Over the May Day weekend, six squads flew out to Barcelona to represent South Down in the Nations Cup, held at the training grounds and stadium of Gimnastic Tarragona. The players were chosen from trials and only had ten hours of training and a few friendlies under their belts to prepare themselves for games against teams from other UK and Ireland regions. However, the one match everyone was looking forward to was the stellar game against Barcelona Academy.
Local teams that were represented included Rathfriland Rangers FC, Dunnaman FC, Warrenpoint Town, Camlough FC, Ballyvea FC, Windmill Stars, Rossowen FC, Midway FC, Ashgrove FC, Valley Rangers, and Meadowlands FC.
2017 Squad
The 2017 squad was the youngest to travel out, and the team came away unbeaten in the group stages, including an opening 1-0 win against Barcelona. The 2017s qualified for the cup finals and followed up an opening 0-0 draw with hosts Gimnastic with a win against another Spanish opponent, Vendrell, meaning they came away as cup winners.
In the full story in the current issue read how Our Lady’s Grammar and Rathfriland faired in the small cup.
