Good mix of Schools in Connacht SPAR5s Finals through to National stage

Galway & Mayo lead the way in Connacht #SPAR5s

Thursday, May 3, 2018

232 students from 27 schools in Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo competed in the SPAR FAI Primary School 5s Connacht Finals which were held in Solar21 Park, Castlebar this afternoon (May 3)

The event saw 31,728 children participate this year. The competition has been running since the mid 1990’s, the event is more popular than ever with an impressive 1,528 schools involved in 2018.

The competition is run across six divisions, ensuring that schools of all sizes are catered for. Boys and girls are encouraged to play together but there is a separate competition for boys and girls dependent on school enrolment numbers.

This year saw 2 schools from both Mayo and Galway make the cut as well as qualifiers from Sligo and Roscommon. Flying the flag for Mayo in the Aviva will be the girls of Belcarra NS and St. John’s NS, Breaffy. Bawnmore NS and Oranmore NS will be the proud representatives of Galway. Alongside them representing Connacht will be our Sligo Champions, Ardkeeran NS and Roscommon Champions, Corrigeenroe NS.

SPAR ‘A’ Cup (Small Schools, boys/mixed teams)

Led by the impressive Owen Elding, Ardkeeran NS, Sligo battled past all challenges to book their place in the National Finals with victories against Gortletteragh NS, defending Champions Doorus NS and Lisaniskey NS. They could not defeat Straide NS however, who were not beaten on the day but drew three of their games to finish third. With victories over Gotletteragh and Lisaniskey NS, Doorus NS would ultimately claim the runners-up honours.

SPAR ‘B’ Cup (Medium Schools, boys/mixed teams)

The tribal roar of Bawnmore NS will be heard at the National Finals after the Galway school qualified in an efficient manner. After a clear 4-0 victory over St. Joseph’s NS, Boyle, the now-Connacht champions would then defeat all other opposition by a single goal. Their final victory against Ballyvary Central would leave their opposition in second place, as the Mayo school defeated Gaelscoil Liatroma 6-2 and St. Joseph’s NS, Boyle 3-1 to secure the placing.

SPAR ‘C’ Cup (Large Schools, boys/mixed teams)

The boys of Oranmore NS will raise the Galway banner as they enter the Aviva Stadium as Connacht Champions. Three games resulted in maximum points for the winners, with victories against their own ‘B’ team and the talented sides of Claremorris BNS and St. Patrick’s, Castlebar. Claremorris BNS would fill the place as runners-up as their 3-1 victory over St. Patrick’s and exciting 4-3 success against Oranmore NS ‘B’ left them clear on points.

SPAR Girls ‘A’ Cup (Small Schools, girls only)

There will be flags of yellow and blue flying in the Aviva Stadium as Corrigeenroe NS of Roscommon blitzed their group to claim Provincial honours. Their toughest challenge presented itself at the first obstacle as Scoil Realt Na Mara were reluctant to give them an easy three points and a single goal would separate them at the final whistle. Following the opener, the Roscommon side found proceedings much easier with a 3-1 victory over Meelickmore before heavy victories over Killinmumery NS and Woodford NS. Scoil Realt Na Mara took second place with an important victory over Woodford NS before victory over Killinmumery NS sealed their faith.

SPAR Girls ‘B’ Cup (Medium Schools, girls only)

They were so keen to play that Belcarra NS of Mayo arrived in Solar21 Park on Wednesday morning for Thursday’s event. Their eagerness still remained when they returned on the actual day and were undefeated in their four games. The day began with a 2-1 victory against Carrigallen NS before following up 3-1 against Cornafulla NS. Their biggest test came against Rathcormac NS but they successfully navigated through with a 2-0 result to win the Cup. Rathcormac NS would finish as runners-up as they defeated all but the Champions.

SPAR Girls ‘C’ Cup (Large Schools, girls only)

There was excitement, there was nerves and the teachers had their maths put to the test as Scoil Íde, defending Champions Scoil Róis and St. John’s NS, Breaffy all finished on nine points with the Mayo goals having the goals in their favour as they were declared Champions based solely on goal difference. With +10 on their record, they leapt above Scoil Íde on +8 and Scoil Rois on +7. It did not seem a likely result at the start of the day as the Galway girls of Scoil Róis defeated the eventual winners 3-1. St. John’s NS would pick their performance up from there on in and pick up points against Scoil íde and Scoil Ursula of Sligo before a tournament-winning performance against St. Angela’s as they won 8-1 and gave a huge boost to their goal difference.

The six Provincial finalists will now travel to Dublin for the National Finals which will be held in the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday, May 30 (KO 11.30am). We would urge all participating schools to take the day off and travel to the Dublin finale to support their school in what should prove to be a phenomenal day for all involved, players and spectators alike. 

It promises to be a fantastic fun filled family day with a “Player of the Tournament” accolade for each section, goodie bags and medals for ALL 192 participants as they’re all winners on the day!

Spectators will be entertained with a super day of action as well as face painting, samba drummers, a well-known DJ to play some great tunes to gear us up for the games and a chance for one special supporter to win an epic prize in the Young Sports Journalist competition. You’ll have to stay tuned on the day to see who will be crowned 2018 Champions.

Cheer on the schools from your classroom or office chair if you can’t make the trip to Dublin and follow the progress on the FAI Schools Facebook and Twitter pages (@faischools)

Summary of our winners and runners up

Group                                                                   Winner                                                 Runner Up

SPAR ‘A’ Cup (small schools)                  Ardkeeran NS, Sligo                             Scoil Chiaráin Naofa, Doorus, Galway

SPAR ‘B’ Cup (medium schools)            Bawnmore NS, Galway                      Ballyvary Central, Mayo

SPAR ‘C’ Cup (large schools)                  Oranmore NS, Galway                         Claremorris BNS, Mayo

SPAR Girls ‘A’ Cup (small schools)        Corrigeenroe NS, Roscommon        Scoil Realt na Mara, Sligo

SPAR Girls ‘B’ Cup (medium schools)   Belcarra NS, Mayo                                Rathcormac NS, Sligo

SPAR Girls ‘C’ Cup (large schools)         St. John’s NS, Breaffy, Mayo            Scoil Ide, Galway

Follow the action on social media via #SPAR5s or at www.faischools.ie and www.spar.ie

SPAR FAI Primary School 5s Programme

PROVINCIAL
Ulster Final:                        May 2                    John Sherlock Park, Cootehill Harps FC, Co. Cavan
Connacht Final:                 May 3                    Solar21 Park, Castlebar, Co. Mayo
Munster Final:                   May 8+9               Mounthawk Park, Tralee, Co. Kerry
Leinster Final:                    May 10                  MDL Grounds, Trim Road, Navan, Co. Meath

NATIONAL
National Final:                    May 30                 Aviva Stadium, Dublin

For more information:
Diane Fay, FAI Schools - Diane.Fay@fai.ie / 086 0404 952
Kio Lopez, Teneo PSG – Kio.lopez@teneopsg.com / 086 014 4914