The Owl 2020

The Owl 2020
School Games
played matches against Coleraine Ladies and
Raphoe Ladies.
The 1st XI won their Super League group by
beating Wallace High, Portadown College and
Lurgan College. The reward for winning our
group in the Super League was to be placed in
the third round of the Senior Schools’ Cup. We
drew Victoria College, who we had beaten
narrowly last season in the Cup. This season
was a more convincing 5-2 win with Niamh
McIvor scoring a hat trick and Megan Warke
and Aoife Corry scoring the other two goals.
This win gave the team confidence and belief
going forward to the quarter-final stage, where
we met Ballyclare High, and in the end we
proved the better team with a 3-1 win, Niamh
McIvor scoring one and Emma Uprichard
getting the other two goals.
Academy. Having played Banbridge in the
Super League semi-final at the same venue, we
knew that this draw was not going to be easy.
Having lost narrowly last time on penalty runs,
we were prepared to go out and show
Banbridge that this time it would be different.
Before the semi-final day arrived, we went on
tour to Edinburgh. The timing of the tour
worked in perfectly as it provided us with the
opportunity to play two very good Scottish
schools in George Watson and Mary Erskine
Grammar, giving us crucial preparation for the
semi-final.
The semi-final match was very close and
ended up finishing scoreless. Again, our semifinal
against Banbridge Academy needed to be
decided by penalty runs.
On this occasion, the outcome was in our
favour winning 5-4 through the drama of
‘sudden death’!
From August and throughout the season, we
trained hard for all our matches with our main
purpose of getting to the the final, which truly
is a school girl’s dream.
The whistle went and the game got underway,
BRA conceded early as our nerves had not
settled.
As the match progressed, we rose to the
occasion and scored shortly after, with Niamh
Mcivor getting a touch in front of the Friends’
keeper set up by Emma Uprichard.
Goals followed on by Megan Warke, Julia
Uprichard and Abbie Braniff, with Friends’
scoring a late goal to make the final score 4-2.
An outstanding team performance! BRA lifted
the cup for the first time in 46 years! The
celebrations went on long into the night!
In the semi-final to be played at the Stormont
pitches, we were drawn against Banbridge
Goalkeeper, Erin Lavery, was the hero of the
hour making the winning save after Niamh
McIvor had scored ours. This took us into the
final of the Schools, Cup where we would meet
Friends’ School.
The final day arrived on March 4th.
Excitement and joy filled this closely bonded
group of girls with some nerves on the side for
a few players and coaches. Pre match
preparations involved putting our BRA
ribbons on, getting the music blasting and most
importantly imagining the victory that we were
about to achieve. Our pre match lunch included
meeting members of the last BRA Schools’
Cup winning team from 1974!
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