Galway U-14 side win Kennedy Plate
The Galway & District League’s U-14 Boys side captured the Kennedy Plate title in the national Kennedy Cup competition, which was played in Limerick last week.
The success means Galway finished fifth of the 32 teams that competed this year, and the expectation is that will be enough to ensure Galway will be in the top seeds for next year’s competition.
They topped their qualifying group, recording wins over South Tipperary, Longford and Kerry to book a quarter-final slot against Dublin & District Schoolboys League (DDSL), but despite a brilliant performance from Tommy McClean’s side, they lost out on penalties to a side that went on to win the competition. That was the only game the DDSL side didn't win in normal time throughout the competition.
That saw them enter the Plate competition at the semi-final stage, where they saw off the challenge of Roscommon to book a date with another Connacht side as they faced Sligo in the final, a game which they ran out 3-1 winners to capture the Plate.
“First of all I would like to say it was a fantastic week. It was a great experience for the players and coaches as well – this was a great week for Galway because we had 20 great young players who did themselves, their families, their clubs and their league proud both on and off the pitch,” Tommy McClean said.
According to assistant manager Derek Rogers, the fact they had such a strong squad who all played their part was the key to finishing fifth and capturing the Plate title.
“Our strength in depth was the key to the success over the week .With so many games in a short period of time, many subs had to be used in each match, and the players coming on were just as good as the players who started,” he said.