Devon girls aim to create history

SALTHILL Devon U-14 girls will put their two-year unbeaten run on the line when they face Evergreen FC of Kilkenny in the FAI Umbro Cup final in Castlecomer on Saturday evening (6pm).

Having completed the treble last year – winning the Galway League, Galway Cup and All-Ireland – Richie Walsh’s charges have carried this rich vein of form into 2011 by winning back-to-back Galway League titles and reaching the finals of both the Galway and Umbro (All-Ireland) Cup competitions.

What has made Devon’s run to the national final all the more impressive has been that they have won their previous four matches playing away from home. “This is our fifth away tie in a row and it will be some achievement if we win it on that basis,” says Walsh. “It is awful hard to win away from home. It is near impossible.”

While Salthill have had to travel to the four corners of the country en route to the final, the Galway girls have underlined their quality with a string of notable performances. They defeated Donegal outfit, Illies Celtic, in a penalty shoot-out at the Inishowen Peninsula venue in the quarter-final, before edging by Listowel Celtic of Kerry down south on a scoreline of 2-1 in the semi-final.

Roisin Jacob scored both goals from two free-kicks in that one, while goalkeeper Caoimhe O’Reilly saved a penalty in the closing quarter to secure their place in the final against Kilkenny City outfit, Evergreen.

“Evergreen are a really good side,” says Walsh. “They had 10 of the Kilkenny team in the Gaynor Cup (U-14 inter-county) and they got to the semi-final of that competition. I saw them play, because I knew at that stage what teams were left in the All-Ireland, and they are good. They are very skilful.”

That said, Salthill Devon, under the guidance of manager Walsh, assistant manager Sean Dunleavy and coach Ricky Flaherty are the defending champions and Walsh hopes that will give his side an edge. “We would have a bigger reputation than them. They have never won a national title, while this will be Salthill Devon’s seventh [at various levels] if we win it. No club, though, has ever defended their title, so we could become the first.”

See full preview in this week's Sentinel.