Kilmacud Crokes MD MyClubShop U14 Ladies Football Sevens 2016

The thirteen Kilmacud Crokes MD MyClubShop U14 All Ireland Ladies Football 7s began on Saturday, a warm morning but with grey clouds hanging threateningly instead of the sunny hot 7s we have become accustomed to over the last few years !

As 31 teams arrived from all around the country, from Donegal to Kerry, and Dublin to Mayo and further afield St Colmcilles from Hertfordshire , full of the excitement of the day, the chatter was excited and stories about the lashings of rain chasing up the M50 on the road to Dublin.

 

The warm ups were starting and the U14 7s kicked off at 10am in Glenalbyn, Silverpark and Coláiste Eoin/Íosagáin with eight groups of four teams each.

As the qualifying teams gathered back in Glenalbyn from the venues the competitive spirit was evident, with teams giving it everything with a number of games ending in draws and finishing with penalty shoot outs, a hard way to decide on which team progresses.

 

It was remarked that through the side-lines you could hear the positive ongoing encouragement of the mentors, and the tactics being discussed.  Bríd Moran from Southern Gaels took endless photos of players and their opposition together shaking hands and encapsulating the spirit of the day.

The Plate Semi Finals found Clonguish from Longford winning with a score of 8–2 to 6-7 for Fethard from Tipperary and Naomh Molaoise, Offaly with a score of 3-5 to 0-8 for Donaghmoyne from Monaghan.  The exciting plate final refereed by Mick O’Flaherty resulted in a draw at full time with Naomh Molaise finishing on a score of 3-6 and Clonguish 4-3 which required 5 minutes extra time each way for these now weary but impressive teams and a number of quick goals from Naomh Molaoise saw them lifting the cup with a final score of 9-7 to Clonguish’s 5-3 score.

The Cup Semi Finals found the Kerry Southern Gaels playing against Mayo side Westport once again as they had met in the John West Féile Peil na n-Óg Division One Féile, where the result was a draw and they shared the cup and Westport are planning a trip to Kerry to play a match and return the cup this Christmas but the 7s had a different ending with an impressive score of 7-5 to 1-0 for Westport.  The other semi was a Dublin V Galway battle with the Dublin Féile winners Lucan Sarsfields playing against Claregalway in a battle with Lucan Sarsfields coming out on top with a score of 3-10 to Claregalway’s 3-6.

Led onto the pitch for the Cup Final by the Piper, who had returned from travelling the world since we last saw him, and standing anxiously for the national anthem, Dublin V Mayo was waiting to kick off with referee Darren Malone ready with the whistle.

Westport got off to a quick start with 2 goals banging the back of the net and at half time they were up 3-2 to 1-1 for Lucan Sarsfields.  The second half

was a goal feast with Lucan Sarsfields netting a score of 5-2 and victorious Westport a score of 8-4 an omen for next weekend remarked their manager Neil Chambers !

 

Player of the tournament was awarded to Aoife Geraghty No 4 from Westport who had impressed referees throughout the competition.

 

The teams went away feeling invigorated, happy and tired. Some

faced long journeys home, and others stayed over for the TG4 All Ireland Finals in Croke Park on Sunday. All looking forward to next September in Kilmacud Crokes with hopefully the sun back again.