Team: Eoghan O’Neill; Rory Birt; Brian O’Shea; Thomas Graham; Ronan McAree; Niall McSherry; Caelem Herity; Joseph Moore; Conor McCann; Owen McCarney; Thomas McKenna; Shane Graham; Dara McKay; Colm Finnegan
Team: Brian McGurk; Eoghan O’Mainnin; Joseph O’Sullivan; Fintan Cleary; Jack Toner; Conor Brown; Samir O’Hare; Donal Hanna; Aodhan McNicholl; Niall Duffy; James Gorman; Niall Finnegan; Liam Magee; James Kilpatrick
It was a cold and blustery start to May Day but this did not stop the two u10 teams play with enthusiasm and commitment in their respective groups. One team played in a group with St John’s, St Paul’s and Bredagh; while the other played against Tir Na nOg (Portadown), Russell Gaelic Union (Downpatrick) and O’Donnell’s. All 6 matches played by the 2 teams featured tight marking, skillful passing and high scores by St Brigid’s.
Despite the close marking and great results the younger team narrowly missed out qualifying for the afternoon knockout games.
The older team finished top of their group and qualified for the Cup competition after the lunch break. There were some great displays of possession, short passing, fielding and scores from all angles.
St Brigid’s u10s drew Wolfe Tones (Bellaghy) for their quarter final match – a team with great physicality, literally!
The boys battled courageously against a strong wind in the first half and came out in the second half with renewed determination, however, the elements and the scores went against the boys and Wolfe Tones progressed to the semi finals and final; where they were successful against Breadgh and Crossmaglen Rangers respectively. The u10s can take heart from the fact that Wolfe Tones kept their other two opponents almost scoreless. The day ended with the boys showing great sportsmanship and they now look forward to the Moy Tournament on 31 May.
The coaches said “the boys were a credit to their families and to their club. Both teams entered did extremely well and we were delighted that the younger team only narrowly missed out on the playoff stages, while the other team made it to the quarter-finals. We were particularly impressed by the younger boys who played their hearts out and sympathise with the older boys who were bitterly disappointed by not advancing any further on this occasion, despite having played great football throughout.”
