Thriller ends in heartbreak
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THE ALL-IRELAND treble bid came unstuck at Banagher, Co. Offaly, on Saturday last, but not before the Wexford Under-16 girls put up a brilliant performance against a very strong Mayo team in a high-scoring and thrilling 'B' championship decider.
While the Model county side were unable to follow in the footsteps of their Under-14 and Minor colleagues, they can still hold their heads up high after competing with honour and contributing in large measure to a superb encounter.
Indeed, it could just as easily have gone the other way, with the sides deadlocked on six occasions, although Mayo corner-forward Sarah Rowe possessed that extra class required to bring the title home, finishing with a superb personal tally of 2-7.
An early goal from their star player gave the westerners the perfect start, but Wexford showed they were up for a battle as they responded straight away with a Shauna Murphy point and an Aleisha Cullen goal.
Julie Coakley then rattled the net to give the Leinster champions a 2-1 to 1-1 lead, but the up and down nature of the game continued as Niamh Kelly did likewise at the other end almost immediately.
It was then Fiona Bennett's turn to get off the mark with a well-taken goal, but Mayo did dominate a bit more in the lead up to half-time and deserved to be ahead at the break by 2-11 to 35.
Another brace of points on the re-start widened the gap to five, but the superb forward play of Fiona Bennett and Julie Coakley then combined to yield a fruitful 1-3 and push Wexford into a narrow lead. Every time they threatened to put breathing space the sides though, the superb Sarah Rowe kept Mayo in the hunt with her wide array of skills and clinical score-getting.
Wexford refused to wilt though, and when Fiona Bennett adding another goal and a point, with Julie Coakley following up with a point, it reduced the deficit to the minimum (3-14 to 410).
Wexford piled on the pressure, but a Niamh Butler shot was brilliantly saved, Fiona Bennett struck the side-netting, and Katie Kehoe sent the ball narrowly wide.
They had given all they had, and tiredness inevitably set in at the death as Mayo broke downfield and scored an unanswered 1-3 to make sure of success. Julie Coakley and Katie Kehoe did manage late points, but sadly more was needed.
