ALLIANZ Cumann na mBunscol
Allianz Cumann na mBunscol Thír Eoghain held the ninth Heat of its 2023 Boys’ Indoor Football competition in the Cookstown Leisure Centre. Six schools came together to battle it out for the prize of becoming section winners and the chance of playing at the Tyrone Indoor County Finals. This heat is normally hosted by the very efficient and learned Mr Eddie Doris esq. Lord of the Manor in lower Woodland Drive OTHS. He will be delighted to hear in his absence the event ran smoothly.
Our teams were drawn into two groups. Section ‘A’ featured 4 St. Patrick’s Mullinahoe Ardboe, St Patrick’s Donaghmore and St. Mary’s P.S. Pomeroy. Section ‘B’ included St. Mary’s Dunamore, Holy Trinity Cookstown and St. Joseph’s Galbally.
These school teams gave their all in a bid to qualify for the semi-final but, despite playing great stuff, St Mary’s Dunamore and St Patrick’s Ardboe fell short. St. Patrick’s Donaghmore toped Group A with a very skilful and attacking team. Despite Drawing with Ardboe in the first game they had a very sharp and incisive couple of forwards who were a real handful. St Mary’s Pomeroy finished the group in second place also enjoying a real tussle with Ardboe before emerging victorious to make the semi-final stage.
St Joseph’s Galbally topped Section ‘B’ with some very impressive displays. Their strength power and skill saw them go unbeaten in the group. Holy Trinity Cookstown finished in second place in this group after a very good display against a determined St Mary’s Dunamore.
The scene was now set for our semi-finals and what a treat lay in store. A skilful St. Patrick’s Donaghmore narrowly defeated Holy Trinity Cookstown in their Semi Final which went right down to the wire. Despite getting off to a slow start Holy Trinity closed the gap on Donaghmore and almost levelled the game with the very last kick of the game. Donaghmore can thank their keeper for a brilliant save that saw them go through to the final with a 4 to 3 score line. The second semi-final was a 7-goal thriller with a Galbally team, who were growing in confidence, coming out on top of a 5-2 score line despite the efforts of a brave Pomeroy team that tried everything to get back into the game.
The final featured the two teams who had stood out on the day. Master Ciaran Campbell against Master Peter Harte. Sometimes finals can be cagey affairs but not this time. From the throw in both teams went on the attack. Donaghmore had the physically smaller team but what they lacked in size they more than made up for in heart, bravery and skill, their movement and skill to get into space and get shots on target caused the Galbally team constant bother. They were very lucky on the day their keeper was on top of his game making string of several brilliant saves. As the game progressed Galbally began to take control, creating more opportunities for themselves that they were able to convert. They played some brilliant one touch football and worked so well together as a team. Their direct style and ruthlessness in front of goal saw them emerge victorious on a score line of 8-2. This was a score line that didn’t reflect how close a final this really was. Ultimately, it wasn’t to be for the Donaghmore men, but they should be very proud of the footballing display they put on.
Once again St. Joseph’s P.S. Galbally have won this section with a very talented bunch of players. They have now booked themselves a place in the much-coveted Tyrone Indoor Co. Final. We wish these gifted lads well. Ádh mór oraibh!
A huge word of thanks goes to all the schools involved today. As well as complementing them on their performances we need to complement them on their behaviour and attitude. They were all a credit to their schools and families and the Heat today was a pleasure to run. Finally, a word of thanks to our referee Marty Coyle (Cookstown) for doing all our games today and to the friendly staff of the Cookstown Leisure Centre for helping us ensure the heat ran smoothly.
To all concerned, Go raibh míle maith agaibh!
@AllianzIreland
