U11 Football Tournament – Dromintee GAC , Sunday 22nd August 2021
The U11 footballers travelled to Dromintee GAA club in County Armagh on Sunday to take part in the annual tournament for ‘U11.5 boys’. The tournament brings together the best teams in Ulster for this age group. On behalf of the club we would like to thank Declan McBennett and all the team at Dromintee GAC for inviting Kilmacud Crokes to take part in this prestigious event.
The teams involved on the day included the hosts, Dromintee (Armagh). Bellaghy (Derry). Eglish (Tyrone), St Brigids (Antrim), Omagh (Tyrone), Castledawson (Derry) and Middletown (Armagh).
A panel of fifteen boys and five coaches set out early on Sunday morning to ensure that the arrival time of 9.15am was met. The schedule on the day ensured that we got to play all participating teams in a round robin series.
The tournament started at 10am and the boys took to the field to begin their day against the hosts, Dromintee. The boys held their own against a very strong Dromintee team and with a couple of minutes to go we took the lead. The hosts got a late goal to win out by the smallest of margins right at full time.
Next up, the boys put in two superb performances against Omagh and Castledawson. Bellaghy and St Brigids proved too strong on the day but the boys didn’t go down without a fight.
The performance of the day came against Eglish where the boys didn’t give the opposition an inch from the minute the ball was thrown in and won out comprehensively in the end.
This ensured the boys qualified for the semi-final of the shield competition and where they narrowly lost out to Middletown. After a quick debrief from the management team the boys (albeit very disappointed) knew they had done themselves and the club proud on the day.
To stay in the tournament right until the bitter end against the best Ulster had to offer and half a year older, the coaching team (Rob Carberry, Mark Brophy, Kevin Bannon, Colm Bryson, Adrian Oates, Gavin Little & Tom Nallan) are very proud of what the boys achieved and how they performed as a team throughout the tournament. As one opposition coach remarked “Those boys have a bright future”.
We are just glad it will be with Kilmacud Crokes.
Pictured in the Team Photo
Back Row: Left to Right: Sean Keane, Bobby Callanan, Brian Farrell, Darragh Baily, Charlie Saunders, Mark Bryson, Ciaran Oates, Harry Lavin
Front Row: Left to Right: Cathal Dunphy, Cillian Carberry, Ronan Clifford, Sam Brophy, Rian Bannon, Evan Canny, Charlie O’Loughlin
