Ballyare FC in Letterkenny was the setting for the Ulster Finals of the Xtra/vision FAI Schools 5-a-side Competition on Wednesday last, 19 May:
The event saw over 14,000 children participate last year: The competition has been running since the mid 1990’s, the event is more popular than ever with 952 schools involved in 2009:
The Xtra/vision FAI Schools 5 A Side is the biggest and best competition in the 2010 Primary Schools Soccer Calendar: There are 5 divisions to suit all school sizes: While FAI Schools and Xtra/vision encourage boys and girls to play on the same team, there is also a separate competition for girls’ schools: A number of teams can represent one school depending on the size of their student body, giving more children the chance to develop their skills in a safe, child centered and exciting environment:
Twenty five Schools from Monaghan, Cavan, Donegal and Inishowen competed for Provincial honours in an enjoyable outing for all the participating Schools: There was a mix of fortunes for some of the Counties as Inishowen and Donegal picked up two Provincial honours each while Cavan captured the remaining fifth place:
Monaghan had some consolation with Lisdoonan and Gaelscoil Ultain picking up second place in “A” Schools and the Girls “A” Schools Sections for small Schools:
Scoil Iosagain, Inishowen and Woodlands NS, Donegal had the added advantage of featuring both a boy’s and a girl’s team in the big event thus increasing the Schools chances of appearing in an All Ireland Final: Would one or both schools make it double celebrations in Letterkenny?
The Buncrana (boys) were defending their Ulster crown in the “C” Schools Section for large Schools against neighbours Woodlands NS of Letterkenny, St: Felim’s NS, Cavan Town and St: Mary’s NS, Monaghan Town:
Another School defending their title this year was the experienced St: Mary’s NS from Virginia, Cavan contesting the Girls “B” Section: The Cavan qualifiers have won seven County titles in eight years: An excellent achievement for Claire Galligan’s charges
The games kicked off with the smaller Schools divisions and the first to book their place in the All Ireland Finals were Cathal Ferry’s Bunbeg NS representing Donegal in the Section “A” Schools:
This section was closely contested with Bunbeg only drawing the first of the afternoon 2/2 with eventual runners up Lisdoonan NS, Monaghan: Bunbeg then went on to find some fire power netting nine times in two games while only conceding once to St: Joseph’s NS, Illies on a 5/1 score line:
The Cavan qualifiers St: Mary’s NS of Ballyhaise made a promising start to the day with a narrow 4/3 win against St: Joseph’s NS, Illies while they lost the other two remaining fixtures 4/0 to Bunbeg and 3/6 to Lisdoonan however it proved to be an enjoyable day of football for the Ballyhaise School who did their School very proud:
Moville NS captured the elusive Girls Section “A” Schools title in superb style netting 16 goals in three games with comprehensive victories against Monaghan’s Gaelscoil Ultain (5/0), Cashel (5/0) and Kingscourt (6/2): Their impressive goal scoring ability will be one to watch out for next week:
The Inishowen School showed some real team/work to secure their place in the All Ireland series with Roma McLoughlin and Nicole McDermott scoring some excellent goals while goalkeeper Amy Canning displayed a flawless performance between the posts: Teacher Caroline Treanor paid tribute to the fantastic defensive display of the girls to only concede twice in the competition:
Monaghan’s Gaelscoil Ultain captured runners up spot on four points with victories over Kingscourt (6/0) and Cashel (4/2) thus securing the second piece of silverware for the County as Lisdoonan NS picked up silver in the Section “A” Schools earlier that day:
The second Ulster title winners representing Inishowen were St: Patrick’s NS, Carndonagh who snatched the Section “B”Schools title with St: Clare’s NS, Ballyjamesduff came a respectable second:
The Carndonagh School enjoyed three wins in the group with some nail biting finishes against Castleblaney (2/1) and Ballyjamesduff (5/4) while they had a comfortable 2/0 victory over Gaelscoil Letterkenny: Brian McEleney, the Doherty trio and Brandon Browne did extremely well for the winners:
Late afternoon saw the larger Schools compete in the Ulster Finale as the Section “B” Girls Schools and the Section “C” Schools commenced:
St: Mary’s NS, Virginiaretained their Section “B” Girls title which will see them advance to the All Ireland Finals next week: The Cavan School clocked up twelve goals in quick succession as they overcame local rivals St: Louis NS of Monaghan Town in their first of the afternoon (4/0), while Virginia registered a 3/1 score line against Woodlands NS and they finished with a flurry of five goals against Donegal qualifiers, Scoil Iosagain:
Woodlands (Girls) came a valiant second place in the section which was richly deserved as Rachel McClafferty, Tara Car and Anna Gallagher all starred:
The Section “C” Schools division proved to be the most competitive of the afternoon with Scoil Iosagain defending their Provincial crown: Their opposition were well up for the challenge posed by the defending Champions:
The Donegal School made a positive start to their campaign but could only manage a 2/2 draw with Cavan Town’s St: Felim’s NS in a highly entertaining opener, while Woodlands NS defeated St: Mary’s NS, Monaghan (2/0) in the other first round match:
Second round matches saw Scoil Iosagain and St: Mary’s go head to head while Woodlands played St Felim’s:
In an eight goal thriller, St: Mary’s won Scoil Iosagain (6/2) while St: Felim’s came from two goals down to find a last minute equalizer to draw 3/3 with hosts Woodlands NS
This ensured a pulsating conclusion to the competition as three Schools were in contention for medals as the final series of games kicked off:
St: Felim’s proved to be too strong for St: Mary’s while Woodlands overcame a skilful Scoil Iosagain:
Woodlands NS ended the campaign on five points while runners up St: Felim’s of Cavan registered four points:
The five Provincial Finalists will now travel to the National Finals which will be held in Leah Victoria Park, Tullamore on Wednesday, 26 May:
OVERVIEW:
Section “A” Schools: Bunbeg NS, Donegal
Section “A” Girls Schools: Moville NS, Inishowen
Section “B” Schools: St: Patrick’s NS, Carndonagh, Inishowen
Section “B” Girls Schools: St: Mary’s NS, Virginia, Cavan
Section “C” Schools: Woodlands NS, Donegal
ULSTER PROVINCIAL FINALS (Teams & Results):
“A” Schools:
TEAMS
St: Joseph’s NS, Illies, Inishowen
Bunbeg NS, Donegal
St: Mary’s NS, Ballyhaise, Cavan
Lisdoonan NS, Carrickmacross, Monaghan
RESULTS
Ballyhaise 4/3 Illies
Lisdoonan 2/2 Bunbeg
Illies 3/1 Lisdoonan
Bunbeg 4/0 Ballyhaise
Ballyhaise 3/6 Lisdoonan
Illies 1/5 Bunbeg
Winners: Bunbeg NS, Donegal
PANEL: Conor O’Baoill, Shane O’Farraigh, Naoise O’Baoill, Eamon O’Colm, Conor O’Doherty, Daíre O’Baoill, Conor Mac Eachmharcigh, Dylan O’Domhnaill:
Teacher: Cathal Ferry
Runners Up: Lisdoonan NS, Carrickmacross, Monaghan
PANEL: Shane Woods, Ronan McDonald, Cillian Marron, David Garland, Stephen Finnegan, Eamon Marron, John Grimes, Lorcan Murnaghan:
Teacher: Brendan McEneaney
Girls “A” Schools:
TEAMS
Moville NS, Inishowen
Cashel NS, Donegal
Kingscourt NS, Cavan
Gaelscoil Ultain, Monaghan Town
RESULTS
Kingscourt 0/6 Gaelscoil Ultain
Moville 5/0 Cashel
Gaelscoil Ultain 0/5 Moville
Cashel 1/6 Kingscourt
Kingscourt 2/6 Moville
Gaelscoil Ultain 4/2 Cashel
Winners: Moville NS
PANEL: Amy Canning, Rachael McLoughlin, Charmaine McElroy, Roma McLoughlin, Nicole McDermott, Caoimh McGuinness, Olivia Kelly, Shannon Skelly:
Teacher: Caroline Treanor
Runners Up: Gaelscoil Ultain, Monaghan
PANEL:Grace Ni Ghrianáin, Bláithín Ni Dhúlain, Celine Ní Fhailigh, Aisling Ní Fhearghuis, Carla Ní Dhochartaigh, Eadaoin Nig Uidhir, Emma Ní Chleirchín, Morgan Nic Cionna
Teacher: Joe O Gallchóir
“B” Schools:
TEAMS
St: Patrick’s NS, Carndonagh, Inishowen
Letterkenny Gaelscoil, Donegal
St: Clare’s NS, Ballyjamesduff, Cavan
Castleblaney NS, Monaghan
RESULTS
Ballyjamesduff 5/2 Gaelscoil
Castleblaney 1/2 Carndonagh
Gaelscoil 4/2 Castleblaney
Carndonagh 5/4 Ballyjamesduff
Ballyjamesduff 4/2 Castleblaney
Gaelsocil 0/2 Carndonagh
Winners: St: Patrick’s NS, Carndonagh
PANEL: Cathal Doherty, Ryan Doherty, Cathal Farren, Sam Todd, Brandon Browne, Brian McEleney, Mark Doherty, Evan Tweed
Runners Up: St: Clare’s Ballyjamesduff, Cavan
PANEL: Jordan O'Reilly, Jake Doyle/Hayes, Dovydas Zvaliauskas, Vitalijs Boronenko, Gavin Daly, Daniel Fox, Dylan Murdock, Igor Lima
Teacher: Emer Doherty
Girls “B” Schools:
TEAMS
Scoil Iosagain, Buncrana, Inishowen
Woodlands NS, Letterkenny, Donegal
St: Mary’s NS, Virginia, Cavan
St: Louis NS, Monaghan Town
RESULTS
Virginia 4/0 St: Louis
Scoil Iosagain 1/6 Woodlands
St: Louis 1/2 Scoil Iosagain
Woodlands 1/3 Virginia
Virginia 5/0 Scoil Iosagain
St Louis 0/4 Woodlands
Winners: St: Mary’s NS, Virginia, Cavan
PANEL: Amy Gaynor (Captain), Catherine Dolan, Ciara Brady, Ciara Gaffney, Edith Lynch, Clara Lynch, Joy Denning, Cara O' Rourke
Teacher: Claire Galligan
Runners Up: Woodlands NS, Letterkenny, Donegal
PANEL: Hollie Duddy, Rachel Mc Clafferty, Tara Carr, Meghan Reid, Lauren Aboud, Eimear Walsh, Anna Gallagher, Aine Mc Gettigan
Teacher: Kieran Shiels
“C” Schools:
TEAMS
Scoil Iosagain, Buncrana, Inishowen
Woodlands NS, Letterkenny, Donegal
St: Felim’s NS, Cavan Town
St: Mary’s NS, Monaghan Town
RESULTS
St: Felims 2/2 Scoil Iosagain
St Mary’s 0/2 Woodlands
Scoil Iosagain 2/6 St Mary’s
Woodlands 3/3 St: Felim’s
St: Felim’s 2/1 St: Mary’s
Scoil Iosagain 1/4 Woodlands
Winners: Woodlands NS, Letterkenny, Donegal
PANEL: Rory Carr, Odhran Davis, Jack Patton, Tony Harkin, Shane Graham, Kevin Grant, Matthew Mc Kinnon, Liam Blaney
Teacher: Kieran Shiels
Runners Up: St: Felim’s NS, Cavan Town
PANEL: Fintan Carolan, Matas Giedraitis, Roland Surlis, Aaron Sheridan, Michael Fannon, Luke Molloy, Bernard Murray, Jonathan Mongan
Teacher: John Mc Hugh