Inaugural LCETB Inter-Campus Football Tournament

Nial Hehir

Believe it or not, LCFE isn’t the only great campus in the LCETB family. In fact we enjoy great interconnectivity and a common bond with several other sister campuses and so with that in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to bring a few of these campuses together to highlight just that. To that end I contacted CFET OCAC, KRC and RHNC and together with LCFE MGSC, seven teams took part in a very lively and exciting football tournament which was tied in with Mental Health Ireland’s ‘Hello. How are you?’ information campaign.

Two pitches were booked in the UL Pavilion and the teams were divided into two groups. Each team played the other teams in their group and matches were 12 minutes long. There was great commitment, teamwork and no little skill on display, with some very competitive games played. To encourage inclusivity the teams were mixed and it was great to see the girls mixing it with boys. Special mention goes to Jamie Sheehan (MGSC) who scored a goal from the half way line, albeit very much wind assisted, but a cracker nonetheless.

At the end of the group stage, the final placings were decided and the respective 1sts, 2nds and 3rds played each other to decide the final rankings and who would be crowned winners. The two MGSC teams played each other in a good spirited contest to decide on bragging rights in the 5th / 6th play off. RHNC’s B Team defeated the KRC Sports & Rec team to claim 3rd place in a hard-fought encounter.

The final was between RHNC’s Electrical Apprentices and KRC’s FAI & ESOL. The two teams were deadlocked at 0-0 at half time, despite RHNC having a very strong wind at their backs. KRC attacked well in the 2nd half but were repelled by some stout defending. With only a few minutes remaining it looked as if we were headed for a penalty shoot-out. However, good passing down the left wing gave the RHNC centre forward a scoring chance which he tucked away sublimely. With only a minute left the result was sealed when a shot from 25 metres out lobbed the keeper to nestle in the net giving RHNC an unassailable 2-0 lead. Cue scenes of jubilation. It was agreed that the best team won on the day giving Ned O’Meara the honour of housing the cup in the Learning Hub in RHNC.

Special thanks must go to the staff in all campuses who arranged for teams to take part, the referees supplied by the FAI, the first aid team from MSSC, photographers Cian O’Tiarnaigh, students from MGSC and Martin Kiely from RHNC, Niall Downes for manning the fixtures/ scores, my colleagues in the AISS for supporting me in organising the tournament and of course to all the players for taking part.