Junior squad for National YAL final in B’ham!
Sat 30 July 2011--admin
Perfect conditions greeted athletes and spectators alike up at Antrim today for the NIYAL final. After finishing 6th last year, City of Lisburn AC were confident of improving upon that but were unsure whether they could challenge for honours due to injuries, unavailabilities plus having a squad in Glasgow for the Scottish Junior champs.
As perennial champions City of Derry Spartans have of course represented the NIYAL very well at the last four National Auxiliary YAL finals across the water. However they made the decision that if they won this year they would step aside and allow another club the opportunity to represent the NIYAL at the National Final in Birmingham on 03 September.
City of Derry duly defended their overall title as NIYAL champions by a comfortable margin thanks to their strength across all the categories. However, a supreme effort by the City of Lisburn squad saw us finish 2nd overall and therefore booked us our ticket to Birmingham!!
Excellent performances by the U13 boys and girls saw them win their categories overall, a feat also achieved by the U15 girls. However it truly was a team effort which made this such a special day.
City of Lisburn’s Athletes of the Match were as follows
U13 Girls Phoebe Tan
U13 Boys Thomas Quinn
U15 Girls Kathryn Case
U15 Boys Ben Fisher
U17 Girls Ruth Hewlett
U17 Boys Dominic Martin
A fuller report will follow, as will photos of the Final.
Thanks to all the Athletics NI officials and to the committee of the NIYAL for a great day which went very smoothly, with the efficient results service particularly impressive. Finally congratulations to all the other teams for a great final but especially to champions City of Derry Spartans who we thank for their gesture.
In the meantime, planning for the trip to Birmingham has already begun! Watch this space for more details…