SPAR5s Ulster Finals down for decision on Wednesday in Cootehill
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
24 schools amounting to 192 students from Monaghan, Cavan, Donegal and Inishowen will descend on John Sherlock Park, Cootehill Harps FC this Wednesday (May 2) with a chance of being crowned SPAR FAI Primary School 5s Ulster Champions for 2018.
The event saw 31,728 children participate this year. The competition has been running since the mid 1990’s, the event is more popular than ever with an impressive 1,528 schools involved in 2018.
This season’s 24 schools will line out in six sections based on their school size which is dependent on their enrolment numbers. The small schools will be catered for under the SPAR ‘A’ Cup while the medium schools will participate in the SPAR ‘B’ Cup and the large schools will tog out in the SPAR ‘C’ Cup. Boys and girls are encouraged to play together but there is separate competitions for girls only.
There are two schools attending that will have both their girls and boys squads involved which is a unique occasion for the participating teams. Latnamard NS in Monaghan qualified in the SPAR ‘A’ Cup and SPAR ‘A’ Girls Cup while the experienced Scoil Iosagain, Buncrana will return in the SPAR ‘C’ Cup and SPAR ‘C’ Girls Cup respectively thus increasing their chances of the school progressing further in the competition.
There is a huge array of talent involved this season with the small schools division serving up a host of top class players as St. Boden’s NS, Culdaff will go up against Latnamard NS, St. Patrick’s NS in Castletara and Donegal’s Scoil Phádraig Dobhair. Who will prevail in this decider?
Equal to the challenge in the same division for the girls will see St. Brigids NS, Carndonagh, Latnamard NS, Ballynarry NS and Scoil Mhuire Casieal all in contention. The current selection should serve up some tasty ties.
Cockhill crew St. Oran’s NS will meet Scoil Rois, Carrickmacross, Killygarry and SN Fhionnan An Falcarrach in this category for medium schools. The players will be excited to progress given the scenes from some of their County qualifiers last week!
The girls division has Clonmany NS, Annyalla NS, Farnham NS and Scoil Chroine all involved this season. A fresh crop of schools in 2018 who will be eager to impress pitch-side.
The final select will be the large schools with three big names making a welcome return. Scoil Iosagain, St. Felim’s and St. Patrick’s Lurgybrack are very familiar with each other having contested last season’s title. They will be joined this year by St. Mary’s NS in Monaghan. The quartet will be showcasing their sporting abilities with a tight contest envisaged. In 2017, three of the four schools were tied on 6 points each with the winners St. Joseph’s BNS, Carrickmacross coming through in the end. However the Carrick side were knocked out in the preliminary stages. Can newbie’s St. Mary’s emulate their success story in 2018?
Meanwhile the Buncrana ladies Scoil Iosagain will entertain Bunscoil Lughaid Naofa, Carrickmacross as well as St. Clare’s NS and Scoil Naoimh Fiachra, Illistrin. Both St. Clare’s and Scoil Iosagain participated twelve months ago so they will be looking to go one better on Wednesday.
Following the conclusion of the Ulster Finals, the six Cup winners will test themselves against the best in Ireland as they travel to the Aviva Stadium, Dublin on May 30 for the SPAR FAI Primary School 5s National Finals.
LIST OF PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS
SPAR ‘A’ Cup (small schools)
Inishowen St. Boden’s NS, Culdaff
Monaghan Latnamard NS
Cavan St. Patrick’s NS, Castletara
Donegal Scoil Phádráig Dobhair
SPAR ‘A’ Girls Cup (small schools)
Inishowen St. Brigid’s NS, Glenmakee, Carndonagh
Monaghan Latnamard NS
Cavan Ballynarry NS, Ballyheelan, Kilnaleck
Donegal Scoil Mhuire Caiseal
SPAR ‘B’ Cup (medium schools)
Inishowen St. Oran’s NS, Cockhill, Buncrana
Monaghan Scoil Rois, Carrickmacross
Cavan Killygarry NS
Donegal SN Fhionnain An Falcarrach
SPAR ‘B’ Girls Cup (medium schools)
Inishowen Clonmany NS
Monaghan Annyalla NS
Cavan Farnham NS
Donegal Scoil Chroine
SPAR ‘C’ Cup (large schools)
Inishowen Scoil Iosagain, Buncrana
Monaghan St. Mary’s BNS, Monaghan Town
Cavan St. Felim’s NS, Cavan Town
Donegal St. Patrick’s NS, Lurgybrack
SPAR ‘C’ Girls Cup (large schools)
Inishowen Scoil Iosagain, Buncrana
Monaghan Bunscoil Lughaid Naofa, Carrickmacross
Cavan St. Clare’s NS
Donegal Scoil Naoimh Fiachra, Illistrin
Follow the action on social media via #SPAR5s or at www.faischools.ie and www.spar.ie.
SPAR FAI Primary School 5s Programme
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
PROVINCIAL
Ulster Final: May 2 John Sherlock Park, Cootehill Harps FC, Co. Cavan
Connacht Final: May 3 Solar21 Park, Castlebar, Co. Mayo
Munster Final: May 8+9 Mounthawk Park, Tralee, Co. Kerry
Leinster Final: May 10 MDL Grounds, Trim Road, Navan, Co. Meath
NATIONAL
National Final: May 30 Aviva Stadium, Dublin
For more information
Diane Fay, FAI Schools - Diane.Fay@fai.ie / 086 0404 952
Kio Lopez, Teneo PSG – Kio.lopez@teneopsg.com / 086 014 4914
IMAGES
Inishowen | https://www.facebook.com/pg/faischools/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1985346484830239
Monaghan | https://www.facebook.com/pg/faischools/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1980225678675653
Donegal | https://www.facebook.com/pg/faischools/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1986181791413375
Cavan | https://www.facebook.com/pg/faischools/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1986442648053956
END