FANTASTIC FESTIVAL OF FOOTBALL
at Ballinakill
WICKLOW Ladies Juvenile finals took place in the open spaces in Ballinakill last Sunday.
This time it was the turn of the under-12s and under-16s to take centre stage throughout the day.
There was a festival of football with fantastic football and some cliffhangers of endings.
The fact that over 500 girls were taking part together with their coaches meant that the venue was packed to capacity.
While there were of course winners on the day, the simple fact was that the real winners on the day was the sport itself. It was nice to see such fabulous skill on show with tremendous thrills and spills and sporting games.
Thisisonlyasitshouldbeand can only be done with the help of all the coaches and spectators and we express our thanks to them all.
It was heartening too to see so many of the newer clubs involved in finals and a special mention to AGB and Clan na Gael in the Under-12C Cup final which was still deadlocked and was decided by a free kick shootout with all the players showing a great sporting nature during the tense shootout.
Our referees on the day also enriched the proceedings and we express our appreciation to John Bermingham, Stephen McNulty, Cathy Forde and Ciaran Walshe for giving of their time so freely.
Finally, to all the players who entertained us during the day – thanks for such wonderful displays. The only worry on the day was that some players received injuries and we wish them all our best wishes particularly Aoife Wafer from Carnew under-12s who received a broken collar bone and we hope hers, and all the other injured players, heal soon.
Next up, on Saturday next are the under-14 finals, which take place at the same venue and if those finals are half as good as the finals last Sunday then everyone is in for a massive treat with some more great finals in store for the supporters.
All the results
Under 12C – Cup: AGB 3-07, Clan na Gael 4-4 (After Ex- tra-Time, Clan na Gael win after free shoot out).
Under 12B - Shield: Ashford 2-01, Blessington 2-11. Under 12B - Cup: Coolkenno 3-09, Kilcoole 1-05. Under 12A - Plate: AGB 1-08, Newtown 5-06. Under 12A - Cup: Blessington 4-05, Tinahely 1-07. Under 12A - Shield: Rathnew 4-03, Carnew 5-01. Under 16B - Cup: Tinahely 4-06, An Tochar 6-04.
Under 16B - Shield: Carnew 0-05, Kilcoole 3-09. Under 16A - Shield: Eire
Og 2-01, Baltinglass 4-08. Under 16A - Cup: Blessington 1-05, Tinahely 4-07.
In other fixtures this week tonight in Ashford the Wicklow Senior Division 1 final between Bray Emmets and Tinahely will take place with a big crowd expected as the ball is thrown in at 7.00.
These two teams have come through a tough league but the odds are that Tinahely will probably carry too much firepower for the seasiders but Bray have a proud tradition and will push the current county champions all the way.
Then on Thursday at 7.00pm, Blessington host AGB in a Junior championship round robin match in Blessington with a place in the semi-final of the Junior championship very much at stake.