ALLIANZ CUMANN Na mBUNSCOL HEAT 5: Cookstown
27th February 2023
Allianz Cumann na mBunscol Thír Eoghain held the fifth of 9 scheduled heats of the annual 5-a-side Girls’ Indoor Gaelic Football for primary schools today in Cookstown. Seven of our local schools competed for the honour of winning the heat, and with it a place in the Tyrone County Final. The format of the day’s play saw the teams being drawn into two sections. One group of 4 and one group of 3.
Section ‘A’ featured St. Patrick's Mullinahoe Ardboe; St. Peter's Moortown, St. Patrick's Donaghmore and St. Mary’s Dunamore. This was a very tight group and after a number of great games and close battles St. Mary’s Dunamore. topped the group unbeaten with 3 wins. The girls from St Patrick’s Mullinahoe then claimed second place by a single point. Hard luck, but well done, to both St Peter’s Moortown and St. Patrick's Donaghmore who just narrowly missed out.
Section ‘B’ contained St. Joseph's Galbally; Holy Trinity Cookstown and St Mary’s Pomeroy. The standard from both groups was very high. All the schools had a number of great players who shone on the day. It was great to see such a wide array of skills on show, kicking, catching, high fielding, use of both feet and some excellent close control in a tight space. After a close series of games in this section a very attack minded Holy Trinity Cookstown team came out top. However, we couldn’t separate Galbally and Pomeroy for second place. They had to face off again to see who would go through to the final. This was a brilliant game where both goalkeepers kept their teams in the game for a long period of time with a string of great point-blank saves. But there had to be a winner and it was St. Joseph's Galbally who finally emerged with the narrowest of leads to go through to the semi-finals.
Our two semi-finals did not disappoint first up were an unbeaten St Mary’s Dunamore against St Joseph’s Galbally. Despite the best efforts of a very strong St Joseph’s Galbally team to limit Dunamores scoring opportunities the quality of the their girls shone through and they were able to convert a number of chances they created to earn their place in the final. Despite Galbally giving it all they just fell short today but should be very proud of their performance.
In the second semi-final St Patrick’s Ardboe came up against a very skilful and well organised Holy Trinity Primary team. The Cookstown girls started quickest and with their ‘twin’ defence they were able to stop the Ardboe attacks and hit back on the break. Ardboe can thank their keeper for three big saves in the later stages to stop Cookstown from pulling away. Each time the Cookstown girls hit a score Ardboe responded with one of their own and as the final whistle blew we had to go to golden goal to find a winner. Cookstown had the first opportunity but they didn’t convert it. Ardboe held on and after some great defensive work overturned the ball and got forward to hit the winning goal. It was heartbreak for an excellent Holy Trinity Team who had a number of girls who shone throughout the tournament. I’m sure they will be a force to be reckoned with in the outdoor leagues this year.
The final resulted in another epic game. Great credit must go to Mrs. Jane-Marie Mallon’s Dunamore team and Mrs Aileen Brown’s Ardboe Team for treating us to such an exciting final. Ultimately, a 5-2 score line went the way of St. Mary’s Dunamore. The Ardboe Girls should be delighted with the way they performed and improved in each game as the day went on, but in truth the Dunamore Girls, who went unbeaten all day, were at the top of their game and fully deserved to go through to the Girls County Final Day on 14th March in MUSA Cookstown.
Our thanks to referees on the day for their expert officiating, but in truth the behaviour and attitude of all the teams present today was outstanding. They were all a credit to their schools and clubs. It is difficult to lose a game but the levels of sportsmanship on show today was great to witness. Special thanks to Allianz Cumann na mBunscol Thír Eoghain for organising all the girls blitz and also to Cookstown Leisure Centre for their help and support once again.
