Recap

Match Report by: Neil O’Brien.

Our second game of the night saw Griffintown Gaels Ladies take on the Verdun Vikings ladies. It turned out to be a monumental battle between two teams who left absolutely everything on the pitch. The first period started at a frantic pace and the Viking had the better of the opening exchanges with Vero Buisson popping over a couple of lovely scores before Shannon Pine added another to leave the score 0-3 to 0-0 after ten minutes. The very impressive Laura Brody then notched one for the Gaels, but the Vikings pressure was relentless, and their dominance was rewarded when Shannon Pine got on the end of a lovely pass from skipper Eimear O Leary Barrett before rifling home passed the helpless Saraid Mc Carrick. The first half continued in much the same vein with the Vikings generally having the better of it. A couple of very well taken points from Annie Gaumond and another goal from Brody were matched by the lethal opposing strike force of Buisson and Devaney who both notched a point each before that woman Pine rocketed home a second goal to give her a very impressive first half tally of 2-1. If the Vikings forward line were impressive, the same would have to be said for their defense with Ryan Byrd very impressive in the nets and Ariane Jodoin and Emily Jibb rock solid in front of her. Time and again wave after wave of Gaels attacks were broken down and Emily Jibb was rightly named her teams MVP. With Barrett and Manon Walsh anchoring the midfield Vikings looked very much the finished article in the first half. Just before the half ended Buisson added another goal to leave the Vikings leading by six points at half time.
Due to very humid conditions the second half was split into two quarters. The third quarter saw a much more balanced game with the Gaels beginning to grow in confidence and an early goal from Brody narrowed the deficit to three. But new to Montreal is Maire Hanrahan and the classy midfielder popped over three points to leave the margin still at 6 points going into the fourth and final quarter.
There was no putt given in any area of the field between these two giants of our super league. At the back for the Gaels Paris Williams began to get on top of the opposing strike force and she was ably assisted by Julie Houle who basically gave an exhibition in the near hand tackle. Beside these two was the speed merchant Sydnie Baynes who just seems to get better and better with every game. An early goal from MVP for the Gaels, Laura Brody reduced the margin to three points and it was suddenly game on. Julie Morrice and Michelle Lee got a hold on the midfield battle and after some lovely inter play between Morrice and Brody, the ball was fed to Lee who popped it over the bar. But again, the Vikings came back, and Buisson added a third of the game for herself to bring her tally to 1-3. There were now 5 points in it, but that woman Brody popped up again with a great individual effort to once again cut the deficit to two. It was edge of the seat stuff now nd with 2 minutes remaining Gaels captain Michelle Lee raced through to fire to the net to give her side the lead for the first time in the game. However, the Vikings wouldn’t lie down and kept pushing forward with particularly impressive forays from Walsh, Hanrahan and Barrett but they couldn’t penetrate the resolute Gaels defense. Special mention to Cait Drouillard for a brilliant display in the half back line/midfield for the Gaels. Another rookie and certainly one to look out for in the future. For all the Vikings endeavor they just couldn’t manage to grab the all-important equalizing score and the Gaels held on to win it by a point. Let’s hope all the super league games are as exciting as this one. Huge credit goes to the girls who played two games on the night.

Final Score: Griffintown Gaels 5-5 Verdun Vikings 3-10