It is Sligo’s fourth success in the competition which they last won in 2015. IT Carlow have won the competition on three consecutive occasions since then and were unluckily relegated to runners-up on this occasion after the result of their final game, coincidentally against the eventual winners.
There was an excellent standard playing within the competition, which included the CUFL Women’s Futsal Plate with Senior Internationals Niamh Farrelly, Aislinn Meaney and Player of the Tournament Amy Boyle-Carr all representing their respective colleges at the National Finals.
With four teams in each competition, each team played against each other in a series of games with the winners decided by final group positions. Sligo got off to the best possible start when they defeated DCU 6-2 in their opening game with Rachel Kearns grabbing a brace. They would repeat that scoreline in their second game with Kearns again scoring twice and Boyle-Carr and Ella McLaughlin also netting twice.
IT Carlow began their attempt to defend their crown with an economical 2-1 win over TU Dublin City Campus with Bronagh Kane and Tamara O’Connor getting on the scoresheet. They would show their ruthlessness in the second game as they put 5 past DCU including a double from Lauren Dwyer.
Both teams entered the last game against each other with Sligo knowing that a draw would be in their favour. However, Carlow got off to a good start when Dwyer would score her third of the day. Boyle-Carr would soon bring matters level before Kane gave Carlow the advantage going into half-time. Boyle-Carr would have the last laugh of the day though when she equalised for Sligo and Carlow could not force through the required goal to retain the cup.
In the Plate competition, TU Dublin Blanchardstown would find success to add to their Men’s football success the previous day. Player of the Tournament Eleanor Ryan-Doyle was unstoppable, scoring nine of Blanchardstown’s seventeen goals in three games. In their final game against Trinity College, who had their own aspirations of success, Blanchardstown took a two goal lead before Cliodhna Ni She and Aoife Robinson brought the game level, however Blanchardstown would pull away again and would not be caught in the race to lift the silverware.
Results
RUSTLERS CUFL Women’s Futsal Cup
DCU 2-6 IT Sligo
IT Carlow 2-1 TU Dublin City 1
IT Carlow 5-1 DCU
TU Dublin City Campus 2-6 IT Sligo
IT Carlow 2-2 IT Sligo
TU Dublin 2-8 DCU
RUSTLERS CUFL Women’s Futsal Plate
NUI Galway 3-9 TU Dublin Blanchardstown
Trinity 3-2 Cork IT
Trinity 7-5 NUI Galway
Cork IT 3-4 TU Dublin Blanchardstown
TU Dublin Blanchardstown 4-2 Trinity College Dublin
NUI Galway 4-5 Cork IT