First year students from St Brigid’s Presentation in Killarney participated in the FAI Kerry schools’ blitz finals at Mounthawk Park, Tralee with two teams competing at a high level.
The 9-a-side competition involved 16 teams from 10 different Kerry secondary schools and while the St Brigid’s Blue team was drawn in a very difficult group, they still managed to top the group.
They made it to the semi-finals but they were defeated by single goal by a strong Intermediate School Killorglin (ISK) team.
St Brigid’s White team had a more dramatic day out. They won all their groups games, most by a very large margin, to finish as clear winners of the group.
They met a very dogged Tarbert Comprehensive side in their semi-final, which ended 0-0 after normal time. A high stakes penalty shootout ensued and a combination of cool finishing and heroic goalkeeping saw the Pres girls progress to the final.
The White team met the same ISK team that had narrowly accounted for St Brigid’s Blue team but with a different outcome for Killarney this time round.
The White team enjoyed the vast majority of possession and found themselves 1-0 to the good in the opening stages of the game. If it wasn’t for the superb ISK keeper, they would have scored more but it ended 1-0 and St Brigid’s won their first silverware of the season, beautiful trophy modelled on the World Cup.
St Brigid’s captain, Grace Barry, accepted the trophy on behalf of the team. In an added bonus, Isabelle O’Connor was awarded MVP for her efforts.
St Brigid’s now look forward to doing the double after the Easter holidays, when they face off against S Mary’s Secondary School, Nenagh in the final of the FAI Munster Schools Cup, with the winners progressing to meet the winners of Connacht in the national semi-finals, followed by an All-Ireland final in May.
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