The An Post FAI Schools Cavan 5-a-side competition took place over three days last week in Bailieborough Celtic FC (April 25 to 27)
A total of 33 Schools entered the 2012 competition with 74 teams lining out which amounted to 592 players participating in this annual competition:
The impressive venue required five grass pitches and two all weather pitches to accommodate the large volume of participants in the Cavan facility:
The “A” Cup competition for small schools was played on Wednesday with a total of 25 teams taking part:
The six group winners were Mullahoran “A” and “B”, Kilnaleck “A” and “B”, Butlersbridge “A” and Corlurgan “A”:
In the knock out stages Corlurgan “A” defeated Mullahoran “B”, while Kilnaleck “A” defeated Butlersbridge “A” and finally Kilnaleck “B” defeated Mullahoran “A” in the remaining fixture:
The Final saw last year’s winners Kilnaleck complete back to back victories in the “A” Cup section with a strong second half performance to overcome a gallant and well organised Corlurgan side 3/0:
The Girls “A” Cup which caters for small Schools took place on Thursday with a wholesome 19 teams participating:
After closely fought group games, St: Felim’s Leiter, St: Patrick’s Kilnaleck, Corlurgan, Convent of Mercy, Belturbet and Milltown emerged as group winners to compete in the knockout stages:
St: Felim’s Leiter and Convent of Mercy, Belturbet contested their first Girl’s Final which proved to be a very exciting encounter with St: Felim’s Leiter winning 2/0:
The “B” Cup competition for medium schools took place on Friday with 22 boys and 8 girls teams participating on the day:
The boys section had 5 groups contesting competitively with St: Mary’s, Virginia “A” and “B”, St: Joseph’s, Kingscourt, St: Mary’s, Belturbet and St: Michael’s, Cootehill winning their respective groups and progressing to the next round:
The two semi finals saw Belturbet defeat Cootehill to reach their first final while Virginia “A” defeated Virginia “B” to reach their second final in a row:
St: Mary’s of Virginia proved too strong for a spirited St: Mary’s from Belturbet and put in a convincing performance to once again claim the “B” Cup schools title and represent Cavan in the Ulster Finals:
Eight girl’s teams participated in the Girls “B” Schools section with the top two teams advancing to the semi finals:
In the last four St: Mary’s, Virginia “A” defeated Mullagh and St: Anne’s, Bailieborough “A” defeated St: Clare’s of Cavan “A” to reach the Final:
The decisive game proved to be a close encounter with a scoreless first half performance: However, the Bailieborough girls completed a local double in both girls competitions with a strong second half performance to run out 2/0 winners:
St: Felim’s Cavan will represent Cavan at the Ulster Finals in the “C” Cup for large schools
Mr: Tom Mohan, FAI Development Officer for Cavan thanked all Schools for taking part over the duration of the competition and wished the winning teams the best of luck in the Ulster Finals which take place on May 23 at Aileach FC, Burnfoot, Donegal:
Tom also praised the participating Schools for providing the boys and girls the opportunity to play in the competition, Bailieborough Celtic FC for the preparation of their pitches and the use of their club facilities, the underage clubs who assisted their local schools with preparation and on the days of the competition, referees and assistants, Mary McEnroe Cavan Institute of Further Studies and the First Year Sports Studies students from the Institute for refereeing and assisting during the competition:
Report courtesy of Mr: Tom Mohan