The honours were well divided when the FAI EA Sports Connacht Schools 5 a side’s were held at the splendidly appointed Shiven Rovers Grounds in Newbridge Co: Galway last week:
Now while schools from Galway, Mayo and Roscommon shared the honours between them, the achievement of two different Castlebar schools in winning the two main boys titles was certainly noteworthy: In fact the county made a clean sweep of all the male titles on offer as Derrywash N S were the winners of the Small Schools “A” Cup:
Just two sides entered the large schools “C” cup and in the final St Patrick’s N S, Castlebar were 7/3 winners over St Patrick’s N S, Tuam with schoolboy international Noa Baba the match winner with a number of remarkable goals:
Breaffy N S, Castlebar were the winners of the Medium Schools “B” Cup as they remained undefeated in their four contests: Jason Hunt was their shooting star scoring ten of their goals in an exceptional performance: Their closest contest was against runners up St Patrick’s N S Calry in Sligo where a Hunt goal separated the sides in a 1/0 win: They were also victors over Gaelscoil Mhic Amhlaigh, Gaillimh (5/1), Summerhill, Athlone (3/0) and St Manchan’s Mohill (6/0): Goalkeeper Shane O’Connor, Alex Cambell and Mark McDonnell who scored with a rare header were others to make an impression for Breaffy who were a very good side and played some cracking football throughout:
Aaron Flynn and Gearoid McDaid produced great displays for the Sligo school who lost on just the one occasion:
Yet another Mayo side Derrynash N S never conceded a goal when annexing the Boy’s small schools “A” cup: They defeated their closest rivals Boyeybeg from Galway by 3/0 in their opening game and in later contests saw off the challenges of Kilglass, Aughrim and St Brigid’s N S Drumcong:
Boleybeg finished runners up with Eanna Forde and Kevin Horgan to the fore in their games:
Kilglass N S from West Sligo scored in three of their games without achieving any great success, but Brendan Fitzgerald, Dara O’Regan and regular goalscorer Martin McManus contributed hugely as they enjoyed their day at the provincial finals:
The Girls honours were divided between Galway and Roscommon with Scoil Mhuire, Clarinbridge defeating all comers in the large schools “B” cup: They were comfortable winners of all their games although Foxford ran them close in the first game as they just secured a 2/1 victory:
Elsewhere there were wins over Scoil Ursula, Sligo, Summerhill, Athlone and Marist N S Carrick on Shannon with Saoirse Burke and the Murphy twins/Ciara and Niamh providing most of the goals:
Afterwards it was Clarinbridge goalkeeper and captain Kate O’Brien who collected the Girl’s Cup:
A special commendation here to Summerhill manager Gerry McHugh who was such a huge source of encouragement to all his team as he cajoled them throughout their four games in which they achieved a fifty per cent success rate:
For runners up Foxford, Stephanie Clarke, Natasha Gaughan and Sarah Gilmartin contributed hugely as they won their other three games without conceding a goal:
Captain Sarah Feeney collected the small schools Girl’s “A” cup for Goltaganny N S as Roscommon won the final title of the day: They maintained four clean sheets throughout the competition and scored twelve goals in the process:
Aoife Murray got their winner in a 1/0 win over Mayo side Kilmaine N S, while in their other close call Rebecca Finan was on the mark in their single goal success over Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal, Ballymote:
Aoife Lilly notched a hat trick in their victory over St Clare’s Manorhamilton, while Vicky Kelly scored twice in their success over Tooreeney:
They just pipped Kilmaine to the crown as the Mayo side won three of their four games as Lauren Burke, Melanie Munroe and Nicola Hughes shone throughout:
Sports mad all rounder Shannon Keady impressed throughout for Tooreeney, while Gemma Gurrie was on the mark twice for a Ballymote side who secured two victories: