Tannaghmore girls net Schools Cup

by RICHARD BULLICK

PROUD coach Emma McDonald believes that the experience of a painful loss to their neighbours in the area final helped drive her budding Tannaghmore PS netballers on to be crowned Northern Ireland champions.

The young Lurgan girls came from behind at half-time to see off fancied Belfast side Methody in last Saturday’s thrilling NI Primary Schools Cup final, which went to extra-time at Lisburn Racquets, and captain Kate McStay also picked up Player of the Tournament.

The little heroes who brought the top trophy back to Tannaghmore for the first time since 2001 were given a wonderful reception by hundreds of fellow pupils in the sunshine last Monday, rounding off an unforgettable few days for those involved, including coach Emma.

Having won this competition as a player herself, McDonald knows how special an achievement it is but what made this success so sweet was how Tannaghmore had shown real resilience along the way and proved that hard work brings rewards.

There has been considerable debate the past couple of weeks around the GAA insisting that children under the age of 12 should not be allowed to play competitive matches with scores kept or any trophy at stake.

The emphasis on pure participation and encouraging enjoyment may be well-intentioned and admirable but McDonald is adamant that her young players have benefited from both losing and winning in recent times, with useful life lessons learned along the way.

It’s important to observe here that Emma is an infectiously enthusiastic coach who lives and breathes the sport of netball, but also has a sweet way with her which would make these youngsters feel loved, encouraged, confident and cherished whatever their results.

An All Ireland Schools Cup winner with Lismore Comprehensive as a player and now involved with the Netball NI Under 13s set-up as a coach, the Craigavon woman’s sporting journey is an interesting story in itself.

However, with such eye-catching photos from finals day available, we’ve decided that can keep for another day with the full focus for now being on Tannaghmore’s triumph, which came somewhat against the odds.

Northern Ireland finals day featured 10 schools from five geographic regions, with Tannaghmore having qualified as southern runners-up behind fellow Lurgan school, St Teresa’s, which is based less than half a mile away on the outskirts of town!

With Netball NI’s Club of the Year Clann Eireann doing great work with all age groups, having two schools from the locality contesting last month’s area final wasn’t surprising and it was St Teresa’s who came away with the bragging rights from that derby battle.

“These girls play together at the club and there are great friendships through that but they’re at separate primary schools so it’s a good little rivalry. We beat St Teresa’s in the round robin match but they turned the tables in the area final at South Lake Leisure Centre.

“Our girls were roaring and crying afterwards but I firmly believe that we wouldn’t have gone on to become Northern Ireland champions if we’d won that day. You learn from defeat and the hurt drives you on to make sure it doesn’t happen the next time,” reflects Emma.

“We knew we were still through to the NI finals in spite of losing so went away and worked very hard. I was taking the girls in the evenings, including getting first year girls from St Ronan’s (College) over for them to train against, and those efforts paid off.

“The format of finals day was that the 10 schools who had qualified were split into two sections, so you’ve four group games which are seven minutes each way, with the top two going through to the semi-finals.

“We hit the ground running by winning, 12-5 I think it was, in our opening game against a strong Methody (Prep) team who we would end up playing in the final, and followed that up with three more victories over St Comghall’s, Ballinderry and Broadbridge from Derry.

“The Republic of Ireland head coach Teresa Gillespie was with Broadbridge PS and they had (former Northern Ireland head coach) Elaine Rice’s niece playing for them, so she was there watching.

“Having won all our matches in that first stage, we went through as group winners with Methody as runners-up and St Teresa’s came second in the other section to Bangor Central, who I think had won the competition in each of the past three years.

“So that meant a Lurgan derby in the semi-final and thankfully this time we got the better of St Teresa’s, I suppose what in sporting terms you’d describe as a revenge victory, and there was a real surprise in the other semi, with Methody putting out Bangor Central.

“Because the matches were being played on adjoining courts, the finalists hadn’t had a chance to see each other and there wasn’t much time in between to prepare, really just a few minutes to calm down the girls and given them a wee pep-talk.

“Our girls were delighted to have come out on top against St Teresa’s and, having beaten Methody earlier in the day, they were quite confident for the final but I reminded them how we ourselves had lost to St Teresa’s before but then beaten them this time.

“That helped them realise it would be another really tough game and so it proved. Like us against St Teresa’s, Methody would have been very keen to bounce back from their earlier loss to Tannaghmore and they led 5-2 at half-time.

“But we got back level by full-time and went on to win 9-7 after extra-time. That area final loss had been sore to take at the time but maybe it was a blessing in disguise because things worked out perfectly for us in the end and I think the experience stood to us.

“The girls had the hunger going into NI finals day and their hard work paid off. Getting the result against St Teresa’s in the semi was massive for them, but they were able to focus again for the final, come back from a deficit and push on to win.

“The official photographer said it was the best final he had seen, and naturally we were absolutely delighted. I was really emotional myself, and remember back to winning at that age with St Brendan’s PS. My mummy has been digging out the old photos since!”

Emma has been the netball coach in Tannaghmore since 2017, when her daughter Caitlin was a pupil, and she is quick to pay tribute to how the school has embraced netball and supportive P7 teacher Kevin Creery, who organised the heartwarming homecoming.

With all but one of the winning team moving on to post-primary, it will be an almost entirely new group next season but, given all the groundwork going on at the club too, we can expect the name Tannaghmore to remain to the fore in primary schools netball.