EA Sports FAI Schools 5-A-Side Inishowen Dominate Ulster 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 Section title 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