BAY Rovers schoolgirls claimed U14 and U16 SuperValu West Cork Schoolboys and Schoolgirls League trophies on a terrific weekend for the Kealkill club.
The Baltimore Road ground in Skibbereen was the venue for Saturday’s U14 and U16 Schoolgirls Shield finals double-header.
In the U16 decider, Bay Rovers faced Castlelack and got off to the best possible start with a goal after ten minutes – Donna French set up Emma Healy who found the net to edge Rovers in front.
The Kealkill side doubled their lead when Abbie O’Sullivan scored a second goal 60 seconds later. Castlelack settled and prevented their opponents from adding to their total until the 68th minute. Emma Healy provided the assist for Katie Murphy to find the net. A late Sinead Hickey effort turned out to be a consolation effort for a battling Castlelack. Bay Rovers ran out deserved 3-1 winners on an afternoon Abbie Arundel, Donna French, Emma Healy and Louise Murray were the pick of winners’ top performers.
Bay Rovers: A O’Sullivan, A Arundel, C Dillon, A O’Donovan, C Daly, D French, L Murray, A O’Sullivan, K Murphy, E Healy, A Myler, M Nicholas.
Castlelack: E Collins, N Sullivan, N Harrington, C O’Callaghan, R Kiely, E Sleator, L Foley, S Hickey, A Bulger, A O’Kane, L O’Driscoll, S Cahalane, E O’Neill, R Lynch, S MCSweeney, E Coomey.
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Later that afternoon, Bay Rovers added the SuperValu U14 Schoolgirls Shield to their trophy cabinet following an intense battle with Clonakilty AFC.
Katie Murphy’s 26th-minute goal decided an evenly-fought contest in Bay’s favour. A 1-0 victory wrapped up a productive afternoon for the Kealkill club. Best for Rovers included Grace Holland, Ann Keohane, Claire Healy and Michaela O’Sullivan.
The Bay Rovers team that overcame Clonakilty AFC to claim this year's U14 Schoolgirls Shield trophy.
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Lyre Rovers are through to this season’s SuperValu U15 Schoolboys Cup final. Bay Rovers were Lyre’s opponents in the penultimate round match-up but found themselves 3-0 down at the break. Yago Medina Gomez (2) and Daniel McCarthy found the net for the hosts. Con Desmond did pull one back in the second period but Lyre qualified for the cup final thanks to a 3-1 success.
Sullane recorded a superb 5-0 victory at home to Cork Schoolgirls League club Kanturk in the second round of the SFAI U14 Schoolgirls National Trophy last weekend. Aisling Kelleher was the best player on view and netted a hat-trick in her side’s latest SFAI win. Lily Hoare and Abby Scanlon goals completed Sullane’s total on an afternoon Sadbh Cronin, Lily Scannell and Saoirse Delahunty also stood out.
Inter Clonakilty AFC won the 2024 SuperValu U14 Schoolboys Shield following a comprehensive 6-2 victory over Kilmichael Rovers in Castletownkenneigh.
The Ballyvackey club ran out merited winners with six different players on the scoresheet. Noah Franklin opened the scoring prior to Luke O’Regan doubling the Clonakilty side’s advantage. Patrick Sloan made it 3-0 before late Fionn Coppinger, Mateus Meregali Da Rocha and Luke O’Neill efforts completed the winners’ total. An own goal and a Finbarr O’Riordan strike represented Rovers’ replies.
Skibbereen Celtic and Castlelack will contest the 2024 SuperValu U13 Schoolboys Shield final. Both clubs came through testing semi-final assignments before booking their respective places in the Shield decider.
Skibbereen had home advantage for the visit of Bantry Bay Celtic at the Baltimore Road ground. Leo Dowdall handed the hosts an early lead courtesy of a 6th minute strike. There was little between the teams when Fiachra Garrett netted Skibb’s second shortly before the interval. The second period belonged to Skibbereen Celtic who added four goals without reply en route to a convincing 6-0 triumph. Fiachra Garrett added his second with Ross Collins and Ryan O’Driscoll strikes plus an own goal completing Celtic’s total.
In the second U13 Schoolboys Shield semi-final, Castlelack and Bunratty United played out an entertaining six-goal tie in Brinny. Volodymyr Deidei edged Bunratty 1-0 ahead but Castlelack bit back via a Jack Allen brace to lead 2-1 at the interval. Allen completed his hat-trick to push Castlelack 3-2 ahead before netting his fourth of the afternoon after 45 minutes. Max O’Reilly pulled one back for the visitors but it wasn’t enough to prevent a 4-2 defeat.
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Riverside Athletic were unlucky to lose out on penalties to Cork Schoolgirls League side Riverstown in the SFAI U12 Schoolgirls National Trophy last weekend. A goal up at the break, Riverside conceded in the second period before bowing out 3-1 on spot-kicks after extra-time.
Both SuperValu U12 Schoolboys Cup semi-finals were completed last weekend. Dunmanway Town travelled to Kealkill and defeated Bay Rovers 4-2, to qualify for this year’s cup decider. Town moved 2-0 ahead thanks to early Danny Carroll and Tristan Hayes efforts. Bay fought back impressively however, netting twice to take the tie to extra-time. There, a second Danny Carroll strike along with a Ryan Crowley goal cemented Dunmanway’s merited win.
Town will take on Skibbereen Dynamos in the U12 Cup final following the latter’s 2-1 victory over Drinagh Rangers. Two Kingsley Crosby Osagie goals were enough to send the Dynamos through despite Rocco O’Reilly Bermueller converting a penalty for Rangers.
Ardfield overpowered a young Togher Celtic in the SuperValu U12 Schoolboys Shield quarter-finals at Togher. Jake Montgomery, Aodhán O’Mahony, Ryan Whelton, Ciaran McCarthy, Finn Murray, Danny Sutton and Miguel De Menzes Almeida were amongst the goals for a rampant Ardfield.
