160 children from Donegal, Inishowen, Monaghan and Cavan participated in the Ulster Provincial Finals which were held in the newly developed Cockhill Sports Fields, Buncrana on Wednesday:
Inishowen reigned supreme as they captured four out of five Ulster Section Winners medals that were up for grabs in the EA Sports FAI Schools 5 A Side:
Cloontagh National School (NS) in Inishowen won the “A” Schools title to secure their path to the National Finals:
Cloontagh began their campaign with an impressive 5/0 victory over Mullaghrafferty N:S from Co: Monaghan: All the goals came in the second half with Gary McDaid first to hit the target: Darren Coyle (2), Aiden Friel and Aaron Friel completed the scoring: Their next match saw them come up against a resolute Ballyconnell Mixed N:S: from Co: Cavan and they deservedly took a point after coming back from a 0/2 deficit: Darren Coyle and Leonard Hegarty scored the goals but they can thank goalkeeper Kian O’Brien for getting them a point as he made two brilliant saves near the end: In their final match against Cashel N:S: Co: Donegal, Cloontagh needed to win to progress and they did so very comfortably by 9/1 with goals from Aiden Friel (2), Darren Coyle (2), Aaron Friel, Jonathan McDaid (2) and Liam McGonigle (2):
The impressive Greencastle NS retained their Girls “A” Schools title in fine style:
Corracrin N:S: Co: Monaghan were the first opponents for Greencastle but they proved to be no match for the Ulster winners form last year: Cathy McLaughlin opened the scoring and went on to complete her hat trick: Gemma McGuinness also helped herself to three goals while Sarah Jane McDonald went one better by grabbing four to leave the final score 11/1: They went on to comprehensively defeat Killygarry N:S:, Co: Cavan by 8/3 in their second match: Gemma McGuinness again helped herself to a hat trick and further goals came from Cathy McLaughlin, Sarah Jane McDonald (2) and Melissa McDermott (2) completed the scoring: Going into their last game the Greencastle team and management were well aware of the danger posed by their opponents Rathmullan N:S: from Donegal: Rathmullan took the lead but Gemma McGuinness soon levelled for Greencastle: The same player put Greencastle ahead but Rathmullan equalised before the break only for Sarah Jane McDonald to make the half time score 3/2 on the final whistle of the first half: Greencastle got the perfect start to the second half with goals from Gemma McLaughlin and Cathy McLaughlin and they went on to seal a comfortable victory with late goals from Sarah Jane McDonald and Melissa McDermott:
Hosts Cockhill NS was successful in the “B” Section after defeating Kilcar NS in their last fixture of the tournament with the win proving decisive:
Cockhill’s first game saw them defeat Mullahoran N:S: Co: Cavan by 6/1: Peter Doherty opened the scoring and went on to complete his hat trick: Other scorers were Darragh McDermott, Conor Allen and Eamon Devlin: Next up for the host school was Gaelscoil Ultain, Co: Monaghan and although the performance from Cockhill wasn’t brilliant they did enough to emerge winners by 3/0: Daniel Doherty (2) and Darragh McDermott were the goal scorers: The final game in the section proved to be Cockhill’s toughest: They were up against Kilcar N:S: Donegal and went behind before four second half goals put them firmly in control: Eamon Devlin fired home the first and Conor Allen added a second: The Dohertys, Peter and Daniel completed the scoring to leave the final score 4/2:
Scoil Iosagain were victories in the “C” Schools Sectiontitle after drawing with runners up Scoil Cholmcille in a closely contested match: The only difference between the two sides came down to goal difference on the day:
Scoil Iosagain, Buncrana got off to a flying start by comprehensively defeating Castleblayney N:S, Co: Monaghan by 4/0: Darach O’Connor and Philip Carroll made it 2/0 at the break and Ryan Varma and O’Connor added two more second half goals: St: Felim’s of Cavan were next up for the Scoil Iosagain boys but it proved to be very one/sided as they racked up seven goals: Philip Carroll, Ryan Varma, Ryan Doherty (2), Darach O’Connor (2) and Christopher McCallion were the boys on target: Cavan scored a consolation goal to leave the final score 7/1: Going into their final game against Scoil Colmcille, Co: Donegal, the team knew that a draw would suffice to see them through to the National Finals: They duly achieved the desired result with both goals from Ryan Doherty in an exciting 2/2 draw:
The only title to travel outside of Inishowen was the Girls “B” Schools Section which was won by neighbouring St: Mary’s NS, Stranorlar Co: Donegal:
The girls from St: Mary’s opened their campaign with a 3 /1 win against a skilful Virginia School: Next up was St: Louis in Monaghan which demonstrated St: Mary’s ability to score by slotting 5 past the Monaghan keeper: Their final game was against old rivals from Inishowen, Scoil Iosagain: This battle was hard fought and St: Mary’s emerged victories on a score line of 2 – 1 to ensure an Ulster title for the Donegal girls:
The winners progress to the National Finals which will be taking place in the impressive Leah Victoria Park, Tullamore on May 28th:
It promises to be a fantastic fun filled day with a “Player of the Tournament” accolade for each section, goodies bags and medals for all participants:
EA Sports will be on hand to entertain spectators with HD Lounges and PODs for that interactive gaming enthusiast:
“A” Schools:
TEAMS
Ballyconnell Mixed NS, Cavan
Scoil Bhride, Mullaghrafferty, Monaghan
Scoil Mhuire, Cashel NS, Fanad, Donegal
Cloontagh NS, Inishowen
RESULTS
Ballyconnell 3 – 3 Cashel
Scoil Bhride 0 – 5 Cloontagh
Cashel 3 – 3 Scoil Bhride
Cloontagh 2 – 2 Ballyconnell
Ballyconnell 4 – 1 Scoil Bhride
Cashel 1 – 9 Cloontagh
Winners: Cloontagh NS, Inishowen
Leonard Hegarty, Liam McGonagle, Kian O’Brien, Aidan Friel, Jonathon McDaid, Darren Coyle, Aaron Friel, Garry McDaid:
Coach: Neil Hirrell
Runner Up: Ballyconnell NS, Cavan
Shane McGovern, Owen McPartland, Gary Johnson, Conor Crowe, Matieusz Krolicki, Tada Tevelis:
Coach: Mark Curry
School Principal: Terence Reynolds
“A” Girls Schools:
TEAMS
Killygary NS, Cavan
Corracrin NS, Monaghan
Rathmullan NS, Donegal
Greencastle NS, Inishowen
RESULTS
Killygary 1 – 7 Rathmullan
Corracrin 1 – 11 Greencastle
Rathmullan 3 – 2 Corracrin NS
Greencastle 8 – 3 Killygary
Killygary 2 – 3 Corracrin
Rathmullan 2 – 7 Greencastle
Winners: Greencastle NS, Inishowen
Sarah Jane McDonald, Ciara Brown, Leanne Lynch, Rebecca Henry, Melissa McDermott, Gemma McGuinness, Aobh Bodewig, Kathy McLoughlin
Runner Up: Rathmullan NS, Donegal
Jade McCleary, Katie McAteer, Roisin O’Donnell, Orla McAteer, Adiel Shields, Amber Barrett, Michelle Swords, Rebecca Barrett
Teacher: Mrs: Graham
“B” Schools:
TEAMS
Mullahoran Central NS, Cavan
Gaelscoil Ultain, Monaghan
Kilcar NS, Donegal
Cockhill NS, Inishowen
RESULTS
Mullahoran 1 – 6 Cockhill
Gaelscoil 1 – 3 Kilcar
Cockhill 3 – 0 Gaelscoil
Kilcar 4 – 2 Mullahoran
Mullahoran 2 – 4 Gaelscoil
Cockhill 4 – 2 Kilcar
Winners: Cockhill NS, Inishowen
Eamonn Devlin, Darragh McDermott, Harry Doherty, Daniel Doherty, Paul McDemott, Shane McClean, Peter Doherty, Conor Allen:
Runner Up: Kilcar NS, Donegal
Conor Doherty, Cormac Cannon, Jordan Mooney, Martin Byrne, Andrew McClean, Jason Campbell, Aidan McGinley, Stephen McBrearty
Girls “B” Schools:
TEAMS
Virginia Mixed NS, Cavan
St: Louis Girls NS, Monaghan
St: Mary’s NS, Donegal
Scoil Iosagain, Inishowen
RESULTS
Virginia 1 – 3 St: Mary’s
St: Louis 0 – 5 Scoil Iosagain
St: Mary’s 7 – 2 St: Louis
Scoil Iosagain 2 – 0 Virginia
Virginia 4 – 4 St: Louis
St: Mary’s 2 – 1 Scoil Iosagain
Winners: St: Mary’s NS, Stranorlar, Co: Donegal
Louise Boyle, Cheyenne Griffin, Leanne Quinn, Lara Duffy, Cathy De Ward, Lisa McElchar, Natalie Marchlewska, Lucy Murphy:
Coach: Mr: Cheevers
Teacher: Emma Davis
Runner Up: Scoil Iosagain, Inishowen
Louise Devlin, Maria Clarke, Ciara Gleeson, Nicole Adair, Roisin Bradley, Kate Naughton, Shannon Millar, Cheyanne MacDonald
Teacher: Mr: Delap
“C” Schools:
TEAMS
St: Felim’s NS, Cavan
Castleblaney BNS, Monaghan
Scoil Cholmcille, Donegal
Scoil Iosagain, Inishowen
RESULTS
St: Felim’s 1 – 3 Scoil Choilmcille
Castbleblaney 0 – 4 Scoil Iosagain
Scoil Choilmcille 6 – 2 Castleblaney
Scoil Iosagain 7 – 1 St: Felim’s
St: Felim’s 2 – 4 Castleblaney
Scoil Cholmcille 2 – 2 Scoil Iosagain
Winners: Scoil Iosagain, Inishowen
Ryan Doherty, Darach O’Connor, Ryan Varma, Ryan McLoughlin, Phillip Carron, Christy McCallion, Caolan McGonagle, Joseph McGrory
Coaches: Maria Doherty and Josephine Doherty:
Runner Up: Scoil Choilmcille, Donegal
Ryan Rainey, Pierce McLoughlin, Jordan McBride, Michael Miller, Dylan Sweeney, Dale Gorman, Ryan McConnell, Darren Doherty, Cathal McDaid, Christopher Flanagan
