Our Under-11 team of 2015 travelled to Salthill on Sunday to take part in the host club’s tournament which was postponed from last December.

The Pete Burke Tournament

Our boys opened against the hosts (Salthill-Knocknacarra) and after a very well contested game we came out on top by 5 points. Our second game saw us face Castlebar and we came out well on top which left us facing the famous Corofin to determine the group winners.  We led by 3 points into the last minute but conceded a goal to leave the game level. This result put us second in our group and a rematch with Castlebar in the semi-final. Our confidence was high after the group result but from the throw-in Castlebar were in no mood to allow a repeat result. Although it was our best performance and we had our chances in a game in which the lead changed many times we just couldn't get the ball into the Castlebar net. The Castlebar goalkeeper performed miracles to deny a very good Mullingar team the win. We reached the semi-finals against some very well drilled and talented teams and the boys’ represented the club with some style.

The Enda Colleran Tournament

We opened against the hosts Salthill and from our meetings over the years we knew we had a hard task ahead. However the boys dug-in but unfortunately we came up short against a better team on the day, Our second outing was against Claregalway, a big strong team that took the lead early and were simply in no mood to give it up, Shamrocks attacks were denied by what Robbie Boyle describes as ‘some of the best underage goalkeeping I have ever seen’ and he has seen more than his fair share. Shamrocks attacked in waves and in the last minute managed to hit the roof of the net to secure a single-point victory. This qualified us for the quarter final against Barna. Again we led by a point at half-time and only in the dying minutes of the second half did we extend this lead to 5 points to seal the victory in an exciting game of football. Our semi-final opponents was the same Salthill team that defeated us in the opening game. They just had too many big guns for us, they seemed to be first to every ball and be in the right place for every breaking ball but this wasn't by chance; they were well drilled and totally committed and could score at will. When you take on the best from other counties there is always something new to learn and our boys learnt something today. Mullingar Shamrocks would like to express their appreciation to Salthill-Knocknacarra for inviting us to take part in their very well run and seriously enjoyable tournaments.