TY GAA Blitz

On Thursday 10th of November, the school’s TY GAA team took part in a blitz hosted by Loreto Foxrock. After the great win that sent the senior team through to the semi-finals and the U 16 friendly win against Sacred Heart, the team was fired up and ready to go.

The blitz was composed of 6 Loreto schools from around the Dublin area. These teams included: Loreto College Mullingar, Loreto Abbey Dalkey, Loreto Secondary School Kilkenny, Loreto High School Beaufort, Loreto College Foxrock and our very own Loreto Secondary School Balbriggan. The Balbriggan team was captained by Aoibh Doyle, who has been a mainstay in the GAA teams since 1st year. The team’s coaches were Miss Mulligan and Mr. Doyle. 

Upon arrival, the girls got ready and warmed up for their first match which was against Loreto Mullingar. It was a very even game with both teams battling hard to try and clinch the win. Unfortunately, Loreto Mullingar won by a slim margin of 1 goal. This meant that in order for Balbriggan to have a chance at going to the semi-finals, they had to win their next match and Mullingar had to lose. 

The second opponent they went up against was Loreto Beaufort. Again, both teams were very evenly matched but in the second half Beaufort were able to capitalise on a few Balbriggan mistakes which ultimately lead to them seizing the victory. Due to this, Balbriggan were in a playoff with the other lowest team in the other group to see who came 5th and 6th.

After their second match, the team had a break in which they waited for their opponent to be confirmed. During this break, the girls meet Shane Walsh who is a Galway Gaelic Footballer. The girls were able to get photos with him before moving on to watch the last group stage matches which were taking place.

It was announced that Balbriggan would play Dalkey in a fight for fifth and sixth place. Although they may have lost the first two matches, the team was determined to win this match.  This time off, Balbriggan were able to get off on the right foot and dominated the game in the first half. There was great teamwork, movement and communication throughout the team. It seemed as if the team had been revitalised after the break in between matches. At half time the message was simple, keep doing what you are doing and you’ve got this in the bag. That is exactly what the team did, the same intensity from the first half was carried through to the second and in the end the game was won somewhat comfortably. The team was ecstatic that they were able to win the game and leave the pitches with at least one win under their belts from the day.

Although they did not win the blitz, the team did unbelievably well and are ready to get back to the senior team who will have their semi-final match soon. It was a great day out for all involved and showed the strength and depth of the squad that our TY team has.

Written by Alex Smyth