Meath Primary Schools Futsal

The Aura Leisure Centre in Trim was the setting for 6 days of exciting Primary Schools Futsal action as 48 teams from 28 schools across Co: Meath competed in the Boys and Girls blitzes:

FAI Development Officer for Meath, Mark Scanlon, was the co/ordinator of the event and was delighted to see such a big response for this new initiative which is being rolled out nationally and caters for 3^rd and 4^th class students:

Each day saw 8 schools compete and the schools were split in 2 groups where teams played 3 games each: The 4^th place team from each group went into a playoff against each other and the same scenario occurred for the teams that finished 3^rd in each group: The top 2 teams from each group advanced to the semi/finals with the winners meeting in the final game of the day (all results and tables are attached):

The Girls Small Schools competition opened the event on day 1 with some excellent football which eventually saw Kildalkey N:S: claim the title with a 2/0 over Dangan in the final: It was Carlanstown who actually topped Group 1 but they were edged out by Dangan in the semi/final and Kildalkey overcame Cortown: Kiltale, Kilbride and Drumbaragh also competed in an exciting days play:

Kildalkey Boys nearly emulated the Girls on day 2 but were beaten 3/2 by a brilliant Cortown team in the Boys Small Schools section: The game ebbed and flowed as both teams traded scores but in the end Cortown did enough to hang for victory: Kiltale and Rath Cairn were the beaten semi/finalists and Rath Cairn had early shown their promise with a great 3/0 victory over Kildalkey and were very unlucky not to reach the final: Kilbride, Ardcath, Drumbaragh and Carlanstown also took part in a very close competition which saw every team taking points of each other and 58 goals in the 17 games that took place:

O’Growney N:S: (Athboy) continued their fine reputation for success in FAI competitions with an extra/time victory over Stackallen N:S: in the Girls Medium Schools competition on day 3: Kilcloon, Gaelscoil Na Rithe (Dunshaughlin), Realt Na Mara (Donacarney) and Scoil Naomh Eoin (Navan) battled it out for the minor places after being edged out of semi/final spots and the semi/finals showed just what a close days play it was as a single goal separated O’Growney against Enfield and Stackallen against Scoil Mhuire (Navan): Stackallen took the lead in the final against O’Growney only to be pegged back late on and were unfortunate to lose in extra/time despite an excellent display:

On day 4 of the competition it was the turn of the Medium Schools Boys and once again it didn’t disappoint with entertainment from start to finish: Dangan N:S: and O’Growney N:S: (Athboy) qualified for the semi/finals from Group 1 and Kilcloon N:S: and Enfield N:S: qualified from Group 2: The best game of the day turned out to be the 7^th/8^th place play/off where Gaelscoil Na Rithe (Dunshaughlin) overcame Slane N:S: in a penalty shoot/out: Scoil Naomh Eoin (Navan) defeated Stackallen N:S: to clinch 5^th place and Kilcloon and Enfield where the unlucky losers in the semi/finals: The final between O’Growney and Dangan was a tight affair and the teams had earlier drew 0/0 in the group stages: Once again they couldn’t be separated and the game finished 1/1 after extra time and went to penalties, Dangan prevailed by 3 goals to 2 and O’Growney fell just short of completing a Boys and Girls double:

The Girls Large Schools took place on day 5 and Group 1 was topped by St: Seachnall’s (Dunshaughlin) who were joined in the semi/finals by St: Mary’s (Trim): St: Olivers N:S: (Navan) and Duleek G:N:S: were tied on points it needed a golden goal from Duleek to clinch 3^rd place: Group 2 was won by Our Lady of Mercy (Kells) and runners/up St: Marys also qualified for the semi/finals: Ratoath N:S: finished in 3^rd place with St: Josephs Mercy (Navan) finishing 4^th: St: Josephs over came St: Olivers in the Navan derby in the battle for 7^th place and Ratoath defeated Duleek 4/3 to clinch 5^th place: The semi/finals saw Our Lady of Mercy come from behind to defeat St: Marys and St: Seachnall’s got the better of Kentstown N:S: In the final a very strong and talented Our Lady of Mercy ran out winners after an entertaining 4/1 victory over St: Seachnall’s N:S:

The Boys Large Schools section finished off the 6 days of action with an entertaining day of Futsal: Group 1 was topped by St: Seachnall’s (Dunshaughlin) and St: Oliver’s (Navan) finished second by virtue of goals scored ahead of fellow Navan school Scoil Mhuire and St: Michaels (Trim) finished fourth:

Group 2 was won by Realt Na Mara (Donacarney) and Ratoath N:S: finished runner/up to qualify for the semi/finals: St: Joseph’s (Navan) finished in 3^rd place and Kentstown finished in 4^th: Two exciting penalty shoot/outs saw St: Michael’s clinch 7^th place ahead of Kentstown and St: Joseph’s got the better of Scoil Mhuire in the all Navan clash for 5^th place:

St: Seachnall’s defeated Ratoath 2/0 and Realt Na Mara scored an extra/time winner against St: Oliver’s in the semi/finals: St: Seachnall’s proved too strong for Realt Na Mara in the final and came out 4/1 winners in an end to end game:

Overall the 6 days were a massive success and a total of 102 Futsal games saw 321 goals scored by the 48 teams that took part:

FAI Development Officer Mark Scanlon said: “I would like to thank the Aura Leisure Centre, Trim for hosting the event and also the schools, principals and teachers for allowing the students to compete: Finally I want to say a massive thank you to all the Boys and Girls who took part and I hope they enjoyed the week: We are looking forward to seeing them all back at future events”:

CLICK HERE FOR THE RESULTS TABLE

Daily Updates

Monday,16 November:

St: Seachnall’s from Dunshaughlin clinched the title of Meath Boys Large Schools champions after a 4/1 win against Realt Na Mara B:N:S: from Donacarneyin the FAI Primary Schools Futsal competition: Well done to all 48 teams who competed over the 6 days of the competition:

Friday, 13 November:

Our Lady of Mercy Kells won the Meath Girls Large Schools Section of the FAI Primary Schools Futsal competition today with a 4/1 victory over St: Seachnall’s from Dunshaughlin in the Aura Leisure Centre in Trim: Monday will see the conclusion of the competition with 8 schools competing for the Meath Boys Large Schools title:

Thursday, 12 November:

Dangan N:S: were the winners of today’s FAI Schools Futsal blitz in the Medium Boys Schools section: They overcame a talented O’Growney N:S: from Athboy in an exciting penalty shoot/out in the Aura Leisure Centre, Trim: Tomorrow will see the Girls Large Schools vying for the title of Meath Champions:

Wednesday, 11 November:

O’Growney N:S :from Athboy clinched the title of the Girls Medium Schools Meath champions by defeating Stackallen N:S: 2/1 after extra time in the Aura Leisure in Trim: Tomorrow’s action will be in the Boys Medium schools section:

Tuesday, 10 November:

Cortown N:S: won the Boys Small Schools Meath title in the FAI Futsal tournament today with a pulsating 3/2 victory over Kildalkey N:S: in the Aura Leisure Centre in Trim: The Girls Medium Schools section are next up tomorrow in the same venue:

Monday, 9 November:

Kildalkey N:S: started of the 6 day long FAI Futsal tournament by defeating Dangan N:S: 2/1 in the Girls Small Schools section in the Aura Leisure Centre, Trim today: It will be the turn of the Boys Small schools tomorrow:

Dangan Boys