Victory for the girls in FAI Soccer Competition
The 5th and 6th class girls of St. Michael's N.S. achieved a historic win today, Thurs. April 16th in the SPAR FAI 5-a-side schools' soccer competition held in Gortakeegan.
In a well organised competition, we faced three schools in the group round. Our first match was against a strong Corracrin side but we came away with an excellent 3-0 victory. Our tight defence of Alana Murray, Ciara Timoney and Ciara Fanning and the cool-headed Alannah Keelan in goals managed to keep the opposition scoreless. Caoimhe Mc Cabe hit the target three times, ably assisted by Captain Lorna Mc Guirk and Emma Mc Elvaney.
In the second match, we faced a formidable Latton side who like us had won their first match. Again, we played with flair and enthusiasm and with the introduction of fresh legs in the shape of Tegan Mc Phillips, Orla Timoney and Ella Brabazon we managed a 3-2 victory in a very exciting match. Scorers were Ciara Timoney (1 goal) and Caoimhe (2 goals).
Our final group match was against Aughnafarcon. The thoughts of a semi-final place inspired the girls to give another great performance and come away with a 6-3 win. Scorers were Ciara (1), Lorna (3) and Caoimhe (2). We had made it to the semi-finals and the job was almost complete.
We played Gaelscoil Lurgan in the semi-final. They were a fast and nippy side and were very dangerous on the attack however our defence of Orla Timoney and Alana Murray stood up to the challenge and Alannah Keelan in nets saved us on a few occasions. The final score was 2-1. Scorers were Caoimhe and Lorna.
There was great excitement as we faced The Model School in the final. There was talk of the Aviva Stadium in May, silverware and medals but from tip-off we got down to the real business of winning. All the girls worked so hard to grind out a memorable 4-2 victory. We had WON! We had played some great football which captivated the growing number of onlookers. It was a marvellous team effort by all and the girls can be very proud of their performances.
Team: Lorna Mc Guirk, Alana Murray, Alannah Keelan, Emma mc Elvaney, Ciara Fanning,Tegan Mc Phillips,Caoimhe Mc Cabe, Orla Timoney, Ciara Timoney, Tilly Cousley, Ella Brabazon