The talk in Swinford, Co Mayo is of a rematch. This follows a very successful night of sportsmanship, rivalry and entertainment as No Name Club teams took on the local Gardaí in five-a-side tournament. In the end, a more youthful No Name Club selection took the overall honours by beating a Garda side 11-8 in the final.
Around 100 spectators turned out for the tournament on September 9th that saw 40 teenagers and 25 Gardaí lace up their boots. The event was held at Swinford Community Centre and one attendee was the lucky winner of a draw for two tickets for the All-Ireland Football Final. Kevin Murtagh, the Chair of Swinford No Name Club, described the event as a “great night” and said the members “are anxious for a re-run”. The following report is for the final was featured in the Western People newspaper. It was put together by Noreen Gallagher of the No Name Club Swinford.
On Thursday evening 9th September, Gardaí in full force headed for Swinford Community Centre sure that victory was their’s for the taking. But down in Chapel Street at H.Q, the boys and girls from Swinford No Name Club had other ideas. The Swinford Garda District took on the Swinford No Name Club in a five-a-side soccer league. The game got off to a great start for the Gardaí and supporters thought they might be the stronger team, but the No Name Club soon showed them that they were serious contenders for the shield. With just minutes to go it was obvious that the Gardaí were losing pace and trailing by two goals, frustration started to show when in the dying seconds of the game the No Name Club sealed the game with a goal which the Gardaí claimed was kicked in by the referee,which resulted in the referee being arrested. He was later released and Chairman of the Club Mr Kevin Murtagh is viewing footage of the game and a report is expected at the weekend.The final score was Swinford Gardaí 8 No Name club 11′
No Name Club members line up for the tournament.
Some of the Gardaí who participated in the tournament.
The post tournament presentation.
