New York U16 girls side welcomed to Milltown

Milltown’s U16 ladies’ football team were recently involved in an invitational tournament, held in UCD over the weekend.

There were eight teams in total involved. Two groups of four with the winners of each group facing each other in the winners’ final, while the runners-up played each other in the second-placed final. Milltown’s ladies were pitted against Dublin-based Na Fianna as well as club sides from Carrick-on-Shannon and Waterford.

Earlier in the week, Milltown were selected as one of three teams which faced New York’s visiting U16 ladies team, alongside Carrick and Castlebar.

The instigation for this mini 'tour’ was, believe it or not, a wedding. Longford man Finbarr O’Neill – brother of Milltown mentor, Cathy Dillon – works in New York and trains their U16s, and he was on his way back to Ireland to attend a wedding.

New York’s U16 ladies came here for Féile Peil na n”g two years ago and they loved it so much, that he and his boss, Joe McGirl, decided to bring the Big Apple girls to these shores again.

With a fully fit squad at their disposal, Milltown prepared for Saturday’s tournament in the best possible manner, with a victory over their American visitors last Wednesday. Some 300 people turned out for the challenge match, and the New York contingent was hugely impressed by the level of community spirit in Milltown.
Following coaching on Friday, it was game on, as the UCD competition began on Saturday morning.

Milltown were in terrific form in the group, chalking up impressive wins over Na Fianna (7-7 to 1-1) and Waterford’s club side. Milltown did extremely well under the circumstances as their list of injuries lengthened.

The club were without six of their regular players, with two of their county players among the absent contingent. Milltown missed out on the first-placed final, as Carrick capitalised upon their injuries.

But despite that setback, Milltown emerged victorious from the second-placed final with an impressive 5-7 to 1-1 victory over their Cavan counterparts

Milltown could take comfort in the fact that they were beaten by the eventual winners of the first-placed final. Carrick beat New York, although they needed extra time to overcome the girls from the Empire State.

Saturday’s tournament in UCD was held as part of this year’s Gathering celebrations. There were plenty of positives to draw from last weekend’s tournament. It went a long way to promoting Gaelic games, and it is hoped it will become a regular occurrence.

Of course for Milltown they will be playing host to a famous face soon. The trophy that Milltown should have received for winning their final was broken in transit.

As a result, four-time All-Ireland winning midfielder, Dublin’s Bryan Mullins will be popping down to pay a visit sometime in the future to present the ladies with their trophy and to participate in a training session.

Milltown team mentor and trainer, Cathy and Tom Dillon, would like to thank all those who helped organise the club’s match with New York and their participation in the UCD tournament, particularly Ann Somers and Bernie Kiernan.