The curtain finally came down on the FAI Post Primary Schools First Year Futsal Finals today (December 6) in Franciscan College, Gormanston: The boys from Borrisokane Community College crowned their debut with a powerful performance throughout the day to claim the boy’s title in fine style:
Equally brilliant was the Roscommon rockets Convent of Mercy who were wonderful in their whirlwind win to claim the girls title: Sean Boland’s charges scored 14 goals in their three group games while slotting six past runners up Presentation Secondary School in the final:
GIRLS GROUP STAGES
The morning’s events kicked off with Leinster legends Grennan College up against Stranorlar stars St: Columbas College while Presentation hosted Convent of Mercy: Rebecca Walsh got the two goals for Grennan, her second coming from a deflection to reach the bottom corner to claim a 2/0 victory: The Convent overcame Presentation with a convincing 4/0 win in the other encounter:
The Thurles tornados turned things around in their second fixture of the morning: Presentation SS were in fine tune against Grennan College who were experiencing a high after defeating their Ulster counterparts earlier:
Presentation SS put two past the Thomastown girls in the first half to gain a valuable win: Orla Gardiner was outstanding in the game for Grennan while Hazel McAuliffe was equally impressive scoring Presentation’s first of the afternoon, their second came from an o:g: The game ended 2/0 to Presentation leaving them level on points with Grennan following two games:
The Convent continued their winning ways with a 7/4 victory over St: Columbas in their second outing:
The third group games saw a 3/2 win for the Convent in a hard fought battle against Nicola Murphy’s team: Boland’s side were three nil up at half time courtesy of a hat/trick of goals from Aisling McGrath, Niamh Farrell and Rachel Fitzmaurice: The Grennan gang dug deep in the second period and pulled off all their best futsal as they battled back to 3/2: Rebecca Walsh and Ailís O’Shea registered the scores: Grennan keeper Niamh Sheehy produced an excellent save to keep her team in contention while Ailis O’Shea had a screamer hit off the post to deny the Grennan girls an equaliser: The Convent held out for the final whistle, relieved to secure the points in a highly entertaining game:
The final game in the girls group was a white wash to Presentation as they slotted seven past the Ulster crew without reply:
The Convent of Mercy secured top spot in the league table winning all three group games culminating in a full six points while Presentation Secondary School secured second spot notching up four points from two wins:
As a result Grennan College would play St: Columbas College in the third and fourth place play/off while the Convent would contest the final against Presentation:
GIRLS THIRD & FOURTH PLACE PLAY/OFF
Grennan College, Thomastown v St: Columbas College, Stranorlar
A solidarity goal from the impressive Ailis O’Shea after just four minutes was enough for Grennan to collect third place: St: Columbas tried in vain to get an equaliser but the versatile Niamh Sheehy executed some fine saves to keep her team from conceding
GIRLS FINAL
Scoil Mhuire gan Smal, Convent of Mercy, Roscommon v Presentation Secondary School, Thurles
An explosive final ensued as Mercy marked their victory in the final game of the series with three goals in each half to secure the riches and more importantly the coveted All Ireland title: The Roscommon natives had a multitude of goals from Niamh Farrell (5) and Grainne Whyte (1) to claim a comprehensive result against a diligent opposition:
Three goals in the last two minutes put the game out of reach for Presentation: Hazel McAuliffe registered the only goal for Thurles as the game reached a conclusion, much to the delight of the travelling supporters: This result marks a milestone in the schools history with this their first Futsal title: The girls will no doubt have enjoyed their trip to Gormanston as they travel back to Roscommon with top prize:
Presentation Secondary School should be very proud of their performances throughout the competition from county level to the national final: These players are certainly ones to watch out for in the future:
BOYS GROUP STAGES
Scoil Mhuire marked their opening game with a 1/0 win against 2009 champs St: Peter’s College: Ronan Hegarty scored after 14 minutes to claim the only goal of the game: Credit must go to Buncrana keeper Toby Doherty who pulled off some wonderful saves late on to keep his team from conceding: Likewise Lorcan Conway, the netminder for Dunboyne can also get special mention as an onslaught of chances from James Adair and Eoin Murphy were saved by the industrious keeper:
The other game saw a nine goal thriller with defending Champions St: Muredach’s emerging victorious on a 5/4 score line to newcomers Borrisokane: The debutants marked their introduction to the All Ireland series with a cracking goal from Stevie Daly: Moo Paw cancelled this out with a well taken equalisers seconds later: Borrisokane star Stephen Burke slotted past Hugh O’Sullivan to make it 2/1 at the interval:
The second half started like the first with a flurry of goals: Cian Darcy increased the Borrisokane lead to 3/1 before Hsar Mai Tan registered two goals in quick succession to level proceedings while seconds later Simon Leonard made it 4/3 to Muredach’s with 12 minutes played: Borrisokane’s Stephen Burke equalised soon after to make it 4/4 with seven minutes to play: Mark Birrane turned hero as he slotted the winner in the dying minutes of the game to give Muredach’s the edge in a tantalising tie that had spectators on their feet:
Borrisokane met St: Peter’s College in their second outing following their heartbreak of losing out 4/5 in their previous fixture: However the Tipperary lads made no mistake against Dunboyne as a first half goal from Carl Williams on 9 minutes gave them some much needed confidence: Dunboyne’s Sam McQuaid saw his first half effort at an equaliser hit off the post much to the frustration of mentors McCarrick and O’Reilly: However the game was wrapped up for Tipp early in the second period as superstar Cian Darcy scored twice: Darcy was aiming for his hat/trick but his last ditch effort went off the crossbar to deny the youngster the honour:
Scoil Mhuire were on the receiving end of a 1/4 defeat to St: Muredach’s in their second fixture: Hsar Mai Taw, Conor McStay, Moo Paw and Simon Leonard all got their names on the score sheet while the talented Ronan Hegarty got Scoil Mhuire’s goal:
St: Peter’s College surprised the odds with a narrow 1/0 win against a well disciplined St: Muredach’s: The Dunboyne team were well mentored by Donncha McCarrick and Danny O’Reilly and can be proud of the fact that they won against the reigning Champions: Nonetheless, their victory was a little too late in coming for Dunboyne as their counterparts had already secured their place in the final stages with earlier victories:
Borrisokane played Scoil Mhuire in the third round with the Munster men enjoying a 4/1 win: Cian Darcy finally scored a hat/trick while Carl Williams got their fourth of the afternoon: The Scoil Mhuire goal came courtesy of some good play from Paul Doherty and Michael Grant for Eamon Sweeney to finish well:
BOYS THIRD & FOURTH PLACE PLAY/OFF
Scoil Mhuire, Buncrana v St: Peter’s College, Dunboyne
Scoil Mhuire managed a goal spree with four first half goals as Jack McDaid (2), Michael Grant and John Doherty supplied the finishes: The second half was set at a slower pace as St: Peter’s Daragh Nolan got one back: Buncrana completed their 5/1 victory as Jack McDaid scored a hat/trick to complete a third place finish for the Scoil Mhuire men: St: Peter’s came a gallant fourth in an entertaining afternoon of futsal:
BOYS FINAL
St: Muredach’s College, Ballina v Borrisokane Community College
Borrisokane were up against defending Champions St: Muredach’s College, Ballina in the final as both schools topped their group on four points each: St: Muredach’s had dropped some valuable points when defeated by 2009 Champions St: Peter’s College in their third fixture of the day: While Borrisokane had dropped points against Muredach’s in the group stages with a nine goal thriller taking place: Borrisokane were on the receiving end of a 4/5 defeat but reversed this result with a splendid performance in the final to surprise the odds and take the Cup from the reigning Champions:
A ten goal tally was the result of the boys final that provided the large crowd with a splendid conclusion to the day’s events:
St: Muredach’s entered the final as favourites having previously won their head to head with Borrisokane earlier that day but more importantly the Ballina boys wanted to retain the title they worked so tirelessly to defend:
Borrisokane served up a wonderful display of teamwork to go two up inside three minutes with Stephen Burke and Stevie Daly netting for Orla Cunningham’s crew:
Muredach’s settled with an excellent strike from Mark Birrane to bring it back to 2/1:
Cian Darcy made it 3/1 to Borrisokane giving the Tipperary talent some breathing space in a dramatic finale:
However back came St: Muredach’s three minutes later with the impressive Moo Paw scoring (3/2): Only one in it now as first time was fast approaching:
Borrioskane extended their lead to 4/2 courtesy of Stevie Daly before the half time whistle blew:
An awesome display from these youngsters set up for a rousing second half as it was all guns blazing for Emmet Peyton and Brian’s Lacey’s troops: They wouldn’t give up their title ambitions just yet:
The second half came to life as Moo Paw and Hsar Mai Taw applied the pressure to Danny Maguire in the goal line: His defensive pairing of Adam Gorman and Darren Mooney were exceptional in clearing the ever present danger:
In spite of this it was Cian Darcy who scored first in the second period as the Munster men got a foothold on the game, 5/2 with eight to play:
Jack Dunne left the game out of reach as he slotted past Hugh O’Sullivan to make to 6/2:
Hsar Mai Taw brought the Muredach side back to within three as he netted to make it 6/3 while Cian Darcy was on hand in the final minutes to register the Borrisokane outfit with a seventh goal:
A marvellous feast of futsal that saw worthy winners Borrisokane collected the coveted Cup: Another first for the school, this there first year to compete in the futsal competition, we have no doubt that they will be back again next year to contest the event as will a disappointed St: Muredach’s who had an outstanding run of form in the competition:
BOYS FIXTURES
Group Stages
11:30 Pitch 1 St: Peter’s 0/1 Scoil Mhuire
11:30 Pitch 2 Borrisokane 4/5 St: Muredach’s
12:10 Pitch 1 St: Peter’s 0/3 Borrisokane
12:10 Pitch 2 Scoil Mhuire 1/4 St: Muredach’s
12:40 Pitch 1 St: Peter’s 1/0 St: Muredach’s
12:40 Pitch 2 Scoil Mhuire 1/4 Borrisokane
Third & Fourth Place Play/off
1:15 Pitch 2 Scoil Mhuire 5/1 St: Peter’s
Final
1:40 Pitch 2 St: Muredach’s 3/7 Borrisokane
BOYS WINNERS: Borrisokane Community College
BOYS RUNNERS UP: St: Muredach’s College, Ballina
BOYS THIRD: Scoil Mhuire, Buncrana
BOYS FOURTH: St: Peter’s College, Dunboyne
GIRLS FIXTURES
Group Stages
11:30 Pitch 3 Grennan 2/0 St: Columbas
11:30 Pitch 4 Presentation 0/4 Convent of Mercy
12:10 Pitch 3 Grennan 0/2 Presentation
12:10 Pitch 4 St: Columbas 4/7 Convent of Mercy
12:40 Pitch 3 Grennan 2/3 Convent of Mercy
12:40 Pitch 4 Presentation 7/0 St: Columbas
Third & Fourth Place Play/off
1:15 Pitch 3 Grennan 1/0 St: Columbas
Final
1:40 Pitch 3 Convent of Mercy 6/1 Presentation
GIRLS WINNERS: Scoil Mhuire gan Smal, Convent of Mercy, Roscommon
GIRLS RUNNERS UP: Presentation Secondary School, Thurles
GIRLS THIRD: Grennan College, Thomastown
GIRLS FOURTH: St: Columbas College, Stranorlar
List of participating Schools:
Leinster (Boys) St: Peter’s College, Dunboyne, Meath
Nathan Lee, Colm Dowling, Lavina Adam, Lorcan Conway, Sam McQuaid, Gavin Prior, Darragh Nolan, Lloyd Youngston, Sean Quigley, Sean Nealon, Cian Mullen, Brendan Courtney
Teacher: Danny O’Reilly & Donncha McCarrick
Leinster (Girls) Grennan College, Thomastown, Kilkenny
Niamh Sheehy, Ailis O’Shea, Aoife Holden, Rebecca Walsh, Orla Gardiner, Ciara Gardiner, Christina Begley, Niamh Costigan, Rachel Murphy, Fern Van Rooyen
Teacher: Nicola Murphy
Ulster (Boys) Scoil Mhuire, Buncrana
Toby Doherty, Paul Doherty, Michael Grant, Michael Owen Doherty, Eoin Murphy, James Adair, Ronan Hegarty, Noel McLaughlin, Eamonn Sweeney, John Doherty
Teacher: William O’Connor
Ulster (Girls) St: Columbas College, Stranorlar
Edel McBride, Demi Buchanan, Aoife Gillespie, Rhianna O’Brien, Emma McNulty, Aine Deasley, Kirstan Gallen, Karla Devine, Susan Coleman, Sarah Lafferty, Aoife Meadows, Ellen Keegan
Teacher: Nicola Ryan & James Rodgers
Munster (Girls) Presentation Secondary School, Thurles
Shonagh Cleary, Christine Coffey, Hazel McAuliffe, Sara McKevitt, Robyn Moore, Niamh O’Mahony, Niamh Ryan, Megan Woodlock
Teacher: Henry Flynn, Edel Harding
Munster (Boys) Borrisokane Community College
Carl Williams, Cian Darcy, Jack Dunne, Martin Grace, Gearoid Larkin, Danny Maguire, Gary Culbert, Stevie Daly, Stephen Burke, Rob Banaghan, Adam Gorman, Darren Mooney
Teacher: Orla Cunningham
Connacht (Boys) St: Mureduch’s College, Ballina, Mayo
Hugh O’Sullivan, Daniel Maughan, Simon Leonard, Mark Birrane, James Doherty, Jason Muldoon, Conor McStay, Moo Paw, Eric Nash, Hsar Mai Taw, Ciaran Gaughan, Eric Connolly
Teacher: Brian Lacey & Emmet Peyton
Connacht (Girls) Scoil Muire gan Smal, Convent of Mercy
Arlene Feely, Fiona Tully, Rachel Fitzmaurice, Graínne Whyte, Niamh Farrell, Allanah Hanley, Aisling McGrath, Clare Keegan, Laura Keenan, Patsy Farrell
Teacher: Sean Boland
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