On Wednesday 8th March, an IFA-led Futsal tournament was held at the Seven Towers Leisure Centre in Ballymena; this was one of a series of regional primary school Futsal tournaments being held across Northern Ireland. The tournament was significant for Ballykeel Primary School as it was the first time in a number of years that a girls’ football team had represented the school.
Ballykeel’s opening group match was against Bushvalley Primary School and despite little opportunity to play together as a team before the tournament, the girls gelled quickly and soon raced into an unassailable lead. Goals from Abi Sweetlove (4), Stephanie Mark (3) and Emily Russell (1) earned the girls a resounding 8-0 win. They continued in fine style in their second match, defeating St. Columba’s Primary School 4-0, with goals from Abi Sweetlove (3) and Stephanie Mark (1). The final group match ended with a 5-1 win over St Joseph’s Primary School with goals coming from Abi Sweetlove (2), Stephanie Mark (2) and Emily Russell (1).
These results secured top place in the group and set up a semi-final match against Bushvalley Primary School; the girls’ confidence continued to grow and the quality of passing and attacking football was much in evidence as they progressed to the final with a 4-0 win with goals from the prolific Stephanie Mark (3) and Abi Sweetlove (1). The final was tightly-contested for most of the match, with the Ballykeel girls edging into a 1-0 lead through an Abi Sweetlove goal. The later stages of the game became more open and Ballykeel added two more through Stephanie Mark. Maddie Balmer finished the scoring by slotting home from the penalty spot.
The victory in the regional tournament secured a place for Ballykeel in the national finals. These are due to be held in Lisburn in April and will feature the winners from each of the regional tournaments.
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