June 8th – Ardmore U8 vs Watergrasshill U8

In our final match of the season we traveled to county Waterford to play Ardmore AFC on their fabulous ocean view grounds. The Gael force winds made Ardmore decide to play 4 x 12 minutes, 2 against the wind and 2 with the wind in the back. A very fair and sportive gesture from the Ardmore coaching team.

Ardmore started strong and took the lead within the first minute. Gaelic Force winds kept our lads back and it took until the end of the first quarter for Darragh to equalize with a well placed shot.
With the wind in the back we started the second half strong with Eoghan hitting the back of the net after a great pass from Dylan from the right. We ended the second quarter with a great goal from Dylan. Half time score. Ardmore (1) - Watergrasshill (3). An own goal in the third quarter let Ardmore back in the game. Helped by the wind, Ardmore kept pressing and were unlucky not to equalize. Some great saves from Eoin, who took over from Ryan in the goal, kept us in the game. A clearance from Eoghan on the line and a shot on the crossbar kept the score at 2-3 at the end of the 3rd quarter. So far it was a great game to watch, with 2 evenly matched teams.

Watergrasshill accelerated in the last quarter where we, helped by the wind, scored 7 goals. Great pressing from the team allowed Eoghan to score twice completing his hattrick, followed by a great Dylan solo that made it 2-6. Ryan murray's perseverance allowed him to score the 2-7 followed by Darragh completing his first hattrick by scoring 2 well placed goals. Ryan put the final score on the board. Final Score: Ardmore U8 (2) - Watergrasshill U8 (10). Probably not a true reflection of the game, Ardmore deserved more as they made it us very difficult up until the 4th quarter.

Well done to all the lads, who never gave up during the season, played with great pride and heart and were a credit to themselves, parent's, club and their managers.
They have grown as a team and we saw a huge improvement all around. Congratulations lads, what a season!
7 wins , 1 very close defeat. 47 goals scored but a massive 23 goals conceded.

Todays Squad:

Ryan: Reliable Goalkeeping and some great pressure play in the second half with 2 goals,
Eoin: His saves kept us in the game, and Eoin always gets stuck in
Eoghan: another hattrick today, 17 goals in 8 matches, what more can we say
Dylan: great man for the corners, free kicks and the crosses in front of the goal. Plenty of goals but even more assists
Daniel: solid defending, great man for the midfield
Darragh: Great hattrick today and a solid performance all season
Brendan: Our fastest player on the pitch, got stuck in and had some great rushes over the wings

Unable to join us today in Ardmore were Joseph, David, Sam and coach Frank.

See you all on sunday at the club presentation event!

Rob & Frank