NUI Galway Ladies Soccer Club defeated UCC 2-0 in the WSCAI Kelly Cup on Wednesday afternoon in Dangan. Playing with the aid of a slight breeze in the first half NUI Galway dominated territory but could not make it count on the scoresheet.
Midway through the half Chloe Singleton had the ball in the net for the home side but her effort was ruled out for offside. At the other end Christina Dring went close to scoring for visitors on a counterattack but her shot was expertly tipped over by Abbiegayle Roynane.
It took NUI Galway a while to settle in second half playing into the wind but when they regrouped, they did so in style with Kayla Brady and Elle O’Flaherty penetrating the wings, peppering the Cork box with crosses.
The midfield battle was won by the Galway’s central midfield trio of McCall Mennion, Emma Cian, and Chloe Singleton. Ciara McManus’s introduction added to their creativity and at the back the Galway girl’s defence was well marshalled by centre half’s Therese Kinnevey and Mollie Page.
This gave wingbacks Brena Milton and Lauren Seaman (who had replaced the industrious Jane Trehy when she got injured) the freedom to drift forward. Indeed on 63 minutes it was a defence splitting through ball from Seaman, that allowed Laney Green get in behind the UCC defence and fire the ball low into the bottom corer leaving ‘keeper Hanna Walsh with no chance.
A feature of the second half was Singleton’s ability to turn defence into attack when she embarked on a number of power runs with the ball to relieve the pressure. Indeed, it was no surprise when she turned up in the six-yard box to score Galway’s second on 69 minutes following a goalmouth scramble.
NUI Galway then introduced Angie Ambroisio to add some defensive cover to see out the game. The win sees NUI Galway’s name go into the hat for the quarter-final draw with games to be played on the week of 21st February.
