Presentation girls crowned Munster Junior champions!

A busy week for sport in Presentation Secondary School, Mitchelstown began on Monday with our Junior (U16.5) footballers in action in the Munster final against Tarbert.

En route to the final, we played John the Baptist, Hospital; St. Anne’s, Tipperary and Scoil Pól, Kilfinane in our group games, coming out on top in all three. We had a comprehensive win over Skibbereen Community School in the quarter-final. The semi-final proved our toughest battle against a vert strong St. Angela’s side, where we emerged with a narrow two point victory, 6-10 to 6-8.

The final took place in Banteer on the fabulous AstroTurf pitch and conditions were perfect. We lined out with a couple of changes due to injuries and other commitments, but the girls were up for the battle. We knew from the throw in we were going to have to play to our very best to come out on top.

The first half was a close contest and the girls worked hard but we were struggling to find our inside forwards against a well set up defence. The nerves cold be seen in some of our decision making and we found ourselves trailing by two points with 20 minutes gone. We made some positional changes and as a result, were more competitive against the opposition kick-out and scored 1-3 before half-time, to give us a four point lead at the break.

At half-time there was a sense within the huddle that we had a lot more to give and if we settled on the ball and played as a team, we had every chance. Tarbert had a strong start to the second half and scored a point from the throw in. From that point on the Pres girls started to show the glimpses of brilliance we had seen from them in previous games. We moved the ball much quicker than we had in the first half and worked tirelessly from corner forward to our goalie, to put the opposition under pressure and fight for every ball.

We made more space inside for our full forward line and the girls made great runs off the shoulder and scored some fantastic scores. The final score ended 9-11 to 2-9.

A special mention must go to our goalie on the day, Aoife Moriarty, who stepped up when we needed her. She had a fantastic game between the posts and really settled into the role, giving exceptionally accurate kickouts, particularly in the second half. Our defence worked hard all day, making Tarbert work for every score. In the middle of the field we covered a lot of ground and created great links between defence and attack. Up front, we created space and made great runs off the shoulder to put the scores on the board. A truly great team performance, well done to all!

FIRST YEAR ARE COUNTY CHAMPIONS

Our First Years kept the winning streak going and were crowned county champions on Tuesday, overcoming Youghal in the final. Our route to the final saw victories in the group stages against Boherbue, Kanturk and Coláiste Fermoy.

We played Coláiste Glanmire in the quarter-final and overcame St. Angela’s in the semi-final. Having these five games allowed the girls to get familiar playing together and working as a team. The girls were well prepared for the match and couldn’t wait to get out on the field.

From the throw in we grabbed the game with both hands and got scores on the scoreboard, however some nerves were evident with some of our shot selection and decision making not as we have come to expect of ourselves. Once the nerves had settled we saw some superb phases of play, with great height around the middle making it difficult for the opposition to win their own kick out, we built our attack from there. There was great movement from the inside forwards and great runs made from our half forwards, half backs and midfielders running through the middle. Our ability to look up and pass the ball to the inside forward line also proved successful in terms of the scoreboard.

We were in a comfortable position at half-time, but we knew we would have to keep up the work rate and team play. We made some changes and brought in fresh legs to ensure we stayed on top, both in attack and defence. In the end we emerged victorious on a comprehensive scoreline.

This is a well deserved victory for a bunch of girls who have been very dedicated all year and trained hard, always showing up with a great attitude and spirit. It was great to have a home venue for the final and to see parents and supports there to cheer on the girls and enjoy the celebrations afterwards, thank you for your continued support.

A special mention to our TY helpers who have been working with this team and helping out with training them all year; Ciara, Ali, Rachel, Orla and Anna, thanks girls!

Finally, well done also to Ms. Martin and Ms. Garvey for all their hard work, having the girls well prepared for the finals and to Georgie and Peter for their continuous encouragement and wise words.