Dalriada footballers win seven-a-side tournament

Superb performances by Patrick Carson, Sean Madden and goalkeeper Adam Wright laid the firm foundations for the quite remarkable feat of not conceding a goal in six games-including a penalty shoot-out!

This success made up for the disappointment of losing out on qualification for the Coleraine and District League final play off – missing the cut by a single point.

The “B” team also gave a good account of themselves by turning in some good individual performances from Samuel Waide, Luke Pollock and Matthew Carton.

Both teams benefited from a short talk in with ColeraineFC manager, Oran Kearney, who complimented both teams on their excellent performances.

On Wednesday the U18 team travelled to Dominican College where they chalked up their third straight win of the season, with top striker Michael Mullaghan scoring a superb hat-trick, giving him seven goals in three games.

Tuesday and Thursday will usually see former Coleraine FC legend Paul Gaston overseeing the u14 and u16 squad sessions during their games period.

Friday concludes the weeks’ activities with the hugely popular IFA/Vauxhall 10 week coaching programme taking place on the superb 3G pitch. The coaching sessions are conducted by IFA Grassroots Development Officer Wesley Gregg and School football coordinator Ian Getty. A group of over twenty U13 team players take part in the project. Dalriada is one of the first schools in Northern Ireland to benefit from this activity.

Another new venture for the school is the hosting of an IFA level 1 coaching course held over a number of weekends. This allows potential coaches to get on the first rung of the coaching ladder by gaining this coveted award. Indeed U18 team Captain Adam Freeman has been one of the first successful participants when, along with 24 other participants, he recently completed the course, delivered by Wesley Gregg.