History is made by Sligo Leitrim Under 13s
THE Sligo Leitrim Under 13s made history on Saturday as they overcome Chicago Fire to claim the Super Elite champions trophy at the Galway Cup.
Having reached a national semi-final last season where Sligo Leitrim were defeated by a strong Cork side in Carrigaline hopes were high for the Galway cup.
Seventeen players from nine different clubs made up the squad, most together for the last three years in the emerging talent programme, under the management of Alan Farry and Adrian Burke. This squad participated in the inaugural Sligo Super Cup which took place in 2017 and almost famously grabbed a draw against Celtic in the opener, had Gerard Murtagh’s sublime run and shot been an inch or two closer.
A decision was made to accept the invitation to enter the ‘Super Elite’ group which featured Leeds United, NDSL, Shrewsbury town and two Major League Soccer academies, Chicago fire and Colorado rapids. This was the first time the Galway cup had such a group and was the marquee competition in the tournament.
The first match pitted the two Irish sides together as Sligo Leitrim and the North Dublin Schoolboys League battled it out. Both sides were hopeful of a good start and would have earmarked the battle as a hopeful three points. It was the Sligo side who emerged victorious with a two goal victory, Michael Clifford and Ciaran Kenny getting the goals.
The second affair was a difficult match as Sligo Leitrim took on Colorado Rapids, managed by 118 capped USA former professional, Marcelo Balboa.
It was the American team who took a two goal lead in the first half while Sam Tuohy’s goal halved the deficit and made the Americans sweat. These two goals were the last the Sligo side would concede as their rock solid defence proved impenetrable for the rest of the week.
Thursday saw just one game for Sligo Leitrim and it was against English championship giants Leeds United’s academy. They were eager for a win after being beaten 1-0 by Chicago fire in their opening game but recovered well by putting five goals past NDSL. However it didn’t work out as planned for the Yorkshire outfit as the Sligo Leitrim side were totally dominant. A brace from Michael Clifford and a penalty from Ronan Niland secured the shock result of the tournament as Leeds were left shell shocked and their hopes of winning the competition were almost ended. A win was crucial in the penultimate game against Shrewsbury to continue the dream of getting to the final. It looked like it wasn’t to be as the Shrewsbury defence stood firm and Sam Tuohy’s effort which cannoned off the crossbar was as good as it got for the 13s. With the last kick of normal time Gerard Murtagh’s superb cross was met by the head of Clifford who saw his effort saved but tapped in the rebound to send the Sligo Leitrim lads into raptures. A 0-0 draw against tournament favourites Chicago fire coupled with Leeds’ 1-1 draw with Colorado meant it was a Sligo Leitrim/ Chicago Fire final.
The final was a lesson in defensive organization, discipline, heart, character and hard work as Sligo Leitrim took on a Chicago fire academy who trained four times a week. In an even first half Sligo Leitrim took the lead through Sam Tuohy who bundled home a Ciaran Kenny corner.
Tuohy, Clifford and Murtagh had chances to double the lead but Chicago piled on immense pressure in second half. However the meanest defence in the competition stood strong and could not be breached. The final whistle finally blew and sparked incredible celebrations. The Sligo boys celebrated a phenomenal victory which could never have been anticipated. The icing on the cake was that Michael Clifford was awarded the ‘player of the tournament’ trophy and ‘player of the group’ by the tournament organisers.
Coach Alan Farry said: “We are immensely proud of the boys. We only hoped to give them a learning experience and enjoy themselves. We expected it to be very difficult against the top calibre of competition but the boys raised their game to a different level.
“We were underdogs throughout the week but the effort, heart and determination of the boys was exceptional. They tried to play the right way, being extremely brave even under huge pressure. They never abandoned their playing style to win and that is the hugely satisfying part of the win. We didn’t win the competition by accident or luck.
“We won it because of the discipline and the shape and the hard work. But also huge quality on the ball. There was some incredible individual performances but the team as a unit were fantastic. Winning is never the most important thing but to play the right way and get the results is very pleasing.
“We are lucky to have a very dedicated and committed group of kids who were fantastic on and off the field. They behaved like young professionals all week and they were the talk of the tournament. I would like to think that we raised the profile of football in Sligo and Leitrim a little bit and turned a few heads this week. There is some excellent work being done by local coaches and emerging talent coaches the last number of years.
“To play the way we did against such top calibre opposition and have a great week will stand to the boys and hopefully they will have great memories. The boys now have Kennedy cup next year and will hopefully push on from here. They have big futures in front of them and we are very proud of them.”
The Sligo Leitrim squad for the tournament was: Shaun Sheridan, George Barlow, Gavin Lynch, Shea O’Neill, Oisin O’Neill, Eoin Stinchon, Niall Holahan, Thomas Sweeney, Ronan Niland, Sam Tuohy, Tommy Quinn, Ciaran Kenny, Michael Clifford, Gerard Murtagh, Ben Guckian, Ambrose Bamber, Connor Flynn.