LUCAN Sarsfields minor ladies footballers produced one of the most incredible turnarounds as they transformed a 42-point drubbing in the group stages of their Division 4 championship against Thomas Davis to prevail by 10 points in the final against the same opposition.
Back in their opening game in September, Moureen Fitzharris’s team were beaten all ends up 10-15 to 1-0 before scraping through the group phase with a 5-7 to 1-10 win over Ballyboden St Enda’s.
Their 4-5 to 0-7 win over Man O War was closer than the scoreline suggests but expectations were understandably low going into the final against Thomas Davis.
But they produced a stunning performance to win out 4-9 to 1-8 to retain the title they won a year ago in some style.
The Tallaght club did score an early goal but goals from Shauna Kinsella and Emma O’Flynn soon had Lucan on top, leading 2-6 to 1-1 at the break. Further majors from Dannie Murray and Susan Scully saw them wind up winners with something to spare.
Speaking about the incredible reversal in fortunes, Fitzharris explained that it was partly improved performance but also the return of Murray, Orla Moloney and Sabrina Moloney that could well have been the key factor.
“I’d like to say it was strategy,” she told GazetteSport. “But it was probably down to a couple of the better players not being available the first day combined with the fact that they performed very well in the final.”
Fitzharris says there is decent amount of scope for the side to move up a tier or two with a large number of players available again in 2015. This side is made up of the first wave of players from the club’s academy.
“We probably only lost two or three players from last year but it would be a very young squad with about 10 of them Under-16 still. They may well move into one of the higher divisions but we don’t have the numbers in Lucan just yet in place.
“Because of not wanting to take from the Under-16s, the side doesn’t compete in the league. Most of the other players would play with the junior team. This could have played a factor in the initial loss to Thomas Davis, definitely as they had not played with each other regularly.”
