Crumlin 2 vs Banbridge 1

Crumlin 53 Banbridge 52 

A remarkable comeback saw us recover from 12 goals down to claim a dramatic one-goal victory.

We started with Sienna, Orlaith, Harriet, Catherine, Jemima, Eva and Méabh, but it was a difficult opening as we quickly found ourselves 5–0 behind. A strong response brought us right back into the contest at 8–8, only for our opponents to take control again late in the opening quarter and lead 16–9.

The second quarter continued to be a battle. Errors in possession and difficulty finding our usual flow allowed the opposition to stretch their advantage to 26–14 at one stage. A number of positional changes and the introduction of Katie helped settle things, and we began to chip away at the deficit, reducing it to nine by half-time.

There were more swings in momentum in the third quarter. After conceding the opening goals, we produced another excellent spell to drag ourselves back into contention. Just as it looked like we had taken control, the opposition responded again, but we continued to fight and had reduced the deficit to seven going into the final quarter.

That set up a brilliant finish.

We immediately attacked their lead, turning over possession and steadily closing the gap. From seven down we got it back to four, then three, before eventually pulling within a single goal. The opposition managed to edge three ahead again, but another reshuffle gave us fresh impetus and we fought our way level.

With just over a minute remaining and the scores tied, huge defensive pressure forced the opposition to throw their centre pass over the back line.

From there, the composure was outstanding. Rather than forcing the ball forward, we patiently kept possession for around 40 seconds, worked it into the circle and converted to take the lead.

With the game on the line, we then retained possession from the centre pass in the middle third for the remaining seconds, denying the opposition another opportunity and seeing out a superb one-goal victory.

It certainly wasn’t our cleanest performance, and we made life very difficult for ourselves at times, but the resilience to come back from 12 down and the composure shown in the final minute were excellent. Against a very physical and aggressive defensive unit, finding a way to win made it an extremely satisfying result.