Solar 21 Park, Milebush, Castlebar played host to the Mayo County Final of the SPAR FAI Primary School 5s programme on Thursday, March 30.
The SPAR FAI Primary School 5s programme has seen participation figures grow year on year to become the largest primary schools’ competition in the country. 224 students from 28 schools participated in the Mayo County Final with just 8 schools progressing to the provincial finals.
The ‘A’ Cup, open to boys and/or mixed teams from small schools, had 7 passionate schools with the final between the talented Aghamore NS team and Ardagh NS team. Aghamore NS triumphed in what was a thrilling contest.
The ‘B’ Cup, for medium sized schools, again proved to be a compelling division with 4 teams involved. The final was eventually decided on by a narrow margin. Scoil Padraig, Westport proved a little too strong over a talented Foxford NS side.
The ‘C’ Cup, for large schools, was another hard fought contest between 4 very talented teams. Breaffy NS and St. Patrick’s BNS eventually came out on top of the large schools division.
The winners will now progress to the Connacht Finals on May 4 in Solar 21 Park, Milebush, Castlebar.
Participation in the girls division of the SPAR FAI Primary School 5s programme reached an all-time high this year with 11,272 4th, 5th and 6th class girls registered nationwide.
The Girls ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ Cup finals were held on the same day, in the same venue where there was a fantastic atmosphere throughout the competition.
In the Girls ‘A’ Cup, for small schools, Barnacarroll defeated Errew NS in a really exciting and hard fought match which ended 1-0 after extra time.
In the Girls ‘B’ Cup final, for medium sized schools, Bekan NS sealed qualification to the next stage after they overcame a tough challenge from Gaelscoil na Cruaiche on penalties.
Breaffy NS put in a fine display long with St. Angela’s NS to progress from the Girls ‘C’ Cup division for large schools.
The SPAR FAI Primary School 5s programme competition has been in existence since the mid 1990’s and has 28,256 participants from 1,483 schools involved this year, a 19% surge from last year.
The competition is run across six divisions, ensuring that schools of all sizes are catered for. Boys and girls are encouraged to play together but there is a separate competition for boys and girls dependent on school enrolment numbers.