WEST BELFAST’S Cathal Brugha girls water polo team have won the Irish Under-19 Cup at Limerick University pool.

Following the narrowest of semi-final wins (7-6) over fellow Ulster side, Diamonds WPC, the Brugha Girls then faced the strongly fancied Tribes from Galway in the final. Goals were exchanged one-for-one right up until the last minute when Tribes took what looked like a tournament winning lead of 9-8, however Brugha’s Maria McGuigan was having none of it and clinched an epic equaliser for Brugha with one second left on the clock.

MVP: Eva Ramsey won Most Valuable Player of the tournament
2Gallery

MVP: Eva Ramsey won Most Valuable Player of the tournament

In a tense penalty shoot-out Brugha’s Tegan McGurk stepped up to fire home her teams fourteenth and final goal, giving Cathal Brugha Girls the Ireland Under-19 Cup Champions title by a single goal margin with a final score of (14-13).

The win was a fantastic achievement for the Falls Leisure Centre-based club especially with Brugha’s Eva Ramsey who deservedly was awarded Most Valuable Player of the Tournament.

The competition saw some strong showing from several other Ulster Clubs, who played well at this years Irish U19 Cup Finals.  Diamonds Girls were strong performers, going out to Cathal Brugha in the semi-final by a single goal, whilst Bangor Barracudas and Clonard Girls showed future promise as their young sides competed well before going out at the group stage.

In the Boys U19 Cup Finals, Clonard were unfortunate to go out in the semi-finals to a strong St Vincent’s Dublin team and Brugha Boys went out at the Group stage despite a thrilling 9-8 win over Drogheda WPC in their Group game.  

The Boys U19 Cup Finals eventually went to to Corrib from Co Galway who beat St Vincent’s from Dublin in the Boys final by a score of 5-1.