*Photograph: Joe Buckley
TULLA United’s victory in Saturday’s Clare ladies soccer cup final “means everything for the club”.
That’s according to team manager Colm Perrill who was speaking after his charges had claimed the crown, winning in a penalty shootout over holders Moher Celtic.
“We have such a mixture of young and old and today was just about the younger ones coming through. I am delighted for those involved, we have had such a tough long season”, the manager said.
He continued, “it took us a while to get going and to finish like this. I am so proud of the girls and the way they played, so proud of the club and the way they supported us. It’s a great day for Tulla”.
The manager was particularly proud of “the way the girls support each other, it’s a huge part of the club’s ethos, supporting each other. We are giving them an opportunity to play all the way through from schoolgirls right up to adult and we are so proud”.
While stating that the win was “a great team effort”, he agreed that goalkeeper Ava O’Donovan “was exceptional. She is a typical keeper, she is brilliant and we saw that today as she made outstanding saves. She saved us”.
Asked as to what the future holds for the team he said “the plan is to keep this team and support adult ladies soccer in Clare and try and get more and more of our young players through. We want to give them the opportunity to play all the way up from academy to adult. That’s the plan and hopefully the league will get stronger. The majority are from the area and they have played from under 10 upwards. They have formed great friendships”, he said.
The team will be back in action soon as they compete in the FAI cup. “We haven’t thought too much about that yet. We will celebrate this success first”, he concluded
