Huge year of sporting achievements for Tubber’s Drimina N.S.
2017 has proved to be a remarkable sporting year for one small primary school – Drimina National School, Tubbercurry. In their first year competing in the SPAR FAI Primary School 5 a-side finals they came home all-Ireland Champions. The Drimina N.S. squad was made up of Holly Gannon, Leah Walsh, Ciara Brennan, Eimear Hunt, Macayla Burke, Rhianne McSteen and Aoife Roche. Teachers: Ruth Kelly, Theresa Sheerin, Acting Principal Maria Dunne and Principal Geraldine Gill.
The SPAR FAI Primary School 5s Programme has been running since the 1990s and this year 28,500 children from 1,495 schools took part in county, regional and provincial blitz days nationwide. The competition is divided into provincial representatives and by school size with small, medium and large schools competing in separate divisions.
The all-Ireland final of the SPAR FAI Primary School 5s competition was held in the Aviva Stadium. Drimina N.S. represented Connacht in the SPAR A Small School (Girls) Cup. Each province had to meet each other in the final.
First up for Drimina N.S. were the Ulster Champions, Scoil Mhuire from Fanad, Co. Donegal. Drimina took charge of the game from the outset, with Macayla Burke scoring 2 goals, followed by Eimear Hunt adding a third for Drimina. Scoil Mhuire replied with a goal, however Drimina held their advantage. Final score Drimina N.S. 3, Scoil Mhuire 1.
The second match for Drimina N.S. was against the Munster Champions, Little Flower NS, Cashel, Tipperary. A tightly contested match that was almost to the end scoreless, however a late goal from Macayla Burke proved the winning strike and the bringing on of subs Rihanne McSteen and Aoife Roche set Drimina N.S. up for their chance to win the overall competition. Final Score Drimina N.S. 1, Little Flower N.S. 0.
The final game of the day saw Drimina N.S. face the Leinster Champions, Boyerstown N.S. Meath. Boyerstown N.S. came to the final as the odds-on favourite and only needed a draw to win the competition. However the Drimina girls had other ideas. Boyerstown N.S. were leading for most of the first half, but Ciara Brennan and Eimear Hunt for Drimina brought the team level before half time. Drimina N.S. came out after the break with a blistering attack with Ciara Brennan landing three unanswered goals thanks to the fierce defending of Leah Brennan and Captain Holly Gannon. Final Score: Drimina N.S. 5, Boyerstown N.S. 2.
The impressive goal-scoring performance of Ciara Brennan deservedly earned her the Player of the Tournament award.
That night the girls came home to a hero’s welcome with a Garda escort and large rally around Rhue , Tubbercurry and Tourlestrane with bonfires and a welcome reception at Drimina NS. to celebrate their great achievement.
The irony of this success was that the girls nearly didn’t make the final of the competition due to lack of funds to travel to Dublin.
However through the generosity of local business the necessary funds were raised to organise the team to travel. A really sincere thank you to all the businesses who generously contributed to the appeal, these included: Adore Hair Design, Aloelicious, Alpha Precision, Autoline Motor Factors, Bailey’s Nursing Home, Barry’s Pharmacy, Basta, Bonanza, Brett’s Pharmacy, Burke’s Motors, Cawley’s Hotel, Coen’s Topaz, Computer Bits, Daybreak Tubbercurry, Deirdre’s Slimmimg World, Eamonn Scanlon TD, Fiardos, Final Touches, Fitness Fusion, Foley’s Bar, Glamour Girl, Gorman Tool Hire, Henry Tyres, K&B Building Supplies, Kilcoyne Vets, McCarrick & Sons, McSorley’s Centra, Mickey Mac’s, Mullarkey’s Furniture, Murphy’s Euro Spar, Murphy’s Hotel, Raffaele’s Takeaway, Rochford Gallagher Solicitors, Scanlon’s Insurance, Shooting Stars, Sligo Haulage, Surlis’s SuperValu, The Beauty Boutique, The Cake Lodge, The Coffee Doc, Tool & Gauge, Trish Fit, Tubbercurry Credit Union and Wynne’s Butchers.