast breaks to goal.
The Avengers scored several goals too, including Aedeen’s first goal for the team through a hockey style swipe into the goal. Other goals came from Aoife Ferguson (1), Evanna Murphy (1), and one from Nóirín who was borrowed from the Galway team (and who we would quite like to keep).
This was the first time that Dublin met the Galway team in the Cup. It is great to see how strong the Galway team have become this season. They have been able to not only enter a full team into the league, but a strong team of both Irish and international players. They have home-grown players that should be looking towards trials for the next World Cup. Kudos to them for sticking at it! Also, a special thanks to Galway for providing one of their own players, Nóirín, to play for Dublin in our match against UCD Blue. Nóirín was a great addition to the team with her speed and ability to sprint in and gain possession of the ball in the draw.
Similar to the UCD Blue match, the lack of numbers proved to be a weakness for the Avengers. The team played without any subs for the first half. By the time we received two rookie players in the second half, the team was already worn out. Beata was the key goal scorer for the match scoring all four goals.
This match also saw Aoife Ferguson injure her ankle in a run for the ball. Aoife had injured the same ankle two weeks previously at the National Team trials. However, Aoife was always in the right place at the right time and had played in midfield even though her foot was sore. She powered through and made several great catches and passes.
Special Thanks
Aisling Casey and Laura O’Flynn deserve a special mention for this game day. Both players volunteered to brave playing goalie for a match as the Avengers were without a goal keeper for the day. Each player had only one training session of practice in goals before braving matches against two of the strongest teams in the league. Both were fantastic in goals and we all really appreciate you sacrificing yourselves for the team! Judging by the hits Laura received (and the bruises she now has) I think it is safe to say she will want to stick to defence for future matches.
Player of the Game Day
This time round, the Player of the Game Day was nominated by the players. The winner for the Galway Game Day is…Beata Juchniewicz! Beata is only new to the Avengers but in her short time she has managed to pass on her skills and help to coach the team to become better players. Here are some of the comments that her team mates had to say:
“V determined player, gave her all”
“Betty scored four goals and was really always ready to move to wherever you needed her on the field.”
“I chose Beata because not only did she score for us but was always open, always working and never let the under currents of the game affect her.”
Summary
While we didn’t receive the desired results in the game day, the Avengers worked as a team to control the elements of the game that we could. We stretched the oppositions defence and made wonderful cuts to score. While our defence was not used to playing together, everyone listened to each other and worked hard. Susan Dunphy was great in defence making slides and other players covered well. We played at our best when we settled down and thought before we moved or passed. On defence, people were doing an awesome job of crashing and of sliding into the exact position in which they needed to be. We have also come away with areas to work on such as draw control and settling down on attack.
We look forward to the next and final game day of the Cup on the 29th of November in Belfast.
*Click on the match for stats on the Dublin players