Westport’s Sacred Heart School ready to do the double

THE sweet melody of excitement and adventure is dancing throughout the halls of Westport’s Sacred Heart School this week as their footballers prepare for not one but two All-Ireland semi-finals.

First up are their Under-16 team. Still ebullient from their Connacht final rumble with Tubbercurry in the Dome, Brian Regan’s ladies face Leinster queens FCJ Secondary School Bunclody in the semi-final in St Rynagh’s Banagher in Offaly this Wednesday.

With four Under-14 All-Ireland winning Mayo panellists (Katie Hughes, Lauren Cusack, Maria McDonnell, and Aoibhinn McNamara) five Mayo Under-16s (Cusack, Doireann Guilfoyle, Aoife Meaney, Grace McDonnell) and a Mayo Minor (Larissa Kelly) in their ranks, múinteoir Brian Regan has assembled a squad that has happily married skill and physicality.

Drawn from the wells of Westport, Kilmeena and Burrishoole LGFA clubs, they face a Wexford team that took Scoil Chríost Rí from Portlaoise to extra time to win the Leinster title.

With the pick of Wexford’s two best Under-16 teams in 2023 in Baile Dubh Tíre and Clonee, Emily Murphy and Makayla Tobin-Cosgrave shone as Bunclody took the crown with four to spare in the end.

With the ghosts of last year’s Connacht Under-16 final defeat long banished, Sacred Heart have rarely been more upbeat before a game.

“We brought in a lot of new talent as well to bolster the squad so it’s a real strong energetic group,” Regan told The Mayo News.

“There’s a lot of physicality too, quite a tall team and a lot of good athletes. You might have noticed no shortage of height. We played a senior team in a challenge match yesterday and, at times, you wouldn’t have known who was senior and who was junior.”

One of them is the 5’8” Larissa Kelly, a girl with plenty of county experience and one of several Sacred Heart U-16 and senior double-jobbers.

“It’s really exciting to be fair, especially to be in not one but two semi-finals. I just hope we can win both I suppose and have another crack at an All-Ireland,” the Westport girl told The Mayo News.

Sitting beside her is Grace McDonnell – formerly a Burrishoole rival but now firmly a sister-in-arms.

“No I’ve marked a few times in club games so it’s just cool that we’re able to play together as well as being involved with different clubs,” McDonnell smiled before thoughts turned to a potential dance with All-Ireland glory.

“It would mean a lot for me and for all the girls, and really the whole school because it doesn’t come around often and they are obviously really hard to get to,” McDonnell says.

“We’re all quite excited. We have to win the semi-final first. It would be a dream for us.”

Their manager is already dreaming that dream.

“I’m confident, I’m looking forward to it,” said Regan.

“Our girls play good football. If they play their football and back themselves and just perform on the day. It’s a real cliché; but if you perform that’s more than you can ask for and the result will take care of itself.”