Twenty two girls drawn from the Under 15 and Under 16 panel from Carrick Rovers soccer club travelled to Carhaix at the October Bank Holiday to play and train with their counterparts in our twin town. They were accompanied by three coaches, four Child Safety Officers, the President of the Twinning Committee and his wife.
The group travelled to Cork, to board the ferry to Roscoff, in the capable hands of Thomas Gernon from Coolderry Coaches. The windy weather in the English Channel meant that the departure was delayed and the group didn’t reach Carhaix until early Sunday afternoon. Despite the lengthy travel schedule and the lack of preparation time the team were in action at 5.00p.m to play the inaugural match for the Coupe de Jumelage for girls.
Two evenly balanced teams played a very exciting game and an early goal from Niamh Marron put the Carrick team ahead. The Carhaix team fought back and scored an equaliser shortly afterwards. The second half was very closely contested and it took a late goal from Grace Elliott to settle the game in favour of the Rovers. The cup was presented to the winning captain by Marie Louise Huiban, the President of the Carhaix Carrickmacross Twinning Committee.
The group enjoyed the hospitality provided by the hosts in France until the return trip on Tuesday evening. The team travelled to the nearby city of Brest on Monday to participate in a training session with some of the French international ladies futsal team, followed by a number of indoor mini games with these players and the Carhaix girls. The local Twinning committee hosted an evening meal on both Sunday and Monday evenings, followed by a sing song and some Irish and Breton dancing. Some time was set aside on Tuesday morning for shopping before heading to Roscoff for the return trip. This proved to be a race to beat Storm Ciarán but the ferry reached Cork Harbour early on Wednesday morning before the strong winds hit Ireland. The team returned to Carrickmacross on Wednesday afternoon with the cup and are now looking forward to defending it next year when the Carrick Rovers girls will host the Carhaix team.
