Newry City Ladies hope international connection can help bring trophy success

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The Green and White Army song goes - we're not Brazil, we're Northern Ireland.

Well, in Newry they are Brazil and Northern Ireland.

Newry City Ladies have signed up no fewer than seven players from the football mad South American country and as the women's season enters the business end the girls from Brazil and their local teammates are in with a chance of a clean sweep of four trophies.

Newry are in action again tonight, away to Glentoran Belfast United in the quarter-finals of the Irish Cup. 

They go into the game on the back of a league victory against the Glens, which delighted the bilingual boss Stephen Hatfield.

Q Radio Sport was there to capture the celebrations after the match in east Belfast.

 




One of the youngest managers in the country at 28, Portadown man Stephen's Portuguese has been perfected during a coaching stint in Brazil, when he was impressed by the women players.



The big one for Stephen and co. is the Danske Bank Women's Premiership and they are currently neck and neck with defending champions Linfield Ladies with the Blues just ahead of the border club on goal difference. 

The Newry dream is to end a successful season by netting a place in Europe.



The Feehan family have been there from the start, here's the current secretary of Newry City Ladies, John Feehan.



This season's success story comes very much against the odds for the former league champions, but Newry intend to build on it and there could even be further links across the Atlantic.


It's taken quite an effort to pull it all together.



The Brazilians - ranging in age from 19 to 28 - certainly appreciate everything the club has done for them.

We've been speaking to Rayza De Souza, who also translates for her teammate Luany De Sousa...Here's Rayza.


The local girls are also enjoying the international connection. 

Here are - in this order - Aimee Mackin, Kate Flood and Aimee's sister, Blaithin Mackin.

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