Listowel Emmetts Under 16 Division 2 Shield-Winners
Listowel Emmets U16 girls played their final game of the season against Finuge/St. Senans in sun drenched Finuge on Sunday Oct 28th. This was the North Kerry shield final and what a cracker of a contest it turned out to be.
In what was a rip-roaring first half, F/S were out of the traps early with 2 excellent points. Emmets hit back with a well worked point of their own before then scoring the first of their 5 goals on the day. F/S hit back with some more well taken points before the Listowel girls hit another purple patch, tacking on 1-1 to move 3 ahead. F/S hit back with a couple more points to go into the break with the Emmets girls ahead by a single point.
The second half saw the intensity levels ramp up several notches with tit-for-tat exchanges the order of the day. F/S went a point up 10 minutes into the second half courtesy of the first of their two goals, and it looked like they might kick on to score their victory over their neighbours in this competition. But the Emmets girls were in no mood to allow this happen. A third Listowel goal breathed more life into the bellies of the black and amber team before they then tacked on a further 2 points. F/S fought back with some more well taken points before Emmets hit back with 2 fantastic team goals. This would have finished most other teams at this stage in the game, but Senans kept plugging away before eventually breaching an excellent Listowel defense for their second goal, leaving a single point in again to Emmets. With time almost up, the Listowel girls kept their cool under tremendous pressure and won a free close to the F/S goal, which was duly converted, handing them a 2 point win.
This was a fantastic spectacle for all involved and a great advertisement for ladies football generally. It was played in great spirit with both teams deserving huge credit for providing such wonderful entertainment on a cold Winter’s morning. Well done to all and congratulations to Emmets on what was first class performance after a long tough season. Looking forward to seeing you all again next season.
