Stunning Comeback Earns Youghal Girls A Point. Youghal United U-14 girls produced a stunning comeback at Richmond on Saturday to secure their first point as the season got underway.
Report: www.youghalonline.com sports/Photo: Courtesy Youghal United

The U-14 girls took the trip to Richmond hoping to get the new season off to a winning start. This was a very even encounter on a poor pitch and the Youghal side looked rusty inside the first ten minutes. Richmond took the lead shortly after and as much as Youghal huffed and puffed they did not create any clear chances with only a number of speculative efforts from Jess Lawton to draw some consolation from. Richmond made it 2-0 approaching halftime.

The Youghal team were determined to correct the score in the second half and began strongly. However, Richmond made it 3-0 five minutes into the second period. A swerving free kick from Rachel Galvin was then spilled by the keeper for Jess Lawton to roll home. It was disallowed for offside. Stung by the injustice and the scoreline, Youghal finally got to the pace of the game. Two quick goals from Jess Lawton, after strong running and unerring finishes, had Youghal believing a comeback was on. At 3-2, and a number of changes to the line-up, Youghal piled on the pressure. Unfortunately, Richmond scored a fourth when the Youghal defence failed to deal with a bouncing ball in the area: 4-2 to the homeside.

It was evident throughout the game that the girls were not match fit and were slow closing down. To their great credit however, they found some reserve and lifted themselves to shock Richmond in the last 15 minutes.
Rachel Galvin looked increasingly dangerous as she pushed forward from midfield and it was no surprise when she danced through the defence to slide the ball under the despairing keeper: 4-3. Marie-Louise Keane then went on a mazey run, beating two defenders, but just failed to find a colleague in the box. The impetus was now firmly with the away team. Rachel Galvin again picked up the ball and ran at Richmond. With their defence looking edgy, Rachel found herself one to one with the keeper. She struck it beautifully, lifting it just over the keeper’s desperate hand: 4-4. In the dying minutes Youghal were denied an improbable winner when Jess Lawton, put through by Rachel Galvin, saw her firm strike ricochet off the keeper’s elbow to safety. At the final whistle this felt more like a victory than a draw.

The character shown by the players will bring them success this year if they are quicker to close down the opposition. Jess Lawton and Rachel Galvin take the headlines but it was a terrific team and squad performance with one special mention to Molly Long who was outstanding at right back.