THE sporting adventure of nineteen young North-Mayo girls took them to Athlone last weekend for the FAI Schools All-Ireland First Year finals and like all great escapades they experienced joy, excitement, anticipation, delight and disappointment in the course of three hectic, hard-fought encounters.
The girls from St Mary’s in Ballina have been laying their hearts on the line for the pride of the school jersey since last September and went into the national finals without tasting defeat at any stage.
Ciaran Allen and Harry McCafferty knew that they had a talented bunch to work with, but a number of their charges hadn’t ever kicked a soccer ball before they stepped over the St Mary's threshold and that had to be addressed.
Hard work, good coaching and a desire to be the best they could be, saw the Ballina scholars produce some stunning displays as they mixed attacking sparkle, midfield productivity and defensive solidity to produce a team worthy of national honours.
A Connacht campaign that cast all others aside took them to the last four in the land and so Willow Park in Athlone was their destination last weekend.
On Saturday they faced a team of highly talented Donegal girls from Milford Community School.
There was little to choose between the sides as both strove to stake a claim for ultimate glory.
Chances came and went at either end, but when the final whistle signalled stalemate no-one could be too disappointed.
Later that evening St Mary¹s faced Mean Scoil Mhuire from Longford in another tightly contested match. The Leinster champions had an Ardnaree man, John Kavanagh, as their bainisteoir and his side were of the highest quality. They possessed a superb midfielder in the shape of Aisling Reynolds, but Ballina were just as good and when Michelle Mulligan poked home Clodagh Egan¹s through-ball, the Mayo girls had secured their second draw of the campaign.
A quick assessment of the situation on Saturday evening revealed that Milford were in pole position on four points but Ballina knew that if they beat the Munster champions and Milford drew with Longford then the title would be headed for the Moy.
Sunday morning brought bright sunshine to Athlone and Willow Park was resplendent as the young stars set about writing their own type of history.
Both games were played side by side and the huge, passionate and proud group of parents from Ballina managed to keep an eye on both games from their vantage point between the two pitches.
Things didn¹t go according to plan for Ballina in the opening minutes when Milford took the lead against Longford, but the St Mary¹s stars took no notice and got on with their own task.
St Flannan¹s were a superb side and fielded excellent players throughout the pitch. Niamh Markham and Rebecca Crowe looked very dangerous while Dearbhaile Casey and Sophie Hanna were others to catch the eye.
Ballina were well aware of the requirements and laid everything on the line in search of victory. Rachel Cuffe was solid between the sticks while Aoife Neary, Jessica Butler, Claudia McNiece and Niamh Connolly were unbeatable in front of her. Sarah Rowe was sparkling in the centre of the pitch and she was well aided by the hard working Ciara Armstrong, Clodagh Egan, Fiona Treacy, Michelle Mulligan and Rachel McDonnell as they went in search of goals.
That search yielded a golden harvest in the 13th minute when Rowe bent a left wing free kick all the way into the top corner and Mary¹s were on their way.
They almost doubled their advantage five minutes before half-time when Mulligan raced down the left and crossed for Mulligan but Hanna got back to save the day for the Clare girls.
The half-time team-talk consisted of the need to concentrate on their own match and not worry about what was happening in the other encounter, but everyone knew that a Longford goal was required if Ballina were going to take the title.
The Mayo parents redoubled their support for the Leinster champions at that stage and with Reynolds pulling the strings in the middle they came within inches of an equaliser on a number of occasions as Milford lived dangerously.
Then, 13 minutes into the half, disaster struck for St Mary’s when Niki Kaiser equalised and the difficulty of the task facing the Ballina girls was multiplied.
In fairness to them, they responded wonderfully and went in search of the lead once again as Longford peppered the Milford goal on the other pitch.
Sarah Rowe was deployed as a striker and this switch very nearly paid off three minutes from the end when she gained possession in her own half, beat three defenders and raced through but Aoife O’Neill denied her with a fine save.
Sixty seconds later Rachel McDonnell won the ball on the edge of the box and sent a curling shot towards the top corner but it missed its target by mere inches.
Along the sideline a nervous-wreck of a Ballina father explained that there’s only a minute left and we need a goal on each pitch. It was a big ask, too big as it turned out and when the final whistles blew it was the young ladies from Donegal who danced in the Athlone sunshine.
The weekend had ended in disappointment for the Ballina girls but they have a lot to be proud of.
Their displays were outstanding and on another day would have yielded All-Ireland glory, but now they must look to the future and the adventures to be had there.
ST MARY’S: Rachel Cuffe, Aoife Neary, Jessica Butler, Claudia McNiece, Niamh Connolly, Ciara Armstrong, Sarah Rowe, Clodagh Egan, Fiona Treacy, Michelle Mulligan, Rachel McDonnell, Jenna Brennan, Emma Reilly, Fiona Durkan, Marie Kennedy, Tyra Marsh, Shauna Smith, Sarah Devaney, Louise Gilmartin