School Thurles
The time has come once again when we welcome the German exchange students from Rosenheim . Fifteen German students arrived into Cork Airport to a huge Irish welcome. Four transition year students and eleven fifth year students participated in the exchange programme this year. The German students were very excited about their two week stay in Thurles and surrounding area. The girls integrated well into school life in the Presentation and participated well in all areas, e.g. German classes with all years, learned Irish and the tin whistle which they loved. They also took part in PE class and choir which they thoroughly enjoyed.On Thursday last they attended the musical in the Premier Hall "Me and My Girl". They were all delighted and thought that it was fantastic.The students and their German partners visited sights around the country. On Tuesday they visited Mitchelstown Caves ,Rock of Cashel and Ballydoyle Stud in Rosegreen. On Thursday 21st they headed off to visit sights such as Bunratty castle and the Cliffs of Moher .So all in all the German Students had a great two week stay packed with cultural activities and all the time enjoying the home comforts of living with a host family and experiencing Irish life. A huge thanks to all of the students and their families and best wishes to all of the german students!!
Presentation Thurles – 6 Loreto Fermoy – 2
Pres travelled to Fermoy last Thursday to meet Loreto Secondary School in the Munster Cup final. Pres started the game nervously and Loreto took advantage of this as they swept a goal passed our goalkeeper within five minutes from the push off. However,the girls in red didn’t let this upset their game and moments later they levelled the score. Just before the half time whistle, Pres broke through the Loreto defence to put them a goal ahead. The half time score was 2-1 in favour of the Pres.
Presentation upped the ante in the second half. Within ten minutes they pushed three goals past the Loreto goalkeeper. This left the score 5-1 to our girls. Loreto then scored to leave the score 5-2. Pres immediately scored another goal to leave a final score of 6-2.
Pres simply outclassed Loreto on the day with great performances,in particular from Marie Cooney, Megan Bailey and Niamh Sweeney in the forwards. Marie Cooney was influential at centre forward scoring a hat trick. Megan Bailey skilfully broke through the Fermoy defence to score two goals. Niamh Sweeney’s runs down the right wing and her cross field balls were a major annoyance to the Loreto defence as her speedy legs and skilful play broke through their defence. Niamh Sweeney’s goal also added to the Presentation tally.Due to the dominance of Laura Finlay in the centre and her back unit of Meggie Fitzgerald, Laura Walsh, Aoibheann O’ Neill and goalkeeper Helen Reid, Loreto were denied many goal chances.Overall, it was a great team performance by the Pres girls. This Pres team have also won the Munster League this year.
Team: Helen Reid, Sinéad Kennedy, Aoibheann O’ Neill, Laura Walsh, Meggie Fitzgerald, Laura Finlay, Kate Kavanagh, Kirsty Harris, Niamh Sweeney, Ceri Martin, Megan Bailey, Marie Cooney, Clare McCormack, Maria Ryan. Coach – E. Skehan
Presentation first year teams are crowned midlands champions:
On Tuesday 15th April the Pres girls travelled to Portlaoise to play the Midlands ‘A’ regional Basketball final. The Bower Athlone provided the opposition. The game was a thrilling encounter. The Bower made the better start but the Presentation girls settled their nerves and got themselves back into the game. The girls played extremely well with an excellent shooting display from Karen Kennedy and Niamh Kennedy. Pres were leading by 7 points at half time; the girls extended the lead early in the second half and never looked back. Roslyn Priestly and Courtney Ryan scored 18 points between them. Nicola Loughnane and Fiona Morrissey controlled the boards and picked up offensive and defensive rebounds. The girls defeated The Bower Athlone in what was their best performance of the season. Final score: 34-17. Best of Luck to the girls in the All-Ireland playoffs which take place in the University of Limerick on the 7th and 8th of May.
Team: Courtney Ryan, Caoimhe O Dowd, Roslyn Priestly, Fiona Morrissey, Aoife Gallagher, Aoife Collier, Niamh Kennedy, Aoife Butler, Karen Kennedy, Georgia Hobbs, Mary Ellen McBride, Aisling Brett, Nicola Loughnane, Niamh Horan, Faye O’ Sullivan, Caroline Fogarty, Hayleigh Costello, Emily O’ Gorman, Anna Bergin, Louise McCormack.
Our 2nd year A basketball team had quite a successful Midlands league campaign which saw a great improvement from last year. The girls had a great start to the league, with great victories over St. Mary’s Naas, Mercy Waterford, Kilcock, Tullamore and Rathangan. The team were only beaten in one of their league games, with victory going to a strong Bower, Athlone team. Pres finished second in their group and so drew a semi-final meeting with old-rivals Mercy Waterford. Confidence was high in the team as they had come away victorious from the last meeting of these two teams. Unfortunately, in what was a very tight contest, Pres just ran out of time after an inspirational come-back in the fourth quarter but were pipped to the post and were denied an appearance in the Midlands final by a single point. The girls will take confidence from the great advances they made this year and no doubt will come back fighting as cadettes next year to go that one step further…
“Perfect Practice Makes Perfect”
Team List: Rachel Byrne, Sorcha Henderson (Captain), Alicia Howe, Brigid Kemerer, Karen Kennedy, Niamh Kennedy, Sinéad Lawless, Laura Loughnane (Captain), Rachel McCormack, Jane-Anne McKevitt, Alanna Moore, Keelin Nugent, Aoife O’Brien, Emma O’Brien, Gráinne O’Mahony, Josie Power.