What an evening we had in McHale Park where our school teams both contested County Finals !

It was a great achievement for our school to have both our teams featuring at this final stage, highlighting also, the great work that is ongoing in Charlestown in the juvenile section of our local G.A.A. Club.

First up were our boys who were pitted against an exceptional Cooneal side who proved more than a match for everything that was sent in their direction. To their immense credit our boys never gave up, battling to the final whistle, giving their all.

We really are so proud of each of the boys and are thrilled with the progress that they each have made throughout this year. It was a wonderful experience to compete on County Final day in McHale Park and a memory that will last with the boys forever.

After a short break our girls took to the field against Kilmaine N.S. who as with Cooneal proved to be very talented and competitive opponents. Despite starting well, our girls were rocked by three excellent goals which saw us going to the break three points down. However,the response from the girls in the second half was amazing, each player playing their part in a fantastic team performance and ensuring we were victorious by a six point winning margin.
It was a performance full of heart , determination, desire and never say die attitude from the girls who were really put to the pin of their collars to succeed!

As with the boys they each have put a huge effort into their training and preparation throughout this year and have been excellent role models to all the younger students throughout the school. We had some girls taking football up for the first time and also those that have taken a greater interest this year and others who excel consistently. Our team really was the sum of the all the girls’ efforts who each contributed so much!

Boys Panel
Evan Carney
Oran Duffy
Dillon Curry
Martin McCormack
Ben Crean
Jack Brennan
Pawel Fijak
Jake Casey
Michael Honeyman
Kasper Gawalkiewiez
Conor Gavigan
Cahir Vesey
Ciarán Honeyman

Girls Panel

Hayley O’Brien
Eva Walsh
Sophie Johnson
Leanne Duffy
Laura Loftus
Ella Durkin
Shona Mahon
Daria Domogala
Victoria Fitzgerald
Wiktoria Lurka
Holly McHale
Zoe Buckley
Leah Burke
Sarah McEntire
Erica O’Connor
Kate Rodosteva

Maith sibh!

Our great week continued this morning in McHale Park when both teams qualified for their respective County Finals which will take place on June 4th at the same venue.

First up were our boys who defeated Mount Pleasant N.S. on a scoreline of 2-10 to 2-08 in a thrilling game. It was very noticeable, despite at times being behind, that our boys never gave up. They supported and worked very hard for each other, in truth a fantastic team effort. We were so proud of each of them!

Our girls played Carrowholly N.S. Westport in their semi final and matched the boys performance winning 2-7 to 0-4. As with the boys all the girls displayed great work ethic, good decision making and teamwork.
As with our quarter final on Monday it was a full team effort, all those introduced made a great contribution, coming on and helping the teams get over the line.

We now have a very busy fortnight ahead. We are awaiting confirmation of times for the finals on June 4th however as of now these will be evening fixtures with proceedings beginning at 4.30 p.m. There are six finals to be played on the night.

Our boys will play Cooneal N.S and our girls will play Kilmaine N.S in their respective finals.

Both our Boys and Girls school teams progressed this afternoon to the County Quarter Finals of Cumann na mBunscol defeating Scoil Iosa Carrcastle in our area finals.

The final scores were
Boys
St. Attracta’s 6-8
Scoil Íosa 3-8

Girls
St. Attracta’s 5-7
Scoil Íosa 3-2

THE games were closely fought with great performances on both sides. A special word of thanks to John Burke who refereed both the games and the boys and girls of Carracastle for two very sporting and enjoyable games.

After Mr.Bracken of Carracastle presented the area shields to our captains for the afternoon Evan Carney and Leanne Duffy.

Next up for our Boys is a County Quarter Final v Midfield N.S. and the Girls a Quarter Final against Meelick N.S.

Both games will take place next week in Swinford Amenity Park with the date yet to be decided.

Commiserations to our Girls Team who played their hearts out this morning in the Semi Final of the Mayo Cumann na mBunscol Mini 7’s competition at a wet and windy  Connaught Centre of Excellence in Bekan.

They were defeated by a fine Scoil Phadraig (Westport) side on a scoreline of 3-5 to 1-2. The girls while battling bravely in the first half against the elements having lost the toss, found themselves under pressure with Scoil Phadraig racing into a 2-4 to 1-0 lead heading into the half time break.

A second half recovery seemed on the cards when our girls started the half with some early scores however a break away goal put the game beyond our reach.

The girls can be so proud of their efforts to reach the County Semi Final of a competition open to all the Primary Schools in Mayo. Many of our girls are working very hard with their club at U-12 and U-14 levels and with continued effort will go from strength to strength.We were also delighted that some of our panel took up Gaelic Football for the first time this year and it was fantastic so see the improvements the girls made in a short space of time.

We still have much to look forward to in the coming months with our Cumann na mBunscol competition. Well done to each of the girls , we’re very proud of you all!

Mini 7’s Panel

4th: Leah Burke,Zoe Buckley,Ella Durkin,Sarah McEntire

5th: Wiktoria Lurka,Holly McHale,Erica O’Connor

6th: Daria Domogala,Leanne Duffy,Victoria Fitzgerald,Sophie Johnson,Laura Loftus,Hayley O’Brien,Shona Mahon,Kate Rodosteva,Eva Walsh

The Western Spikeball Finals took place in the Convent of Mercy Roscommon earlier today. We had an unprecedented three teams representing us in the Boys,Girls and Mixed Competitions having all secured progress from the Mayo Finals held last month.

We are delighted to report that both the Boys and Girls teams have now qualified for the All Ireland Finals which will be held at the University of Limerick on Wednesday March 26th.Both teams reached their respective finals have progressed from very competitive groups and also coming through very tense semi finals.

The Boys team lost to a very strong Abbey NS in a thrilling final 21-16 and the Girls lost out to St.Ita’s Loughrea 25-14. It was a fantastic achievement for both teams to reach their respective finals coming through as was mentioned against very strong opposition. All roads now lead to Limerick at the end of the month and both teams will have to continue to work hard over the next fortnight in preparation.

Our Mixed team also did so well against stiff opposition. Of our three teams this is the team that has made the most progress over the course of our season. Many of the player on this team will be available to us again next year and we really hope this experience will stand to them.

A special word of thanks to the transition year students who helped us over the past number of months.In particular Aoife, Ciara and Jennifer who did so much coaching voluntarily, helping us to prepare. We really are so thankful for their interest and enthusiasm.

Finally a special mention to Geraldine Finn whose expertise,encouragement and effort we as always are most most appreciative of.

We will post photos of the day shortly.