The Sligo Primary Schools Finals took place in the splendid surrounds of the Showgrounds home to Sligo Rovers FC on Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 April 2010: A total of 22 schools took part in this year’s event:
The boy’s competition took place on Wednesday with Section “A” divided into four groups with the top team in each group making up the semi final places: High Park NS came out on top in group one: Sooey NS won group two with victories over Kilglass and St Brendan’s: Maugherow topped group three with wins against Ardkeeran and Eniscrone: The final group saw Templeboy take the final semi final berth with wins over Banada and Tubbercurry: The semi finals saw Sooey and Templeboy making it through to the final where Sooey came out on top to claim the Boys Title on a 4/2 score line: Sooey, who had some very impressive performers will look forward to the Connaught Finals on the 12 May with some confidence:
The Boys “B” Section competition also took place on the Wednesday with 9 teams in this section: The top 2 from each group went through to semi finals stages: Some top class football was on display in this section with many of the boys being involved in the Sligo/Leitrim Emerging Talent programme: Group 1 saw Ursala and Sligo Project progress and Group 2 had terrific performances from Strandhill and Scoil Mhuire gan Smail Ballymote to see them through to the Semi Final Stage:
The first semi saw Ballymote just edge out scoil Ursala, 3/2 with Kyle Cawley in great form for Ursala it took a great performance from the boys from Ballymote in particular Michael Rafferty and Paul McKenna to see them through the Final: The other semi was fought out between Strandhill and Sligo Project, the game was very close to call in the first half but Strandhill started to pull away in the second with excellent performances from Shane McCallion and goalkeeper Oisin Conway in particular:
The Final between Ballymote and Strandhill was an excellent encounter with Ballymote twice coming from behind to force extra time: With nothing between the teams it finished 2/2 and penalties loomed: Strandhill scored all 5 pens with Ballymote just missing the one to end a excellent Final: Strandhill will be eager for a repeat performance at the Connaught Finals in Shiven on the 12 May:
The Girls competition took place on Thursday with teams from 15 different schools: Scoil Ursala regained their B CUP CHAMPIONS status with excellent performances but they were pushed all the way against an excellent Calry NS outfit: Both teams drew against each other 2/2 and with Ursala beating Carrowroe comfortably it was going to be decided on goal difference if Calry could beat Carrowroe: Calry needed to win by 6 goals to win the title, they put in a great effort winning 5/0 but just missed out by the solitary goal:
In the Girls “A Section” grouping it was a competitive mix of schools that participated: In group one Strandhill came out on top against Sligo Project and High Park: Group two saw St: Brendan’s and Maugherow progress from a 4 team group: In group 3 St: John’s, Ballisodare won against Banada and Ardkeeran to progress to the semi finals:
The 2 semi finals were very good game with Strandhill and St: John’s Ballisodare progressing to the Final: Strandhill made it a boys and girls double with an excellent performance in the final against a very organised and skillful Ballisodare team: Ellen Monaghan and Katie Osbourne were excellent all tournament and scored 2 in the final to make 4/2 at the final whistle: Strandhill will be looking forward to challenging for the Provincial title at Shiven Rovers FC in Newbridge, Galway on the 12 May:
FAI DEVELOPMENT OFFICER FOR SLIGO Ryan Casey would like to thank all the schools that took part over the 2 days, the referees on the day and Leitrim Development Officer Damon Carney for all their help: