U14 Ladies do St Brigid's proud at Feile!

Our young footballers set off on Friday for their big Feile adventure full of hopes and anticipation and once again, they showed us why they deserve to be Feile Champions. You would be hard pressed to find a more determined and dedicated group of girls who played with fire in their bellies and smiles on their faces. Lunch was provided by the Sligo Park Hotel ahead of our first round of games! After being warmly welcomed into the heart of Collooney village, County Sligo by our generous host club Owenmore Gaels, where the roads and roundabouts had been decorated with flags and signage bearing Naomh Brid’s colours of blue and yellow, the girls were greeted like visiting celebrities! After a light workout, we transferred to Ballisidare for our clashes with Drumcliffe Rosses and then Cooley Kickhams, the Louth. Champions. In blazing sunshine, we got off to the perfect start with a 5 point win over Rosses, but then were beaten by 12 points by Cooley, who clearly were the dominant team in our section. After the first games, we said farewell to our girls who were turned over to the host families with the chances of little sleep ahead if the excitement levels of the kids was anything to go by! Saturday dawned sunny again as we met our hosts for the final game of the group. The intention was to ensure football for ALL the girls so we sent out our younger stars against ‘The Gaels’ where after an end to end battle, we lost by a single point. With a cup and shield competition running, it looked likely that we would drop into the shield, but events in the other matches meant that we were forced into a 3 way play off in the afternoon where after rematches with Drumcliffe and Owenmore, we secured second spot and were promoted to the quarter final of the cup competition where we faced our old Down rivals Carryduff, last year’s Division 4 Champions,  who currently boast a squad who have been scoring goals for fun and have already wrapped up their league title. They had come through their group unbeaten, having racked up unbelievable scores against their opposition! Having scored 20 goals and numerous points in there first 3 games, it was clear that they saw the St Brigid’s game as little more than a warm up for the next round. How wrong they were! From the second our girls were let off the leash, they hassled and rattled the Down Champions, Eimear Matthews and Maeve Blaney, never giving their ‘star players’ a second on the ball. It was clear that this was going to be a fight to the finish. When the half time whistle blew, Carryduff led 0-5 to St Brigid’s 0-1, but from the expressions on some of the Carryduff players, it was clear that they were startled as their normally free scoring County forwards were simply snuffed out by our dominant back line of Rosa McCormack and Eimear Mulligan. The second half started as the first as both sides tried to make the dominant score. A fortunate break for ex St Brigid’s midfielder Michelle Magee gave Carryduff a goal advantage, but a minute later, Caitlin Fryers coolly equalised from the penalty spot, having been forced to retake her first attempt by the referee. With two points racked up by our free kicker Rebecca Doyle, Carryduff were forced to clear off the line twice, first from Emma Ferran and then from newcomer (and future star!) Teresa Mellon as our girls matched the Down girls in every area of the game. The whistle could not come soon enough for Carryduff as they clung on to their hard won lead. At the final blow, Carryduff were victorious by 1-8 to 1-2, but it was the girls from St Brigid’s whose heads were held highest, having frightened the Down girls and giving them probably the hardest game they have played in all season. Our competition ended at quarter final stage, but a fabulous dinner and disco in the evening, organised by our hosts sealed an unforgettable weekend for players and parents. New friends have been made, glories won and the respect of all of us for the efforts on the field earned. A thousand thanks go to our hosts, the parents who worked so hard to fund raise and help with logistics, our mentors who trained our players and most importantly, our Under 14 Ladies who, like in 2010, 2012 and 2013, have made their name at Feile 2014! Who knows what might happen next year?