DCU Ladies football team are looking forward to an exciting new season this year in Division 1. Promoted last year, the team has been going from strength to strength since their foundation just over 4 years ago. The club, which was winner of the "Most Improved Club" at teh Clubs and Societies Awards last year, has been promoted every year since the beginning of its existance making it one of the most prominant college teams in the country.
Division 1 status means staunch competition against teams such as UCD, DIT, Trinity and St.Pats. However the girls are definately up for the task witha strong panel of players including veterans from years gone by and also an influx of many talented new freshers. Training is already in progress and a good panel of players has been present at all sessions so far. Training takes place every Monday at 6.15pm sharp and Wednesday at 3.30pm at St.Clares.
Other preparation for the upcoming League has come in the form of a Freshers Blitz, in which the 1st years performed well. The first game of the league is scheduled to take place on the 9th November against Trinity.
The first social event of the club took place on the 18th of October in the Temple Theatre, who for the 2nd year running, are sponsoring the Ladies football team in DCU. Yet again, the ladies inhabited the VIP section of the club where food and drinks were abundant.....and it wasn't all lucozade sport either! The girls got a chance to let their hair down and proved that even the most dedicated of athletes can make time for a little socialising. The team wish to thank the Temple Theatre for their generous sponsorship. Hopefully there will be many more nights like it to come.
DCU Ladies played their 1st game of the league against a determined Trinity side in St.Clare's on Thursday 9th November. It was the home side who eventually emerged victorious but not before a brave comeback by the visitors.
DCU dominated the 1st half completely. A goal by Ciara McGuinness only five minutes into the game was to set the trend for the rest of the half. Strong performances at midfield by Rachel Barrett and Dawn Cantwell meant that for the entire 1st half, the ball practically never left the Trinity half. Crucial scores by Jenny Kett added to DCU's tally and another goal by Ciara McGuinness meant that the homeside were pulling further and further away. Trinity did manage to reply with one point, but this momentum was brought swiftly to a halt as further scores from Jenny Kett, Ciara McGuinness and Mary Nevin made Trinity's solitary score far from adequate. The 1st half finished as it began with a goal, this time from Mary Nevin. At the end of the 1st half DCU led by 3-11 to 0-01.
The 2nd half was a much different story though. Trinity, fired up after the interval, came back to score eleven consecutive points without reply. However after a brief period of disarray, the DCU defence took control and contained the Trinity surge. Solid performances from defenders such as Ailbhe Ni Mhurchu meant that DCU held on for victory and a place at the top of Division 1 league.
This week the DCU Ladies face UCD in what is expected to be one of the most competitive clashes of this year's league. The girls are well up for the task.
The last few weeks have been quite eventful in the women's football club. The girls, fresh from victory against Trinity in the first game of their league campaign, met an experienced and confident UCD team in their next game. The fixure, played two weeks ago in UCD, was marred by bad weather conditions and was unfortunately also the scene for an unlucky defeat for the DCU squad. Despite good performances in defence by players such as Sandra Lawlor (who received the coveted Mz. of the Match prize!) UCD were victorious in the end.
The following week DCU played host to St. Pats in the next fixture in the league. The game was closely contested the whole way through with good performances at midfield by Rachel Barrett and up front by Ciara McGuinness. Despite several good scores and an excellently kicked penalty by Jenny Kett, it was the visiting side that edged ahead at the finish. A goal by St.Pats at the very end meant they were victors by a narrow margin.
On the 30th November the team travelled to Limerick for the 35's event determined to put an end to their unfortunate losing streak. They did so easily with fine performances from Rachel Barrett in midfield and Ciara Mulligan on the half-forward line. The Ladies team were victorious in securing points for DCU and also managed to celebrate in style in the UL bar that night. It could be said that it wasn't only the pitch that the girls showed their ability to score but that's enough said about that..... Most importantly, the whole team arrived back to DCU about 4.30am, almost in one piece and nobody was left down in Limerick.
The team wish to congratulate Ciara McGuinness and Ciara Mulligan who were recipiants of two of the new scholarships announced by Tom O'Donnell at a presentation on December 5th. The team also wishes to congratulate their captain Rachel Barrett who also received a special award at the presentation in recognition on her All-Ireland win with the Mayo Senior Ladies football team.
The team wish to thank Declan for all his dedication in training the team and also their sponsors, the Temple Theatre for all of their support. With one more league fixture against DIT and the championship looming after Christmas, this year is turning out to be a busy one for the football club.