Moville Community College target historic win

The match, which will be staged at Whitehall, the base of top Irish Youth Academy side, Home Farm, will be played on Wednesday, February 21st.

Having cruised to victory in their matches leading up to this final, the Moville team claimed the Ulster title when comprehensively defeating near neighbours, Carndonagh Community School 7-2, that final staged in Buncrana.

And given the impressive performances to date, hopes are high that the Inishowen girls can go all the way this year again by defeating what is an unknown quantity in the Tipperary side.

However, team manager, Miss Jenna McDaid, is confident that the girls will give a good account of themselves and achieve their ambition of repeating the success of the 2013 squad who won the school’s first All-Ireland title.

Commenting this week, Miss McDaid said: “To have reached an All-Ireland Final is considered a massive achievement of our school.

“Some of the girls in this year’s panel actually played in the Under-15 All-Ireland Final but lost out to Claregalway in 2016, so this will be an opportunity to redeeem themselves,” she noted.

“This is also the final year for some of the girls and we believe it would be a great send-if we manage to secure another All-Ireland title.”

Moville, of course, is considered a traditional hotbed for girls’ football with many of the pupils turning out regularly for local football clubs such as Greencastle and Moville Celtic.

Looking forward to next week’s game, Miss McDaid, said she was unaware of the strength of next Wednesday’s opposition, although she did note that the Thurles college have already won an All-Ireland title two years ago.

“We’ve never played the Tipperary side, so we know very little about them,” she added.

“However, one of our players, Kerry Brown, who represents us in the FAI Under-16 squad, is an international team-mate of Presentation College player, Aoibheann Clancy, so that’s interesting.

“I’ve no doubt that next week’s match will probably be our toughest game to date. But, that said, we believe it will be a level game as we do not consider ourselves to be underdogs,” continued the Moville boss.

Interestingly, Moville had to plan without three regular players for the semi-final, yet recorded a 3-2 win over Colaiste Brid (Enniscorthy).

Miss McDaid went on: “The girls who stepped in didn’t let the side down which suggests that we have strength in depth and that could prove significant.

“With girls having to study for their ‘mock” Leaving Cert and Junior Cert exams, our preparation hasn’t been great, but we’ve managed.

“The exams are now over and our full squad will be totally focused on next Wednesday’s trip to Dublin.

“On a personal level, having managed a top quality panel of talented footballers, this year has been a privilege.

“I’d like to extend my thanks to all the girls for the hard work they have put in over the years and if they could manage to win the All-Ireland title, it would be a fitting reward and I would be absolutely delighted for them.

“Can I also extend my thanks fellow teacher, Miss Natalie McFadden,who has played a pivotal role in preparing the girls for matches and for being heavily involved in our regular training sessions.”

Meanwhile, the Moville Community College team will not be travelling south without significant support.

In fact, a number of buses will transport Moville supporters to the Drumcondra venue in North Dublin on Wednesday.

Miss. McDaid concluded: “Everyone is looking forward to what will be a great occasion and, fingers crossed, Moville Community College will return home with the trophy.”