St Brigid’s girls did the club proud in the under 14 Antrim Feile at Boucher Road playing fields on 22nd April 2006. Four clubs took part but with many families still on easter vacation St Brigid’s were able to field only 13 players.
Kick off at noon was against last year’s winners St Paul’s who were strong favourites to retain their title. To play them with only 13 was a bridge too far for this talented St Brigid’s squad but they played gallantly to lose 2-7 to 1-3. The scoreline does not reflect the huge effort made by every player with some fantastic possession football. It is unfair to pick out any particular players for mention but Aoife Carberry deserves mention for an excellent debut as do our under 12 players Sarah Smart, Julie Curran, Caitriona Montague and Hannah Loughran. Without them we could not have fielded a team so a big thanks to each of them for making the effort and for never giving up.
St Pauls 2-7 St Brigid’s 1-3
Next up were Davitt’s and again we battled with 13 against 15 but this time with more success. Very strong performances from team captain Katie McMullan, Niamh O’Hare, Aoife Mc Cann and Aoife Montague propelled the team to an amazing 1-7 to 0-0 victory in a bruising encounter. Rose Mc Keogh, Catherine Macauley and Caoimhe Shepherd were resolute in defence and despite a fierce fightback Davitt’s could not break through.
Davitt’s 0-0 St Brigid’s 1-7
The final match was against Moneyglass and this was played in a very sporting manner with the opposition volunteering to play 13 v 13, a gesture greatly appreciated by St Brigid’s who were getting very tired after their huge effort in the preceding games without having the luxury of using substitutes to rest any players. However by the end of this game St Brigid’s were down to 11 with two players, Catherine McAuley and Sarah Toner, having to leave for another unavoidable commitment but they left not an ounce of energy behind having played their hearts out and their contribution was much appreciated.
Playing with a very strong wind in the first half St Brigid’s dominated play but were unable to convert their many chances and ended up with only 2 points on the score board to no score. This was the only disappointing half of the entire day and was no doubt due to fatigue from their strenuous and determined efforts all day.
Facing a second half with only 11 players against both the wind and a talented Moneyglass team was a massive test of character and our girls rose to the challenge with their best performance of the day. This was all about who wanted to win most and captain Katie and her cousin Niamh led by example. Julie Curran saved a certain goal and the day with clever goalkeeping and the ever improving Rose McKeogh commanded the full back zone assisted by the tenacious Aoife Carberry and Caoimhe Shepherd. This time it was the turn of Moneyglass not to take their scores and they managed only one point for their efforts. Birthday girl Aoife McCann made a number of surging runs from defence reminiscent of Sean Cavanagh at his best giving much needed relief to the defence. A clever passing game resulted in the best score of the day from Aoife Montague after receiving a perfect pass from Aoife Mc Cann to finish off a move from deep inside their own half. Caitriona Montague and Sarah Smart played as lone full forwards but along with an ever busy Hannah Loughran,who put in her best performance of the day, they harried the defence into errors and ended up dominating play for the tense final few minutes.
Moneyglass 0-1 St Brigid’s 0-3
All in all a heroic performance by one and all and what’s more it was great fun and those who were not there missed out on a great day. Finally Happy Birthday to Aoife McCann from her team mates and coaches!!!
