It was a nail biting day with plenty of drama for OLSS Castleblayney (Monaghan) but they managed to hold onto their 7-a-side blitz trophy coming from behind in the dying minutes of the final to pip Castleknock Community College (Dublin) and winning a dramatic hockey style penalty shootout in semi final against Naas CBS.
The tournament catered for teams from three provinces and from seven different counties. The format of groups of four seen some intriguing matches up from early in the day. The end of the group stages seen the quarter finals of the cup lined out with four cross county fixtures, the pick of the bunch seeing St. Benilidus & St. Mary’s Edenderry facing off, both recent winners of Leinster Senior A titles. The teams then progressed to the semi final stages where an absolute thriller between Naas CBS and OLSS Castleblayney finished level and resulted in three hockey style penalties each, with the Castlblayney keeper playing a starring role and seeing his side to victory. The other semi final seen surprise package of the day Castleknock CC come out on top against Edenderry.
The tournament progressed on the other pitches with the shield tournament with the Marist Athlone playing Scoil Mhuire Clane in the final with the Kildare side landing a victory displaying some fine football.
The final was a close affair with Castleknock CC speeding into an early lead which they held until the dying minutes when two quick fire Blayney goals helped seal back to back titles for the Monaghan men. It was fitting that current Monaghan Senior footballer and DCU Fresher star, Micheal Bannigan was on hand to present to help present the player of the tournament award to David Hanley and the winning team trophy to his former school OLSS Castleblayney.
DCU would like to thank the teachers and coach drivers for their effort in bringing the students to this event. Great credit must go to the successful Fresher A & B players and Bobbi Uram for their hard work in organising and running a successful day. A speedy recovery to both Christian Walton & Iarlaith O’Kelly-Lynch who sustained injuries on the day. Thanks also to sponsor Bank of Ireland & Linda McGrath for presenting awards. A further mention then to the schools who participated; OLSS Castleblayney (Monaghan), Castleknock CC (Dublin), St Peter’s Dunboyne (Meath), Marist Athlone (Westmeath), St. Nathy’s (Roscommon), St Patrick’s Navan (Meath x 2), Naas CBS (Kildare x 2), Scoil Mhuire Clane (Kildare), St. Kevin’s Finglas (Dublin), Mount Temple (Dublin), St. Benilidus (Dublin), St Mary’s Edenderry (Offaly), Colaiste Eoin (Dublin) and Largy College (Monaghan).
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