Courtesy: FAI Futsal Portal



Meath Schools Futsal

Monday, 10 November 2008

An exciting Schools Tournament kicked off this week in primary and secondary schools in Meath. Boys' and girls' teams competed for the chance to represent Meath in the Leinster Finals.

Meath Primary Schools Futsal
Tuesday and Wednesday saw the first Meath Primary Schools Futsal tournament take place in Trim and both days proved to be very exciting affairs. The event was orgainsed by FAI Meath Development Officer- Mark Scanlon and FAI Schools Leinster Co-ordinator – Paul Holland.
The Girls were first up on Tuesday and they certainly showed that the future of women’s football in Meath is in good hands. The competition consisted of 8 teams split into 2 groups, Group A was won by St. Marys who were closely followed in 2nd place by Scoil Naomh Eoin (Navan) both teams went on to the semi-finals and they were joined by St. Josephs Mercy (Navan) who topped Group B and Realt Na Mara (Donacarney) who finished runner-up . St. Patricks (Stamullen) narrowly defeated Gaelscoil Na Rithe (Dunshaughlin) 1-0 in the 7th/8th place playoff and 5th place was grabbed by O’Growney N.S. (Athboy) who defeated Scoil Mhuire (Navan) 2-0. In the first semi-final St. Marys got the better of Realt Na Mara 3-1 and St. Josephs Mercy defeated Scoil Naomh Eoin in an all Navan affair in the second semi-final. The competitions two unbeaten teams clashed in the final and the game was extremely close, both teams created plenty of chances but in the end it was St. Marys who managed to get the better of St. Josephs Mercy by 1-0 and they will now go on to represent Meath in the Leinster Finals.

After the excitement of the previous day Wednesday had a lot to live up to but it more than did so. Again 8 teams competed across 2 groups, Group A was won by O’Growney N.S. (Athboy) and runners-up were Cortown N.S. (Cortown), Group B was won by Realt Na Mara (Donacarney) and second place was claimed by Nobber N.S. (Nobber). The 7th/8th place playoff was won by Gaelscoil Na Rithe who got the better of St. Olivers (Navan) by 1-0. The 5th/6th place playoff was won by St. Michaels (Trim) who defeated Drumbaragh N.S. (Kells) by 2-0. The first semi-final saw a spirited Nobber side narrowly overcome by O’Growney N.S. by 3-1. The second semi-final was also a close affair and provided plenty of action, in the end Realt Na Mara came out victorious by 3-2 over Cortown N.S. The final was a tense affair and Realt Na Mara grabbed an early lead after a thunderous strike put them one up. O’Growney showed the quality which they had displayed all day by scoring an excellent equalizer and with two minutes remaining they snatched a winner, again it was an brilliant goal which deserved to win any game and it duly did. O’Growney held on for the 2-1 win and will now represent Meath in the Leinster Finals.

All in all the competition was a tremendous success and hopefully it can grow in the coming years. Well done to all schools who competed and they should be very proud of how they played and behaved throughout the two days. We wish both St. Marys (Trim) and O’Growney N.S. (Athboy) all the best representing Meath in the Leinster finals which will take place on February 10th in the National Basketball Arena, Tallaght.

Meath Secondary Schools Futsal
The inaugural FAI Meath Schools Futsal competition continued on Thursday and Friday with the Secondary Schools section. The Girls competition took place in Scoil Mhuire, Trim on Thursday and the Boys competition took place on Friday in the Boyne Community School, Trim. The event was organized by FAI Meath Development Officer – Mark Scanlon.

The Girls tournament consisted of six schools – Scoil Mhuire (Trim), St. Peters College (Dunboyne), St. Olivers (Oldcastle), St. Josephs Mercy (Navan), Eureka Secondary School (Kells) and Beaufort College (Navan) and for a lot of the girls it was the first time they participating in a structured soccer event. Two schools (Scoil Mhuire and St. Peters) had two teams and the competition consisted of 2 groups of 4 teams. Group A was won by Eureka and Scoil Mhuire finished runner-up as both schools advanced to the semi-finals, Beaufort and St. Peters 2nds went through to the playoffs. Group B was won by St. Josephs Mercy who were joined in the semi-finals by St. Olivers who finished in 2nd place. St. Peters and Scoil Mhuire 2nds qualified for the playoffs. St. Peters 2nds won the 7th/8th place playoff 3-2 against Scoil Mhuire 2nds and the 5th/6th place playoff was won by Beaufort who beat St. Peters 3-1. The semi-finals saw Eureka defeat St. Olivers by 6-2 and St. Josephs Mercy overcame Scoil Mhuire by 2-1 on penalties. The final was an exciting affair and Eureka took a 2 goal lead before St. Josephs Mercy pulled a goal back to ensure a tense finale but Eureka held on to claim the title of Meath champions and the opportunity to represent their county in the Leinster finals.

The Boys tournament was hit with some late withdrawals but that certainly didn’t affect the excitement and quality of the event. Four schools each brought 2 teams who were again divided into two groups of four, the competing schools were – Beaufort College (Navan), St. Olivers (Oldcastle), Boyne Community School (Trim) and St. Peters College (Dunboyne). After the group stages were completed Boyne 2nds defeated Beaufort 2nds 7-0 in the 7th/8th place playoff and Oldcastle 2nds grabbed 5th place with a 2-1 win over Dunboyne 2nds in the 5th/6th place playoff. Beaufort put up a superb display in the first semi-final and overcame St. Peters by 4-1. In the second semi-final Boyne C.S. scored a 5-1 victory over St. Olivers. The final began very evenly and both teams had chances before Boyne scored 3 goals inside 2 minutes to take a commanding lead. In the closing stages Boyne scored a 4th and Beaufort hit back with a late consolation but the game finished 4-1 and Boyne C.S. were crowned Meath champions and will join Eureka Girls in the Leinster finals next February.

All in all the four day competition saw a total 68 games and over 200 goals scored across 3 venues. FAI Meath Development Officer Mark Scanlon said “ The tournament has been a tremendous success and to see some many schools both Primary and Secondary taken part shows that there is a great future for Futsal in the county. I want to say a special thank you to all the boys and girls who competed and their schools and teachers for their co-operation over the past few weeks. I also want to thank Trim GAA, Scoil Mhuire and Boyne Community School for providing the venues for the tournament. Hopefully next year the event can grow even bigger and more schools will be given the chance to compete. Lastly I would like to wish the best of luck to St. Marys - Trim (Girls Primary winners), O’Growney N.S. - Athboy (Boys Primary winners), Eureka Secondary School - Kells (Girls Secondary winners) and Boyne Community School – Trim (Boys Secondary winners) in the Leinster finals”. For more information on the FAI’s Futsal Programmes please visit - www.futsal.fai.ie.


Courtesy: FAI Futsal Portal


Anna Livia qualifiers underway

Monday, 10 November 2008

The local qualifying rounds of the Anna Livia Cup are underway across Dublin at the moment. The Anna Livia Cup competition features a boys and Girls U14 tournament and is run by the FAI in conjunction with the four local authorities in Dublin. The competition is expected to attract 150 teams across the capital.

The local authority regional finals are set to be completed before Christmas with the Anna Livia Cup Finals taking place in early January. Picture above shows the girl’s Summer Winners from Ballymun who won a trip to see Manchester United play at Old Trafford.






Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com