Narrow margins prevent North Tipp from higher finish in Gaynor Cup
By Gary Culbert
Frustration was the key takeaway from the 2026 Gaynor Cup campaign for the North Tipperary Schoolchildren’s Football League (NTSFL) U14 girls’ squad.
A change to the format of the tournament, refereeing decisions, missed opportunities and fair chunk of bad luck all conspired to result in a disappointing 19th place finish for North Tipperary in the prestigious 27-team tournament.
With North Tipp’s group consisted of just three teams as John Pio Fitzpatrick’s side lay idle on day as the other two teams in the group – Limerick District and Clare – played out a scoreless draw in the University of Limerick.
Immediately, North Tipp were at a slight disadvantage as they would have to play two games in quick succession on Tuesday. However, they also now knew that just one win would be enough to secure a finish in the top two, thus ensuring safe passage to the next round.
In the morning game, North Tipp were held to a scoreless draw by Clare. Ballymackey’s Holly Fitzpatrick the standout player, who were left rueing a missed penalty early on.
This point meant that North Tipp needed something against last year’s Gaynor Cup winners Limerick District, if they were going to progress to the next round.
In a high stakes game against top opposition, North Tipp were had made a decent start to the game, but in the eighth minute all in attendance were left scratching their head as the referee’s whistle did not sound for a free when Limerick’s captain bundled North Tipp goalkeeper Katie Harnett over the line following an in-swinging corner. The Ballymackey net-minder had caught the ball and was in the process of tightening her grip on it when the Limerick skipper unceremoniously justled ball and player over the goal-line with the goal allowed to stand.
Despite this setback, North Tipp were well in the game up until the final ten minutes, when another lethal in-swinging corner was converted from close range. To highlight this point, Limerick bundled in a third just before the final whistle, with a long throw the origins once more.
CeCe Moloney was North Tipp’s player of the match in the defeat, and there was more good news for the Killavilla United player as she was selected in the Republic of Ireland squad for the Associations Cup, which will be played later this month in the University of Limerick.
Having finished third in the group, North Tipp dropped into the Shield competition where they defeated Inishowen 5-0 in the last 16, with a hat-trick from Cloughjordan’s Pippa King doing the majority of the damage. Moneygall’s Lily Coughlan was the player of the match, whilst Knigh United’s Chloe Kingston and an own goal rounded off the scoring in the emphatic victory.
However, with tournament football comes highs and lows, as North Tipp would find out in the quarterfinals, losing 1-0 to Roscommon in a game where Choe Kingston was the standout player for North Tipp.
The great week that the girls enjoyed was rounded off with a 3-1 win over Louth to finish 19th overall. Goalkeeper Katie Hartnett was the player of the match in this one, with the goals coming from a Cece Moloney brace and one from Borrisokane’s Emma Austin.
The Gaynor Cup takes place over five incredibly memorable but also fast-moving days. However, in truth, the tournament is really the culmination of three years of dedicated coaching, with John Pio Fitzpatrick and his team of coaches often taking to the pitch twice or three times week to pass on their knowledge.
On Friday, Fitzpatrick and the wider coaching team said their emotional goodbyes to the group. The football will go on for the girls, but the Gaynor Cup marked the end of a three-year journey for Fitzpatrick with this group. We will keep a close eye on what is to come next for both players and coaches alike from the 2026 Gaynor Cup squad.
Coaches Player of the Tournament: Megan Davis
Players Player of the Tournament: Chloe Kingston
NTSFL Squad: Katie Harnett, Amy Keogh, Caoimhe Manley, Holly Fitzpatrick, Lily Dunne (Ballymackey); Cece Moloney, Sofiya Kol, Loreli Hayes (Killavilla United); Anna Costello, Lily Coughlan, Aoife O'Dwyer (Moneygall); Emma Austin, Megan Davids (Borrisokane); Caoimhe Kennedy, Ella O'Meara (BT Harps); Zofia Kwiecinska (Rearcross); Alexander Rotari (Nenagh Celtic); Pippa King (Cloughjordan); Tess Noonan (Lough Derg); Chloe Kingston (Knigh United)