North Dublin and St Vincent’s win the 2024 Division 1 Cups
North Dublin & St Vincent’s – Division 1 Cup Champions
11th February 2024
North Dublin ladies was the story of the weekend as they beat defending champions St Vincent’s with a last second goal in this evenings final to win the Division 1 cup for the first time in a dramatic 7-6 win.
Both finalists came second in their group winning one and losing one, with St Vincent’s going on to face group B winners Tribes in the semi final where they were comfortable winners (9-5) to advance to the final. In the other semi final North Dublin faced group A winners Cathal Brugha who couldn’t repeat their performance that saw them beat St Vincent’s in their group game the previous day, meaning North Dublin progressed to the final with a 7-4 win.
The final was a nail biting affair, with very little separating the two sides as they traded goals for most of the game before St. Vincent’s managed to open up a 2 goal lead with just over 5 minutes left to play to lead 6-4. But North Dublin came back to draw level with two quick goals before Iris Reddington’s long range effort went in as the full time buzzer went, leaving no time left for St Vincent’s to try bring the game to penalties. The win for North Dublin meant that they become only the second name on the Women’s Division 1 Cup with St Vincent’s dominating this competition since it began in 2008.
Women’s MVP of the tournament was Sarah Robinson (North Dublin).
In the men’s competition St Vincent’s won the Bro Philip Division 1 Cup beating Cathal Brugha in what was a reverse of the 2023 final.
Both teams topped their group winning all 3 of their group games with St Vincent’s facing group B runners up Corrib and the Belfast side facing group A runners up North Dublin in what was also a repeat of the semi final line up in the 2023 edition of this competition. Both semi finals turned out to be extremely tight affairs with St Vincent’s beating Corrib (4-3) and Cathal Brugha beating North Dublin (11-9) on penalties after it finished 7-7 at full time.
In the final it was the Dublin side that took control at the start building up a 5-1 lead by half time before Cathal Brugha fought back to trail by 2 (7-5) at the start of the 4th quarter but St Vincent’s then pulled ahead again to win their 4th Division 1 cup title with 10-7 victory.
Men’s MVP of the tournament was Fionn Byrne (St Vincent’s).
Thank you to the staff in Lisnasharragh Leisure Centre (https://www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/belfast/lisnasharragh) who were very obliging and helping in making hours available over the weekend and providing assistance especially in the set up and take down of the pool.
A big thank you to all our referees, table officials and in particular to Tournament Director Phil Kelly who played a huge part in both the organisation and running of the tournament over the weekend.
Information & Results:
Bro Philip Mens NLD1 Cup Results
