St Catherine’s annual seven-a-side competition returns this weekend

The St Catherine’s Annual Sevens competition returns this Saturday, August 3, with some brilliant action lined up at Emerald Park with teams spanning across the country with clubs from counties Donegal, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Dublin and Sligo participating in the event. 

Teams from across the country have flocked to take part in the legendary competition and this year the likes of Coolock Village, Ballaghadereen, Donegal Town, Keadue Rovers, and Illies Celtic will descend on Killybegs for a festival of football this August Bank Holiday with the hope of winning €1,500. 

Carbury FC from Sligo returns to defend their crown, while the tournament also welcomes NFC Kesh to the event for the first time. 

The Killybegs club has, over the years, produced some amazing local talent. Current Republic of Ireland captain Seamus Coleman. Coleman signed for Sligo Rovers from the club in 2006 and arrived at Everton in January 2009 where he now also skippers the Toffees.  

Countless great players have worn the green and white over the course of the last 125-plus years - from Daniel Campbell and Tommy Dorrian to Charlie McBrearty; Lochlann O’Rourke, Barry McGowan, and Pat Byrne to the late great Paul ‘Feet’ Murrin.  

Declan Boyle was the first Saint to go overseas when he signed for Celtic in 1995 alongside a stellar League of Ireland career with Finn Harps, Derry City, and Sligo Rovers and is the current under-19 coach at the Showgrounds.  

He succeeded club legend and Brian ‘Dinky’ Dorrian in that role, who led the Saints to the double in 2015 and now works for the FAI as a high-performance coach. 

While other names such as, Shaun Kelly began his professional career at Scottish giants Hearts before a stellar League of Ireland spell saw him line out for Dundalk, Galway United, Derry City and Limerick FC. 

This year’s tournament is broken into two groups of five with Strathroy Harps, Illies Celtic, NFC Kesh, Carbury FC, and St Catherine’s in one group, while Strand Celtic, Ballaghaderreen FC, Coolock Village, Keadue Rovers, and Donegal Town FC make up the second group. 

Each game is seven minutes a half across the full pitch, with the first match starting at 10am. 

The tournament is always a well-put-on event in the Killybegs area and will no doubt spark some energy into the teams before the football season kicks off next month.