Our U16s headed to West Cork this afternoon to face Ibane Ladies in the County Championship Semi Final. Having received a walkover in the quarter final, this team’s last competitive match together was at the start of June so they knew they had a tough task ahead.

Sophia White opened the scoring with a well-taken point after 5 minutes; another point from Alannah Keane and a brace from captain Elly Murphy saw Passage lead by 2 after 10 minutes. An Ibane goal on 20 minutes saw them take the lead for the first time but Passage always looked threatening going forward and a well-worked goal from Sarah O’Mahony and point from the unmarkable Shannon Ryan saw the teams go in level at the break, 1-5 a piece.

The second half saw Passage take control defensively, limiting the Ibane attacks and feeding great ball to the midfield pairing of Elly Murphy and Róisín Killen who in turn continued to set up the Passage forwards for some great scores. Sub Róisín Hanlon tapped over 3 great points at her ease and Lauren Coughlan struck 2 following some great passing. Further scores from Alannah, Elly and Rita saw the girls 7 points ahead with only 5 minutes remaining. A late Ibane goal from a penalty proved to only be a consolation score as the Passage defence shut up shop and continued to dismiss any Ibane attempts to salvage the game. A fantastic performance from this group of girls whose work rate and fitness earned them well-deserved victory. They now have a county final to look forward to in October. Well done to all involved and thanks to all the great supporters

Final score Passage 2-13 Ibane 3-6

Passage team: C. Walsh, I. O’Brien, T. Hanlon, K. Farrell, L. Finlay, S. Moynihan, C.Brady, E. Murphy (0-3), R. Killen, S. Ryan (0-1), R. Browne (0-1), S. O’Mahony (1-0), A. Keane (1-2), L. Coughlan (0-2), S. White (0-1), R. Hanlon (0-3), L. Kelly, E. Barry