Hollyhill 1: Lakewood 2 (0:0 HT)
Lakewood continued their good form for the year with a hard fought away victory to Hollyhill in the cup. In perfect conditions the two evenly matched teams created only a few chances in the first half. Within minutes of the start of the game Ciara Taheny had a superb strike saved by the Hollyhill keeper. At the other end stand in keeper Lily May O’Farrell was in control of any balls that came in to her box.
Deadlock was broken early in the second half after a prolonged spell of pressure in the Hollyhill box a penalty was awarded for a hand ball.Lakewood’s top scorer Heidi O’ Sullivan neatly slotted to ball in to the bottom corner to put Lakewood 1 up. Lakewood continued to keep the pressure on and ten minutes later the ball broke to Lucy Cronin following a corner and she stroked the ball to the net out of the reach of the keeper to put Lakewood 2 up. Hollyhill fought back and scored with 8 minutes remaining on the clock to ensure a nervy final few minutes. However, the Lakewood defence of Emily Shanahan, Aoife Barrett, Sadbh McGoldrick and Niamh O’Shea were excellent throughout the game.
In midfield Laura Hill and the Sophie O Connell in her first match after returning from injury covered every blade of grass. Up top Katie Lee and Maebh McGoldrick worked tirelessly to keep the pressure on Hollyhill’s defence in a game where clear chances were hard to come by.
