SULLANE’S remarkable run in this season’s SFAI U12 Schoolgirls National Cup ended at the quarter-final stage in Coláiste Ghobnatan on Sunday.
Galway club Bearna na Forbacha made the long trip to Ballyvourney to take on Sullane for a place in the last four of the competition.
To put it into context, the two clubs were battling for a place in the semi-finals of a national tournament involving hundreds of schoolgirls’ teams drawn from every corner of the country.
Before a ball was kicked, Sullane were already amongst the last eight U12 schoolgirls’ teams in the country. That’s an astonishing achievement for a rural West Cork Schoolboys and Schoolgirls League club that only recently began competing at U12 schoolgirls’ level.
Bearna na Forbacha began as favourites, and they built a 4-1 interval lead before going on to win a free-flowing contest 7-3. Aisling Kelleher netted twice and Muireann McSweeney also got her name on the Sullane scoresheet.
Everyone in a Sullane jersey played their part in a quarter-final. Eimear Carey, Abbie Scanlon, Lily Scannell and Aisling Kelleher stood out.
‘We are so proud of our girls in their first year playing competitive soccer,’ Sullane U12 coach Austin Twomey commented.
‘The girls have been fantastic representatives of where they come from and the entire West Cork Schoolboys and Schoolgirls League.
‘Lorraine (Burke) and myself, we are incredibly proud of every one of these girls
‘Abbie Scanlon was terrific in goal for us (on Sunday) but our player of the match was Eimear Carey. Abbie, Lily (Scannell) and Aisling (Kelleher) also played well but I could list out the whole team to be honest with you. Everyone played their absolute best once again today. We are so proud of them.
‘Now we are looking forward to the start of the new West Cork Schoolgirls League season in April. These girls will be up for the challenge.’
Sullane U12 schoolgirls: Abbie Scanlon, Aisling Kelleher, Caroline Creedon, Caoimhe Mulhern, Danielle O’Donoghue, Eimear Carey, Emer Cronin, Eibhlin Ní Bhriain, Fiona Creedon, Grainne Lynch, Isobel O’Driscoll, Lily Hoare, Lily Scannell, Muireann McSweeney, Rionach White, Shannon Ní Scannaill.
