An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 31 This all changed in the 15th minute when Amy Phelan re- ceived the ball thirty-five yards from the RAF's goal. Having being involved in the move earlier in play, Phelan spotted Jones off her line and spectacularly lobbed the keeper to put the hosts in front. Shortly after, Ireland's lone striker Sinead Taylor almost got through to make it two-nil but a timely intervention from Rachel Rurtherford halted Taylor's progress. The visi- tors were well in this game though and had two decent chances to score by Ashlyn Mester and Rachel Griffiths. Early in the second half Taylor almost put Ireland two up once again when a beauti- fully weighted pass from Shelley Keogh saw Taylor one on one with the keeper. With acres of space and all the time in the world Taylor rushed her shot and it struck the ball straight at the waiting keeper. However, a good striker will always persevere and when Taylor got her third chance she made no mistake this time. A brilliant through ball from Amy Phelan put Taylor in on goal and she was able to shirk the tackle from the oncoming defender and passed the ball into the corner. At two-nil, the game opened up and saw both teams have more scoring opportunities. Both man- agers emptied the bench, giving the substitutes a chance to show their worth. Referee Alan Sherlock blew his final whistle and the game ended two-nil to the Irish Defence Forces. A very worthwhile exercise for both teams played in a very sporting manner, Darren Cody will be very pleased with his teams' performance. Ireland were very self-assured throughout the match and had standout performances from Siobhan O'Sullivan, Amy Phelan and the industrious Sinead Taylor. irish Defence Forces women: Linda McNamara, Karen Ir- win, Kim Turner, Siobhan O'Sullivan, Rebecca Coogan, Shel- ley Keogh, Amy Phelan, Ciara Carroll, Katherine Mooney, Sinead Taylor and Grainne Kennelly. subs: Leah McEvoy (for Kennelly 65 mins), Cloe Carroll (for Keogh 78 mins), Margaret Hogan (for Taylor 80 mins), Aisling Byrne (for Turner 86 mins), Chloe Foy (for Irwin 88 mins), Stacey Keogh (for Phelan 88 mins) and Nicole Kelly (for Carroll 89 mins). raF women: Nicola Symons, Rachel Dean, Rachel Howes, Rachel Rutherford, Robyn Stewart, Zara McIntosh, Rachel Griffiths, Catherine Beaver, Ashlyn Mester, Jade Brown and Keri Haywood. subs: Katherine Ratcliffe (for Brown 55 mins), Lauren Welsh (for Haywood 60 mins), Amelia Quinn-Downing (for Dean 75 mins) andMollie Lambert (for Griffiths 85 mins). referee: Sgt Alan Sherlock. Assistants: Pte Declan Toland, and CQMS Derek Stafford.

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