Regional to showcase some of the best girls soccer has to offer

The Regional United Cup will take place this weekend at the club’s grounds in Dooradoyle.  The tournament will consist of some of the best girls teams in the country. Teams from Dublin, Cork, Mayo, Tipperary and Limerick will compete at the U-16 grade in a tournament organised by Regional Utd.

Dublin’s Peamount United, Cork’s Wilton United, Tipperary’s Cashel Town FC, Mayo’s Westport FC and Aisling Annacotty will join Regional in the competition. The hosts also play an exhibition game against Shamrock Rovers at 12:30pm on the Saturday.

One of Regional United’s coaches Fergal O’Neill gives an insight into the tournament and the reasons as to why it’s taking place.

“The six teams will then be in two groups of three, similar to the Viking Cup format. We will then have three finals on the Sunday.”

“The catalyst for having the tournament in the first place was the fact that the National Cup was cancelled by the FAI this year so these girls didn’t have any national competition to play in apart from their domestic leagues.”

“We decided to run something local with the best teams in the country at it. Once the girls hit U-17 they go off and play with Limerick or Cork or other teams so it will be the last time that this group will be together at this age.”

“It’s a great showcase to give the girls a platform. Sue Ronan is coming down, the Ireland U-16s Irish coach and the U-19s Irish coach Dave Connell will also be there so the platform is there to showcase themselves in front of these people. It’s great for the players and the clubs.”

Also available at the grounds will be a shop, barbecue and candy floss stall. There is no entry fee to come to the event which was made possible with the support of local businesses like Russells Bar, Dooradoyle Centra, Irish Cement, Prestige Cleaning and Pat Tiernan Motors.

Fixtures for the tournament are as follows: