Tribes Water Polo Club contested the U19 Irish Cup final last weekend, but suffered defeat in the cruelest way, losing 5-4 on penalties to Cathal Brugha from Belfast after the game had finished 9-9.

The Tribes squad was a mixture of youth and experience, with many of the club’s U-17 cup winners from last year as well as senior players Aishling Walsh, Olivia Smialek, and Sarah Bradley making them a formidable outfit for the tournament.

The weekend began on Friday with a win over North Dublin 16-4, in a game that Tribes girls very much dominated. The second game against Diamonds WPC from Belfast was a much different affair, having stayed with Diamonds for much of the game, eventually Diamonds took command and won the game 13-6.

The third game of the group to decide progress to the semi-final was against an inexperienced Clontarf team, with Tribes winning 22-15, as scores from Sarah Bradley, Alice Corcoran, Iona McDonnell, Lydia McNicholas, and Laura Casserly saw Tribes ease into the semi-final against St Vincent’s.

The semi-final early on Sunday morning was very much dominated by Tribes. Alice Corcoran got the opening and second goal, and Laura Casserly added a third to leave the score 3-1 at the end of the first quarter.

Tribes were using their swimming and their wings to great effect, and further goals from Aoife Bundschu left it 4-2 to Tribes at the half time break. In the third quarter Tribes pushed on adding three more goals from Bundschu and McNicholas who were tormenting the St Vincent’s defence, leaving the score 7-4 at the end of the third quarter.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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