On Monday the 29th April, our Sruleen Girls 5 a side team of Adrianna, Alyssa, Ciara, Emma, Rhia C, Ria G and Lucy made history by becoming the first ever Sruleen team to win the Dublin 5 a side championships. This was an amazing achievement for these girls because it's no mean feat to pit yourself up against the best in Dublin and come out on top! The girls won all three of their group games to top the group but the final was an absolute edge of your seat, nailbiter! It didn't start well for us at all as the girls fell behind conceding two goals early but these resilient girls never give up and fought back to level it 2-2. From there on in, it became a tense, see-saw battle with the lead changing hands on numerous occasions before the ref blew the whistle at 5-5 bringing us to the penalties! Thankfully, our girls stepped up with two nerveless and beautifully struck penalties from Emma and Ciara and a wonderful diving save from Alyssa! We have a strong core of 5 excellent Sixth Class players but we also must salute our younger girls Ria G and Lucy for being so composed on their debuts for this team! This victory is no more than these girls deserve as they have suffered so much heartbreak in their sporting life here with 3 agonizingly close semi-final losses in the Cumann na mBunscol GAA competition, a loss in the camoige final last year in Croke Park, a loss in the FAI Senior Cup final last year and a loss in the South Dublin 5 a side final last year too! The fact that the girls kept picking themselves up and battling their way into the latter stages of these competitions is testament to both their talent and resilience but it makes it all the more impressive that they still had the belief in themselves to fight back in the final and go on and win this competition considering all the tough losses in the past! They move on to the Leinster final in a few weeks time but everything from here on in is a bonus as whatever happens now, they can always say that they are Dublin Champions! No doubt they will be eager to keep the dream of an All Ireland final in the Aviva stadium alive!
