We made club history in 2021 by entering two teams into County competitions. Huge thank you to Mairéad and everyone at Sligo Staffing Ltd for sponsoring the Junior Team jerseys this year.
The 2021 Junior Management team saw Holloway stalwarts Ciara Holland and Anne-Marie Dargan (Club President) enter the set-up alongside Intermediate player and Club Chairperson Aisling Clifford. They worked closely with Ciaran and Jack in the weekly training sessions and began developing and nurturing the skills and atmosphere of the Junior team. Huge congratulations and thanks to Ciara, Aisling and Anne-Marie for all their work and time this year.
The League
The Junior team began the season with a challenge game against Cambridge on Sunday April 25th before kicking off their league campaign on May 1st against eventual league winners Dulwich Harps.
A week later, the girls faced more strong opposition in the form of St. Anthony’s, who had just dropped down from the Intermediate grade. These were two tough tests for our Junior players but tests that would stand to them well as the season developed.
Next up on May 22nd was Tara’s before a meeting with fellow first timers Parnells, who also entered a second team in the 2021 competitions. This was a closely fought affair and the Gaels took away a lot of positives before their final league game against Fr. Murphy’s on June 12th . This game, which gave Holloway Juniors their first competitive win of the season, came at the perfect time for their Championship campaign.
The Championship
With confidence high and the team settling Fr. Murphy’s faced a stunning Holloway team in the opening round of the County Championship on July 3rd . An incredible performance here set the Juniors up for their next two games before the summer break. An away game to Tara’s on July 10th had every supporter on the line biting their nails to the quick! But our girls are no push overs and saw out the game with a one-point victory. Next up was a mid-week fixture against league winners Dulwich Harps in Downhills Park. A win in this game would secure the Juniors a semi-final position in the County Championship – in their first year, this is an amazing feat! And a hard fought win is what we got!
Losses to St. Anthony’s and Parnells in September, saw the Juniors finish 3rd in the table. This set them up for a semi-final battle against Dulwich Harps on October 2nd in Greenford. In wet, miserable conditions our girls were beaten by the stronger team on the day. The progress and achievements of this team and management in their first year has been tremendous and is a huge source of pride for the Holloway Gaels committee and wider family.
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