Monaghan United U14 girls take CMUL crown
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Neansaí McDonnell. Erin Ni Neill Ui ThreinfhirImage 2 of 3
Monaghan United’s Molly McGuinness.Image 3 of 3
Monaghan United U14 girls team. Back row: Jim Murphy, Chloe Gillespie, Sadbh Sheridan, Aoibhin Treanor, Síofra Kavanagh, Tia Hughes, Hayley Treanor, Caoimhe Murphy, Ella Sherry and Ronan Callan.Front row: Paul Sherry, Amy McMeel, Molly McGuinness, NeansaÍ McDonnell, Chloe Coyle, Sadbh o’Hanlon, Carla Roddy, Hannah McKkenna.Missing from photo: Aoife McArdle, Cassie Woods, Shonagh Sammon and Sumintra Woods. ALL Photos by: Erin Ni Neill Ui Threinfhir.Monaghan United U14 girls were crowned the Cavan Monaghan Underage League (CMUL) champions at the weekend.
It's the second big achievement for the team, who also recently won the Schoolboys/Girls Football Association of Ireland (SFAI) league.
They came out of Saturday's final league game against Cootehill Harps A.F.C with a score of 4-0 with Tia Hughes putting three of those in the net, while Neansaí McDonnell also scored a goal for her team.
Speaking to the Celt, Manager and Coach Ronan Callan said both wins are "great for the girls."
Striker Tia has now scored a total of 47 goals this season, and the manager praised the entire team captained by Aoife McArdle who are "just getting better."
"You can see them getting better each week.. You just explain something once and they take everything on board. They've bonded well," he said.
Meanwhile, he also praised their opponents: "Cootehill are a great side, they have a lot of young players as well."
The Monaghan team will take a one-week break before going back to training for a tournament in Kells. They will then turn their focus to training for the Blackpool Cup next year. The club is hoping to take the girls U12/U13 and the U14/U15 teams.
While Monaghan United are looking forward to this, the manager said "I don't feel the girls get the same recognition as boys do."
He explained how the FAI "skip" the U15 age group and go to U16.
"We have proposed over the last few years that they shouldn't skip that 15's year, because they are missing out on the SFAI cup at that age then and some of the bigger tournaments. Hopefully that will change this year," he said.
Ronan has eight players on this team who will "probably end up" playing in the U16 age group.
"We've spoke to a few of the clubs and they are in agreement that we need to keep them within their proper age group. The hope is that we will get 15's for the next season."
Meanwhile he also hopes to get League of Ireland football for girls at underage level to "give them a proper pathway". This league currently does not commence for girls until U17.
"They don't have League of Ireland for U14s and U15s. There are serious talented players in those age groups," he said.
Monaghan United have 90 girls playing football for the club, which he said it "great."
The U14 group has been coached to success by Ronan, Jim Murphy, Paul Sherry and Sumintra Woods.