The school year began with the usual buzz of excitement about the return of Cumann na mBunscol. The girls were especially eager to get out on the pitch as almost all of the panel had tasted Cumann na mBunscol action last year. In 2023, they had been a very young team with the vast majority of the team in 4^th and 5^th class. With that experience, expectations were high that they could go a long way in the tournament this year.

Training began the first week in September with 22 5^th and 6^th class girls taking to the field in Coolkenno on Tuesdays and Thursdays under the watchful eye of Mr Gavin Byrne. There was a great attendance at every training which made them very fun!

We made the long journey down to Borris for the first game on a beautiful Thursday morning. We arrived to find that we’d beaten the home side to the pitch. Isn’t it always the way when you have the furthest to travel? After a slightly slow start, the girls beat the home side on the pitch too. There were some great passing moves up the field during the game. The girls won 1-5 to 0-3 in the end.

Game 2 was a home encounter against Grange, the team who had beaten us in the 2022 final. The girls really hit their stride in this game and scored a brilliant 6-4 to Grange’s 3-3 to win by 10 points.

The third game saw us travel to Tinryland for a game against our old rivals. This one saw us win by 11 points on a scoreline of 5-3 to 2-1. Once again, the girls played some lovely football and displayed really good teamwork throughout.

The girls had real momentum now and went into their fourth game against Rathvilly with real confidence. Rathvilly had gotten to the final last year and had some of those players still so a close battle was expected. Our girls went into overdrive in this one, however, with Sara O’Grady, Emma O’Grady and Eva Willoughby to the fore. The final score told its own story – it was 7-2 to 0-4.

All of those results meant that a win in our final group game against Ballinabranna would guarantee us top spot and a place in the final. There was good news on the injury front for this game as Mary Lawlor made her return from injury. After the goal-fest against Rathvilly, Mr Byrne said that he’d like to see more points being taken. The girls duly obliged, scoring 2-11 in this game, 4 points coming from the fist of Ellie Bolger-Cahill. Ballinabranna only managed 1-1. That meant the girls had won 5 out of 5 – a great achievement!

The final would take place on Thursday the 24^th of October under lights in Netwatch Centre of Excellence, Fenagh. There was great excitement in the week leading up to the game with many classes making banners and flags to show their support for the girls.

The final would be against Ballinabranna. The girls knew not to be over-confident as a lot can change in a week.

Thursday evening October the 24^th was a dark and one in Fenagh – far from ideal conditions for football. Ballyconnell NS supporters turned out in force to support our girls. The game didn’t start as planned with Ballinabranna racing into a two-goal lead. There was some panic among the supporters on the sideline. Our girls, however, stayed cool.

They got into their stride and started passing the ball as they had all tournament. By half-time, they had scored two points through the accurate Eva Willoughby and tireless midfielder, Ellie O’Toole.

The second half began brilliantly for Ballyconnell with a fantastic passing move involving Ellie Bolger-Cahill and Eva Willoughby ending with Sara O’Grady smashing the ball to the Ballinabranna net to make it 1-2 to 2-0. Just a one-point game! With captaen na foirne Emma O’Grady now snuffing out Ballinabranna’s main threat, things were really looking up!

As the rain started to come down, the tension started to go up. The screeches from the supporters were ear-splitting as they roared the girls on. Try as they might though, they just couldn’t get the equaliser. Ballinabranna had the last say when they got a point with time just up.

The final whistle sounded and it was heartbreak for the Ballyconnell girls – Ballinabranna had won on a score of 1-2 to 2-1. Although disappointed, our girls had every reason to be proud. Throughout the 8 weeks of training and matches, they had done themselves, their families, their teachers and their school proud. We can’t wait to see this talented bunch on the field again soon!

The panel was:

1. Aoife Nolan; 2. Mary Lawlor, 3. Hannah Lawlor; 4. Emma O’Grady, 5. Molly Quinn; 6. Ella O’Connor, 7. Ellie O’Toole; 8. Eva Willoughby, 9. Hollie McNally; 10. Sara O’Grady, 11. Ellie Bolger-Cahill; 12. Charlotte Lyons, 13. Madisyn Doyle, 14. Aoife Bolger, 15. Ciara Nolan, 16. Kate Murphy, 17. Layna Cushe, 18. Maddie Cahill, 19. Florrie Cosgrave, 20. Emily Hickey, 21. Éire Shiels, 22. Anna Yuryna

Half-Time Team Talk vs Tinryland

Warming up for the final!

Ar mhuin na muice tar éis bua i gcoinne Ballinabranna sa chúigiú cluiche !

Team huddle before the final group game versus Ballinabranna