ALLIANZ CUMANN Na mBUNSCOL
GIRLS’ INDOOR FOOTBALL HEAT 7: Omagh
Allianz Cumann na mBunscol Thir Eoghain held the seventh of nine scheduled heats of the annual 5-a-side Girls’ Indoor Gaelic Football for Tyrone primary schools in Omagh’s superb Station Centre. A total of 7 schools competed for the honour of winning this heat. The format of the day’s play saw schools drawn in to 2 sections of 4 and 3, respectively. An extremely high level of skill and sporting behaviour was exhibited from all involved.
Section ‘A’ comprised All Saints’ P.S. Tattysallagh; Gaelscoil na gCrann, and St. Joseph’s P.S. Drumquin. It was a very tightly contested group with little separating the teams. The Tattysallagh girls battled bravely but, despite playing great stuff, fell just one point short of qualifying for the semi-finals. Instead, this honour fell to Drumquin (group winners) and the Gaelscoil An Ómaigh girls.
Section ‘B’ contained St. Caireall’s P.S. Aghyaran; St. Oliver Plunkett P.S. Beragh; St. Teresa’s P.S. Loughmacrory, and St. Patrick’s P.S. Eskra. Once again, this proved a tricky group to qualify from. However, despite giving of their best all day, the girls from Aghyaran and Beragh didn’t quite make it out of the group. Topping the section was Loughmacrory with a perfect 3 wins from 3, and Eskra also made the semi’s as runners-up in fine style.
The semi-finals saw the Section winners emerge victorious against terrific efforts from Eskra and Gaelscoil na gCrann, respectively. At this point, the stage was set for the Heat Final between St. Teresa’s P.S. Loughmacrory and St. Joseph’s P.S. Drumquin. Something had to give as both teams were unbeaten to this point…
The final was a real nail-biter. It could have gone either way and was decided by the odd goal in three. With things on a knife-edge a second Loughmacrory goal proved decisive as St. Teresa’s, driven on by an inspired Lucy McCullagh, triumphed 2-1. However, great credit to Miss Chloe Judge’s talented Drumquin girls. They played brilliantly! Fair play to them.
Mrs. Donnelly, meanwhile, was justly delighted as her Loughmacrory girls clinched a place in the county final next month in Cookstown’s MUSA Indoor Arena on Thursday 12 March. Now they’ve matched the boys.
Our sincere thanks to referee Brian McGinn for his expert officiating, and to Allianz Cumann na mBunscol Tyrone officer Damian Kelly for co-ordinating the day’s matches. A final word of thanks must go to the Station Centre staff.
