Weekend rain fails to put a dampener on annual Fives

Mother nature was not kind to the Salthill Fives this weekend - incessant rain for most of Saturday afternoon and night meant that one of the of the pitches was rendered unplayable for Sunday, necessitating the cancelation of the U-12 and U-14 tournaments, which will rescheduled for a later date.

However the 108-team main event went ahead and both it and the over 35 competition – which attracted 20 teams this year – were a great success.

Victory in the main competition went to the Supernovas (Salthill Devon) who beat the defending Champions Sportskit OLBC in the final. The final was a rip-roaring game with goals, hard tackles and a non-stop end to end rhythm that required super fit players to survive. 

Supernova’s had that little bit more in the tank and two goals from Cian McBrien – his second strike was selected as the goal of the tournament – and one from James Whelan. Boys Club did reply with a cracking goal from Shane Maughan, who was outstanding for the runners-up throughout the competition, scoring some great goals.

The special guest of the Fives this year was Jumbo Brennan and he selected Evan Duffy, goalkeeper on the winning side, as his Player of the Tournament – he was presented with the Diarmuid Fadden memorial medal by Cáit Fadden, president of Salthill Devon.

The over 35’s tournament was won by Harry’s Buns. The ‘Buns’ are ‘Fives Royalty’ having been the only team to ever retain the National title, winning in 2003/4. This time they were in the over 35’s and they saw off the Galway United Legends in a very entertaining final. They were presented with their awards by David Higgins of solicitors Molloy Seymour McLaughlin, who sponsored the Over 35s tournament.

Results: Winners – Supernovas (Salthill Devon); runners-up – Sportskit OLBC; beaten semi-finalists – Boca Seniors and Classic 7. Over 35’s: winners – Harry’s Buns; runners-up – Galway United legends. Diarmuid Fadden Player of the Tournament – Evan Duffy; Ray Healy Fair Play award – Classic 7; Goal of the Tournament – Cian McBrien.