O’Byrne leads Tribes girls to All-Ireland Cup triumph
THE Tribes Waterpolo Club won the girls Irish Under 19 Cup in the University of Limerick last Sunday when overcoming St Vincent’s of Dublin in a tense final on a 5-4 scoreline. Tribes’ Eleanor O’Byrne was voted the most valuable player of the tournament. This represents another fantastic achievement for the Tribes girls who currently hold the Under 16 and Under 19 Cups and are also Under 14 champions. Furthermore, seven of the Tribes Under 19 team also represented Ireland in the North Sea Cup last month with Ireland overcoming Wales in the final. Meanwhile, Corrib Water Polo Club competed in the boys Irish Under 19 Cup last weekend in the University of Limerick 50m pool. Corrib were drawn against Grads and Cathal Brugha of Belfast in the Group phase of the tournament. Corrib opened their account against Grads in their first match and never looked in difficulty throughout the contest. Two goals in the first quarter by Conor Smyth and Bill Jennings settled the team. Using a full press, Corrib controlled the defence and two lobs by Mark Moran in the second quarter gave the Galway boys a cushion despite a goal against the run of play by Grads. The third quarter started at a frantic pace and an outside shot by Keelan Ward quickly followed by a counter attack goal from Thomas O’Connor increased the lead, before Grads caught the Corrib defence out with a back flick goal to see the Galway side lead 6-2 going into the last quarter. But Corrib scored three goals without reply from Bill Jennings, Peter Crotty and full back Joe Tummon to win the match convincingly. The second game of the group was against Cathal Brugha and though Corrib employed the full press tactic, it took sometime to overcome this Belfast team who led 1-3 at the end of the first quarter. A change of tactic with the use of a drop eliminated the Cathal Brugha threat and Corrib turned the match around with excellent defensive work by Joe Tummon and Ross McDonagh in goals. Goals from Bill Jennings (3), and Keelan Ward (2) saw Corrib lead 6-3 at half time. Corrib dominated the match from half time and further goals from Jennings, O’Connor, Peter Crotty and Mark Moran saw the Galway team run out comprehensive winners on an 11-6 scoreline. For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.