The Roscommon teams at Wednesday’s SPAR FAI Primary School 5s Connacht Final represented their Schools and county with distinction but narrowly missed out on honours.
Milebush Park, Castlebar played host to Finals of the competition which saw 245 schools, 588 teams and 4,704 players took part throughout Connacht this year. Wednesday’s games saw these schools whittled down to 6, who now progressed to the National finals on 11th May in the Aviva Stadium.
The ‘A’ Cup, open to boys and/or mixed teams, had 5 highly competitive schools. It proved a thrilling group with Carn NS, Gurteen, Sligo winning the group with Creggs idNS, Roscommon Runners up.
The ‘B’ Cup again proved to be a tense affair with 5 teams involved in this division. This went down to the last group game to decide this with Killeeneen NS, Galway edging out Cloonakilla NS, Roscommon on goal difference.
The ‘C’ Cup was another hard fought contest between 4 passionate schools. St. Patrick’s, Lombard St, Galway eventually came out on top, with Breaffy NS, Castlebar as runners up.
The Girls ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ Cup finals were also held with St. Joseph’s NS, Woodford, Co. Galway just edging out Brideswell NS, Roscommon (pictured above) in the Girls ‘A’ Cup, catering for small schools. Claregalway NS, Galway were victorious in the Girls ‘B’ Cup with Newport NS, Mayo runners up in the medium sized schools. Scoil Chatriona, Renmore, Galway sealed qualification in the Girls ‘C’ Cup for large schools, thanks to their fine display against runners up St. Angela’s, Castlebar, Co. Mayo.
The SPAR FAI Primary School 5s competition has been in existence since the mid 1990’s and saw nearly 20,000 participants from 1,069 schools involved last season. The competition is run across six divisions, ensuring that schools of all sizes are catered for. Depending on their size a school can enter several teams into the competition. Boys and girls are encouraged to play together but there is a separate competition for boys and girls dependent on school enrolment numbers.
Fergus McDaid, Secretary of FAI Schools stated, “This is our second year with title sponsors SPAR and the competition is expanding year on year. The support shown by SPAR ensured this grassroots initiative really supports local talent. The event encourages children to become involved in soccer at an early age and emphasizes the fun aspect of the sport. FAI Schools are delighted to be hosting the Finals on Wednesday, May 11 in Aviva Stadium, something which the children will relish I’m sure.”
Anne Gallagher, SPAR Marketing Manager said, “This is a great opportunity for SPAR to support the local community and encourage children to be more active and participate in sport in a fun and competitive way. As a community based retailer, SPAR encourages a healthy and active lifestyle and is proud to be a supporter of primary schools’ soccer in association with the FAI.
No doubt the teachers will be putting in plenty of match practice before the next stage of qualifying as they keep an eye on the ultimate prize… best of luck to all involved.”
Follow the action on social media via #SPAR5s or at www.faischools.ie and www.spar.ie.