A Historic Moment for the Wexford Youths F.C. – The Match with Ajax

Although the match between the Wexford Youths and Ajax ended with a 1 – 4 result, emotions were flying high that day. The Wexford female players hoped that they would prevail in the Champions League Qualifier, but the Dutch team managed to assert their dominance from the very beginning, preventing the Youths from developing their strategy.

One player in particular that made her mark on Wexford Youth history is none other than Rianna Jarrett. Although her team suffered a defeat, Rianna valiantly led her team into “battle”. Unfortunately, that lead didn’t last more than a few minutes. The reason for that wasn’t because the Youth’s weren’t prepared, but because the Dutch team was composed of internationally gathered players, who were physically more prepared to run for the full 45 minutes.

The qualification spot was taken by Ajax, with the help of goal scorers Lisa van der Most, Ellen Jansen, Lois Oudermost, and Kay-Lee de Sanders. Although the Amsterdam team were playing a bit “relaxed” in the first half, they still retained their overall dominance over the ball.

The Youths were starting to feel their team spirit depleting until they were granted a 30-yard free-kick. It was precisely this situation that gave the opportunity to Rianna Jarrett to blast the net of the opposing team, with a successful corner shot.

The Dutch “revenge” wasn’t late, and nearly two minutes after the Youths temporary celebration, Kay Lee de Sanders left the Wexford defenders to stand in confusion as she scored a point for Ajax.

Ellen Jensen’s goal came with help from a wide diagonal pass, made by Soraya Verhoeve. Once the ball was heading towards Jensen, she made sure that it would glance off of her, and straight into the Youth’s net corner.

Soraya proved to be a fierce supporter of her teammates, as the third goal came to be from a pass to the captain of Ajax – Lois Oudermost. She, in turn, made quick work of the stamina-starved Wexford Youths, before scoring her point.

The fourth and final goal for the Dutch team came again, with the help of the “player of the day” Soraya Verhoeve – her initial volley flew a large distance, before reaching Lisa van der Most, who in turn finished the job with a volley of her own.

Although the Wexford Youths were prevented from moving further by Ajax, their game wasn’t over. Before facing Linfield, they will need to play against the Icelandic team Thor/K.A. Before the Youth’s campaign comes to an end, they can still hope that the Dutch team that defeated them could lose three points.

Below, you can see the players of both teams that participated in the historic game between the Wexford Youths F.C. and Ajax.

Game Refereed by ref. Maria Marotta (Italy)