LUCAN United are on course to score a hat-trick of cups during the MGL cup final period in the Oscar Traynor Centre from next week.
Three young Lucan sides are deep in preparation for their respective finals, with the Under-11 side due to play in the Herald Cup final against Home Farm and the Under-12 team facing Shelbourne in the eFlow Cup final.
Both those games take place next Sunday, April 26, with the former kicking off at 4.30pm and the latter immediately following it at 5.30pm.
The following Thursday, it will be Lucan vs Shelbourne yet again, but this time in the Under-14 Molly O’Toole Cup final.
There is added sentiment in this one due to the cup being named after Molly earlier this year after the talented young Lucan player tragically passed away.
The opportunity is now there for her teammates to bring the cup named in her honour back to Lucan. That one kicks off at 7pm.
Ian Cassells, girls’ committee chairperson at Lucan United said: “it’s a fantastic achievement for the players, managers and the club to reach three MGL finals.
“The three finals are for the elite cups of each group which marks the level these sides are at.”
The girls’ section at Lucan has mirrored the development of girls’ football in Ireland in general and grown from strength to strength.
Cassells explained: “About three years ago, we had two teams and between 25 to 30 players at the club. Now, we have eight teams and around 90-100 players. It displays the fantastic work, largely down to a very good committee and great coaches. All our coaches are UEFA A or B qualified.
“We also have a number of our players regularly featuring in the MGL squads, which include the standout players in the league for each age group.
“We have one of our Under-10 players, one Under-13 player, one Under-15 player, and five of our Under-14 players all playing for their representative sides.”
The growth shows no sign of abating as Lucan are set to host an open day for girls looking to get into football.
“Our focus is on developing our underage set-up but naturally in time we will look to help our girls progress into women’s football and improve that area of the club.
“In addition, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsor Gerry Hayden at McDonald’s Lucan for their active support throughout this year and helping us make this happen.”
