The biggest and best competition in the 2011
Primary School Soccer Calendar
Another very successful FAI Schools’ 5-a-side competition has concluded in Waterford: 58 teams from 30 schools participated in this year’s competition: As a result the schools that were successful and will represent the area in the Munster Finals are:/
Section A: Ballyduff NS
Section A Girls: St: Beacon’s NS
Section B: Piltown NS
Section B Girls: St: Ursula’s NS
Section C: St: Declan’s NS
Section “A” GIRLS:
After the two preliminary days’ competition plus the competition in West Waterford, Piltown NS, St: Beacon’s NS, Touraneena NS and Modeligo NS met in the county final at the Ferrybank AFC grounds:
It was clear that Piltown and St: Beacon’s were far stronger than the West Waterford schools: Therefore the vital match was always going to be that between the two South Kilkenny schools:
It was a real match full of loads of good football: It finished 1/1 which was a fair result:
However that meant that it was going to be decided by which school would end up scoring more goals: As a result, St: Beacon’s from Mullinavat were worthy winners: They had some outstanding performers notably Rachel Sutton/Duggan and Ciara Phelan:
| School | P | W | D | L | Pts |
| St: Beacon’s NS | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 * |
| Piltown NS | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 * |
| Modeligo NS | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Touraneena NS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
*St: Beacon’s won on goal difference
Section “A”:
Following two preliminary days’ play ballyduff NS, Templeorum NS, Scoil Mhuire “A” and Scoil Mhuire “B” (both from Tallow) met in the county final at the grounds of Ferrybank AFC:
The matches here were very close overall: The teams were fairly even but Ballyduff were worthy winners in the end: They had excellent players in Colm Millea, Colm McDonnell, Colm Dempsey and Ben Murray:
Templeorum and Scoil Mhuire “A”, in particular, certainly put it up to Ballyduff but John Carey’s outfit proved themselves on the day:
| School | P | W | D | L | Pts |
| Ballyduff NS | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Scoil Mhuire A | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Templeorum NS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Scoil Mhuire B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Section “B”:
This was the Section with most teams this year: It took three long preliminary days to end up with four finalists:
In the end Piltown NS, Slieverue NS, Gaelscoil Phortláirge and Gaelscoil Philib Barún battled it out for the right to go to the Munster Finals:
After the day’s football at the grounds of Ferrybank AFC it was the Piltown boys who emerged victorious: They thoroughly deserved their success despite strong opposition from Slieverue in particular:
Piltown’s top performers on the day were Adam Grace, Emmet Whelan, Ronan Ryan and Conor Whittle:
| School | P | W | D | L | Pts |
| Piltown NS | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Slieverue NS | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Gaelscoil Phortláirge | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Gaelscoil Philib Barún | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Section “B” GIRLS:
Glór na Mara had two teams in this final along with Holy Cross (also from Tramore) and St: Ursula’s:
Glór na Mara “A” finished 3rd but can count themselves very unfortunate as they were a very impressive outfit:
But for a crazy 90 seconds against St: Ursula’s they would undoubtedly be Waterford champions: It was not to be however, as the conceded two goals in that crazy 90 seconds:
| School | P | W | D | L | Pts |
| St: Ursula’s NS | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Holy Cross | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Glór na Mara A | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Glór na Mara B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Section “C”:
There were 8 teams in this Section: Two groups of 4 played in a round robin series of matches with the two winners meeting in the final:
In Group 1 St: Stephen’s came out on top against St: Declan’s “A”, Glór na Mara “A” and Mount Sion “B”: St: Declan’s “B” won Group 2 against Scoil Lorcain, Mount Sion “A” and Glór na Mara “B”:
The final saw the age/old rivals St: Stephen’s and St: Declan’s meet: St: Declan’s won very impressively on a 5/2 scoreline: When quizzed afterwards about how their ‘B’ team could win this competition, St: Declan’s manager, Will Morgan replied “we have lots of good players so there was no easy way to split them; we just put 8 in each squad”: Time will tell Will:
Munster Finals
All is now ready for the Munster Finals in Cork on Wednesday, May 11: The Waterford representatives will travel with lots of hope: Four of the five schools have real history: Ballyduff, St: Declan’s, Piltown and St: Ursula’s have all been Munster Champions and All Ireland champions in the past: This year whose name will be etched into the history books? Best of luck to all the participating teams, let’s hope the players enjoy the experience:
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