Five is the magic number for fabulous Breaffy
The victorious girls of Breaffy National School who helped their school win a fifth consecutive Division 1A title at Wednesday's Cumann na mBunscol Finals in Castlebar. Pictures: Michael Donnelly
It’s not by accident that this is the fifth time in succession Breaffy National School have lifted the Mayo Cumann na mBuncol Division 1A Girls Cup. They take their football seriously, as old rivals The Quay can testify.
Indeed The Quay themselves had won eleven 1A titles in fifteen seasons until along came Breaffy to exert their dominance over all comers.
The foundation for this win was laid in the first-half which ended with Breaffy six points (or two goals, to be precise) to the good despite having played into the teeth of the breeze. In fact, it took the Blue and White less than sixty seconds to score their first of five goals, with Shauna Lyons the finisher.
The Quay replied quite quickly, as Grace Tighe fired over the bar from distance, but that was one of just two points the Ballina-based school were able to score for the entire half, the other coming from Shauna Ferguson in the 11th minute.
By then, however, Emma Greaney had struck Breaffy’s second goal and had been desperately unlucky not to raise another green flag three minutes later when seeing her point attempt dip at the last minute and rebound into play via the inside of the far post.
The Quay’s goal was living something of a charmed life because Lauren Hanrahan smacked a shot against the woodwork too, but on this occasion the ball bounced back into the arms of Shauna Lyons who salvaged a point for Breaffy, with Hanrahan herself adding one just before the break, to give her side a 2-2 to 0-2 lead at the turnaround.
The teams exchanged quickfire points at the start of the second-half, with a Lucy Murphy free for the leaders negated by a superb point from play by Amy Ferguson, who converted from the narrowest of angles for The Quay, who knew that a goal could drag them right back into contention.
And more goals were soon to come, except they all went the way of Breaffy – with Eimear Kelly raising green twice, in the 32nd and 50th minutes, in between which her teammate Emma Fahey had collected a delivery from Murphy and turned to also bury the ball into The Quay’s net.
Shauna Ferguson pulled back a stoppage-time point for The Quay but it was only a consolation score against a Breaffy NS team that this week will chase a unique double; the girls’ senior soccer team is bound for Aviva Stadium in an attempt to be crowned FAI Primary Schools All-Ireland 5-a-side champions. You just wouldn’t put it past them.
Breaffy NS: Hannah Jennings, Caragh Reid O’Shea, Amy Jennings, Lucy Rice, Leowena Maughan, Caríosa Benson, Lucy Murphy (0-1f), Lauren Hanrahan (0-1), Emma Greaney (1-0), Emma Fahey (1-0), Naomi Hanrahan, Shauna Lyons (1-1), Makayla Connolly, Megan Hurst, Eimear Kelly (2-0), Katrina Murphy, Lilly McCarthy, Martha Jennings, Katie O’Malley, Éabha Bourke, Mollie Allen, Erynn Flynn, Mairéad Maguire, Emily Coyne, Maeve Reilly, Mary Corcoran, Lexi Woolmer, Victoria Langan, Isabel McGuinness, Ella McDonnell, Saoirse McManamon, Nadia Oviawe, Alyssa Corbellini, Laura McNamara.
The Quay NS: Evanna Kelly Blair, Annabel Byrne, Bronagh Doherty, Naoise Kelly Blair, Laura Dorazio, Chloe MacHale, Síomha Whelan, Grace Tighe (0-1), Bethan Kelly, Sadie Clarke, Shauna Ferguson (0-2), Amy Ferguson (0-1), Emily O’Boyle, Arianna O’Flynn, Emma Fleming, Niamh Murphy, Riley Newell, Emily Young, Alimay Grimes, Sarah Gannon, Kate McKenzie, Emily Iwanow Crean, Faith Donohue, Katie Hogan, Abigail Maguire, Ava Kerins, Kate Finnerty, Kate Doherty, Penny McHale, Ysanne Harrison.
