Graiguecullen’s Aoife Kelly signs off her Ireland U19’s career

AOIFE Kelly signed off her Ireland U19’s career last week with her final appearances for the side as she played in the Euro Qualifiers against Serbia, Wales and France. After a strong start with a 1-0 win over Serbia, the side lost 1-0 to Wales before France came from 1-0 down to beat them, ending their hopes of making back to back Euro tournaments.

Speaking to the Laois Nationalist after the qualifiers, the Graiguecullen girl said results may not have gone their way but they can be proud of their performances. “It was obviously a little disappointing but I absolutely loved it. It was good overall looking back at it. We beat Serbia 1-0, we scored in the second half then lost 1-0 to Wales, they scored in the first half, then against France we scored a first half goal, to go 1-0 up and then they scored two goals late on. We did quite well against Serbia, then I feel like the Welsh game killed us a bit but we had our chances and just didn’t take them and then they scored and were defending really well. That put a bit of a downer on it, and we still had an opportunity with the French game. We all believed going into it that we could pull out a result. We went 1-0 up and I thought we were doing well but they got two late goals, but they’re a great side so I think we can be proud of a 2-1 loss, they won the U17’s Euros a few years ago. It would have been nice to get the win and go to the Euros. 100% the Wales game we should have won, they went into it bottom of the group, and we probably would have been expected to win that game or at least draw it. We were so close again this year which is a positive because the last time we qualified was 11 years ago. This will only improve women’s football in the country” This was Aoife’s swansong for Ireland at U19’s level and she said it’s been an amazing ride but was slightly disappointed to not cap it off with a second European Championships in two years. “That was my last cap against France so I’m done now with the U19’s, and I think I had a great run at it over the two years. I loved every single minute of it, I’m very grateful for the opportunity. Yeah of course [it would have been nice to end with another Euros], we put the effort in but unfortunately it didn’t come out that way.” Aoife made the move to Wexford from Shamrock Rovers earlier this year, and scored her first goal for her new club against Sligo. She said she’s happy to be able to contribute to the team. “I’ve really enjoyed it, the girls have been so welcoming and so supportive and we’re really starting to click now. It’s nice that they put that trust in me to go straight into the team. Hopefully I can keep helping the team out. Of course, it was really nice to get that milestone and score my first goal for the club. It’s nice to play with a new team and learn off new players and a new environment.”