U-18 Celtic Cup – Women
Peffermill (SCO) 6 – 8 July 2012
Ireland
Scotland
Switzerland
Wales
DAY 1: Friday 6th July 2012
The first day of the tournament and the girls had the tough task of tackling the Irish. The Irish girls came out strong, as we knew they would. They pushed Wales right back with an opening goal in the first 4'. This shook the girls who stepped back as the waves of Irish attack continued. However the girls did not give up, they battled hard staying mentally in the game. The half time buzzer went and the score was 4 - 0 to Ireland.
As the girls came back out onto the bitter cold pitch there was a fire of determination. They again took a knock in the opening minute as the Irish struck the back board again. However this motivated the Welsh girls even more. They started to put the Irish under pressure and this lifted the whole team. From the back the goalkeeper Isabel Marsh was often kept busy but she made some strong and important saves. This gave the Welsh girls even more confidence. They began to attack and frequently enter the Irish circle and turning up the pressure.
The girls battled hard and deserved a better finishing score line which ended 8 – 0 to Ireland. The girls were upset with defeat however not disheartened. They prepare themselves to play Switzerland tomorrow.
| 16:30 | Wales | 0 | Ireland | 8 | |
| 18:30 | Scotland | 8 | Switzerland | 0 | |
DAY 2: Saturday 7th July 2012
In poor conditions, the rain did not dampen the Welsh determination to secure a victory against a young Swiss side. The opening goal came within the first minute from a poor goalkeeping error that allowed Charlotte Edmondson to find the net. Wales continued to play and open and exciting style of hockey and deservedly doubled their lead in the fifth minute from a well taken goal by Eloise Laity. This cushion gave the girls confidence to dominate play and retain possessions for long periods of the game. This pressure was soon converted into goals when Wales scored another two goals in five minutes from forwards Hannah Griffiths (15') and Shannon Dimmick (18'). This took Wales into a strong 4 – 0 lead at half- time.
Roared on by a good parental support and the U18 boy’s team, who had just beaten Switzerland by 5-0, Wales continued to dominate for the second half and they were soon rewarded in the 44' by a second goal from Eloise Laity. Wales were playing full of confidence and within a couple of minutes they found the back of the net again with a second goal from Hannah Griffiths. Wales demonstrated a physical presence particularly with strong diving tackles from Rachel Bradshaw. The hard work put into the fitness and conditioning by the girls paid dividends with two late goals at the end of the second half by Rhiannon Griffiths (63') and a second goal by Shannon Dimmick (68'). An excellent victory 8 – 0 for the Welsh side. The Wales U18 Women look forward to their final match against Scotland.
| 12:00 | Switzerland | 0 | Wales | 8 | |
| 16:00 | Scotland | 2 | Ireland | 4 | |
DAY 3: Sunday 8th July 2012
| 11:00 | Switzerland | 0 | Ireland | 10 | |
| 15:00 | Scotland | 3 | Wales | 1 | |
Final positions
1st Ireland
2nd Scotland
3rd Wales
4th Switzerland
