Ireland U18 girls win Four Nations with 60-53 win over England

Ireland have won the U18 Girls Four Nations title following a stunning 60-53 comeback win against England at Archers Arena in Cardiff. Tommy O’Mahony’s team earlier dispatched Scotland 70-43, having beaten hosts Wales 71-62 in their opening fixture yesterday afternoon.

Trailing 39-31 at the start of the final quarter, Ireland managed to almost double their score in the closing ten minutes hitting an incredible five shots from behind the three-point arc to turn the game on its head. Emma Tolan had a double-double of 13 points and 17 rebounds, while Caitlin Gloeckner dropped 24 points on their opponents in a game littered with excellent performances. 

An explosive start saw Ireland score the first nine points in just over two minutes, Gloecker and Tolan combining for all. England found their stride thereafter and closed the quarter with a 24-16 advantage despite some excellent work defensively by Lucy Devoy and Emer Dunne.

Ireland had to show tremendous discipline and dedicated to the gameplan implemented by O’Mahony and his coaching staff as the game became a defensive slog in the second, a quarter Ireland won 9-2 to leave them trailing 26-24 at the half. Rebecca Sexton made her presence felt with two crucial steals at the midway point, while Orlagh Gormley also came into her own with the ball in her possession.

England once again had the better of the third. Ireland were struggling to get their shooters good looks from three point land and could only manage six points, Caoimhe Gilligan keeping her cool from the free-throw line, while Gormley and Gloeckner made a driving layup and a three respectively to leave Ireland down by 8 as the teams headed to the bench for the final time.

Ireland conceded the first two scores of the final quarter, and it appeared as if the 12-point gap would be too much to overcome. Suddenly though, they found a spark. Gormley and Gloecker both made baskets and when Ava Walshe got in on the act with a two-point jumper, Ireland trailed by just three with 7 minutes on the clock. The lead grew to seven points once more until an incredible sequence of three successive three-point shots by Gloeckner and Gormley poked Ireland’s noses in front at the midway point.

The game settled down from a scoring perspective for the remainder, Ireland responded to their opponents scores when needed, crucially holding their nerve from the three-point stripe in the closing minutes as England desperately tried to claw their way back into the game. 

‘Over the last few days we really gelled as a team so it makes it extra nice to get the win today,’ said Rebecca Sexton afterwards. Her team mate Emma Tolan added ‘I think we can build on our intensity (going forward to the FIBA European Championships) and our chemistry even though I think it’s already fairly strong and this game proved it.’

Ireland U18 Women's Roster:  Anna O'Shaughnessy, Orlagh Gormley, Emer Dunne, Rebecca Sexton, Caitlin Gloeckner, Lucy Devoy, Karolina Gierszal, Grace Prenter, Emma Tolan, Clara Boyce, Aisling Moran, Caoimhe Gilligan, Bree Shelly, Ava Walshe, Issy McSwenney, Katie O'Sullivan, Rachel Lynch.

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U18 Girls Four Nations Results:

Wednesday April 12th

Wales 62-71 Ireland 

Thursday April 13th

Ireland 70-43 Scotland 

Ireland 60-53 England