Into the West - July/August 2013

!2.50

Vol 4. Issue 8July/August,

2013

OFFICIAL GAA PUBLICATION

Galwayminor Ladieswin All-Ireland

Mayo poisedfor glory

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BBEEFFOORREE tthhee CCoonnnnaacchhttffiinnaall wwee pprreeddiicctteedd iitt ttoobbee aa mmeemmoorraabbllee ooccccaa--

ssiioonn aanndd wwhhaatt aann eevveenntt iittwwaass..

MMaayyoo eemmeerrggeedd ddeesseerrvveeddwwiinnnneerrss ooff tthhee ccoommppeettiittiioonnaafftteerr iimmpprreessssiinngg aaggaaiinnsstt GGaall--wwaayy aanndd RRoossccoommmmoonn bbeeffoorreeddeelliivveerriinngg aa ffiinnee sshhoowwiinnggaaggaaiinnsstt LLoonnddoonn iinn tthhee ddee--cciiddeerr.. HHoowweevveerr,, ccrreeddiitt mmuusstt ggoo ttoo PPaauull CCooggggiinnss'' ssiiddeewwhhoo eexxcceeeeddeedd aallll eexxppeeccttaattiioonnss bbyy bbeeaattiinngg SSlliiggoo aannddLLeeiittrriimm bbeeffoorree llooggggiinngg aa vveerryy rreessppeeccttaabbllee ppeerrffoorrmm--aannccee iinn tthhee ffiinnaall..

SSiinnccee tthheeiirr pprroovviinncciiaall vviiccttoorryy MMaayyoo hhaavvee ggoonnee oonnttoo ssuuppeerrbbllyy aavveennggee llaasstt yyeeaarr’’ss AAllll--IIrreellaanndd ffiinnaall ddeeffeeaattttoo DDoonneeggaall aanndd rreeaacchh tthhee sseemmii--ffiinnaall ssttaaggee oonncceeaaggaaiinn.. AAhheeaadd ooff tthheemm iiss aa TTyyrroonnee tteeaamm tthhaatt iiss ffaammeeddffoorr iittss ddeetteerrmmiinnaattiioonn aanndd ddiiffffiiccuullttyy ttoo bbeeaatt,, ssoo JJaammeessHHoorraann''ss cchhaarrggeess ffaaccee aa ttoouugghh tteesstt.. BBuutt II aamm hhooppeeffuulltthhaatt tthheeyy ccaann ggoo oonn ttoo rreeaacchh tthhee ffiinnaall oonnccee aaggaaiinn..

II wwaass aallssoo ddeelliigghhtteedd ttoo sseeee tthhee MMaayyoo aanndd RRoossccoomm--mmoonn mmiinnoorrss rreeaacchh tthhee AAllll--IIrreellaanndd sseemmii--ffiinnaallss.. BBootthhssiiddeess iimmpprreesssseedd mmee iinn tthhee CCoonnnnaacchhtt ffiinnaall aanndd wwhhaattaann ooccccaassiioonn iitt wwoouulldd bbee ttoo sseeee tthheemm ffaaccee ooffff aaggaaiinn iinntthhee AAllll--IIrreellaanndd ffiinnaall.. FFiinnggeerrss ccrroosssseedd..

AAwwaayy ffrroomm tthhee iinntteerr--ccoouunnttyy sscceennee,, iitt hhaass bbeeeennggrreeaatt ttoo sseeee ssoo mmaannyy ooff oouurr yyoouunngg ffoooottbbaalllleerrss aannddhhuurrlleerrss oouutt iinn ffoorrccee iinn tthhee GGAAAA ccaammppss aallll ssuummmmeerr.. IIttiiss ggrreeaatt ttoo sseeee eevveerryyoonnee ttaakkee ssuucchh eennjjooyymmeenntt ffrroommtthhee ccaammppss,, wwhhiicchh aaffffoorrdd oouurr ppllaayyeerrss ooff ttoommoorrrrooww tthheecchhaannccee ttoo hhoonnee tthheeiirr sskkiillllss wwhhiillee hhaavviinngg ggrreeaatt ffuunn aatttthhee ssaammee ttiimmee..

II''mm ssuurree tthhoossee yyoouunnggsstteerrss hhaavvee ttaakkeenn ggrreeaatt iinnssppii--rraattiioonn ffrroomm tthhee ssuucccceessss ooff oouutt tteeaammss tthhuuss ffaarr tthhiissyyeeaarr,, ssoo hhooppeeffuullllyy tthheeyy wwiillll hhaavvee pplleennttyy mmoorree ttoo ddrraawwffrroomm bbeeffoorree tthhee GGAAAA sseeaassoonn ccoommeess ttoo aa cclloossee..

IIss mmiissee,, llee mmeeaassJJOOHHNN PPRREENNTTYY

RRuunnaaii,, CCLLGG CCuuiiggee CCoonnnnaacchhttaa

A CHAIRDE GAEL,

WITH the GAAseason com-ing to an all-

too-soon end, it mustbe noted what excitingfootball and hurlingchampionships wehave had to date.

On the home frontthe Connacht final wasa unique occasion and in fairness toLondon they battled hard and theycontributed to a very enjoyable occa-sion. Obviously Mayo put distance be-tween themselves and Paul Coggins'side, but the same can be said for therest of the counties in the province,whom they have left behind in termsof their fitness, teamwork, strengthand skill levels. You cannot argue withthem being champions for a thirdyear in a row and they are worth win-ners of the JJ Nestor Cup again.

Their performance against Donegalsurpassed all expectations of themand I am very confident they can goon an achieve further success in thenear future.

Outside of the football final, thepeople of Castlebar should be ap-plauded for their welcoming of theLondon team and supporters. Thework put in by the Chamber, the localbusinesses, the MacHale Park Com-mittee and the Mayo County Boar wasremarkable and they really con-tributed to making the Connacht finalmuch more than the very importantfootball match that it is. Well done toeveryone.

Congratulations also must go tot heMayo minor footballers, who emerged

victorious from a verycompetitive Connachtchampionship. In thefinal they hit Roscommonwith two early goals,which proved too difficultto recover from. But hav-ing seen both teams inthe All-Ireland quarter-fi-nals against Westmeathand Kildare, I won't be atall surprised to see themmeet again in the All-Ire-

land final.Word has just reached us of the vic-

tory of the Galway minor Ladies teamin their All-Ireland final replay suc-cess. Firstly they performed hero-ically to force the replay, but to thengo on and score two late goals to winthe title is a great achievement forthem.

In the Ted Webb Cup final Mayo EWclaimed the trophy after defeating avery promising Leitrim side. It was akeenly contested game and manyplayers from both sides showedtremendous promise.

The hurling season has so far beena very disappointing one of Galway,when so many people expected themto kick on from last year's near miss.Hopefully there will be some successto celebrate before the season is over.

But for some teams the season isnot quite finished. Here's hoping we'llbe celebrating further All-Ireland suc-cesses by the time the next edition isput together. Good luck to all of ourteams!

Is mise,

FRANK BURKE,President, Connacht Council GAA

Secretary’s NotePresident’s Note

KKeeeepp yyoouurrsseellff iinn tthhee lloooopp.. SSiiggnn uupp ttooddaayy ffoorr yyoouurr ffrreeee eelleeccttrroonniiccccooppyy ooff tthhee mmaaggaazziinnee –– eemmaaiilleedd ddiirreeccttllyy ttoo yyoouurr IInnbbooxx.. TToo ssiiggnn uupp,, eemmaaiill mmaaggaazziinnee@@ccoonnnnaacchhttggaaaa..iiee

‘Into the West’‘Into the West’ is produced by the Connacht GAA Council.Editor: John Fallon. Published by: Pádraig Corcoran.

News and photographs for inclusion can be emailed to [email protected]. To obtain an electronic copy of the magazine each quarter, free of charge, email: [email protected].

• Next edition: September/October 2013. Deadline for advertising and copy will be announced on the Connacht Council website – www.connachtgaa.ie.

CCoovveerr PPhhoottooss –– Main Picture: Donal Vaughan celebrates after scoringhis side's second goal against Donegal in the All-Ireland seniorfootball quarter-final at Croke Park. Photo: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILEInset: Galway captain Megan Heneghan lifts the cup after their All-Ireland Ladies Minor ‘A’ Championship Final Replay win over Dublin. Photo: Brian Lawless / SPORTSFILE

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Mayo face toughest test of the year ..........................4Connacht Writers’ GAA Personalities of Month ..........5Mayo blitz champions ...............................................6Horan impressed with team’s passion .......................8A lot done, more to do say O’Shea and Boyle .............8Three-in-a-row for Mayo............................................10Mixed emotions on a special day ...............................12Young Tribesmen ousted in extra-time ......................14Mayo minors reclaim high ground ............................13Connacht glory for Galway girls .................................16All-Ireland SFC qualifiers - Round 1 ...........................17All-Ireland SFC qualifiers - Round 2 ...........................19All-Ireland SFC qualifiers - Round 3 ...........................22All-Ireland SFC qualifiers - Round 4...........................23Galway shattered by Dubs .........................................24Cunningham not happy with sluggish Tribe ...............25Lathargic hurlers crash out .......................................26Galway girls claim minor All-Ireland..........................28International Hurling Festival ...................................30Sligo and All-Ireland Puc Fada ...................................40Around the Province - Connacht Puc Fada .................42T. J. Murphy passes away ...........................................44What’s in a name?......................................................51Cathal Cregg joins the team at HQ .............................52Focus on Galway ........................................................54Focus on Leitrim ........................................................62Focus on Mayo ...........................................................64Focus on Roscommon ................................................68Focus on Sligo............................................................71Focus on Camogie......................................................74Ladies Football All-Ireland qualifier ..........................75Focus on Handball ....................................................78

All-Ireland qualifiers – page 17

Leinster hurling championsipfinal – page 24

Louise Ward celebrates minorsAll-Ireland victory - page 28

What’s in a name? – page 51

A lot done, more to do – O’Sheaand O’Boyle - page 8

Mayo’s toughest test to come –page 4

Mayo Minors reclaim high ground- page 13

Connacht title for Galway girls -page 16

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By COLM GANNON Mayo Advertiser

AWEEK out from throw in, and there areno new major injury concerns for Mayoahead of their meeting with Tyrone in

the All-Ireland semi-final, according to JamesHoran.

The Mayo manager met the assembledlocal and national press corps in BreaffyHouse and when quizzed on the injury frontthe Ballintubber man said he has nothing newto report.

“I don’t think there’s anything new since Italked to you last. Some of the guys who wereout injured are making good progress.”

The two main injury concerns coming outof the last two games, Michael Conroy andTom Cunniffe, were coming along well accord-ing to the former Ballintubber boss.

“Mickey [Conroy] trained last night andplayed very well so he’s back up and running,so we’re delighted with that.”

On Cunniffe, who twinged a hamstring, theMayo boss said: “He’s making good progress,the medical team are working very hard withhim. He’s not back training yet, but he’s veryclose to it. Some of these are seven to 10 dayones and you’ve to see how they pan out.”

While putting a big score up on the defend-ing All Ireland champions might look on paperas a near perfect performance, there is stillplenty of room for improvement, Horan be-lieves.

“Huge room for improvement, firstly weplayed for about 55 minutes. To be successfulthe further you go, you need to stretch thatout to 70 to 72 minutes. It’s the worst we’vebeen in regard to incomplete hand passes inthe year. We had 18 incomplete handpasses,which is way to much. Our turnovers up frontwere significantly lower than our average forthe year to date, in some of those areas weknow we need to improve on. On the flip side,some of the things that we did in the quarter-final were excellent. Our scoring and our re-turn from play, the movement and angles ofrunning, they were great to watch and a joy tobehold. While we did a lot of things very, very,well there are still areas we need to improveon.”

Mayo’s glut of goals in this year’s champi-onship has been one of the key reasons fortheir big wins in their four games so far, themost pleasing thing for Horan is how his sideworked to create those goals.

“The one [thing] that is most important isthat a huge percentage of our goals havecome from turnovers from our forwards. Ifyou think of a couple against Galway, even thelast day the first goal, Cillian’s very disci-plined tackling, and we won the turnover and

Kevin [McLoughlin] slipped it in tohim. That’s a very encouraging trendon the type of goals we’ve scored.”

When it was posed to him that thereis talk around the county about an All-Ireland final already and if it would affect hisplayers, Horan was adamant that it does noteffect the players at all.

“No, no. The approach we’ve taken for thelast three years is that we take it one game ata time. That’s exactly what we do, we playeach game, we prepare as well as we can for itand we go out and play as well as we can forthat 70 minutes. That’s exactly what we doand look to improve in every game we play.In the Donegal game in the quarter finalwe played well for 50-55 minutes andwe’ll look to improve on that again forthe semi-final. It doesn’t really affectthe team. I can genuinely say that.We’re focused on what we’re doing.We’re ambitious guys and looking tobe as good as we can.”

Going into the game as favouritesagainst a team like Tyrone whohave built up a huge championshippedigree over the past decade isnot something that will faze Mayohe believes.

“We’ve been favourites in everygame we’ve played this year, gen-uinely it hasn’t come into the equa-tion for us, you can ask any of theguys. We are where we wanted to beand have started to play the footballwe know we are capable of and we’rejust really looking forward to havinganother crack on August 25 and seeingcan we go one better.”

Mayo are in the unique position ofhaving a number of players who can playin a number of positions Horan said, andhe did not rule out trying something likeplaying Keith Higgins in the half-forwardline again, as they did at the start of thequarter-final.

“We see ourselves as a very attackingorientated team that has a great flow tohow we play. We tried Lee Keegan in nu-merous games at wing forward in theleague, we played Cathal Carolan at wingback, we swapped him and Lee around, TomCunniffe has played in numerous positions.We’re very lucky that we have a very versa-tile team that can play pretty much in anumber of different positions. I think we’reprobably unique in that regards, that’ssomething that’s of benefit to us and we’lluse it as we see fit.”

It's very much a case of four gameswon and two more to come. But in theMayo camp all focus is on Tyrone. They'llworry about All-Ireland after that if theycan pick up the win.

ALL-IRELAND SENIOR FOOTBALL SEMI-FINAL PREVIEW

Mayo face toughesttest of the year

PERSONALITIES OF THE MONTH

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MAYO footballers are hav-ing another glorioussummer and their reten-

tion of their Connacht title andthen demolition job on All-Ire-land champions Donegal hasseen them pick up the ConnachtGAA Writers Personality of theMonth for July and August.

Midfielder Aidan O’Shea is acontender for Footballer of theYear and he was outstanding asMayo brushed London aside by5-11 to 0-10 to win the Connachttitle for the third year in a row.

It was the first time Mayohave strung three consecutive ti-tles since they won four on thetrot when they last won the All-Ireland title in 1951.

O’Shea, who has been selectedas the July winner, was againoutstanding in the magnificent4-17 to 1-10 win over reigningAll-Ireland champions Donegal

in a game that was noteworthyfor a second successive hat-trickby Cillian O’Connor.

The Young Player of the Yearfor the past two season hit a sec-ond-half hat-trick against Lon-don when he returned from ashoulder injury to come on atthe interval and hit the net threetimes.

But to follow that up with ahat-trick against the All-Irelandchampions takes some beatingand O’Connor has been chosenas the August winner.

The Mayo duo will be pre-sented with their awards at theConnacht

GAA Banquet at the end of theseason. They will be joined byprevious winners Wayne McKeon(January), Darragh McCormack(February), Frankie Dolan(March), Michael Gordon (April),Mark Gottsche (May) and LorcanMulvey (June).

ALL-IRELAND SENIOR FOOTBALL SEMI-FINAL PREVIEW

Mayo's Aidan O'Shea the winner of the July Player of the Month award. Photo: Barry Cregg / SPORTSFILE

Mayo manager James Horan congratulates his goalkeeper Robert Hennelly after the All-IrelandSenior Championship Quarter-Finalagainst Donegal.

Picture credit: Ray McManus / SPORTSFILECillian O'Connor celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal againstDonegal at Croke ParkPhoto: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE

Mayo footballers honouredby GAA sports writers

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Mayo ..................4-17Donegal ..............1-10

By MIKE FINNERTYMayo News

PEOPLE that have been following thefortunes of Mayo football all theirlives had never seen anything like it.

A stunning display of pace and power,

an exhibition of football that blew thereigning All-Ireland champions out of thewater, and a performance that has seenMayo installed as the outright favourites towin the Sam Maguire Cup with two gamesstill left to play.

This was almost as good as it gets forthose of us with Mayo blood in our veins.Almost.

Nobody will know this more thanJames Horan and his players who are al-ready preparing for the challenge of tack-ling Tyrone in the All-Ireland semi-final on

August 25.By knocking out the reigning All-Ireland

champions for the third year in a row,Mayo have put themselves in a position tofinish what they started when Horan tookcharge.

Last Sunday the team that he has builtshowed that their graph remains on an up-ward curve.

Consider these statistics if you will.Thirteen different Mayo players scored,the team racked up 4-15 from play (includ-ing a record-breaking second successive

ALL-IRELAND SFC QUARTER-FINAL

Mayo blitz champions

ON TARGET: Mayo captain Andy Moran shoots for goal during Mayo's All-Ireland quarter-final win over Donegal at Croke Park. Photo: Ray McManus / SPORTSFILE

Page 7


hat-trick from Cillian O’Connor), and Mayowere 12 points up at the halfway mark.

Between the 20th minute and the 45thminute the Connacht championsoutscored their shell-shocked opponentsby 2-9 to no score. All but two points ofthat tally came from play. It was as un-precedented as it was incredible.

It is also worth remembering thatDonegal tagged on 1-4 in the last ten min-utes to gloss the final scoreline, with pridethe only thing left to play for at that stage.They had been broken down and beatenbefore half-time.

From the very first whistle Mayo wererampant and ravenous all over the field.

Keith Higgins, who0went to work in-side.

The end result was a blur of movementand angled runs as the ball was switchedconstantly, space was created and ex-ploited, and scores started to flow.

At the other end, Tom Cunniffe, GerCafferkey and Chris Barrett tied downMessrs McBrearty, Murphy and McFaddenrespectively. Between them, the Donegalstrikers only managed 1-1 from play, andMcFadden’s goal came in the 70th minute.

To underline Mayo’s defensive soliditythese days, it was also the first goal theyhave conceded in four matches.

A good start was imperative for Mayoand was duly delivered when CillianO’Connor and Alan Dillon gunned pointsinside the first two minutes.

The floodgates opened three minuteslater when O’Connor robbed EamonMcGee of possession on the endline.Kevin McLoughlin weaved his way to-wards goal, and set up O’Connor for aclinical low finish to the Donegal net.

It was to be the beginning of the endfor the champions.

Their initial response was positive asMichael Murphy and Mark McHugh kickedscores into Hill 16, but Mayo were in nomood to compromise.

Their training ground manoeuvres paiddividends again on 13 minutes when KeithHiggins, in an advanced role, picked outDonal Vaughan’s run in behind the Done-gal cover. The centre-back rolled in goal

number two and the die was cast. In the 22 minutes that followed, Mayo

produced some mesmerising passages offootball. They passed and moved effort-lessly, left tired and demoralised Donegalmen trailing in their wake, and played likethey owned the place.

They nailed seven points in-a-row be-fore half-time from six different players,and jogged down the tunnel ahead by 2-10 to 0-4. The Mayo supporters in thecrowd of 63,466 stood to applaud them offthe field, hoping that there was more tocome.

The team didn’t disappoint either, tack-ing on 2-7 over the course of a secondhalf that ticked slowly towards its in-evitable conclusion.

Cillian O’Connor claimed his hat-trickwith goals in the 40th and 45th minutes tobury Donegal once and for all, and theirfans were streaming towards the exitswhen the dust settled.

The last quarter was a formality, withonly a red card for Eamon McGee after hestamped on Enda Varley and the dismissalof Aidan O’Shea in injury-time for a sec-ond booking, breaking the monotony ofMayo dominance.

We will find out soon where this Indiansummer will end for Mayo, but on days likethis it’s all about enjoying the journey.

MAYO: R Hennelly; T Cunniffe, G Caf-ferkey, C Barrett (0-1); L Keegan (0-1), CBoyle (0-1), D Vaughan (1-0); A O’Shea,S O’Shea (0-1); K McLoughlin (0-1), ADillon (0-2), K Higgins; C O’Connor (3-4, 2fs, ’45), A Freeman (0-2), A Moran (0-1). Subs: C Carolan for Cunniffe (26), RFeeney (0-1) for Dillon (46), E Varley (0-1) for Moran (49), D Coen for O’Connor(54), K Keane (0-1) for Boyle (57).

DONEGAL: P Durcan; P McGrath, NMcGee, E McGee; Declan Walsh, AThompson, F McGlynn; N Gallagher, RKavanagh; M McHugh (0-2), R Bradley,R McHugh; C McFadden (1-0) M Murphy(0-6, 4fs, ’45), P McBrearty. Subs: K Lacey (0-1) for Thompson (24),M McElhinney for N McGee (h-t); DavidWalsh (0-1) for Bradley (h-t); LMcLoone for Kavanagh (44), M Boylefor McGrath (60).

REF: J McQuillan (Cavan).

Mayo blitz champions

DARE TO DREAM: Mayo supporters in the Cusack Stand before watching their side impress atCroke Park, Dublin. Photo: Ray McManus / SPORTSFILE

O'Connor hat-trick seals memorablevictory for Horan's men

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Horan impressedwith team's passion

By BILL KIELY, Media West Ireland

MAYO manager, James Horan, said he hopeshis side will continue to perform the sameno matter what is put in front of them

after they dismantled Donegal and gained re-venge for last year’s All-Ireland final defeat.

An 18-point drubbing of the defending champi-ons was not what anyone expected, but Horan putit down to ignoring their opponents' reputations.

“We were looking to play as good as we could,regardless of who we were playing,” Horan said.

“The class and respect that the Donegal man-agement showed us after last year’s final al-ways stuck with me. Even there on Sunday,straight after the game, Jimmy McGuinnessand Rory were straight down.

“Ye guys can have fun with what’s in thenewspapers, but they just showed their classagain.”

And true to Horan's word, Donegal boss JimMcGuinness was full of praise for Mayo in de-feat.

“You have to take your hat off to Mayo,” saidMcGuinness. “They were absolutely fantastic. Isuppose the bottom line is they had a serioushunger and they took the hunger into the game.We hope they can go on and win the All-Irelandnow after such a long spell.”


By DANIEL CAREY, Mayo News

MAYO midfielder Aidan O’Shea ex-pressed his delight at demolishingAll-Ireland champions Donegal –

but warned: “It’s only a quarter-final”.The 23-year-old put in a man-of-the-

match performance as Mayo gained re-venge for last September’s defeat in theAll-Ireland final. James Horan’s side havebeen installed as favourites for the All-Ire-land title, but O’Shea predicted that a ‘verystrong’ Tyrone team will present a ‘hugechallenge’ when the two sides meet on Au-

gust 25.“We’ve beaten the All-Ireland champions

for the third year in a row, so we’re delighted,”he said shortly before boarding the team bus in

the bowels of the Hogan Stand. “It was a good all-round performance, probably a bit slack towardsthe last 20 minutes, but overall, we can’t have

any complaints. But it’s only a quarter-final.”O’Shea has been garnered widespread praise for his awesome dis-

play, which came despite an early caution. He was shown a secondyellow card late in the game, but as it wasn’t a straight red, he will beavailable for the All-Ireland semi-final. It was felt in advance of thequarter-final that Mayo needed a big game from the former DIT stu-dent, and he delivered his finest performance in the green and red.

“I thought the first yellow [card] was a bit harsh, to be honest,”the Breaffy clubman said. “But you just have to be careful. It wasearly in the game, and one late tackle and you’re gone. Obviously, Igot sent off towards the end, which was a bit disappointing, but it[the first yellow] didn’t inhibit me for the game.”

Mayo’s lightning start – which yielded two goals in the opening 14minutes – was a virtual carbon copy of Donegal’s last September.O’Shea praised ‘the work-rate of the forwards’ and noted that Mayowere cutting Donegal open at times, noting: “We could have got moregoals”.

“It’s well documented we were slow starting last year’s All-Irelandfinal and it cost us the game,” he added. “A lot of people have beensaying we haven’t been tested … over the last couple of months. Butwe were really well prepared and you’ve seen that from the starttoday; we were up and at it. And we got the goals, which is key in any

game, and I think [they] came at great times.”O’Shea has been impressed with Tyrone’s Seán Cavanagh, who’s in

‘very good form’ and has been ‘leading the charge’ for the Ulsterman.The Allergan Pharmaceuticals employee notes that Mayo’s semi-finalopponents have been ‘slowly getting right’ at a good time in the sea-son.

“We’ve a huge amount of work to get done over the next couple ofweeks, to knuckle down and get ready for them,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Colm Boyle warned that Mayo were coming up against‘a very good Tyrone side who have great momentum and have comethrough a tough qualifying campaign’, and had a great win on Satur-day over Monaghan. “So it’s all to play for,” the wing back noted.

The Clifden-based garda said he hadn’t paid any attention to thepre-match war of words between the respective management teams,opting instead to ‘focus on the game’ and not ‘read anything’ in thebuild-up. Nor is he bothered by the favourites’ tag which now restson Mayo’s shoulders.

“There’s no problem there,” he said. “So far as I know, we were thefavourites going in today. It’s 50/50 once you cross the white line.Once you get on the pitch, it’ll be us versus them and we’ve to raiseour game again. They’re going very well, we’re going well at theminute, so it’s going to be a battle.”

THAT'S THE WAY: Mayo manager James Horancracks a smile after his side notch up anotherscore. Photo: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE

A lot done,more to do,say O’Sheaand Boyle

Colm Boyle

Page 9


MAYO midfielder Aidan O’Shea ex-pressed his delight at demolishingAll-Ireland champions Donegal –

but warned: “It’s only a quarter-final”.The 23-year-old put in a man-of-the-

match performance as Mayo gained re-venge for last September’s defeat in theAll-Ireland final. James Horan’s side havebeen installed as favourites for the All-Ire-land title, but O’Shea predicted that a ‘verystrong’ Tyrone team will present a ‘hugechallenge’ when the two sides meet on Au-

gust 25.“We’ve beaten the All-Ireland champions

for the third year in a row, so we’re delighted,”he said shortly before boarding the team bus in

the bowels of the Hogan Stand. “It was a good all-round performance, probably a bit slack towardsthe last 20 minutes, but overall, we can’t have

any complaints. But it’s only a quarter-final.”O’Shea has been garnered widespread praise for his awesome dis-

play, which came despite an early caution. He was shown a secondyellow card late in the game, but as it wasn’t a straight red, he will beavailable for the All-Ireland semi-final. It was felt in advance of thequarter-final that Mayo needed a big game from the former DIT stu-dent, and he delivered his finest performance in the green and red.

“I thought the first yellow [card] was a bit harsh, to be honest,”the Breaffy clubman said. “But you just have to be careful. It wasearly in the game, and one late tackle and you’re gone. Obviously, Igot sent off towards the end, which was a bit disappointing, but it[the first yellow] didn’t inhibit me for the game.”

Mayo’s lightning start – which yielded two goals in the opening 14minutes – was a virtual carbon copy of Donegal’s last September.O’Shea praised ‘the work-rate of the forwards’ and noted that Mayowere cutting Donegal open at times, noting: “We could have got moregoals”.

“It’s well documented we were slow starting last year’s All-Irelandfinal and it cost us the game,” he added. “A lot of people have beensaying we haven’t been tested … over the last couple of months. Butwe were really well prepared and you’ve seen that from the starttoday; we were up and at it. And we got the goals, which is key in any

game, and I think [they] came at great times.”O’Shea has been impressed with Tyrone’s Seán Cavanagh, who’s in

‘very good form’ and has been ‘leading the charge’ for the Ulsterman.The Allergan Pharmaceuticals employee notes that Mayo’s semi-finalopponents have been ‘slowly getting right’ at a good time in the sea-son.

“We’ve a huge amount of work to get done over the next couple ofweeks, to knuckle down and get ready for them,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Colm Boyle warned that Mayo were coming up against‘a very good Tyrone side who have great momentum and have comethrough a tough qualifying campaign’, and had a great win on Satur-day over Monaghan. “So it’s all to play for,” the wing back noted.

The Clifden-based garda said he hadn’t paid any attention to thepre-match war of words between the respective management teams,opting instead to ‘focus on the game’ and not ‘read anything’ in thebuild-up. Nor is he bothered by the favourites’ tag which now restson Mayo’s shoulders.

“There’s no problem there,” he said. “So far as I know, we were thefavourites going in today. It’s 50/50 once you cross the white line.Once you get on the pitch, it’ll be us versus them and we’ve to raiseour game again. They’re going very well, we’re going well at theminute, so it’s going to be a battle.”

DRIVING IT ON:Mayo's dynamic midfielderAidan O'Shea powers past theDonegal cover.

Photo: Ray McManus / SPORTSFILE


Page 10

Mayo ..........5-11London ......0-10

By MIKE FINNERTYMayo News

IT was the best of times andthe worst of times for Londonin the Connacht final.They came to McHale Park

with hopes and dreams ofmaking their mark on their firstConnacht Senior Final but sawthem dashed by a Mayo sidethat have developed the knackof winning most kinds ofgames over the last threeyears.

All has changed, changed ut-terly in this provincial champi-onship since London almostambushed Mayo at Ruislipback in 2011.

So there was to be no happy,fairytale ending to London’sConnacht championship storyas Mayo took care of businessin their own time.

On a baking hot day, whenMayo produced a performancethat was more solid than spec-tacular, they captured theirthird Connacht title in-a-row forthe first time since 1950.

And we all know what hap-pened later that particular year.

In front of a big crowd (espe-cially considering the circum-stances) of 21,274, Mayo ran

in three second half goals tobreak London’s spirit and rackup their 44th provincial title.

This now leaves them levelwith Galway at the top of theroll of honour.

Three goals from super sub’Cillian O’Connor put the glosson a disjointed Mayo display,but that doesn’t change thefact that this game was over asa contest long before the finalwhistle.

To their credit, London didn’ttake a step back all day, butthe gap between teams that plytheir trades in Division 4 andDivision 1 every year was alltoo obvious at times.

In both quality and quantity,Mayo had the upper hand, but

London lost nothing in defeat.Mayo were far from flawless

as they put their unfamiliarguests to the sword; nineteenwides and a litany of missedchances leaving the winnerswith plenty to work on ahead ofthe All-Ireland quarter-finalsnext month.

On a positive note, Mayokept a clean sheet for the thirdgame in a row as recalled goal-keeper, Rob Hennelly, camethrough with flying colours.

London also didn’t help theirown cause with some carelessshooting from close range;substitute Colin Daly missingone glorious chance to hit thenet early in the second half.

As it turned out, it was goals

CONNACHT SFC FINAL

Three-in-a-row for Mayo as London are outclassed

POSSESSION: Ger Cafferkey of Mayogoes past London's Caolan Doyle. Photo:Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE

Page 11

at the other end that made allthe difference.

First half strikes from AlanFreeman on ten minutes androokie Darren Coen thirteenminutes later set Mayo on theroad to victory, both of themcoming after a ponderous Lon-don defence lost the ball asthey attempted to work it clearof the danger area.

As a result of those twogreen flags, Mayo led by sevenpoints at half-time, despite notfiring on all cylinders.

London were having issuesof their own up front, and man-aged just one point from play inthat opening half. Lorcan Mul-vey did tack on four freesthough to keep the scoreboardmoving.

Aidan O’Shea was com-pletely dominant at midfield inthe first 25 minutes but Mayokicked a succession of widesto leave London in the game —in theory at least.

However, the arrival of CillianO’Connor at the intervalchanged everything.

He managed to rack up 3-3during his cameo appearance,including a well-taken goalfrom a penalty on 55 minutes.

Excellent counter-attackingmoves, and some incisive sup-port play, created the openingsfor O’Connor’s first two goalsthat were finished from closerange.

By the time the Ballintubbermarksman had finished hisscoring spree, London’s chal-lenge had long expired. Theywere eighteen points downwhen the dust settled.

To their credit, the Exileskept battling away and were re-warded with a couple of latepoints from Padraig Mc-Goldrick and Lorcan Mulveythat brought their fans to theirfeet.

This wasn’t a vintage per-formance from Mayo but it wasmore than enough for them tocopperfasten their grip on theNestor Cup.

Now for the serious busi-ness.

MAYO: R Hennelly; T Cun-niffe, G Cafferkey, C Barrett;L Keegan (0-2), K Higgins, CBoyle; A O’Shea, S O’Shea;

K McLoughlin (0-2, 1f), A Dil-lon, R Feeney (0-1); A Moran(0-1), A Freeman (1-2), DCoen (1-0).Subs: C O’Connor (3-3, 1-0pen, 3fs) for D Coen (h-t); MConroy for A Freeman (45mins); D Vaughan for RFeeney (48 mins); E Varleyfor A Moran (54 mins); SMcHale for G Cafferkey (60mins).LONDON: D Traynor; P But-ler, S Curran, D McGreevy; SHannon, S Mulligan, TGaughan; C Doyle, P Ger-aghty; G Crowley, D Dun-leavy (0-1), C McCallion; EO’Neill, L Mulvey (0-7, 6fs), CMagee.Subs: C Og Greene for TGaughan (26 mins); C Dalyfor C Doyle (32 mins); S Kelly(0-1, 1f) for E O’Neill (44mins); B Mitchell for C Mc-Callion (56 mins); P Mc-Goldrick (0-1) for D Dunleavy(66 mins).REF: C Lane (Cork)

CONNACHT SFC FINAL

Three-in-a-row for Mayo as London are outclassed

TAKE THE HIT: Mayo wing-back Colm Boyle in action against Gregory Crowley of London during the Con-nacht final. Photo: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE

GREETINGS: London captain Seamus Hannon is greeted by Presidentof the Connacht Council Proinsias de Búrca before the Connacht seniorfootball final. Photo: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE

By EDWIN McGREAL, Mayo News

WHEN the words ‘Cillian O’Connor’ and‘potentially season-ending shoulder in-jury’ were uttered in the same sentence

last May, you would imagine James Horanwould be delighted to be winning a Connachtfinal eight weeks later by 16 points with theBallintubber man hitting 3-3 off the bench.

You’d be wrong. Horan wasn’t happy and he has good rea-

son not to be. Mayo were a real mixed bag onSunday. A final tally of 5-11 in a Connacht finalshouldn’t be sniffed at ordinarily, but the factthat it was London, with all due respect fortheir remarkable achievement in getting thisfar, makes it a far from spectacular tally.

Consider Mayo only scored 16 of the 35scoring chances they created. That’s a figureJames Horan will zoom in on this week andseek to improve on if Mayo are to advance tothe latter stages of the championship.

He questioned the decision-making of hisown players in possession and sometimesthey tried to go for a goal chance when itwasn’t on.

Taking the point when the goal was on hasbeen a previous criticism of this Mayo team.Striving for the right balance is still a work inprogress.

Mayo coughed up 23 chances to London –not great for a Division 1 team playing the bot-tom team in Division 4. London only createdone fewer scoring chance than Mayo in thesecond half. There were a few too many sightsof goal as well for Mayo’s liking.

But how much do we have to adjust ouranalysis to take into account that it was Lon-don that Mayo were playing? Quite a bit.

How often did you see a Mayo player fly bya London opponent as if he wasn’t there?Kevin McLoughlin cruised into open countryso often in the first half that he almost got dis-orientated with the amount of space he foundhimself in.

How often did we see a Mayo player physi-cally dominate the man coming to tackle them?Aidan O’Shea was the best example of this, buthe wasn’t the only one. The results of threeyears of strength and conditioning are therefor all to see.

Complacency would have crept in ever soslightly into the Mayo psyche in advance. Theywere 1/500 favourites and for all the romance

Page 12

Mixedemotions on aspecial day


“UNHAPPY the land that is in need of heroes,” Galileo said in BertoldBrecht’s ‘Life of Galileo’. Herr Brecht obviously wasn’t in McHale Park forthe Connacht final, because the Mayo GAA faithful were very content in-deed – and not short of idols.

They stood on the pitch as Andy Moran promised “I won’t hold ye long”and then launched into a five-minute speech. Two hours later, there wasstill a smattering of fans around the ground.

They have reasons to be cheerful. Not since the 1950s have Mayoclinched provincial silverware three times in succession. Still, a team withbigger fish to fry will, the argument goes, have learned little about them-selves from proving themselves the piranha of the western pond.

“Make no mistake – Roscommon and Galway aren’t as bad as peoplemake them out to be,” responded James Horan, pointing to their perform-ances against Tyrone and Armagh respectively. “I’m sure there won’t betoo many people worried about [us] after watching that game today. Butwe know what we’re capable of if we get everything right, and we’ll belooking to do that in two weeks’ time.”

Sideline regulations have been a bug-bear among managers this season.It’s clearly been nagging at the Ballintubber man too, given how he re-sponded to a question about tough London tackling.

“There was a couple of variations on rugby tackles going in there today,so we’d a lot of substitutes that we were trying to bring on, and I’m notquite sure of the situation on sidelines,” Horan began.

“There’s five of my crew allowed on, but besides that today, there were anumber of Connacht Council people and a number of other people on thesideline, so it’s very, very hard to make substitutions now. The GAA reallydo need to look at that rule. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous, the situationthat’s there at the moment.”

Horan noted that Mayo started well – “Aidan O’Shea was bossing thegame” – but having taken a six-point lead, they eased up. “That was disap-pointing, that we didn’t keep the foot to the floor for the full game,” hesaid. “We’ve standards for ourselves, and maybe we didn’t achieve thestandards like we can.”

Keith Higgins was also singing off the ‘room to improve’ hymn-sheet.“There [was] a lot of stuff out there that wouldn’t be good enough in

every game, but fair play to London,” said the Ballyhaunis defender. “Theymade us work hard. It was a tough day to play football out there. Everyonetalks about the lovely weather, but at the same time, the heat is a killer.”

“We didn’t do ourselves any favours in certain periods of the game,”said Alan Dillon. “But the goals really killed them off. We’ve a lot of stuffto work on, but two weeks’ time is the aim, and it’s a new competition.”

“We will meet a team coming through the qualifiers who have been onthe road and we have to meet that challenge head on,” added wing backColm Boyle.

For all the jokes about their population, the odds facing London haveoften seemed reminiscent of Sisyphus, the Greek king condemned to spendhis time pushing a boulder uphill, only for it to roll down at the end of eachday.

Twice this summer, they’ve pulled off the heretofore impossible, butlast Sunday, Mayo pushed the rock back down the slope. Asked if he saw anAll-Ireland in Mayo, London boss Paul Coggins was emphatic.

“Oh, absolutely. That’s what they’re going for. They’ll have it tough –there’s a lot of great teams around. My job is to get the London team backon the road again, and try and make it to the All-Ireland quarter-finals.”

Mayo are already there – stepping into the war zone, enemy (as yet) un-known. As Celine Dion put it, this is getting serious..

CONNACHT SFC FINAL

Hollow victory leavesus wanti ng much more

of the final, no one suggested the unthinkable. A Mayo win was a given. The champions started with purpose, but

any complacency in their minds would havecranked up a notch or two when they saw withtheir own eyes how much quicker and strongerthey were than their opponents.

Do you really need to accelerate into fifthgear when you’re overtaking a tractor?

You do what you have to do, and whileMayo would have relished putting awayold rivals like Galway and Roscommon,they wouldn’t have the same axe togrind with London.

Mayo under James Horan al-ways work towards

process and per-

formance, allowing re-sults to follow if the fundamentals have beentaken care of.

But human nature being what it is, knowingthat you will get by with less than your best, itis hard to strive beyond that. It’s a rare studentthat will seek 500-plus points in the LeavingCert when 250 will secure his first-choice col-lege course.

If Mayo were in a league-type system andneeded to beat London by 25 points to qualify,they would have made that margin. But theydidn’t need to, the edge was gone from pro-ceedings by the end of the first quarter, andthey eased off the accelerator as the tractorslipped into the rear-view mirror.

Ideal preparation for an All-Ireland quarter-final Sunday wasn’t. But if Mayo had made themost of their chances and beaten London by30 points, would that have been any better off?Probably not. We now know that the Monaghanchallenge game was a much better run out forMayo. We’ll soon know if Mayo’s comfortableConnacht campaign, winning three games byan average of 15 points, is a blessing or acurse. For now Mayo can take great solace inthe fact that Cillian O’Connor is back on board.

CONNACHT SFC FINAL

Hollow victory leavesus wanti ng much more

Page 13

HAT-TRICK HERO: Cillian O'Connor cele-brates after scoring hissecond of three goals inthe Connacht final. Photo: Stephen McCarthy

/ SPORTSFILE

Page 14

Mayo ...........5-8Galway .......2-11

(after extra-time)

By JOHN FALLONMedia West Ireland

GALWAY hopes of afirst Connacht minortitle since 2007 ended

in extra-time as Mayo goaledtwice to reach the provincialdecider.

Corner-forward TommyConroy scored 2-2 from playas Mayo eventually off theGalway challenge in an en-tertaining semi-final at HydePark.

Mayo seemed poised forsuccess when Cian Hanley,younger brother of AussieRules star Pearce, finishedto the net to put Mayo a goalin front in the dying mo-ments of regular time.

But Galway, who had onlymanaged two points withthe wind up to then, ralliedand points from Eoin Mc-Cormack and Michael Dalyreduced the deficit beforeMcCormack displayednerves of steel to land theequaliser in the third andfinal minute of stoppagetime.

Earlier, Galway looked forvictory when they finishedthe opening level at 2-4 eachafter playing against thewind.

Goals from Niall Lee andPeter Cooke rocked Mayobut they hit back with Con-roy getting his first goal andthen Darragh Doherty foundthe net after Conroy hadcracked a shot off the post.

Mayo battled well againstthe wind and with the sidesdeadlocked after twice ex-changing points, they hit thefront when Hanley got a goaltwo minutes from the endafter having an effort takenoff the line by Luke Burke,

before Galway forced extra-time.

Galway again failed tomake wind advantage countin extra-time, managing justa point from Niall Lee andthey were in serious troublewhen impressive sub ConorByrne sent in a cross whichConor Loftus finished to thenet to leave it 4-6 to 2-10 atthe interval in extra-time.

Galway tried to get backinto the game in the secondperiod but a couple ofpoints from Liam Irwin freesincreased Mayo’s lead be-fore Conroy wrapped up theissue with his second goaltwo minutes from the end toset up a Connacht final datewith a Roscommon sidechasing a third successiveprovincial title.SCORERS – Mayo: T Conroy2-2, L Irwin 0-5 (5f), C Loftus1-1, C Hanley 1-0, D Doherty1-0. Galway: P Cooke 1-2 (0-1f), NLee 1-1, E McCormack 0-4(3f, 1 ’45), R Fahy 0-1, E Tier-ney 0-1, M Daly 0-1 (f), PMannion 0-1. MAYO: M Mulligan; D Kenny,S Cunniffe, E Doran; R Finn,S Coen, M Hall; V Rough-neen, D O’Connor; B Walsh,C Loftus, C Hanley; D Do-herty, L Irwin, T Conroy.Subs: S Conlon for Finn (27),C Byrne for Doherty (51), SBurke for Walsh (54), MPlunkett for Hanley (61).GALWAY: J Healy; L Burke,C Reilly, B Shaughnessy; NMcDonagh, D Horan, CBrady; R Fahy, E Tierney; JLyons, M Daly, P Cooke; NLee, E McCormack, P Man-nion.Subs: D Corbett for McDon-agh (50), J Donnellan for Lee(53), S Lawless for Cooke(55), C Mannion for Lyons(60), C Raftery for Mannion(80).REF: R McBrien (Leitrim).

Young Tribesmenousted in extra-time

CONNACHT MINOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

O'Donnell encouragedby minors

By NOEL FALLON, Roscommon Herald

ROSCOMMON minor football manager Fergal O’Donnell succinctlypinpointed the reasons for his team’s three-point defeat in theirrecent Connacht final.

“We conceded two goals early on and while we had the majority ofpossession we had some bad wides. We shouldn’t have conceded thesecond goal. We turned over the ball when we had possession. We hitthe crossbar and hit a few wides. A few key players had more widestoday than they’ve ever had before,” O’Donnell maintained.

The manager felt that over-carrying the ball, something that was ob-vious against Sligo, cost his side once again.

“We kept plugging away but we panicked in some of our shooting. Weover-carried the ball against Sligo and we over-carried again today. Wetold the players before the game that we needed to send quick ball intoour forwards and to move the ball quickly but we did the same thing aswe did against Sligo. We learned the hard way today, we had the luckagainst Sligo but we didn’t have the luck today,” the manager com-mented.

Mayo manager Enda Gilvarry acknowledged that Roscommon werethe better team at times during the game.

“We got the goals at the right time. Roscommon were the betterteam at times but our forwards have been able to get goals all year. Itwas the same today and I hope that continues. We didn’t get the ballinto our forwards in the second-half and I would blame Roscommon forthat, they were winning the ball,” Gilvarry noted.

“This final was never going to be easy and Roscommon have to begiven great credit for the way they brought the game to us. I’m a littlebit disappointed that we didn’t maintain the advantage we had, wecould have held out a little bit better,” the Mayo manager said.

CHAMPIONS:Mayo captaincaptain StephenCoen lifts theConnacht minorfootball cup aftervictory overRoscommon inthe decider. Photo: Ray McManus /SPORTSFILE

Page 15

Mayo ....................3-7Roscommon ........1-10

By AUSTIN GARVIN, Mayo News

EARLY comers to McHale Park, Castlebarwere treated to a thrilling ConnachtMinor Football Championship final. In

the end Mayo prevailed, but only just against aRoscommon side that showed tremendousfighting spirit after being hit with two exqui-site goals inside the first six minutes.

In a game that was remarkably similar totheir Connacht League encounter early in theseason, Mayo failed to wilt when at timesRoscommon threatened to overwhelm them.

Throughout this compelling match, Roscom-mon held the high ground at midfield whereCathal Compton and Tadhg O’Rourke were out-standing. Mayo were forced to live on scraps asthe Rossies crowded the area and won most ofthe breaking ball. They deployed a two-manfull forward line in which Diarmuid McGannand Diarmuid Murtagh were extremely danger-ous.

Mayo were forced to line out without theirregular full-back Seamus Cunniffe who pickedup an injury in training. Seán Conlon, who re-placed Cunniffe, played in the half back lineand proved to be a more than adequate re-placement.

Overall, the rearguard must take greatcredit for this win as they defended heroically.All six of them, together with goalkeeper MarkMulligan, made some telling contributions atvarious stages.

The Mayo attack didn’t fire on all cylinders,but still delivered the goods with limited pos-session. They possess a propensity to scoregoals when least expected. This was exempli-fied four minutes into the game when DarraghDoherty found the net with a great effort afterhe spotted Shane Mannion off his line.

Two minutes later, Liam Irwin scored a sub-lime goal that he crafted out of nothing, anddummied two defenders before unleashing a

pile-driver to the net.The goals provided a cushion that sustained

Mayo to half-time as they hit points from ValRoughneen (free), Stephen Coen (an inspira-tional score), Liam Irwin (free) and TommyConroy. The Rossies replied with points fromDiarmuid McGann (three, including one free),and Diarmuid Murtagh (two frees). Mayo didwell to restrict them to such a meagre total, asUltan Harney hit the crossbar, and severalother chances were kept out by last-ditch de-fending.

Mayo got a great start to the second halfwhen Stephen Burke scored a fine point andConor Loftus fisted a goal after Cian Hanley’sinitial effort was saved. This left Mayo 3-5 to 0-5 to the good and seemingly home and hosed.

But Fergal O’Donnell’s men responded withpurpose and dominated for large tracts of thehalf. They scored a further 1-5 with Mayo onlyable to add two pointed frees to their totalfrom Liam Irwin. Mayo’s mettle was well andtruly tested during the Rossies’ spell of domi-nance, but they answered every questionasked of them with some great defending.

Roscommon were awarded a penalty with

four minutes left that looked harsh, and Diar-muid Murtagh tucked it away. Mayo followerswere on tenterhooks as Roscommon went insearch of the winning goal. With time runningout, Liam Irwin showed great character whenhe pointed a free from distance to leave Mayoa goal ahead.

Overall, Mayo showed great courage in win-ning a game that at times looked beyond them.The spirit shown in the Galway game was thereagain in abundance.

Having said that, spirit in itself will onlytake you so far. While the midfield pairing didwell on occasions, they were beaten in the airby two fine fielders. Mayo will have to take re-medial action in an effort to win more ball inthis vital area.

Breaking ball is another issue that will haveto receive attention before Mayo oppose West-meath in the quarter final. Lake County man-ager Tom Carr was in attendance and will havetaken notice.

Without question Enda Gilvarry’s men canplay better. Winning when not at one’s best isthe reason the Kilcoyne Cup now rests onStephen Coen’s sideboard.

MAYO: M Mulligan (Claremorris); M Hall(Breaffy), E Doran (Achill), D Kenny(Aghamore); R Finn (Claremorris), S Coen(Hollymount/Carramore, 0-1), S Conlon(Castlebar Mitchels); V Roughneen (Balla,0-1, 1f), D O’Connor (Ballintubber); C Loftus(Crossmolina, 1-0), S Burke (Ballinrobe, 0-1), C Hanley (Ballaghderreen); D Doherty(Kilmaine, 1-0), L Irwin Breaffy, (1-3, 0-2f),T Conroy (Kiltane, 0-1).Subs: C Byrne (Moy Davitts) for D Doherty;M Plunkett (Ballintubber) for V Roughneen.

ROSCOMMON: S Mannion; D Neary, S Mul-looly, M Flannery; R Daly (0-1), E McGrath,S Pettitt; C Compton (0-1), T O’Rourke; NConnaughton, U Harney, J Earley; J Gannon,D McGann (0-4, 2f), D Murtagh (1-3, 1-0pen, 0-2f). Subs: H Walsh for N Con-naughton; S Farrell (0-1) for S Pettit); MMurtagh for E McGrath.

REF: R McBrien (Leitrim).

CONNACHT MINOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

Mayo minors reclaim high groundMartin Flannery of Roscommon, in action against Mayo's Tommy Conroy in the Connacht minor final. Photo: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE

Referee Ray McBrien with Roscommon cap-tain Ronan Daly and Mayo captain StephenCoen before the throw in. Photo: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE

Page 16

Galway . . . . . . . .0-16Mayo . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-9

By BILL KIELY, Media West Ireland

GALWAY caused a shock to retain theirTG4 Connacht Ladies football titleagainst a disappointing Mayo in Tuam

Stadium.Galway scored a 0-16 to 1-9 victory

against Mayo at a sweltering Tuam Stadium– with Edel Concannon hitting 0-6 for theTribeswomen.

A 1-3 haul from Aileen Gilroy and 0-5 fromCora Staunton was not enough for TescoHomegrown Division 1 finalists Mayo as Gal-way held firm.

Mayo blew a ten-point lead against Gal-way in last year’s provincial show-piece butthey were never allowed to build up thatkind of advantage on this occasion as bossBarry Downey had his homework done.

Galway were 0-6 to 0-1 ahead midwaythrough the first half before Gilroy netted tobring Mayo back into contention.

At half-time, Galway led by 0-9 to 1-3 andthey held out comfortably in the second halfas temperatures and tempers soared.

GALWAY: J Connolly; N Ward, R McPhilbin, MCoyne; O Dixon, E Flaherty, S Burke (0-2); AClarke (0-1), G Conneally; T Leonard (0-1), CCormican (0-1), B Hannon (0-1); R Leonard(0-1, 1f), A Daly (0-3), E Concannon (0-6,4fs). Subs: L Joyce for Cormican, A Newell for RLeonard.

MAYO: Y Byrne; M Corbett, N Tierney, A Bell;C McManamon, K Sullivan, S Tierney; C Egan,C McManamon; M Carter, C Staunton (0-5,3fs), F McHale; S Rowe, A Gilroy (1-3), L Caf-ferkey (0-1). Subs: C Connelly for Corbett, N Kelly for Mc-Manamon, C Hegarty for Cafferkey.

REF: Des McEnery (Westmeath).

CONNACHT SENIOR LADIES FINAL

Connachtglory forGalwaygirls

WINNERS: Galway's Tracy Leonard wasin fine form as the Tribesgirls defeatedMayo in the Connacht senior Ladiesfinal at Tuam Stadium on Sunday. Photo: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE

ALL-IRELAND SFC QUALIFIERS - ROUND 1

Page 17

Derry .................0-15Sligo ....................0-8

By DECLAN ROONEYMedia West Ireland

SLIGO'S championship campaign isover for 2013 and consequentlyKevin Walsh's five-year stint as

Yeats County manager has also ended.Walsh called time on his Sligo manage-

rial career after his side tasted a 0-15 to 0-9 defeat against Derry at the Centre ofExcellence in Owenbeg.

Just six points separated the sides atthe full-time whistle, but in truth that score-line was flattering to Sligo to say the least.

By the 15th minute the home side hadopened out a 0-7 to 0-0 advantage thanksto some slick, flowing football from theirforwards. After that they reverted to amore defensive style of play, choosing tosoak up Sligo's pressure in preparation fortougher tests.

Perversely, Sligo will feel that theyshould have finished closer to BrianMcIver's side than they did. They kickedten wides in total – five in each half – butthey also fluffed the game's best goalchance ten minutes before the break.

Four of those wides arrived from AdrianMarren early in the second-half when justsix points stood between the sides. In fair-ness to Marren one of those wides lookedto have been incorrectly judged to havemissed the target, but he also hit a coupleof really poor frees that he usually wouldbe confident of slotting.

It wasn't just up front that the Sligoproblems emerged as a lethargy seemedto hamper their play at stages. Concedingjust two frees in the second-half could bea sign of a team with impeccable tacklingtechnique – which they displayed at times– but it could also suggest that their de-fending lacked intensity. At the other endDerry conceded 15 in the same time pe-riod. Read what you like into it.

Before the throw in Walsh made threepersonnel changes and with it handedDavid Kelly his first start of the season.While the Tubbercurry attacker was clearlylacking in match fitness, he was nothelped by the delivery of poor quality ballinto him. On the rare occasions he gotgood ball in his hands, he was quicklycrowded out by a combination of DermotMcBride and Declan Brown. If Kelly canretain his fitness until next season, wemay see him back to his best in the blackshirt.

While there was still 55 minutes re-maining after Derry's rapid-fire start, in re-ality Sligo's hopes of a win had gone afterthe first act. They seemed helpless to stall

Derry's attacking prowess, with JamesKielt's play-making abilities and the freerunning of Lee Kennedy and Ryan Bellproving unstoppable.

It was Enda Lynn that got them off themark in the game's first attack and aminute later Sean Leo McGoldrick kickeda great point from the right after CharlieKielt spotted him all on his own.

Bell kicked his first in the sixth minute,before Ciaran McFaul split the posts withstyle after a move with James Kielt's fin-gerprints all over it.

Mark Lynch and Bell added furtherpoints before Kielt freed Kennedy clear ongoal, but he elected to take a point insteadof going for the jugular.

A goal at that stage would have endedSligo's challenge, but instead theyseemed to get to grips with Derry's gameplan as the free man Adrian McIntyrebegan to cut out Derry's previously precisedeliveries.

Marren finally got Sligo off the markwith a free in the 16th minute after Bren-dan Egan was felled by Brown.

James Kilcullen kicked Sligo's secondpoint in a row five minutes later with agreat score from distance, and had CharlieHarrison hit the net when one-on-one with

Eoin McNicholl, just two points would haveseparated the sides.

But the former skipper fluffed his goalchance and Derry kicked two furtherpoints to take a 0-9 to 0-3 lead in at thebreak.

Sligo faced the second-half with thewin at their backs and they set about trim-ming the lead with a frees from Marrenand Mark Breheny by the 42nd minute.

But Bell responded with a sublimescore off the outside of his boot from wideon the right and after Marren kicked hisfourth wide of the half, Lynn hit his secondpoint to edge the Derry lead out to sevenpoints again.

Lynn repeated the dose in the 58thminute and substitute Eoin Bradley didwell to shake of the attention of Neil Ewingto score a good point six minutes after hisintroduction.

And Bell capped a fine team displaywith a massive point from distance asDerry ran out easy winners from thirdgear.

The game may have been dominatedby Walsh's decision not to return to themanager's position for 2014 and after anaverage division three campaign, whichwas followed by two championship defeats– including a Connacht championship lossin Ruislip – it can come as no surprise.

The loss to London certainly knockedthe stuffing out of the squad and they mustshoulder their share of the blame forWalsh's departure. But perhaps, with afresh outlook and a new voice, the gooddays might not be too far away for Sligofootball.SCORERS – Derry: L Kennedy & R Bell0-4 each, E Lynn 0-3, M Lynch(1f), CMcFaul, E Bradley & S L McGoldrick 0-1each.Sligo: M Breheny 0-4 (3f), A Marren 0-3(3f), J Kilcullen 0-1.DERRY: E McNicholl; M Lynch, C McK-aigue, D McBride; C Kielt, S L Mc-Goldrick, D Brown; P Bradley, PJMcCloskey; C McAtamney, J Kielt, ELynn; C McFaul, L Kennedy, R Bell.Subs: E Bradley for McFaul (53), EMcGuckin for J Kielt (59), A McAlynnfor McAtamney (63), B Gormley forLynn (65), B McCallion for P Bradley(68)SLIGO: P Greene; C Harrison, R Dono-van, N Ewing; J Kelly, M Quinn, S Mc-Manus; J Kilcullen, B Egan; M Breheny,K Sweeney, P Hughes; D Kelly, A Mar-ren, A McIntyre.Subs: K Cawley for McManus (h-t), FQuinn for Sweeney (44), N Murphy forHughes (53), K Byrne for Marren (62), SGilmartin for Kilcullen (65).REF: Martin Higgins (Fermanagh).

Walsh stands down after Sligo exit

OVER AND OUT: A disappointed Ross Donovanand Brendan Egan walk off the field at theend of the game after defeat to Derry in thechampionship. Photo: Oliver McVeigh / SPORTSFILE


Page 18

Galway ................1-12Tipperary ...........0-11


GALWAY recovered from a pooropening half when they had thewind to see off Tipperary in the

second-half and claim their first win in theAll-Ireland qualifiers since 2004.

Galway lost their last seven qualifiergames and looked set for another shockwhen they led by just a point havingplayed with the strong wind in the openinghalf.

But Alan Mulholland’s men regroupedafter the break and got control of thematch with an accomplished display to puttheir 17 points Connacht quarter-final lossto Mayo behind them.

Tipperary brought plenty of playersback behind the ball when they were play-ing against the wind and it paid a big divi-dend as Galway were unable to breakdown a crowded Tipperary rearguard.

Galway’s cause was not helped byshooting nine wides in the first-half, sevenof them in the opening 15 minutes, butthey were forced to shoot under pressureby the fired-up Tipperary defence.

Danny Cummins got Galway off themark after three minutes but they did notscore again for 18 minutes when SeanArmstrong got the first of three points inthe opening half when he landed an effortfrom 45 metres.

But Tipperary built patiently from theback and with wing-back Brian Fox goingforward regularly, they managed to createplenty of openings and might well havebeen in front at the break had they notkicked seven wides.

Conor Sweeney hit four of them fromplaced balls but he was in superb formfrom play and struck three great scores asthe sides exchanged points five times inthe opening half.

It took a superb save from Paul‘Cracker’ Fitzgerald to keep out an effortfrom Michael Meehan, while at the otherend Manus Breathnach did well to denySteven O’Brien after a good solo run.

Sweeney’s second point after 22 min-utes put Tipperary in front for the first timeand he also edged them in front four min-utes from the break as the prospect of ashock result increased.

Galway finished the half strongly withPaul Conroy finding the range from dis-tance and then Armstrong pointed a freefrom 45 metres to leave the Tribesmenahead by 0-6 to 0-5 at the interval.

But Galway made a great start to thesecond-half with points from Mark Hehir

and Amstrong pushing them 0-8 to 0-5and while Peter Acheson responded with apointed free, Galway hit back.

Danny Cummins floated over a freeand then lofted in another effort whichgoalkeeper Fitzgerald punched but it fell todebutant Michael Farragher and he slottedit low into the bottom right of the net.

It was Galway’s first goal in a qualifiermatch since 2007 against Meath and it putthem ahead by double scores after 46minutes.

Galway continued to dominate pro-ceedings and Cummins extended the leadwith his third point as the Tipperary chal-lenge disintegrated.

Michael Meehan worked his waythrough the visitors’ defence to shoot anexcellent point after 52 minutes to make it1-11 to 0-6.

Tipperary needed to get a goal to getback into contention but Galway continuedto play full of confidence and Farragheradded to his goal with a point from 20 me-tres

Conor Sweeney hit two frees for Tip-perary and with Cummins unable to finisha gilt-edge chance for Galway, a pointfrom sub Bernard O’Brien reduced themargin to 1-12 to -9 with six minutes re-maining.

The home supporters in the crowd of

3,608 began to get more concerned whenSweeney landed another free to leave fivebetween them with as many minutes re-maining.

Sweeney had a goal effort touchedaway by Breathnach in the closing stagesbut they never looked like saving the dayas they failed to build on their solid per-formance in the opening half when theyhad Galway in so much trouble but in theend Mulholland’s men did enough to winand advance to the next round with a farfrom convincing victory.

GALWAY: M Breathnach; C Forde, FHanley, K Kelly; C Doherty, G O’Don-nell, G Sice (D O’Neill 68): P Conroy (0-1), G Higgins; J O’Brien (T Flynn 68), SArmstrong (0-4 1f), M Farragher (1-1, FO Curraoin 61); M Hehir (0-1), M Mee-han (0-2,1f, M Martin 60), D Cummins(0-3).

TIPPERARY: P Fitzgerald; A Morrissey,P Codd, J Coghlan; B Fox (0-1), DLynch (B Mulvihill 49), D Leahy; HCoghlan (0-1), S O’Brien (0-1f, AMatassa 60, 0-1); L Allen, P Acheson, IFahey (B O’Brien 61, 0-2); C Sweeney(0-5, 2f), P Quirke, G Hannigan.

REF: P O’Sullivan (Kerry).

UP AND RUNNING: Galway defender Keith Kelly drives past George Hannigan during the Tribes-men's Round 1 qualifier win over Tipperary at Pearse Stadium. Photo: Ray Ryan / SPORTSFILE

Galway get season back on track


Page 19

Roscommon ..........1-7 Tyrone ...............0-12

By IAN COONEYRoscommon Herald

TYRONE got out of Hyde Park with anarrow two points win after escapinga Roscommon ambush.

The Rossies could have sparked amajor shock had they taken their scoresduring a late onslaught, with the RedHands on the back foot and fighting forsurvival.

Tyrone appeared to have weathered anearlier storm when they kicked six pointson the spin early in the second half to gosix clear, but they were breathing hugesighs of relief at the final whistle as theysqueezed through to the third round of theQualifiers.

Roscommon, fielding with a new-lookattack with the surprise omission of SenanKlbride, Donie Smith and Kevin Higgins,made the early running, but lacked a cut-ting edge up front. With both sides deploy-ing sweepers, an untidy stalemateendured for the opening 14 minutes, untilCathal Cregg won the free that Conor De-vaney converted from the 20 metre line.

Tyrone struggled to break down a de-fence in which Niall Daly, Paddy Broganand Neil Collins were up for the challenge.

Tyrone had toiled for almost 18 min-utes by the time Sean Cavanagh openedtheir account from a 45 metre free.

And they went ahead three minuteslater when Mark Donnelly's industry wasrewarded by a neatly executed point.

Roscommon's tackling and the selflessworkrate of their players forced a series ofturnovers, and they drew level when cor-ner back Neil Collins got on the end of atidy move to fist a point 10 minutes beforethe break.

It was Collins who sent in the search-ing ball for Devaney to run on to for a sen-sational 30th minute goal, finishing to theroof of the net at the second attempt afterPascal McConnell kept out his initial effort.

Tyrone had a goal chance when MartinPenrose picked out Joe McMahon, butDarren O'Malley denied the full back, withConor McAliskey bringing the sides levelfrom the resultant '45.

They went in at the break deadlockedon 1-2 to 0-5, and when Darren McCurrykicked four points, followed by scores fromSean Cavanagh and Penrose, they lookedset to go through with plenty to spare.

But substitute Kevin Higgins sparkedanother Roscommon flourish with a point,and further scores from Cathal Cregg (3)and Donie Shine had the Rossies rightback in it.

However, they lacked a clinical finisherin the closing stages, when they shot ahandful of wides with Tyrone on the ropes.

The Red Hands managed just onepoint, a sixth from McCurry, in the finalquarter, but managed to hold on and winby two.

The Rossies made a heroic exit, andmanager John Evans will look to 2014 withconfidence as he embarks on the secondphase of a bold project.

ROSCOMMON: D O'Malley, N Collins (0-1), N Carty, S McDermott, D Keenan, NDaly, P Brogan, C Shine, K Mannion, CDaly, E Smith, C Cregg (0-3 (2f), I Kil-bride, D Shine (0-2, 2f), C Devaney (1-1(0-1f).

Subs: D OGara for Smith (40), K Higginsfor Kilbride (44), M Finneran for Daly(49), C Compton for Devaney (53), S Kil-bride for D Shine (65),TYRONE: P McConnell, R McKenna,Joe McMahon, C McCarron, C Clarke, PHarte, C Gormley, C Cavanagh, S Ca-vanagh (0-2, 1f), Mattie Donnelly, MarkDonnelly (0-2), Ciaran McGinley, D Mc-Curry (0-6 (4f), M Penrose (0-1), CMcAliskey (0-1, '45).Subs: K Gallagher for Mattie Donnelly(47), R O'Neill for McAliskey (47), SWarnock for McKenna (57), K Coney forMcCurry (63), P McNeice for Mark Don-nelly (66)REF: D Gough (Meath)

Evans’ side fall just short of Red Hand raid

TIGHT: Neil Collins in action against Conor Gormley of Tyrone at Dr Hyde Park. Photo: Matt Browne / SPORTSFILE


Page 20

Armagh ..............8-13Leitrim ..............0-10


LEITRIM joint manager George Dug-dale again defended the dropping offour of their panellists for failure to

comply with team rules on socialising, say-ing their absence had nothing to do withtheir Connacht championship defeat toLondon and their heavy loss to Armagh.

Wayne McKeon, Tomas Beirne, ShaneMoran and Conor Beirne were all axedfrom the Leitrim squad five weeks beforetheir championship opener against NewYork, but instead Dugdale laid the blameof their poor campaign on their debilitatinginjury problems.

Reports leading up to this game sug-gested that just 16 players were able totrain, with leading light Emlyn Mulligan,centre back Enda Williams, PaddyWilliams and Alan Wynne among those tomiss out.

And despite their crisis, Dugdale andBarney Breen have no regrets about theirdecision to come down hard on ill-disci-pline in the camp.

“As is said before there were no win-ners in that situation but I can categoricallysay that not for one second have Barneyor I have had any hesitation over that deci-sion. “To be a county footballer you haveto adhere to standards as a group andanyone who is not prepared to do thathasn’t got the commitment to be a countyfootballer.

“There is commitment on and off thefield and despite the devastating resultsthem boys in there are looking to raisestandards — that was not reflected in theresult today — but you have to raise stan-dards and say enough is enough.

“Everyone has to be committed 100percent and I would make no apology forthat, it is my philosophy.

“Myself and Barney had no hesitationfor any minute, there are no winners in thisbut the boys were excluded, they excludedthemselves but to me they are not the rea-sons we didn’t beat London. The reasonswe didn’t beat London was the injury toll,”said Dugdale, who played with Leitrim in1994, when they last won the Connachttitle.

Much of the attention inside the countywill now turn to the future. Even before theArmagh game, faceless commentators on-line had signed Breen's and Dugdale's exitpapers.

However, Dugdale refused to comment

on their future and he said he was still un-sure if he would continue in the job.

“Our two-year term is up so it is not inour hands at this stage. I hadn’t reflectedon anything other the match, so I have togo home and think about it but it is not inour hands, it is up to the county board.

“I'm not going to comment one way orthe other because it is just too close to adevastating result. There are a lot of peo-ple to consider here, a wife and family,whether there is actually a job there … alot of permutations,” he said.

Leitrim's fate was sealed with their in-ability to silence Armagh's impressive for-ward line. Three goals from EugeneMcVerry, two from Jamie Clarke and an-other from Tony Kernan gave the Armaghfull-forward line a tally of 6-8.

Kevin Dyas and Mark Shields com-pleted the scoring for Paul Grimley's men,and the former Kildare assistant manager,said he hopes to face stronger opponentsin the net round on the back of two easieroutings against Wicklow and Leitrim.

“Yes, absolutely, it has been good theway it has worked out so far but with duerespect to everybody, we want a really bigteam to play now.

“I knew at half-time (against Cavan)that the tactics needed tinkering but thelearning curve was when you were trainingfor something you see it through and youdon’t be looking for a way out.

“But I have put my hands up and said Irefused to change the tactics and people

can criticise me for doing that but that wasmy call and for as long as I am here I willalways do what I think is the right thing forthe team,” said Grimley.

After such a heavy defeat it is hard tosee where Leitrim go from here, but aftershaking off their Ulster championship dis-appointment, Armagh will prove a difficultdraw in round 3.

SCORERS – Armagh: E McVerry 3-0, JClarke 2-3, T Kernan 1-5 (3f, 1'45), AKernan 0-4 (4f), K Dyas & M Shields 1-0each, S Harold 0-1. Leitrim: K Conlon 0-8 (7f), R Cox (1f) & DSweeney 0-1 each.ARMAGH: P McEvoy; J Morgan, B Don-aghy, P McKeown; A Kernan, C McK-eever (capt), M Shields; J Lavery, SHarold; C Rafferty, K Dyas, E Rafferty; JClarke, T Kernan, E McVerry.Subs: S Campbell for E Rafferty (27), CO'Hanlon for McVerry (48), F Moriartyfor Shields (53), A Forker for C Rafferty(56), S Forker for Clarke (63).LEITRIM: C McCrann (capt); F McMor-row, C Egan, D Beck; S McWeeney, GReynolds, B Prior; D Sweeney, B Bren-nan; P McGowan, J Glancy, P Brennan;K Conlon, R Lowe, A Croal.Subs: R Gallagher for McGowan (6), RCox for Croal (h-t), C Clarke for Beck(45), G Reynolds for McMorrow (56).

REF: Fergal Kelly (Longford).

Goal rush ends Leitrim seasonHOT STUFF:Armagh's EugeneMcVerry is trackedby Ciaran Eganduring the homeside's All-Irelandqualifier defeat atPairc Sean Mac Diarmada. Photo: OliverMcVeigh / SPORTSFILE


Page 21

Galway .........1-12Waterford ...0-14


GALWAY have madesome inglorious exitsfrom the All-Ireland

qualifiers in the past decadebut they seemed poised to sur-pass all those when theytrailed by a goal with 15 min-utes remaining against a Wa-terford side who had only everwon one game since the backdoor system was introduced.

Galway failed to score forthe opening 23 minutes of thesecond-half when they wereplaying against the stiff wind atPearse Stadium as Waterfordturned a three points intervaldeficit into a deserved leadwith six unanswered points.

Corner-forward Paul Whyteled the way for Waterford with0-8, with the 21-year old get-ting half his haul from play ashe tore open the home de-fence.

Unlike the rest of the coun-try, it was grim and wet inSalthill and Galway produced aperformance to match theweather before Michael Mee-han rescued them with a goalsix minutes from time.

Three points from Meehanin the opening six minutes sug-gested a facile win for theTribesmen, who ended nineyears without a qualifier winagainst Tipperary last week.

Galway, as with the Tipper-ary game, struggled to breakdown a side who kept plenty ofmen behind the ball and withWhyte in top form Waterfordwere in with a fighting chancewhen they trailed by 0-10 to 0-7 at the interval.

Paul Conroy landed someexcellent scores from distanceand Galway needed that inputwith half of the starting attack-ers failing to score or even reg-ister a wide.

The home followers in thecrowd of 2,345 shifted uncom-fortably in their seats as Whyteand captain Gary Hurneywiped out their lead inside

eleven minutes of the restartand the prospect of one of thebiggest shocks in years gainedmomentum when Hurneyedged them in front and Whytelanded two more to lead by 0-13 to 0-10 in the final quarter.

Sean Armstrong got Gal-way’s first score of the second-half twelve minutes from theend and Michael Martin left justone between them two minuteslater.

Then Armstrong set Mee-han up for the crucial goal six

minutes from the end and theTribesmen held on to deny Wa-terford their biggest scalp indecades after a brave perform-ance.GALWAY: M Breathnach; CForde, F Hanley, J Duane; CDoherty, G O’Donnell, GSice; P Conroy (0-4, 2f), GHiggins; J O’Brien; S Arm-strong (0-1f), M Farragher; DCummins (0-1), M Meehan (1-5, 1f), M Hehir. Subs: K Kelly for Forde 28, MMartin (0-1) for Hehir 45, T

Flynn for Higgins 49, S Den-vir for Doherty 52, F O Cur-raion for O’Brien 60.WATERFORD: S Enright; NWalsh, T O’Gorman, MO’Gorman; C O’Keeffe, SBriggs, C Phelan; T Prender-gast, S Ahearne; T Grey 0-1,G Hurney (0-2), A Doyle (0-2);B Wall (0-1), P Whyte (0-8, 3f,1’45), L O Lionáin.Subs: R Ahearne for Wall 60,D Allen for Prendergast 68.

REF: D Fahy (Longford).

Galway edge past Déise

CONSOLATION: Paul Conroy offers a hand to Waterford's Paul Whyte after their brave fight in Round 2 ofthe qualifiers at Pearse Stadium on Saturday. Photo: Ray Ryan / SPORTSFILE


Page 22

Galway ................1-11Armagh ...............0-9


THIS was a huge step forward forGalway football and a proportion-ately big set-back for an Armagh

side who may have been lulled into a falsesense of security after their facile winsover Leitrim and Wicklow.

The foundation for Galway’s deservedwin came from a midfield pairing of PaulConroy and U-21 Tom Flynn, and intelli-gent use of the ball low into the attack.

Galway were clearly fired up for thisone and won most of the 50-50 collisionsand with Armagh, as expected, opting fora two-man full-forward line Galway keptthree in their full-back line throughout.

Donal O’Neill kept a tight rein on JamieClarke and regularly found Johnny Duanecoming back to lend a hand and Armagh’sbiggest threat was minimised.

Galway were three points to the goodby the time Tony Kernan finally got Ar-magh off the mark with a free after 12 min-utes and there was just a point betweenthe sides when they key score of thegame came after 24 minutes.

Conroy landed a 50 metre free fromthe left just short and Danny Cummins, al-though possibly inside the square, rosehighest to fist the ball across goal and intothe left corner.

That put Galway ahead by 1-4 to 0-3and two points from play from MichaelMartin pushed them further ahead.

Grimley responded with a couple ofsubstitutions and one of them, StefanCampbell, got the first of three points andAaron Kernan also found the range toleave them 1-6 to 0-5 adrift at the break.

Armagh needed a solid start to the sec-ond-half and while the wides continued tomount, points from Campbell and EtanRafferty halved the deficit.

But Galway responded well andMichael Martin took on the responsibilityand kicked a key point when he cut backinside in the right corner and floated overthe point of the match after 48 minutes.

It was a score which inspired Galwayand deflated Armagh in equal measure.

Campbell hit back with a third point butMichael Meehan tacked on two more freesfor Galway and Armagh managed just onescore in the final 21 minutes, a late pointfrom McKeever.

In between Galway played some excel-lent possession football and Conroy andGary Sice both burst forward to fire overpoints and the Tribesmen stayed running

to the end to secure a deserved victory.“Having Armagh taking care of Leitrim

by such a big margin and Wicklow as well,this really was set up for us,” added Mulhi-olland. “Them coming down here, maybelulled into a false sense of security afterthose two victories. We knew we had a bigperformance in us and thankfully, we didperform when it really mattered most,” headded.

SCORERS – Galway: M Meehan 0-4 (4f),M Martin 0-3, D Cummins 1-0, P Conroy0-1, S Armstrong 0-1 (1f), J Duane 0-1,G Sice 0-1Armagh: S Campbell 0-3, C McKeever0-2, T Kernan 0-1 (1f), A Kernan 0-1 (1f),E Rafferty 0-1, C Rafferty 0-1

GALWAY: M Breathnach; J Duane, FHanley, D O'Neill (C Forde 43-45 blood);S Denvir, G O'Donnell, G Sice (M Far-ragher 63-65 blood); P Conroy (M Mar-tin 68-70 blood), T Flynn; J O'Brien (SWalsh 57), S Armstrong (F O Curraoin62), C Doherty; M Martin (M Farragher68), M Meehan (A Varley 67), D Cum-mins.ARMAGH: P McEvoy; P McKeown (FMoriarty h-t), B Donaghy, J Morgan; AKernan, C McKeever, M Shields; J Lav-ery, S Harold (K Toner 33); C Rafferty (SCampbell 28), K Dyas, E Rafferty (SForker 62); J Clarke, E McVerry (AForker 55), T Kernan.

REF: Rory Hickey (Clare).

Cummins’ goal sinks Armagh

ON SONG: Galway forward Michael Martin in action against Paul McKeown during Saturday'sRound 3 qualifier against Armagh at Pearse Stadium. Photo: Ray Ryan / SPORTSFILE


Page 23

Cork ....................1-17Galway ...............1-16

By FRANK KEARNEYMedia West Ireland

GALWAY came agonisingly close toone of the major upsets of the sea-son when it took a late surge from

Cork to capture a place in the All-Irelandsenior football quarter finals at CrokePark.

Reflecting back on this game the lossof Danny Cummins through injury early inthe game probably cost the Tribesmendearly as not alone was he causing havocto Cork full-back Michael Shiels, but afterhis departure Shiels grew in confidenceand it was a late point from the defender inthe first minute of injury time that eventu-ally denied Galway at least extra-time.

Galway led by three points with fiveminutes left to play when Cork struck forgoal and followed with four points to kill offthe Galway challenge. However a latemissed point chance from the outstandingPaul Conroy was to prove critical afterMichael Meehan crashed a late free to thenet in what turned out to be the last throwof the dice for Galway.

It was the lively Cummins that openedGalway’s account after great work fromPaul Conroy and Tom Flynn as Cork racedinto a 0-3 to 0-1 lead. The duo that domi-nated U-21 football many years ago,Michael Meehan and Sean Armstrong,began to show the class of former yearsand with Conroy and Flynn dominatingmidfield and Cummins ever alert and dan-gerous Galway had raced into a 0-6 to 0-5lead by the 20th minute.

Despite the departure of Cummins atthat stage Galway still held a one point ad-vantage at the break with Manus Breath-nach pulling off a wonder save fromPearse O’Neill six minutes from the break.

Galway had played into the crossfieldbreeze in the opening half and with Mee-han (4), Armstrong (2) along with Cum-mins and Conroy all on target it was arefreshing start to Galway’s first appear-ance in headquarters in five years as thescoreboard read Galway 0-8 Cork 0-7 athalf time.

When Danien Goulding levelled thegame in the opening minute of the restart,it only ignited the Tribesmen to step up agear. Michael Martin combined with SeanArmstrong to restore Galway’s lead andafter Breathnach made another super stopfrom Mark Collins, Meehan and Conor Do-herty combined to set up Conroy for hissecond point.

After Meehan won a free, he dulypointed and Doherty and Michael Martinpushed Galway into a five point advantagewith ten minutes gone in the second-half.If Galway could kick on from there theywould have booked a quarter final spot butCork were able to introduce players thecalibre of Paul Kerrigan, Paudie Kissaneand Donnacha O’Connor into the game inquick succession and Cork suddenly tookcontrol.

But Cork began to take control of themidfield area and although Fintan O Cur-raoin came into the fray for Flynn, theRebels began to take a grip. Successivepoints from Goulding, Brian Hurley andCollins cut the deficit to two, but a GarySice point for Galway, their first in nineminutes was badly needed. When Arm-strong set up Meehan to score again, itlooked as if Galway had weathered the

storm as Galway had restored the threepoint advantage.

Then with five minutes left to play aftera Pearse O’Neill effort came back off thewoodwork, O’Neill was on hand to followup and crossed to Aidan Walsh whoflicked the ball into the Galway net.

Now level, Cork sought to win thegame and four unanswered points left toomuch of a gap before Michael Meehan’sstrike came too late to force extra time.

GALWAY: M Breathnach; D O'Neill, FHanley, J Duane; S Denvir, G O'Donnell,G Sice (0-1); P Conroy (0-2), T Flynn; JO'Brien, S Armstrong (0-4,1f), C Do-herty (0-1); M Martin (0-1), M Meehan (1-6, 1-3f), D Cummins (0-1). Subs: S Walsh for Cummins (22), M Far-ragher for O'Brien (52), F O Curraoin forFlynn (53), A Varley for Martin (57).

Proud footballers lose narrowly

SHOWING CLASS: Galway forward Sean Armstrong showed his class on the big stage and out-paced Cork's Paudie Kissane on Saturday in Croke Park. Photo: David Maher / SPORTSFILE

Page 24

LEINSTER SENIOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

Galway shat teredby Dubs

Dublin ............2-25Galway ...........2-13


AFTER winning the Leinster titlelast year Galway were rocked by ahungry and determined Dublin

team as the Metropolitans captured theBob O’Keeffe Cup for the first time since1961.

Dublin simply out-hurled and out-skilled Galway and once again the con-cerns of many who have repeatedlycalled for a stable Galway team came tothe fore with the management having towithdraw both starting midfielders, twoof the attack and one of the defence.

Indeed there were a few others thatwere also lucky to have finished thegame as there were several options withregard to taking players off.

It is fine to say that Galway have hadless warm-up games, while Dublin hadplenty, but the Galway management hada whole league campaign to try and getit as near to right as possible.

It is now back to the drawing boardfor their next game against either thewinners of Clare v Wexford or Kilkenny vWaterford. On last Sunday’s perform-ance it is hard to see Galway advanceagainst either opposition.

The opening stages of the game werepositive as Joe Canning (twice), ConorCooney and Iarla Tannian scored fourpoints in the opening ten minutes thatleft the game all square after Paul Ryanand David O’Callaghan hit a brace eachfor Dublin.

In the next 15 minutes Dublin virtu-ally wrapped up the Leinster title whenthey outscored Galway by 1-7 to 0-1.

The goal came on 24 minutes whenPaul Ryan was set up by O’Callaghanand he fired home a rasper. Two JoeCanning points had Galway still in thegame at the break, but with a mountainto climb as the scoreboard read Dublin1-12 Galway 0-7.

Although Canning hit the first twopoints of the second half, it got muchworse for Galway as Ryan followed upon two points with a second goal and



GALWAY hurling managerAnthony Cunningham con-ceded his undercooked

team has a lot of work to do aheadof their All-Ireland quarter-final.

“We have a bit of catching upto do on Dublin but we're not outof the championship yet. Theyshowed fantastic skill, fantasticfitness levels and fantasticstrength and they were the clearwinners.

“As we reminded Dublin thereafter congratulating them, we arestill only one step behind themnow and it is do or die the nextday.

“Four matches versus onematch. Everyone knows whether itis minor or senior or junior, themore matches you have it builds

your confidence and skill levels.We are still looking forward to thisday three weeks,” he said.

While Cunningham rightlylauded Dublin for their deservedvictory, he said he was disap-pointed with his team's pooropening half.

“The better team won on theday. It took us a good while to getgoing. We were a bit late to thebreaking ball there in the middlethird.

“We made some battle there forquite a while in the second half.We'd be happy enough with thataspect of it but not happy early onwhen we were sluggish.

“That first goal. James mightbe disappointed and they had ashot from a free early on, so theirintentions were there to go forgoals. We started okayish but asthe match wore on their champi-onship sharpness showed,” hesaid.


Galway shat teredby Dubs

BASH: Fergal Mooretakes a heavy hit fromDavid O'Callaghan duringSunday's Leinster hurlingfinal at Croke Park. Photo: Ray McManus /SPORTSFILE

Dublin led by 2-14 to 0-9 five minutesinto the second-half.

However the introduction of Galwaysubstitutes began to have a telling ef-fect. Aidan Harte and Conor Cooney firedover two points before Damien Hayessent a perfect long delivery into thehands of Joe Canning who beat three de-fenders before crashing the ball to thenet.

David Burke fired home a second goaland when Canning and substituteJonathan Glynn added further points themargin was down to six with ten minutesstill to play. That was to be as good as itgot for Galway as Anthony Daly’s menstruck the last six points of the game andleft Galway shattered and sore.

SCORERS – Dublin: P Ryan 2-7 (0-4fs), DO'Callaghan 0-4, R O'Dwyer 0-3, CKeaney, J Boland, J McCaffrey, C McCor-mack 0-2 each, M Carton, D Sutcliffe, SLambert 0-1 each. Galway: J Canning 1-7 (0-4fs), D Burke 1-0, C Cooney 0-2, I Tannian, J Regan, AHarte, J Glynn 0-1 each.

DUBLIN: G Maguire; N Corcoran, P Kelly,P Schutte; S Hiney, L Rushe, M Carton; JMcCaffrey, J Boland; C Keaney, R O'D-wyer, D Sutcliffe; D O'Callaghan, P Ryan,D Treacy. Subs: C McCormack for Treacy (53), OGough for Schutte (55), S Durkin for Mc-Caffrey (57), M Schutte for O' Callaghan(60), S Lambert for O'Dwyer (67).

GALWAY: J Skehill; J Cooney, K Hynes, FMoore; J Coen, S Kavanagh, D Collins; ITannian, J Regan; D Burke, C Cooney, CDonnellan; D Glennon, J Canning, NBurke. Subs: A Smith for Regan (21), A Harte forTannian (ht), D Hayes for Donnellan (h-t), J Glynn for Glennon (46), A Callananfor Cooney (63).

REF: J Ryan (Tipperary).

Page 25

Cunningham not happywith sluggish Tribe

DIFFICULT TO SWALLOW: A dejected DavidBurke watches thecup presentationafter the Leinsterhurling final at CrokePark. Photo: Ray McManus /SPORTSFILE

Page 26

ALL-IRELAND SENIOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTER-FINAL

Lethargichurlers

crash outClare .......................1-23

Galway ..........2-14

By JACKIE CAHILLMedia South

CLARE stormed throughto a first All-Ireland SHCsemi-final since 2006

with a comfortable victory over Gal-way at Semple Stadium.

The Banner County ran out six-pointwinners in Thurles to set up a semi-final

showdown with neighbours Limerick on Au-gust 18.

Clare produced another power-packed per-formance as free-taker Colin Ryan helped him-self to 0-10 for the winners, including eightfrees.

Galway, like they were in the Leinster final,were desperately flat and not even Joe Can-ning could bail them out here as the Portumna

man endured a frustrating afternoon.He was even taken off frees in

the second-half but Galway al-most staged a late revival asgoals from Jonathan Glynnand sub Niall Healy gave the

Westerners hope.Galway were just two points

down, 2-13 to 1-18, with eight min-utes remaining but Clare found the extra

gear to kick for home.At half-time, Clare held a comfortable

seven-point advantage, 1-12 to 0-8.Galway, well beaten in the Leinster final

by Dublin, were desperately flat once againand battle-hardened Clare took full advan-tage.

Galway did start well as they registeredthe opening two scores of the gamethrough Portumna pair Canning and Hayes

before Colin Ryan opened Clare’s ac-count with a pointed free in the thirdminute.

Galway moved 0-4 to 0-2 in frontbut Clare reeled the Tribesmen backin and the sides were level at 0-5apiece before Hayes edged the West-erners back in front once again.

But Clare levelled through the im-pressive Pádraic Collins and they

IN THE HAND: One of Galway's better performersagainst Clare was Jason Grealish on his first seniorinter-county start.

Photo: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE

ALL-IRELAND SENIOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTER-FINALwould hold that advantage comfortably all theway to half-time.

And they were given huge oxygen withConor McGrath’s 23rd minute goal, brilliantlyslotted into the corner after he burned KevinHynes for pace.

Hynes had endured a torrid time againstPaul Ryan in the Leinster final and when hefound himself isolated against the deadly Mc-Grath, Galway paid a heavy price.

Galway rarely threatened for the remainderof the half although Clare goalkeeper PatrickKelly pulled off a good save to deny NiallBurke on the half hour mark.

Clare were five points clear at that stage, 1-10 to 0-8, and further points from Ryan (free)and wing-back Patrick O’Connor, after theBanner men had forced yet another turnover,ensured a handsome interval lead.

SCORERS – Clare: C Ryan 0-10 (8f), C McGrath1-2, P Collins 0-4, B Bugler, P O’Connor, JConlon, T Kelly, D Honan, N O’Connell & FLynch 0-1 each.Galway: J Canning 0-7 (5f, 1 '65), J Glynn & NHealy 1-0 each, D Hayes 0-3, A Harte, D Burke(f), J Cooney & C Donnellan 0-1 each.GALWAY: C Callanan; K Hynes, F Moore, JCoen; S Kavanagh, D Collins, J Grealish; AHarte, A Smith; D Burke, C Cooney, J Glynn; DHayes, J Canning, N Burke.Subs: I Tannian for Smith, D Glennon for CCooney, J Cooney for Coen (all half-time), CDonnellan for N Burke (48), N Healy for Harte(60).

Cunninghamtakes solacefrom defeat

OFF DAY: Joe Canning takes a freefor Galway as they crashed out ofthe hurling All-Ireland seniorchampionship at the quarter-finalstage. Photo: Ray McManus / SPORTSFILE

By BILL KIELYMedia West Ireland

GALWAY manager An-thony Cunninghamis determined to re-

main on as Galway hurl-ing manager for anotheryear despite a disappoint-ing end to their 2013championship with de-feats to Dublin and Clare.

“Oh absolutely (I'll stayon). We are in it becausewe love it and we wouldhave to say the countyboard, the hurling boardand management struc-ture that is there istremendous and I have tothank them even thoughit’s difficult times,” hesaid.

“We struggled form-wise for two matches, formost of the match againstDublin in the Leinster

final and the first halftoday.

“But we will be heart-ened with the second-half, to come back withtwo great goals and cameback very close. Wemissed a couple ofchances then to probablygo very close to a drawand to win it. They’re finelines but we’ll go back tothe drawing board andkick on from here.

“From time to time,form dips. We’d be veryhappy with the effort ourguys put in. It was ex-tremely difficult. We haveat least 20/22 guys whoare very, very even andwe will be looking for newplayers for the yearsahead so it’s not the endof world but it’s the endof the Championship forus and we’ll have to buildon it for next year.”

Page 27

Galway ...............3-13 Dublin ................2-14

By JACKIE CAHILL Media South

SUPERSUB Leann Walsh netted inthe eighth minute of stoppage timeto clinch the All-Ireland Minor A

Ladies Football title for Galway inMullingar.

Dublin had netted two last-gasp goalsin a thrilling drawn encounter in Nenagh,but this time it was Galway who raised twogreen flags in additional time, to stun thechampions in a superb replay.

Dublin’s dreams of back-to-back All-Ire-land crowns were dashed in dramaticfashion in front of a bumper Cusack Parkattendance.

Boosted by second half goals fromLeah Mullins and Kate Dwyer, in the spaceof 20 seconds, the Sky Blues were incruise control.

They led by seven points on three oc-casions in the second half but still Galwayrefused to yield as referee John Nilandadded on a huge amount of extra-time forstoppages.

The Tribeswomen needed a Ciana NíChurraoin free to salvage a draw at thefirst time of asking and there was morelate drama last night.

In the sixth minute of injury time,Louise Ward banged home her secondgoal for Galway to cut the gap back to justa single point, 2-13 to 2-14.

And there was still time for one moredecisive twist as Walsh, introduced in thesecond minute of stoppage time for Re-

aney, struck gold with a low angled driveacross the boughs of Emer Ní Éafa andinto the bottom corner.

Walsh’s late heroics earned a fourthminor A crown for Galway - and their firstsince beating Donegal in the 2010 final.

In the battle of the sharpshooters,Dublin’s Carla Rowe finished with a tally of0-11, as ten points from Olivia Divilly keptGalway in touch when they were strug-gling for long spells.

Page 28

MINOR ‘A’ LADIES FOOTBALL FINAL

Galway girls claim minorAll-Ireland after epic replay

Siobhan Gavin, left, Galway, celebrates withteam-mates Shauna Hynes and Megan Kelly,right, after the match. Photo: Brian Lawless / SPORTSFILE

The Galway squad, who were crowned All-Ireland Ladies Minor A Champions after their replay win. Photo: Brian Lawless / SPORTSFILE

Like its predecessor, this was a gamethat had almost everything, with eachteam losing a player to the sin-bin in thesecond half.

The sides were level, 1-6 to 0-9, at theend of a first half that was level four times.

Inspired by Rowe, Dublin cruised into a0-6 to 0-1 but Ward netted a superb 17thminute individual goal to haul Galway backinto contention.

Three minutes later, Ward had achance to raise another green flag but theinfluential centre forward screwed apenalty wide.

Divilly hauled Galway level, and putthem ahead, with three unanswered pointsbut three from player of the match Rowehad Dublin 0-9 to 1-4 clear.

That was before points from MeganKelly and the lively Divilly hauled Galwaylevel at the break.

Galway had Emilie Gavin cleared toplay from the start – despite the fact thatthe Galway wing back was sent off in theNenagh stalemate.SCORERS – Galway: O Divilly 0-10 (6f),L Ward 2-0, L Walsh 1-0, C Ni Churraoin0-2, M Kelly 0-1. Dublin: C Rowe 0-11 (7f), K Dwyer 1-1, LMullins 1-0, M McGrath & M Davoren 0-1 each.

GALWAY: C Ni Laoi; A Meagher, S Gor-mally, M Joyce; E Gavin, N Ward, MGlynn; S Gavin, M Heneghan; O Divilly,L Ward, S Hynes; E Reaney, C Ni Chur-raoin, M Kelly.Subs: A Hynes for Meagher (h.t.), S NíShuilleabháin for Joyce (44), L Walshfor Reaney (60+2).DUBLIN: E Ni Eafa; A Curran, M NiScanaill, N Harney; O Carey, D Mullany,K Murray; A O’Brien, M Lamb; MMohan, C Rowe, N Rickard; K Dwyer, LMullins, M McGrath.Subs: É Rutledge for Mohan (45), KMurphy for Rickard (55), M Davoren forMcGrath (56), C McGuigan for Mullins(57), F Tuite for Lamb (60+2).REF: J Niland (Sligo).

MINOR ‘A’ LADIES FOOTBALL FINAL

Galway girls claim minorAll-Ireland after epic replay

Louise Ward (below)celebrates scoring herside's first goal.

Photo: Brian Lawless /SPORTSFILE

The Galway squad, who were crowned All-Ireland Ladies Minor A Champions after their replay win. Photo: Brian Lawless / SPORTSFILE

Page 29

Galway captainMegan Heneghan

lifts the cup aftertheir spectacular All-Ireland Ladies Minor

A ChampionshipFinal Replay vic-

tory over Dublinat Cusack Park,Mullingar.Photo: Brian Lawless /SPORTSFILE

INTERNATIONAL HURLING FESTIVAL

Page 30

AER Lingus in partnership with Eti-had Airways, will host the first everInternational Hurling Festival in Gal-

way this September. Sixteen overseas teams will participate

in the competition including teams fromNew York, San Francisco, Canada, theUK, Continental Europe, the Middle Eastand Australia. The tournament will alsoserve as an opportunity to promote thegame of hurling in developing regions byincluding teams such as Buenos Aires,Milwaukee, Indianapolis and a Europeanteam made up of non-Irish nationals.

The qualifying games will take place inregional towns, Loughrea, Ballinasloe andGort with the finals being staged at PearseStadium. This unique festival will alsobring together the ‘Best of Irish’ with a fullfood, craft and entertainment schedule ofevents planned for Saturday 21 Septem-ber at the Salthill grounds.

Two of the teams travelling to the Inter-national Hurling Festival in September areBuenos Aries and Allentown (US), not

areas you would traditional associate withhurling, but areas that are now flourishingin a sport that is allowing their team andclub to travel to Galway to take part.

In 2012, Connacht Hurling DirectorDamien Coleman under a directive fromthe GAA, was sent to Buenos Aries, to asmall town called Hurling Ham, where heembarked on a two week adventure to en-ergise the hurling club and deliver oncoach education.

The Hurling Club, whose chairmanRonnie Quinn is third generation Irish hasevolved from the rugby and hockey teams,the two main sports in this region and hasan amazing 2,000 members.

“We went with a three pronged ap-proach taking in the juvenile and adultsection within the club. We delivered afoundation level coaching course throughan interpreter, this was a first for me,” re-marked Damien.

“There was serious interest from every-one at the club, to find out more about thegame of hurling but also in technical side

of the game and its coaching techniques.Hockey is one of the biggest sports in thecountry and the coaches from these teamssat in and participated on the foundationcourse and were looking to see how theGAA coaching templates could in fact,benefit their game!”

From Damien's trip, a three-month win-dow was identified where the GAA seasoncould run.

“This is a definite work in progress, theGAA season now runs for 8-12 weeks andalready since the trip there has been threeexhibition matches between Argentina andIreland, these matches have lead to helpthe selection for the team to travel to Gal-way for the International Hurling Festival.In the last game the Argentinian Hurlingteam had their first win over Ireland whichis showing the progress of their develop-ment.”

This potential of this project was spot-ted by Pat Daly, GAA National CoachingDirector and through the two-week trip andthe ongoing work by the club executive,

New hurling regions to star at International Hurling Festival

Buenos Aries team.

Argentia v Ireland Buenos Aries. Connor O'Donnel hand passes to his center back.Dan O'Donnellscans the field.


Page 31

hurling is continuing to grow and the fruitsof this will be displayed during their timehere in September playing in the Interna-tional Hurling Festival.

Back in the US, The Allentown Hiberni-ans Hurling Club was started early in 2008when Pat O’Donnell met Jeff Purtell, whowould go on to become the first club chair-man. Jeff realized it may be possible tostart a club after hearing about the suc-cess of other American-born hurling clubsin the US.

Hurling looked very appealing to him,however Pat had no idea what it was! Al-most immediately the recruitment drivestarted. Jeff bought a couple dozen hurlsand sliotars and they held their first teampractice, at that time the team consisted ofJeff, Pat and Pat’s brother Danny. Thingsweren’t looking too promising!!

Things began to progress though and afew months in the club and team werenow registered as a Junior C Division sidewithin Philadelphia GAA. The team hascontinued to grow in numbers and in sub-

stance, hosting a tournament in 2011 andin 2012 with four teams playing.

Club Secretary John Driscoll explains:“For our club playing outside of Americamay be the greatest thrill ever. Manytimes over the years we have been toldthis sport will never be taken for real out-side of Ireland. To be recognized by theGAA and Aer Lingus as a part of this greatsport we are honoured. We intend fully toshow that we are passionate about thesport and will compete with everything wehave.

“With only three or four members whohave lived in Ireland the club, this festivalwill give an opportunity for us all to experi-ence Ireland together! At the larger com-petitions there are chances to meet peoplewho came from Ireland. These meetingsgave many of our members their firstchance to meet a true Irishman. Irishtunes are often played at our events.

“We put on an Irish fry after a Thursdayevening round of games last year andserved almost 40 people. The majority

never had tasted black or white puddingand a rasher before. We even count outour push ups in Irish to get a little of thelanguage into our guys minds.

“The festival has definitely added an airof excitement but the selection processalso added a certain stress level to theearly part of our season. As thingssmooth out this will become a major topicof conversation. The opportunity to repre-sent the United States of America in anevent such as this is an honour.

“To go to Galway with its rich hurlingtraditions is fantastic. For many who arenew to the sport the name Joe Canning isthe first that comes to mind when we dis-cuss video clips we watched. To play in hiscounty means a lot,” said Driscoll.

The International Hurling Festival willrun from Wednesday 18 to Saturday 21September 2013. For more information logonto, http://www.hurlingfestival.com, Likehttp://www.facebook.com/aerlingushurlingor Follow http://www.twitter.com/AerLin-gusFest

New hurling regions to star at International Hurling Festival

Dan O'Donnell takes his point. Dave Mahon ready to clear. Joey McFadden prepares for the jab lift.

Allentown GAAs team.


Page 32

As part of a warm up to theGalway international hurlingfestival, we focus on one club,The Barley House Wolves,which was created after itsfounding members – a groupof US soldiers – saw the gameon TV in Shannon Airport.

THE Wolves were founded by members ofC Co, 3/172nd Infantry Regiment (Moun-tain) of the New Hampshire Army Na-

tional Guard upon redeployment from Iraq in2005. The Soldiers of “Charlie Company” were

first exposed to hurling during a layover in theShannon, Ireland airport on their way to Iraq.Love for the game was instant and the Soldiersmade good on their pledge to adopt the gameas a way to maintain their bond.

Today, the Wolves are the reigning NorthAmerican Junior C Hurling Champions. TheWolves play under the sanction of the North-east Division of the Gaelic Athletic Association(“GAA”). The team has played throughout theUnited States and this year will be traveling toIreland to compete in an international hurlingtournament.

TEAM CAPTAIN (JR. C): WARREN PERRYWarren M. Perry was born in Bangor Maine

in 1966. He lived around the world includingplaces like Italy, Germany, Saudi Arabia and invirtually every part of the United States. Hecurrently lives in Bow New Hampshire with hiswife, Susan, and three children, Erin, Kathleen,and Michael. He is a Colonel in the UnitedStates Army and serves as an advisor to theNew Hampshire National Guard.

He began playing the sport of hurling in thespring of 2011 after seeing a demonstration bythe Barley House Wolves at a wellness fair inConcord. He enjoys the opportunity to continueto play competitively and has a tremendous re-spect for the history and traditions of thefastest game on grass.

The club was started as a positive outlet ofmilitary members returning from war. It hasbroadened to include military members, veter-ans, civilians and Irish-born members, all pur-suing the camaraderie of a fantastic sport thatcomes from a great culture.

Hockey and lacrosse players seem to havethe best transition into hurling. They both re-quire stamina physicality and toughness aswell as fine tuned sticks skills amidst heavy ac-tion.

The Barley House Wolves previously trav-elled to Galway in the spring of 2010 to take in

some sights and play in a few matches. Theyplayed against both the St Mary's GAA Jr. C inAthenry as well as an infantry team out of Ren-more Barracks. And given their history there,they are looking forward to returning.

PEN PICSALAN MANGANBorn in Youghal, Co.Cork, Alan immi-grated to Boston,Massachusetts in1994. He became in-volved with the clubafter moving to Ex-eter, New Hampshirein 2012. He had heardabout the club on

Irish television and made contact through theirFacebook page. Alan has served as the clubManager since coming on board, and led theteam through its undefeated 2012 season to itsfirst NACB Championship. He considers it anhonour to travel with the club back to the landwhere hurling was born and compete in TheGathering.

ALEC FOLEYBorn in Odessa, Texasand currently living inManchester, NewHampshire, Alec metthe team at Manches-ter’s 2011 St. Patrick'sDay parade. He hadheard of the gameprior to that, seeingthe All-Ireland Semi-

Final played in Croke Park in 2007, and becamevery interested from there. Alec is excited toshow the passion that American players havefor this great Gaelic game!

2012 NACB JR C Championship Philadelpia.

February/March 2011 Irish America

The Barley House Wolves


Page 33

DARRAGH MADDENDarragh Madden wasborn and raised inAthenry, Co. Galway.He moved to theUnited States in No-vember 2000 and heand his wife settled inHopkinton, NH. Dar-ragh first learnedabout the Barley

House Wolves through a local newspaper arti-cle. He joined the team in 2009 and has beenplaying with the Wolves ever since. He enjoysthe camaraderie, physical toughness, and de-sire to win shared by his fellow teammates.Darragh is especially looking forward to theGathering because it will be located in his na-tive County Galway. He will be honored to partof the team on his home turf.

EDDIE CLEMENTSEdward Clements Jrwas born in Winches-ter, MA and raised inSalem, NH. Aftergraduating from highschool he joined theUS Army as a me-chanic. Eddie de-ployed with C Co3-172nd INF (MTN).

Upon returning from deployment Ray Valasand Ken Kinsella started the Barley HouseWolves as a way for the guys from Charlie Com-pany to keep in touch. Eddie is an originalmember of the Wolves, he immediately fell inlove with the game and has been playing sincethe Wolves were formed in 2005. He was partof the Wolves trip to Ireland in 2010, theWolves played friendly matches against St.Mary's GAA and an Irish Army team. Eddie ishonored to be invited to play the tournament,and excited to play in Ireland once again.

STUART KREMZNERStuart Kremzner wasborn in Princeton, NJand grew up in NewHampshire. Profes-sionally he is an exer-cise physiologist andcoach. Stuart di-rected and started upseveral of the Nation'spremier sports train-

ing/sports medicine facilities in Utah, Illinois,and New Hampshire where he works trainingathletes, military, and law enforcement. Beinga team member of the Barley House Wolvesand attending the Gathering is a great honor torepresent the club at an International level. Itwill be a great learning opportunity to visit thecountry where Hurling was born and to experi-ence the sport in it's finest, refined environ-ment.

LORE FORDLore Ford joined theclub in 2008 after asuccessful recruitingcampaign by RayValas. Playing at thehalf-forwards andhalf-backs he was se-lected as MVP in2009. He has servedon the board as Regis-

trar and Secretary and was recently elected asthe Chairperson.

DENNIS TRAINORDennis was born inLowell, Massachu-setts, and currentlyresides in Derry, NewHampshire. He firstheard about hurling in2008 by watching aWolves practice. He’sbeen playing with theclub since 2009, and

in 2010 he participated on the club trip to Gal-way. Dennis was voted team MVP for the 2011season.

PAT NAUGHTONPat is a 21 year oldstudent at the Univer-sity of New Hamp-shire, where hestudies BiomedicalScience: Medical Mi-crobiology. He alsoplays hockey andbaseball. He joinedthe club in 2012 after

receiving some of hurls for Christmas. Pat isnow in his second year with the Wolves.

SEAN NAUGHTONSean is a 27 year oldSurgical Technologystudent at Maine Med-ical Center. From Goff-stown, NewHampshire, he cur-rently resides in Port-land, Maine. Graduateof Saint Michael's Col-lege with degree in Bi-

ology. He also plays hockey, baseball, andtennis. He joined the club in 2012 after receiv-ing a couple of hurls for Christmas, and he’sbeen a staple at midfield/half forward eversince. He first heard of the game as a kid whenusing his dad’s hurl as a living room hockeystick. About the gathering, he says, “I have al-ways wanted to make a trip to Ireland and Ican't think of what could be much better thanplaying the game there.”

MIKHAEL GREGOIREMikhael is from IslandPond, Vermont andcurrently resides inHooksett, New Hamp-shire. He is an ac-countant, a formerUnited States Marine,and an Iraq War Vet-eran. He enjoys ridinghis motorcycle, shoot-

ing, enjoying adult beverages, and making theacquaintance of lovely young ladies. He’s beenhurling for 4 years.

SEAN McCARTYBorn and raised inNew Hampshire, Seanjoined the club in2009. He is a full timefirefighter with a wifeand 9 month old son.

WILL MULLENWilliam Mullen wasborn in Methuen, MAand was raised in Con-cord, NH. After earn-ing his degree inCulinary Arts from La-conia Tech he began acareer in the art ofcooking. William dis-covered the game of

hurling from working at the Barley House andsoon after joined the Barley House Wolves. Hehas been a member of the team for threeyears. He is both honored and excited to havethe opportunity to play hurling in the game'shome country.

TANNER STARMERTanner was born inConcord, New Hamp-shire, and now residesin Henniker, NewHampshire. He stud-ied Forestry at theUniversity of NewHampshire, and iscurrently attendingclasses at the New

Hampshire Fire Academy. Tanner is in his sec-ond year with the Wolves. He was introducedto the sport and the club by teammates RuairiO’Mahoney and Dean Williams. Of The Gather-ing, he says, “I can’t think of a better way tospend my first trip to Ireland than playing thegame I’ve learned to love in the land where itwas created.”

The Barley House Wolves www.HurlingNH.comwww.facebook.com/barley.wolves?fref=tstwitter.com/hurlingnh


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INDIANAPOLIS GAA The Indianapolis GAA traces its roots

back to a wedding in 2002 where thegame was introduced by the groom tosome of his American friends. The groupstayed at this small size for quite awhile,however in 2005, two native Irishmenjoined forces with this group and got theclub moving again, combining their leader-ship, knowledge and enthusiasm for thesport. Gaelic Games in Indianapolis werehere to stay.

The club has grown from the seven oreight members in the early stages to over300 members today. The IndianapolisGAA currently supports two nationallycompeting men’s hurling teams at the Jun-ior A and Junior C level as well as a JuniorCamogie team and a Junior D footballteam.

Indianapolis proudly sports championsin NACB Junior B hurling in 2012, Junior Churling in 2008 and Junior Camogie ShieldChampionship in 2011. In addition to thenational teams, the Club supports an eightteam intraclub summer league, a fourteam Gaelic football league, and a twoteam Camogie league.

The club plays all year round as well,by renting an indoor soccer field and play-ing modified rules hurling and football. Fi-nally, the Indianapolis GAA supports thesocial aspect of the club through variousevents throughout the year such golf tour-neys, social get-togethers and communityservice events.

MILWAUKEE HURLING CLUBThe Milwaukee Hurling Club (MHC)

first introduced the Irish sport to Milwau-kee in 1996 with 24 members and adream. In 1997, four teams were formedwhich enabled the club to hold regulargames. In 2002, the MHC added youthteams to its roster. The MHC invites indi-viduals of all ages and skill levels to partic-ipate and become a part of Milwaukee’s

“Fastest Game on Grass”! From theseearly beginnings the Milwaukee HurlingClub has expanded tremendously and isstill made up of 99% American born play-ers.

The Milwaukee Hurling Club has grownby leaps and bounds, and achieved inter-national recognition for its remarkableachievements:

The MHC was the first American-founded hurling club. Now in its 18th sea-son, the Milwaukee Hurling Club boasts aplaying membership of 350 people, field-ing 11 sponsored co-ed teams, travellingteams in both hurling and camogie, andsix youth teams for youngsters from fourto fourteen.

Awarding of the GAA President’s Medalto founding member and MHC OperationsCoordinator Dave Olson in 2006 – the firstsuch honour for an American. Dave hasalso served as GAA North American Hurl-ing Development Officer.

North American County Board champi-onship titles including two men’s junior Bhurling titles and three at the junior camo-gie level.

The MHC was honoured with a visitfrom former GAA president Nicky Brennanand other officials in July of 2007.

Milwaukee Hurler Dan McAuliffe hadthe honour of competing as the first Ameri-can born player in the 2008 M Donnelly AllIreland Poc Fada.

Irish President Mary McAleese in 2006attended the “Spirit of Galway” hurlingmatch at Milwaukee’s Irish Fest

Our traveling teams of all codes andgrades have been grateful for the supportof M Donnelly.

NAOMH PADRAIG HURLING CLUB,SAN FRANCISCO

The club was founded in 1992 as a re-sult of the disbandment of another club. Itwas predominantly a Galway club in itsformative years but has always had a

strong Limerick and Tipp presence.Naomh Padraig has two Senior NorthAmerican titles to its name, 1997 and2010.

Our secretary is Barry O'Brien hailingfrom Kildimo, Co Limerick, a resident ofSan Francisco since 2007 and a ProjectManager with a leading Irish Pipeline Con-struction company ever since.

ST JOSEPH’S GAA CLUB, SILICONVALLEY

St Joseph's Hurling Club was foundedin 1995, bringing Gaelic Games to thepeople of Silicon Valley. A seven yearstretch of unprecedented success fol-lowed, with the men’s teams winning sixhurling titles, two Gaelic football titles, andthe women’s Gaelic football team winningtheir championship in 1999.

After the 2002 season, the club wasdisbanded. Recently, an increase in thearea’s Irish population as well as an up-surge in interest in Gaelic Games from thelocal community resulted in the club beingreformed in time for the 2012 hurling sea-son. Currently, St. Josephs competes atthe Junior B level.

Although many of the players are lo-cally settled Irish, St. Joseph’s has estab-lished itself in Silicon Valley, and activelyseeks players from the area. StanfordUniversity has a successful collegiate hurl-ing team and has contributed both playersand facilities to St. Josephs.

The club has recently embarked on anambitious program to bring hurling to theyoung people of Silicon Valley and had avery successful “Introduction to Hurling forYouth” day this year. We hope to continuethis endeavour, expanding the reach of ju-venile hurling in the San Francisco area.

For our members and players, hurlingbrings a great sense of community, pur-pose and belonging. Being part of thisGAA club has been pivotal in settlingmembers into the broader Irish commu-

The Denver Gaels side, who claimed the North American Junior B Championship in 2000.


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nity. It has been especially helpful for newarrivals to Silicon Valley, and hurling hasbecome more important to many of ourmembers than it ever was when they wereliving in Ireland.

Five St Joseph’s members will voyageto Galway for The Gathering. Naturally, itis driving us to improve our playing stan-dards and we all look forward to makingthe trip to our Real Home.

BRITAIN http://www.britain.gaa.ie/"The British team will be made up of

players from all across Britain, excludingLondon, but this is the first time the teamis playing together as ‘Britain'.

The British team will mainly consist ofmembers of Warwickshire squad that wonLory Meagher Cup.

Management team consists of StanMurray-Hession and Steve Ahern (jointmanagers of Lory Meagher cup winningWarwickshire team) and Gary Kelly (Sec-retary, Provincial Council of Britain GAA).Brendie Brien, Chairman of the ProvincialCouncil of Britain GAA, and a native of Kil-limor in Galway, will also travel as part ofthe backroom team.

Given work and sporting commitments,a lot of the players involved don’t get thechance to get home to Ireland often. Evenfor those who get home regularly, the op-portunity to play hurling in Ireland withtheir new team, and catch up with familyand friends is very enticing and there is alot of interest from players looking to bepart of the trip.

Traditionally, the first port of call for thelarge majority of hurlers coming to Britainis to find themselves a new GAA club,which means that they build up a new cir-cle of friends within weeks of landing. Peo-ple who play hurling, or football, overseasgenerally find that they always have ac-cess to work and accommodation, two ofthe big concerns when they make the de-cision to leave home.

The game of hurling, and the values itbrings out in people, is proving a big drawto people in Britain, and is seeing thegame grow steadily. This panel will includeat least three players who were born andgrew up in Birmingham, and are All-Irelandmedal holders.

Outside of the team, mentors and offi-cials, it is expected that at least 500 peo-ple will travel from Britain for the weekend,in support of the four teams from theprovince, as well as the large numbers offamily and friends who will travel from allover Ireland to meet up with the players.

For those born in Ireland, it’s great tobe getting the opportunity to play hurling inIreland for their adopted team, and toshow their family, friends and former team-mates at home that they have kept the tra-ditions of hurling alive despite livingoverseas. For those born in Britain, thereis a big excitement at getting to play thegame of hurling in Ireland, and to line outon the fields where the game was firstplayed centuries ago.

ST GABRIEL’S, LONDONThe St Gabriel's Hurling Club in Lon-

don was founded in 1961 and has had aglorious and illustrious 52 year history.The club's success last October in addinganother London Senior Hurling Champi-onship to bring their total to 15 titles andputs St Gabriel's at the summit as themost successful existing hurling club inLondon's GAA history. Their county titlesuccess in early October was added to inearly November when they won our 10thRyan Cup. In early February 2013 the clubreached the All-Ireland Intermediate Clubfinal in Croke Park and although they didnot win it was a great occasion for the clubto play in an All Ireland final at the GAA'shistoric home for the first time and theyhope to be back there soon.

Over the past 52 years the club hashad a huge impact on the London GAAlandscape with players and officers repre-senting London, and also by promoting theideals of the Gaelic Athletic Association inthe UK capital. Our club crest sports thefollowing slogan ‘Ag Couthú Na hIomána',meaning ‘Promoting Hurling'

The Club is represented by two adultteams, the Senior A and Senior B teams.

EUROPE NON-IRISH:The European hurling journey contin-

ues this year on the winding road to Gal-way where for the first time, EuropeanGAA will send a panel of non-native play-ers to compete in the Gathering hurlingfestival. This is a truly momentous occa-sion for all the players and the geographi-cal spread of players shows how trulyglobal our game has become and how it isbeing adopted by the natives of the follow-ing clubs/countries:

St.Brieuc Brittany, FranceBudapest, HungaryParis and Toulouse, FranceMunich and Cologne and

Dresden, GermanyZurich, SwitzerlandAction from the Australian GAA championships.

New South Wales in action in the Australian championship.


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The mentors and management arethrilled to showcase all is healthy and vi-brant with hurling in European circles andthe players themselves are chomping atthe bit to showcase their talents on a worldstage.

Europe Abu!!!

EUROPE (IRISH)There will be a combination team

pulled from all clubs across Europe withIrish born players who will travel home inSeptember to represent Europe at theALIHF, There is no team shot for these asliterally they are coming together for theweekend. The clubs they are coming fromare as follows:European Irish born Panel

Gothenburg GAA - Malachy MageeToulouse GAA - Eddie KellyBelgium GAA – Shane Ryan,

Fergal Mythen, Brian Hurley,Kevin Keary

Dresden GAA - Diarmuid Kelly, Eoin Meagher, Ivan O Connor,Kevin O'Toole

The Hague GAA - Barry Heffernan, Shane O'Sullivan, Jason Ryan,JP Griffin

Luxemburg GAA - Eoin O'Sullivan, Damien Higgins

Amsterdam GAA - Fergal Walsh, Brian Murphy. Jack O'Gorman

Zurich GAA - Kevin Lally, John Kirby

KILBURN GAELSKilburn Gaels Hurling Club is based in

NW London. The senior club was foundedin 1997 as an amalgamation of the two

former London based clubs ‘Desmonds’and ‘Glen Rovers’. The Juvenile club wasestablished some years earlier in 1991.Both clubs are affiliated to the LondonGAA Board.

The senior club competed initially inthe Intermediate Championship, winningthe league and championship in 2000. Theclub was promoted to the senior grade in2001. Since promotion, the senior clubhas progressed well reaching the champi-onship semi-finals in four successive sea-

sons, 2003 – 2006. In 2006 the seniorteam made the breakthrough into the sen-ior finals in both the league and champi-onship competitions, finishing asrunners-up in both.

The club truly came of age in 2010when it won the London Senior Champi-onship, the Senior League and the RyanCup all in the same year. It followed thisup in 2011 by winning the Tom SempleCup in Thurles, the Ryan and Collins cupagain. In 2012 we won the London Senior

Belgian side Eoin Ruadh in European championship action.

JP Ryan's GAA club show off their new colours


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League and successfully defended theTom Semple Cup in Thurles.

The juvenile club first came togetherwhen Mick O’Dwyer and Brendan O’Con-nor started his Saturday morning trainingsessions for youngsters in GladstonePark, where the club continues to train tothis day. Early days saw the club travellingto Birmingham in search of fixtures. Thischanged with the establishment of a fewother underage clubs in the capital and thefirst London championships were held in

1994. Kilburn Gaels has distinguished it-self with many championship victoriesover the years.

ROBERT EMMETTSThe Robert Emmetts hurling club was

founded in 1948 in Bow Palais in EastLondon on the 20th of March, with thefootball club initiated less than six monthslater. The inaugural AGM of the RobertEmmett’s Hurling and Football Club on13th February 1949 saw the election of

Stephen Fitzgerald as our first footballcaptain. The club's first fixture was againstThomas McCurtains on Sunday the 16thof May at the back of Wanstead flats.

Many fine men came through theRobert Emmetts hands, notably Bill Hor-gan of Cork, who played centre back ontheir first ever county championship-win-ning team back in 1951. Bill later becamechairman of the club. Another stalwart ofRobert Emmetts back then was FintanLawlor of Co. Laois who played his lastgame at the ripe old age of 61 (they don'tmake them like they used to!). In the 80sthe reins were taken up by Rogie Maher ofCo. Limerick and none other than TomRedmond who put in sterling work to getthe Emmetts to where they are today.Rogie has since left to go back to his na-tive Limerick while Tom is still steering theship today.

The club has had a very successful runover the past 10 years, winning five seniorhurling county titles (most recently in2011) and winning the junior footballchampionship in 2007.

THE DENVER GAELSThe Denver Gaels were founded in

1996 by a group of Irish based in Denver,Colorado. Initially the club only playedmen’s football, but since then the club hasgrown to a club of over 100 active playersand have teams in four codes.

The club has won North AmericanCounty Championships in 2000 (Jr. BFootball), 2004 (U12 and 14 Football),2007 (Jr. C Hurling and U16 and U18Football), and 2011 (Junior Camogie). InAction from the European hurling championsips.

JP Ryan's GAA club show off their new colours


Page 38

2004 they hosted the North AmericanCounty Championships in Boulder, Col-orado.

The Denver Gaels run year-round com-petitions from indoor hurling and football inthe winter to pub league competitions inthe summer. In July, The club invite teamsfrom all over the US to play in a Denverhosted friendly tournament and throughoutthe year, we participate in local communityactivities from charity races to volunteeringtime at local schools to teach GAA sportsto students learning about internationalsports.

Manager Eamonn Ryan joined theDenver Gaels in 2004 after moving fromIreland to Boulder, Colorado. Eamonngrew up in Glanmire, Co Cork and playedhurling for Sarsfields Hurling Club andfootball for Glanmire football club. He alsoplayed junior and senior hurling for StJudes hurling club in Dublin for six yearsprior to moving to the US. Prior to becom-ing hurling manager, Eamonn served asDenver Gaels club chairperson from 2009– 2012.

Team captain Patrick Folan hails fromDorchester Massachusetts. He moved toDenver Colorado in 1996 and started play-ing hurling with the Denver Gael in 2008.His strong Galway ties must have helpedhim develop his hurling skills because heis now one of the clubs top scorers, usingplaying left or right half forward. Patrickhas recently been certified as GAA foun-dation level coach and he is actively in-volved in coaching new and existingplayers in the club. Patrick (Pat) can oftenbe seen sporting the Galway county colorson the hurling field!

Hurling and Gaelic games are a greatpoint of connection for the players andIrish community in Denver. We don’t havethe biggest Irish community in Denver, butthe GAA helps it flourish for all groups. Forthe Irish moving into our community, it is agreat way for them to immediately makefriends and feel a real sense of belonging.For Irish Americans (1st, 2nd, and evenfurther generations) it’s a great way forthem to stay connected to Irish culture,and preserve the tradition of their family.Beyond that we’ve grown the games toAmericans with no Irish connections, whohave fallen in love with our games and therich social atmosphere that enjoy.

We have quite a few players with littleto no direct Irish connection, of our playersabout 20% are Irish born, 60% wouldclaim Irish-American, and 20% have noIrish connections whatsoever.

The Festival has certainly given aboost to our club. The opportunity to playin Ireland, in some cases in front of grand-parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins is ab-solutely massive. For quite a few of ourplayers this will be their first time travellingto Ireland so just having the opportunity tovisit the country is incredible. Beyond thatwe’re very excited to play and meet otherteams from around the world.

We have two players with significantconnections to Galway. The first is PatrickFolan, our team captain. Patrick is the sonof Bridget (Keane) Folan of Carraroe butraised in Rosmuc, Co. Galway andStephen Folan of Carna, Co. Galway. Heis the youngest of four children and wasborn and raised in Dorchester Massachu-setts. He still has family living in Co. Gal-way. Patrick and his wife Ann and weremarried in the Catholic Church of Car-raroe, which was the same Church thatPatrick’s mother, was baptized in. ForPatrick hurling in Galway is and will be agreat honor.

Another Patrick, representing the Den-ver Gaels also has deep connections toGalway. This is Patrick Ream. His mater-nal Grandparents were from a small townoutside Tuam called Briarfield. Althoughboth parents were from Galway they didn’tmeet until many years later in Utica NewYork. It turns out after they started talkingthat their family farms actually backed upto each other and they had never met untilthat day in upstate New York. PatrickReam went to Galway in 2005 with two fel-low members of the Denver Gaels includ-ing Tim Shaw who is on the Denver Gaelspanel for this tournament. After visiting theMoylan family they simply stepped overthe stone wall and met the Jordan's, theother side of his family. It’s a small worldindeed.

NEW YORKThe New York County Board of the

Gaelic Athletic Association (CummannLuthchleas Gael Coiste Contae NuaEabhrac), or New York GAA, is one of theCounty Boards of the Gaelic Athletic Asso-ciation outside Ireland, and is responsiblefor Gaelic games in the New York metro-politan area. The county board is also re-sponsible for the New York inter-countyteams.

The first organized hurling and Gaelic

football club in New York was founded in1857. In the following 30 years, the NewYork, Emmet, Wolfe Tone, Brooklyn,Geraldine and Men of Ireland clubs wereset up. The Gaelic Athletic Association'ssuccessful North American tour had a no-table effect on the growth of hurling inNew York and North America in general bythe end of the nineteenth century.

CANADACanada GAA is a very active and vi-

brant Association in the North Americancountry where Ireland’s sports of hurlingand football is played by both Irish andCanadian natives right across Canada.

Currently there are 40 teams embrac-ing both men and women who are playingboth of Ireland’s national games inCanada.

The game of hurling was re-introducedto the city of Vancouver in 2008. Vancou-ver entered the North American JuniorChampionship in 2010, and was crownedchampions at their first attempt. In 2011,the Vancouver Hurling team was re-named, Joseph P. Ryan’s (Vancouver), inmemory of Joseph Ryan, a founding mem-ber of the GAA who later immigratedto Canada and who is buried in Cran-brook, British Columbia. Hurling in the cityhas continued to grow and 2013 will seethe role out of a 7-a-side city league, alongwith continued involvement in the NorthAmerican Championship and a number ofother tournaments in both the UnitedStates and Canada.

In the city of Toronto, the Toronto Hurl-ing Club have re-invigorated the sport ofhurling in the city. Founded in 2010, theclub competes annually with teams fromacross Canada and the United States forthe North American Championship. Lo-cally, they compete in the city champi-onship and provide an important socialoutlet for Irish immigrants and Canadiansseeking to learn more about Irish culture.

Vancouver's Aindriu Doohan during the NACB final against Boston in 2012.


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Being invited by the Galway CountyBoard and Aer Lingus to send a Nationalteam representing Canada in a prestigiousHurling Tournament is a huge honour andprivilege for the country's GAA associa-tion.

Joseph P. Ryan’s Vancouver willproudly send ten players to Ireland alongwith two selectors who will make up part ofthe management team while the TorontoHurling Club will proudly send eleven play-ers and two selectors for management.

MIDDLE EASTThe Middle East All Stars are delighted

to be participating at the Aer Lingus Inter-national Hurling Festival as part of theGathering. Hurling started in the MiddleEast back in 1985 when two teams in AlKharj just outside Riyadh played in aninter firm game at Almarai.

The Boys from the Glens of Antrimplayed a Munster select and there wasskin and hair flying in the sands of SaudiArabia. Over the years further games wereplayed in Saudi between Kentz andAramco before an official tournament wasset up in Bahrain in 1993 which saw theemergence of new clubs Naomh AbdullaDhahran, Naomh Alee Riyadh and theBahrain Irish now the Arabian Celts andthe tournament has been running eversince celebrating its 20 years anniversarythis year.

Other clubs sprung up in Dubai andAbu Dhabi, Qatar and Oman originallywith Kuwait, Al Ain and Sharjah joininglater. The Middle East All Stars featureplayers from all clubs around the Middle

East and feature players like Killian Cole-man who played for the Cork minors backin ’98, Aidan Clarke who was on the DownTeam in 2010, Shane Rackard who wasHurling MVP at the Asian Gaelic Games in2012 and Andrew Keary an All-Ireland win-ning captain with the Galway minors in2005. The team also features a player,Terry Kehoe, who is in the Guinness Bookof Records for hurling when his ClubCloghbawn in Wexford set a world recordfor a hurling match that went on for 24hours back in June 2012.

The Middle East County Board is thenewest Board in the GAA Family. Previ-ously part of the Asian County Board theMiddle East Board was set up in June2013 with over 1,000 people playingGaelic Games in the Region.

Middle East Chairman, JamesKennedy said: “We are delighted to bepart of this wonderful initiative by the GAA& Aer Lingus and are really looking for-ward to competing in Galway in Septem-ber where the Middle East All Stars will bemaking their debut and I can’t think of amore fitting occasion for that to happen”.

CHICAGOThe team is made up of all the four

hurling clubs in the Chicago Region, andthree of the teams play at senior level andthe All American team is junior level

The management consist of PaulReynolds and Anthony Murphy who areboth from Galway, along with Thomas Lis-ton from Limerick and Martin Redmontfrom Chicago.

Many players who move to Chicago do

so just for the summer months. This givesthem the chance to keep up their playinglevel and also helps to raise the standardof the players who participate year round;it really makes for an enjoyable competi-tion. This helps the clubs not only by hav-ing new players to participate and bringnew ideas to their clubs but to enablethem to integrate into a thriving associa-tion

Most of the players are Irish or comefrom an Irish background, but the chanceto represent Chicago in an InternationalCompetition is regarded as a massive ho-nour for the club.

AUSTRALASIAThe team is made up of the All Stars

selected at the 2012 Championshipswhich were held in Perth. Players comefrom three units of the association: West-ern Australia (Perth), New South Wales(Sydney) and Queensland (Brisbane)

The Austarlasian captain is Oisin Lynchfrom Brisbane who won the Best Player atthe 2012 Championships. There are jointMangers/Coaches John Whelahan fromPerth and Damien Moroney from Sydney.Physio is Clare Gough from Adelaide andTour Manager is Paddy Hegarty from Mel-bourne.

Many players who arrive in Australiaaren't aware that hurling is played in al-most all Australian States and NewZealand. they are pleasantly surprised atthe standard and love being a part of aClub that also allows them not only to playbut to integrate into a thriving association.

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Page 40

U-16 Competitors (L to R): Competition winnerAdam Kerrigan, Coolera/Strandhill club; secondplace Kieran Devaney, Easkey/St Farnan’s club,and third placed, Tony O’Kelly-Lynch, Naomh Eoin.

Photos: John Doyle, Sligo

Keith Raymond Calry St Josephs club taking partin the Sligo GAA Puc Fada held on Culleenamorebeach.

LONG PUCK: Galway goalkeeper JamesSkehill in action during the M. Donnelly AllIreland Poc Fada Finals in the Cooleymountains. Skehill picked up first place inthe team event alongside Tipperary'sBrendan Cummins.

Photo: Paul Mohan / SPORTSFILE

SligoGAAPuc

Fada

All Ireland Poc Fada Finals


Page 41

Sligo hurling manager DeclanLoughnane of the Tubbercurryclub, taking part in the SligoGAA Puc Fada held on Culleen-amore beach.

Niall Cadden Coolera StrandhillClub, taking part in the SligoGAA Puc Fada held on Culleen-amore beach.

Eventual winner Chris Maddenof the Calry St Josephs club,taking part in the Sligo GAAPuc Fada held on Culleenamorebeach.

Niall Cloghan Naomh Eoin Hurling club, takingpart in the Sligo GAA Puc Fada held onCulleenamore beach.

Page 42


Senior Puc Fada contestantsplus Ladies winners CliodnaDaly (Mullagh, Co Galway) pic-tured at the Connacht Puc Fadafinals held in Connacht GAACentre, Bekan, Co Mayo. Pic-tured (L to R): John Prenty, Con-nacht GAA secretary, KerrilWade (Galway), Colm Callanan(Galway), Cliodna Daly (Gal-way), Gerry Fallon (Roscom-mon), James Skehill (Galway),Humphrey Kelleher, NationalPuc Fada Chairperson, ChrisMadden (Sligo). Front row:Donal O'Brien (Mayo) and JohnDuffy (Mayo). Missing fromphoto Alan Duffy (Leitrim) andToby Connors, Chairperson,Coiste Iomana Connacht

Connacht GAA Puc Fada

Pictured at the presentation of third place in the Connacht GAA PucFada competition in Bekan were Connacht secretary John Prenty, ColmCallanan (Kinvara, Co Galway), Humphrey Kelleher, Chairperson Na-tional Puc Fada competition and Toby Connors, Chairperson CoisteIomana Connacht

Pictured at the Connacht finals of the Puc Fada competition held in Con-nacht GAA Centre, Bekan were Connacht GAA secretary John Prenty,Connacht winner James Skehill (Cappatagle, Co Galway), HumphreyKelleher, National Puc Fada Chairperson and Toby Connors, ChairpersonCoiste Iomana Connacht

Pictured at the Galway finals of the Puc Fada held in NUIGalway sports ground, Dangan were Toby Connors, Chair-person Coiste Iomana Connacht, James Skehill, (Cappata-gle) winner, Colm Callanan (Kinvara) second place andDamien Coleman (Director, Connacht hurling).

Pictured at the Galway finals of the Puc Fada competition held in NUI GalwaySports Grounds, Dangan were standing (L to R): Sean McManamon, Toby Connors,James Skehill, John Connors, Colm Callanan, Aidan Ryan, Damien Coleman. Kneel-ing: Kerril Wade, Anthony Daly and Joe McNamara


Page 43

By DENIS O’BOYLECONNACHT INCLUSION

AND INTEGRATION OFFICER

IF you have attended any of this year's Con-nacht Championship games you may haveseen the 'Give Respect – Get Respect' Initia-

tive taking place at half-time. You may evenhad an opportunity to read all about it in yourmatch programme.

The GAA Give Respect – Get Respect cam-paign, which was first introduced in 2009, con-tinues to flourish, particularly at under agelevel. The aim of Give Respect – Get Respectstill remains the same in that it seeks to en-sure that Gaelic Games are promoted andplayed in a positive, fair and enjoyable mannerwhere players, coaches, spectators and refer-ees give respect and get respect from eachother.

The Connacht GAA Inclusion and IntegrationCommittee have made the promotion of theinitiative a priority for 2013. In this regard, theofficial launch of the Give Respect - Get Re-spect sign for all GAA club and county grounds,recently took place with the chairmen of theCounty Boards in Connacht in attendance. Itwas great to have the solidarity of the Con-nacht County Chairmen supporting the promo-tion of the Give Respect - Get RespectInitiative.

While the campaign may have originallybeen targeted at underage teams, the Give Re-spect – Get Respect Initiative has recently ex-panded and is now promoted and delivered atall levels within the GAA, regardless of age,competition or ability. Furthermore, the termRESPECT can be broken down as follows: Re-sponsible, Encouraging, Supportive, Positive,Enabling, Considerate and Tolerant.

According to Tony Watene, GAA National In-clusion Officer: “the two most significantchanges to the Give Respect - Get Respect Ini-tiative since it's inception in 2009 is that theinitiative now applies to all units in the GAA re-gardless of age, competition or ability and thatCoiste Bainistí gave permission for the Give Re-spect - Get Respect logo to be put on the sleeveof any GAA jersey in future,” he said.

At the 2013 Connacht Championship games

you may have seen children from schools andclubs of the participating Counties highlightingthe Respect Initiative message through theplaying of our Games. The following are someof key features of the Respect Campaign,which may take place:

The GAA Respect Initiative originally tar-geted at underage teams is now promoted anddelivered at all levels within the GAA, regard-less of age, competition or ability.

Referees and the opposing teams are to bewelcomed by the host Club prior to each game.

Players shake hands with their opponentsbefore the game commences.

The match itself is played under the aus-pices of the GAA Go Games

Referees communicate decisions in an effec-tive manner

Team coaches wear designated 'Respect'bibs and are the only personnel allowed alongthe sideline area.

Players and coaches line up at the centre ofthe pitch after each game to shake hands withthe referee, opposing players and coaches.

A designated spectators area is clearlymarked two metres from the playing area.

Host Clubs will endeavour (resources and fa-cilities permitting) to offer visiting teams theopportunity to socialise after each game re-freshments. providing light

The Connacht GAA Council leads the way inrecently erecting the “Give Respect - Get Re-spect” Signage at the entrance to all the play-ing pitches at the Connacht GAA Centre ofExcellence.

According to Mattie Kilroy, Connacht GAARespect Initiative Co-ordinator, the rectangularGive Respect - Get Respect sign, can also in-clude ones club and/or county crest. It is in-tended that this sign will be erected at theentrance to each club and county GAA groundsthroughout Connacht during 2013 to activelypromote the 'Give Respect - Get Respect' Initia-tive.

For information on how to order a 'Give Re-spect - Get Respect' sign for your club orcounty grounds, details were recently sent toall GAA Club and County Secretaries through-out Connacht. Also you can contact Mattie Kil-roy, Connacht GAA Respect InitiativeCo-ordinator, by e-mail [email protected]

Give Respect Get Respect Initiative

The Connacht Inclusion and Integration Committee launch of the 'Give Respect - Get Respect'sign for all GAA club and county grounds, by the Chairpersons of the County Boards in Connacht.(L-R): Cyril Feehily (Sligo), Sean Martin (Roscommon, deputising for Roscommon ChairmanMichael Fahey), Mattie Kilroy (Connacht GAA Respect Initiative Co-ordinator), Paddy McNicholas(Mayo), Noel Tracey (Galway) and Joe Flynn (Leitrim). Photo: James Molloy

Connacht GAA Council Secretary, John Prentyand Mattie Kilroy, the Connacht GAA RespectInitiative Co-ordinator, with the ConnachtGAA 'Give Respect - Get Respect' sign. The“Give Respect - Get Respect” sign has recentlybeen erected at the entrance to all the playingpitches at the Connacht GAA Centre of Excel-lence.

The Galway U-17 maroon hurlers who took part in the minor hurling development blitz recently.

CONNACHT GAA TED WEBB CUP

Page 44

Mayo EW ..............1-9Leitrim .................1-6

DISAPPOINTED but proud can sum up thereaction of manager Shane Heslin afterLeitrim’s loss in the Ted Webb Cup Final.

Heslin, who headed up the managementteam with Adrian Cullen, Pat McWeeney, JohnSheridan and Sean Watters, said that a poorstart cost his team dearly last Saturday butpromised that the players on the U-16 squadwould go on to good careers with Leitrim.

“We’re just disappointed we weren’t able towin it,” said Shane, “Three points, not a wholehell of a lot in it, just a kick of a ball in the endand we were going at them at the end andmaybe if we had a bit more belief at the startand go at them, it might have made a differ-ence. It is a final, it is probably the first finalthose lads have been in with Leitrim and it is abit of an occasion you know and it takes fromlads but they will develop and they’ll comeback.”

And Shane backed the current squad toprogress in the years ahead even if they are upagainst the bigger resources of other counties– “It is progress, they’ve beaten this Mayoteam already, they’ve beaten the Sligo A team,the Roscommon A team to be here. That in it-self is progress but it is a numbers game at thethe end of the day. You can see what Mayohave, they have big physicality and we’re pick-ing out of a small base to deal with that.They’re doing their strength and conditioning,they’re doing their fitness work and that is theway it has to start. They certainly weren’t dis-

graced and they are well able to hold theirheads high after it.”

Leitrim qualifier for the final after a difficultrun throught he qualifier games, but they sawoff Mayo EW by 1-7 to 0-3 before defeatingRoscommon for the second time in four days toseal their place in the final.

In a much closer game than the destructionof the Rossies, Leitrim still prevailed by 2-6 to1-5 against their neigbhours to book their placein the Final.

Mayo EW managed to overturn their defeatto Leitrim in the second round to take the ulti-mate honouyrs, but they needed a big win overSligo Black to reach the final.

Leitrim fall short of Ted Webb glory

SLIGO U16 Footballers won the Ted WebbShield at the Connacht Centre of Excel-lence following a 2-13 to 3-4 win over

Roscommon. Sligo led 0-4 to 0-1 from the boot of

Nathan Rooney before Ryan Feehily fired alow shot to the net and Paddy O’Connorpointed to leave it 1-5 to 0-1. Roscommon re-sponded before the break with a goal toleave the half-time score 1-5 to 1-1.

Sligo played with the strong breeze in thesecond half and both teams traded pointsbefore a second Roscommon goal left thescore 1-8 to 2-4. Sligo then raised their gameand scored four unanswered points before agreat run through the Roscommon defenceby Ryan Feehily who laid the ball off to

Cathal Herron to score Sligo’s second goal. Roscommon scored a consolation goal

with three minutes remaining before NathanRooney fired over the last score to give Sligovictory. Afterwards Connacht Council Presi-dent, Frank Burke presented the Shield toSligo Captain, Darragh Cummins.SLIGO: Niall Crawley, Aaron Kearns,Gary Walsh, Conor Sweeney, RyanFeehily 1-0, Paul Kilcoyne, SeanPower, Darragh Cummins 0-1, FinnianCawley 0-2, Darren O’Hara 0-1,Nathan Rooney 0-6(0-1f), PaddyO’Connor 0-1, Patrick Burke, CathalHerron 1-2, Nathan Mullen. Subs:Richard Lang, Luke Gilmartin, KevinBanks, Kyle Cawley, Mark O’Dowd.

SLIGO GAA is deeply sad-dened at the passing ofTommy Joe Murphy, Tubber-

curry, one of the county’s bestknown personalities andstaunchest supporters who gavea lifetime of loyal and dedicatedservice to the Gaelic Athletic As-sociation at club, county and na-tional level.

Tommy Joe had a very success-ful playing career with Tubber-curry GAA Club winning CountySFC medals in 1946, 1950 and1951, captaining the team in thelatter two years. He also won twoCounty SFL medals with Tubber-curry in 1950 and 1954.

Tommy was an outstandinggoalkeeper on Sligo senior countyteam between 1952 and 1954 butplayed much of his club footballin outfield positions. He played ingoals on the Sligo senior teamwhich had a memorable series ofgames in the 1951-‘52 NFL cam-

paign. Impressive winsover Offaly, Roscom-mon and Longfordput Sligo through tothe quarter finals. Aclose encounter withDonegal at Glentiesresulted in a one pointwin for the northerners.

In 1952 and 1953 Sligofought two memorable champi-onship battles against high flyingMayo who were All-Ireland cham-pions in 1950-’51. Tommy Joe wasoutstanding in those two gamesat Charlestown and Corran Park,Ballymote, both of which Sligolost by just three points. He mem-orably saved a penalty fromPadraig Carney in the 1953 gameat Corran Park, although the re-bound was bundled to the net.

Tommy Joe was Chair-man of TubbercurryGAA Club in 1965-1967and again in 1982-1984. He held manyother positions in the

club at various timesincluding Vice-Chair-

man and was elected ClubPatron on his retirement as

Chairman in 1984. He was alsoChairman of Kilcoyne MemorialPark, Tubbercurry, for a numberof years including 1984, the GAACentenary Year, when the Parkwas awarded the AIB GAA Sligoand Connacht Club of the Yearawards. He was also Chairman ofthe County Centenary Year Com-mittee and represented the PastPlayers of Sligo in the NationalParade prior to the Railway Cup

final in Ennis. Tommy Joe alsowas chosen to Chair the CountyGAA Commission in 1981 whichdelivered a wide ranging and pro-gressive report. He was a loyalsupporter who was always willingto step forward to act on variouscommittees when required. Hegave years of service to theCounty Activities Committee, theforerunner of the current CCC.

Tommy Joe represented Sligoon Ard-Chomhairle in 1975-1978and served on a number of na-tional committees.

Sligo GAA extends deepestsympathy to his wife Christina,sons James, John, Walter, Bren-dan, David, daughters Elizabethand Catherine, daughters in law,sons in law, grand children, rela-tives and friends. Tommy waspredeceased by son Tomás lastyear.

Go ndéana Dia trocaire ar aanam uasal Gaelach.

Sligo U-16 take Ted Webb Shield

Great servant of Sligo GAA passes away

T. J. Murphy RIP

Frank Burke,President ofConnacht GAACouncil presentsthe Ted WebbCup to JointMayo EW Cap-tains SherozeAkram (Bal-laghderreen)and JonathanBurke (Swinford)


Page 45

Connacht GAA U-14 inter-county blitz

Galway Maroon's U-14 hurlers pictured at the Connacht GAA U-14 intercounty blitz held at Connacht GAA centre Bekan. Back row (L to R): Cia-ran Kelly (Tommy Larkins), Jason Greaney (Killimordaly), SylvesterZwierczyk (Ballygar), Dara Kenny (Ballinasloe), Eoin Gaffney (Mullagh),John Sheil (Kilnadeema/Leitrim), Cathal Cooley (Abbeyknockmoy),Jason Madden (Portumna). Front row (L to R): Dan McDonagh (Kil-limor), Conor O’Neill (Padraig Pearses), Daniel Loftus (Turloughmore),Brendan Lynch (Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry), Jonathon Boland (Kilconieron),Darren Morrissey (Sarsfeilds), Oisin Reilly (Ballinasloe), Ronan McDon-agh (Turloughmore).

Galway Whites U-14 hurlers pictured at the Connacht GAA U-14 inter-county hurling blitz held at Connacht GAA centre, Bekan Back row (L toR); Brendan Madden (Meelick-Eyrecourt), David Price (Oranmore-Maree), Brian Fox (Carnmore), Alan Organ (Ballindereen), CormacNeilan (Michael Cusacks), Brian Furey (Ardrahan), Neil Huban (Kin-vara), Shane Dolphin (Mullagh). Front row (L to R); Conor Hanniffy(Oranmore-Maree), Eoin Farrell (Salthill-Knocknacarra), Liam Mulvan-ney (Liam Mellows), Fiachra Morrissey (Craughwell), Conal Finn (Gort),Brendan Connolly (Kinvara), Ronnie Galvin (Craughwell).

Mayo U-14A hurlers pictured at the Connacht GAA U-14 inter-countyblitz held at the Connacht GAA centre. Bekan. Back row (L to R): DavidO'Sullivan (Coach), Michael Freyne (Tooreen), Hugh O'Sullivan (JamesStephens), Conor Hunt (Tooreen), Aiden Morrisroe (Cashel Gaels),Tomas Duffy (Cashel Gaels), Bobby Douglas (Tooreen), Uneeb Hassan(Ballyhaunis), Kieran Doherty (Tooreen), Kaylem Connolly (Westport),Hannan Iqbal. Front row (L to R): Finnian Burke (Ballyvary), PaddyWard (Cashel Gaels), Shane Kennedy (James Stephens), Billy McVann(James Stephens), Luke Hurley (James Stephens), Cormac Phillips (Bal-lyhaunis), Eoin Delaney (Tooreen).

Mayo U-14B hurlers pictured at the Connacht GAA U-14 inter countyblitz at the Connacht GAA centre, Bekan. Back row (L to R): Sean Freyne(Tooreen), David Judge (James Stephens), Tomas Dillon (Cashel Gaels),Gareth Jordan (Westport), Liam Moffett (Cashel Gaels), Kevin Grogan(Westport), Dara Fehilly (Castlebar), Mark Cusack (Ballyvary), JackDoocey (Ballyvary). Front row (L to R): James Freyne (Tooreen), JackCoyne (Ballyhaunis), John Heraty (Moytura), Chris Walsh (JamesStephens), James Gallagher (Westport), Keelin Gallagher (Westport),Jason Potter (Ballyvary), Jamie Maxwell (Cashel Gaels).

Ballinasloe U-14 hurlers at the Connacht GAA Club hurling Feile held atPadraig Pearses GAA club, Woodmount

Annaghdown U-14 clubs hurlers at the Connacht GAA Club U-14 hurlingfeile held in Padraig Pearses GAA club, Woodmount


Page 46


Padraig Pearses U- 14 hurlers at the Connacht GAA club U-14 hurlingfeile held at Padraig Pearses GAA club, Woodmount.

Tuam U-14 hurlers at the Connacht GAA club U-14 hurling feile held atPadraig Pearses GAA club, Woodmount.

St Dominic's Roscommon at the Connacht GAA U-14 club hurlingfeile held in Padraig Pearses, Woodmount.

Sligo U-14 hurlers at the Connacht GAA inter county blitz held in ConnachtGAA centre Bekan .

Caiseal Gael, Mayo at the Connacht GAA U-14 hurling club Feile held inPadraig Pearses GAA club, Woodmount.

Athleague/Tremane, Roscommon at the U-14 Connacht GAA club hurlingfeile held at Padraig Pearses GAA grounds, Woodmount.

Drumcliff/Rosses Point U-14 hurlers at the Connacht GAA U-14 clubhurling feile held at Padraig Pearses GAA club, Woodmount.

Glencar/Manorhamilton U-14 club hurlers from Leitrim at the ConnachtGAA U-14 club hurling feile held in Padraig Pearses GAA club, Wood-mount.


Page 47

MattieKenny quitsas hurlingcoach

By JOHN FALLON Media West Ireland

The review into Anthony Cunningham’sposition as Galway hurling managerwill not be impacted by the decision of

coach Mattie Kenny to resign recently.Kenny stepped away from the manage-

ment team headed up by Cunningham andwhich also includes former All-Star TomHelebert.

Galway hurling officials are to sit downwith Cunningham in the next week or so.

Galway hurling committee chairman JoeByrne said yesterday (SUN) that Kenny’sdecision will not impact on the review.

“The review will take a few weeks andwe hope to sit down with Anthony in thenext week or so. No date has been set forthat but it will be part of the overall review.

“Mattie announced on Friday night thathe was stepping away from his role but, ob-viously, the review will continue,” saidByrne.

It will be the first review of Cunninghamand his management team since they tookcharge in 2011. The first review was sched-ule for the end of the second year of a Cun-ningham’s three-year term.

His first year in charge yielded an his-toric Leinster hurling title before they weredefeated in the All-Ireland final replay byKilkenny.

This year has been disappointing, after arelegation battle in the league they surren-dered their Leinster crown to Dublin beforebowing out of the championship to Clare.


Leitrim U-14 hurlers pictured at the Connacht GAA U-14 intercounty blitz held at Con-nacht GAA centre, Bekan.

Roscommon U-14 hurlers pictured at the Connacht GAA U-14 intercounty hurling blitzheld at the Connacht GAA centre, Bekan.

Roscommon U-14 hurlers pictured at the Connacht GAA U-14 inter county blitz hostedat Connacht GAA centre, Bekan.

INTO THE WESTTo obtain an electronic copy of the

magazine each quarter,

FREE OF CHARGE, email

[email protected].


Page 48

Niall McInerneyConnacht U-16hurling blitz

Pictured at the Liam Mellows ground, Galway are the Leitrim U-16hurlers who took part in the Niall McInerney Connacht GAA U-16 hurlingblitz recently.

Pictured at Liam Mellows GAA grounds, Galway are the Sligo U-16hurlers who took part in the Niall McInerney Connacht GAA U-16 hurlingblitz recently.

Pictured at the Liam Mellows GAA grounds at the Niall McInerney Connacht GAA U-16hurling blitz are the Liam Mellows minor hurlers who represent the club in this annualtournament in honour of the late Galway and Clare hurling great.

Pictured in Athenry at the Niall McInerney Connacht GAA U-16 inter-county blitz are a divisional side from Galway U-16 developmentalsquads.

Pictured at Athenry GAA grounds at the Niall McInerney Connacht GAAU-16 hurling blitz are a divisional side from Galway representing theirU-16 development squad.

Pictured at Athenry GAA grounds at the Niall McInerney Connacht GAAU-16 hurling blitz are a divisional side representing Galway's U-16 de-velopmental squad.

Pictured at Liam Mellows GAA grounds are the Mayo U-16 hurlers whotook part in the Niall McInerney Connacht U-16 hurling blitz recently.


Page 49

Connacht GAA Minor Hurling Development Blitz

Mayo U18s – Pictured are the Mayo Minor Hurlers who were in action recently at the Connacht GAA Minor Hurling Development Blitz at the Con-nacht Centre of Excellence in Bekan, where they played development games against Sligo, Roscommon and the Galway U17 side. Back row (L to R): James Lyons (Ballyhaunis), Mark Phillips (Ballyhaunis), Stephen Coughlan (Westport), Shane Nugent (Castlebar), Davod Freyne(Tooreen), Morgan Lyons (Ballyhaunis), Jack Forde (Moytura), Shane Healy (Ballyhaunis), John Judge (Tooreen), Fergal Boland (Tooreen), RobertLee (Westport), Robert Comer (Ballyvary). Front row (L to R): Tomas Grimes (Westport), Zack OToole (Westport), James Gallagher (Castlebar),Corey Scahill (Castlebar). Cyril Collins (Ballyhaunis), Ryan Kelly (Caiseal Gaels), Sean Mulroy (Ballyvary), Naoise Kenny (Castlebar), Brian Murphy(Castlebar).

Galway U-17 team whites

Sligo U-18 team.

Sligo U-18 team 2.


Page 50

THE Mayo U-15 hurlers put in an excel-lent days hurling winning all of their fourbouts in the development round robinblitz held in Pearse Stadium recently.

The Mayo attack – led by Brian Peo-ples (James Stephens) at full forward –

were in fine form accounting for 8-29over the course of the day. At the otherend of the field, Mayo goalkeeper BobbyDouglas (Tooreen) stood firm throughout, only conceding one goal throughout thetwo hours of play. The splendid surface

of the Galway GAA county ground inSalthill added to the excitement of theday.

Results: Mayo 1-10, Sligo 0-3; Mayo5-8, Galway City 0-3; Mayo 1-6, LeitrimU16 1-4; Mayo 1-5, Roscommon 0-4.

Sligo Under 15 hurlers at Academy Day In pearse Stadium Galway City Under 15 hurlers at Academy Day In pearse Stadium

Leitrim Under 15 hurlers at Academy day in Pearse Stadium Roscommon Under 15 hurlers at Academy day in Pearse Stadium

Mayo U-15s shine in Salthill

Pictured are the Mayo GAA U15 Hurling Development Panel who were in action recently at the Connacht GAA U15 Hurling Development Blitz whichwas held in Pearse Stadium in Galway. Back row (L to R): Adrian Hession (Mayo GAA - Games Promotion Officer), Noel Regan (Ballyvary), DavidConlon (Castlebar), Sean Kenny (Tooreen), Martin Ward (Caiseal Gaels), Brian Peoples (James Stephens), Bobby Douglas (Tooreen), Conor Browne(Castlebar), Nathan Boles (Tooreen), John Cassidy (Tooreen), Bryan Moloney (James Stephens), Keelin Horkan (Caiseal Gaels), Michael Raleigh(Coach). Front row (L to R): Shane Hegarty (Castlebar), Michael Freyne (Tooreen), Cormac Phillips (Ballyhaunis), John Geraghty (Westport), NiallWalsh (Belmullet), Aiden Morrisroe (Caiseal Gaels), Hugh O'Sullivan (James Stephens), Luke Hurley (James Stephens), Daniel Huane (Tooreen),Paul Lambert (Westport).


Page 51

JOHN MacHale was or-dained to the priesthoodin 1814 and his training

began in a Hedge School inLahardane, followed by sevenyears under the tuition ofPatrick Staunton in Castlebarwhere he learned Greek, Latin,English and Irish. Thereafterhe then went to Maynooth andthe Trustees of the collegelater appointed him Lecturer inthe Chair of Dogmatic Theol-ogy. He was to remain on thestaff for 10 years.

Professor Rev. JohnMacHale wrote many publicletters addressed to the estab-lishment during that time underthe nom de plume Hierophilosdefending the rights and reli-gious freedom of the nativeIrish people. He became a penfriend to many but one in par-ticular, Daniel O’Connell withwhom their correspondencewas regular.

Years later when Rev. JohnMacHale had become Arch-bishop of Tuam he received aletter dated 8th April, 1840,from London from the Lib-erator telling him he pro-posed launching agreat popular move-ment, a Repeal Or-ganisation, andsking could hehave permissionto invade theprovince.

MacHale’sletter of sanc-tion is dated11th April,1840.

On 25thJuly, 1840, ahuge metingwas held inCastlebar atwhich over20,000 people at-tended and a pa-rade, two mileslong, led in thespeaker. The Repealand Catholic Emancipa-tion which ultimately fol-lowed later in the centurywere not witnessed by O’Con-nell who was imprisoned in1844 and died on his way to

Rome in the city of Genoa.At the annual general meet-

ing of Castlebar Mitchels GAAClub the Secretary, Sam Mc-Cormack, stated: “If our clubthinks the place worthy of thename we shall call our field‘MacHale Park.”’

“May we also suggest tothe Urban Council that thebeautiful new road along sidebe called ‘MacHaleRoad.’ By

1935 the houses on MacHaleRoad were constructed. Theroad did not extend from oneend of the pitch to the other.During the period 1930 – 1935Castlebar Mitchels expendedsizeable sums of money devel-oping the playing area. Today,we look on the fruits of theirlabours and admire their fore-sight and energies and thank

them for their dedica-tion and fore-

sight.”From the times of Arch-

bishop John MacHale the es-tablishment had decreed thatall Irish people spell theirname ‘Mc’ and all Scottishpeople ‘Mac’. This MacHale re-fused to do. People can be for-given for taking the short cut.Relatives of the Archbishopresolutely followed the MACpattern.

A few years ago I visitedthe Basilica of St Paul’s Out-side the Walls in Rome andbehind the high altar carved instone on the wall are thenames of the church-men whoattended the rededication of

the Basilica in 1857. Thereare columns of names

and in the centre of themiddle column wasJohn MacHale, Arch-bishop of Tuam.

On my return toIreland I penned aletter to the Chair-man of the CountyBoard pointing outthat if the Italianstonecutters inRome could getthe spelling cor-rect, that thedenisons ofMichael Park inCastlebar shouldbe able to do like. I

offered a trade –change the spelling

and I will donate abust of the Archbishop

for your boardroom.Today sees the happy

conclusion and a meeting ofminds. The sweetest music isthe sound of your own names– especially when it is speltcorrectly.

What’s in a name?In this exclusive interview retired StateSolicitor, Liam MacHale, of Ballina,gives an interesting and factual ac-count and the life of Archbishop JohnMacHale of Lahardane and subse-quently Castlebar Mitchels naming thecounty grounds in his honour.

Page 52

CATHAL Cregg has recentlybeen appointed as the Strengthand Conditioning Officer with

Connacht GAA. Cregg is a member of the Western

Gaels GAA Club in Roscommon andis the current captain of the Roscom-mon senior inter-county team. He hascompleted a Sports Science Degreeand a Research Masters in ExercisePhysiology, both from DCU.

While in his third year of his de-gree, Cregg was based for ninemonths at the Sportsground in Gal-way with the Connacht Rugby seniorteam and got a close-up look at the

world of professional rugby and theirpreparation. For his final year projecthe worked in conjunction withDublin’s Bryan Cullen PHd and under-took a study which looked at fitnessprofiling of elite level adolescent (15-18 year olds) Gaelic football players.This study has recently been pub-lished in the Journal of Strength andConditioning Research. For his ownresearch masters Cregg in conjunc-tion with Sligo’s David Kelly com-pared the effects of EnduranceTraining and Interval Training in clublevel GAA players and is hoping toget this published in the near future.

When Cathal finished his studieshe spent some time travelling to theUS and Australia and spent sometime with some of the top training fa-cilities and teams there. In the USA,he spent time with world-renownedStrength and Conditioning coach,Mike Boyle, in Boston and also ob-served the work of Eric Cressey inHudson, Massachusetts. In Australia,he met up with former Cavan player,Nicholas Walsh (this year’s Irish Inter-national Rules Conditioning Coach)who is Strength and ConditioningCoach with new AFL outfit GWS Gi-ants. While in Melbourne, Cregg also

Roscommon senior football captain, Cathal Cregg, hasjoined the team at Connacht GAA Centre, Bekan, Clare-morris, recently as Strength and Conditioning Officer,and brings a wealth of talent, experience, knowledgewith him which will greatly enhance the expertise andprofessionalism of the centre.

Cathal Cregg joinsthe tea m at H.Q.

Page 53

observed a sessions with AFL outfitCollingwood.

Cregg is now based at the newConnacht GAA Centre in Bekan inMayo which boasts a 3G pitch, fivequality grass outdoor pitches, gym,full kitchen, canteen, lecture theatreand a number of meeting rooms. Inhis role as Strength and ConditioningOfficer he works with clubs, schoolsand development squads in each ofthe counties.

It is all part of a plan to provideservices to clubs, schools and devel-opment squads with minimal cost. Inthe past to access these types of

services has been difficult and whenthey have they have ended up payingout huge amounts of money. Theseservices include fitness testing,movement screening, video analysisand nutritional information. The cen-tre has a fully-furnished video analy-sis suit where teams can come andget their training/game recorded andwhich can be analysed live for teamsto watch after their training/game.Teams can also send in their game onDVD if it has been recorded at an-other location.

Cregg also provides fitness testingfor teams to identify strengths and

weakness in areas such as body com-position, speed, power, agility,strength and endurance. The move-ment screen is used to quickly andeffectively identify weaknesses in aplayers fundamental movement pat-terns which may leave a player beenmore predisposed to injury. Oncethese weaknesses have been identi-fied programs can be put in place torectify the weaknesses.

Another aspect of his job is to pro-vide education to coaches so as tomake sure best practice is being im-plemented all the time.

Cathal Cregg joinsthe tea m at H.Q.

Page 54


FOLLOWING a thrilling Connachtminor football final, the children ofCumann na mBunscol Connacht

played their part in what was a truly his-toric occasion in Elverys McHale Park.

Children from all corners of theprovince lined out in the colours of Mayoand, for the first time ever for a ConnachtFinal, London. Adding to this unique occa-sion were the children of Seoul Gaels,also making their debut in a ConnachtFinal.

As has become customary in recenttimes, Cumann na mBunscol Connachtcontinued to promote the GAA’s “Give Re-spect, Get Respect” initiative, this time infront of more than 21,000 patrons. Thechildren of Cumann na mBunscol Con-nacht lined up in front of the main stand,along with their new friends from SouthKorea for the traditional “Respect” hand-shake prior to commencing their exhibitiongames.

Once more this year, the McHale Parkcrowd were treated to a fine exhibition of

Cumann na mBunscol football. We wit-nessed some lethal finishing close to goalas well as some classy long range scores.The children displayed a great range ofpassing, tackling, blocking and fielding, allin the spirit of the “Give Respect, Get Re-spect” initiative, under the watchful eyes ofour two “Young Whistlers” fromDrumshambo and Drumcong NationalSchools, Co Leitrim.

Meanwhile, the boys and girls fromSeoul Gaels put on a wonderful display ofall they have learned from Castlebar man,Conor Melvin and his colleagues on theKorean Peninsula. This Connacht Finalwas the first time a senior provincial de-cider involved a team based outside of Ire-land. How long before we see an Asianbased team on this stage?

Following the exhibitions, all of the chil-dren gathered at the tunnel to welcomethe senior football teams of London andMayo onto the field of play. The childrenthen had the honour of meeting AnTaoiseach, Enda Kenny and UachtaráinCumann Luthchleas Gael, Mr Liam O’Neill

who both took the time to greet the chil-dren as they stood in their guard of hon-our.

This rounded off a fabulous, historicand unique occasion for the children in-volved. Thank you to the teachers from allover Connacht who helped make this sucha special occasion and indeed to all theteachers throughout the province who doso much work for Cumann na mBunscol,promoting Gaelic Games in our primaryschools. Also, thank you once more toMayo Games Manager, Billy McNicholas,and his crew for their help in setting up thepitches. We are very grateful to the Con-nacht Council and all our County Boardsfor their wonderful support throughout theyear.

A number of children, both players andYoung Whistlers, will now go on to repre-sent their schools, counties and provinceduring the Cumann na mBunscol exhibi-tion games in Croke Park later this year.We know that they’ll do us proud and wewish them well.

Sin a bhfuil don bhliain 2013!

Action featuring Souel Gaels GAA Club,South Korea, during a pre-match exhibi-tion game at this year's Connacht GAAFootball Senior Championship Final. Photo: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE

Cumann na mBunscol addto Connacht final occasion

Page 55

FOCUS ON GALWAY • FOCUS ON GALWAY • FOCUS ON GALWAY

SALTHILL-KNOCKNACARRAGAA Club marked the clo-sure of the school year with

two football blitzes. First out were the nursery play-

ers from age five years to eightyears who played a series of mini-matches and demonstrated theirdeveloping skills in front of par-ents and club supporters beforebeing presented with their medalsby the club senior and countyplayers.

Lots of he SKGaa juvenile play-ers showed off their variouscounty allegiances with a varietyof county jerseys on view. Themedals were appreciated but thearray of cakes, cookies, drinks andsweets prepared by the parentswere appreciated even more.

Next up was the ATAK-UBFitsponsored Galway City third andfourth class inter-school tourna-ment. School kids from CladdaghNational School, St John The Apos-tle, Scoil Iognaid, St Pats, ScoilFhursa and Scoil Einde enjoyed anall-intensity, round robin matches,before being presented with prizesand pennants from Paul Flemingfrom ATAK Sports.

The inaugural football eventwas organised by Eoin O'Donnel-lan, former senior manager of thesuccessful SKGaa All-Ireland Clubchampions.

Almost 200 juvenile players,boys and girls attended the CountyCulcamps in both football andhurling/camogie in early July,which augurs well for the Clubacademies hosted in the prairie atthe end of August.

Summer football continued forall SKGaa boys and girls and fol-lowing their July Culcamps, as theU11 players hopped on the boat toInis Mór. The weather was fantas-tic and the welcome from the AranIsland footballers was equally aswarm.

The teams lined out on the mostwesterly GAA pitch in the land andplayed some stylish football withnifty footwork, strategic hand-passing, committed tackling andwonderful interlinked play all onview for a large contingent ofwatching Islanders and snap-happy tourists. Beach picnic, crabhunting and a quick sea dip beforethe SK squad and juvenile footballdirector, John Daly cruised hometo Salthill.

Salthill-Knocknacarra setting the standard for underage fun

Scoil Fhursa.

St. Patricks National School, Lombard St.

St John Apostle, Knockncarra.

Tom Burke with a youngCork supporter

Gearoid Armstrong with a youngMeath fan

Page 56

By Joe Keane

IN what is generally accepted countrywide as one of the most competitive andexciting hurling championships which

have produced seven different All-Irelandclub champions, there is still plenty ofthrills expected in 2013 with some surpriseteams left in the quarter-finals.

The competition which is now run intwo knock-out rounds followed by a groupstage, and the last eight started off at theend of April with a preliminary round gamebetween 2012 finalists Loughrea and LiamMellows.

Loughrea progressed in one of theleast exciting games so far in the champi-onship while Liam Mellows later foundthemselves fighting relegation where twoformer All-Ireland champions Athenry andSarsfields among others join them.

After ten first round games, all the los-ers got a second chance. All-Ireland clubchampions St Thomas had a tough exami-nation from neighbours Ardrahan in theopening round and despite losing on theday, Ardrahan have become one of theteams of the competition so far and werethe first team to qualify for the quarter-fi-nals. Athenry proved to be the first big ca-sualty of the opening rounds and more bignames were to follow later.

Sixteen winners progressed to thegroup stages where some great gameswere played. The group of champions, all

former winners of the All-Ireland champi-onship, St Thomas, Portumna and Clarin-bridge plus the intermediate champions oflast year, Killimordaly, produced some pul-sating matches with the two qualifiers indoubt right up to the last day.

In one of the games of the year so farSt Thomas came unstuck badly to a bril-liant Portumna side that rolled back theyears, particularly Damien Hayes and JoeCanning. Portumna themselves then suf-fered a surprise defeat to a Paul Coen in-spired Clarinbridge which set up a winnertakes all game between the ‘Bridge and StThomas where the current champions re-discovered their form with a great perform-

ance with county star Conor Cooneymighty all through.

In another group Loughrea proved theyare still very hard to defeat and qualifiedonce again for the last eight and are stilltitle contenders. The John McIntyre man-aged Castlegar just got over the line with agoal and a point in injury time against Kin-vara in the same group.

But one of the upcoming teams mustbe Turloughmore with all the young play-ers coming and they qualified along withArdrahan and in doing so ended the titlehopes of fancied Gort and Mullagh sides.

The final group contained the lesser-fancied clubs to win the title later on in the


Galway senior and intermediate hurling championships reach quarter-finals stage

Shane Dolan puts Craughwell on the attack Athenry. Photos: Joe Keane.

Shane Kavanagh of Kinvara and Noel Kelly of Sarsfields tusslefor possession.

Eamon Hayes of Tommy Larkins in opening round action against Clarenbridge.

Page 57

year and in the end Padraig Pearses andBeagh made it through. We now look for-ward to those quarter-finals and with thedraw as it turned out all four semi finalistswill fancy their chances of getting backthere. QUARTER-FINAL DRAW

Turloughmore v BeaghArdrahan v PortumnaPadraig Pearses v LoughreaSt Thomas v CastlegarJust like in the senior championship,

the Intermediate competition has been justas exciting with some great games played.

As with the senior the first two roundswere knockout and the group stage fol-lowed. The meeting of neighbours Kil-nadeema/Leitrim and Loughrea was oneof the highlights of the opening round andafter a great battle Kilnadeema/Leitrim justgot over the line and have shown greatform since winning all their games. Thefavourites at this stage must be Cappatag-gle who were impressive most of the waythrough so far. Last years finalistsAhascragh/Fohenagh made a slow startbut later picked it up to qualify. CathalMannion continues to be the chief scoreragain this year. The teams who havemade the best improvement over the

championship so far are Kilbeacanty,Abbeyknockmoy and Killimor with Kilbea-canty in particular most impressive whenknocking out a fancied Rahoon/Newcastleside. Other fancied sides to fall were Mel-lick/Eyrecoart, Ballindereen, Kilconieronand Oranmore/Maree. It will make for astrong shield competition for those sides. QUARTER-FINAL DRAW

Kilnadeema/Leitrim v KilbeacantyKillimor v Abbeyknockmoy

SEMI-FINALISTSKCappataggle and Ahascragh/

Fohenagh


Galway senior and intermediate hurling championships reach quarter-finals stage

Liam Hodgins of Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry clears his lines against Kiltormer.

St Thomas Eanna Burke and Barry Keane of Clarenbridge tusslefor possession.

Conor Kavanagh of Kinvara takes on Brian Mahony and the Loughrea defence.

Page 58

JUNE and July has been a busy periodin the Club. Our Seniors were in ac-tion in the Hurling championship while

the Juvenile committee organised an U-8and U-12 hurling tournament and a trip toNa Fianna in Dublin , in which four buseswent to the capital. 140 Kids and 60 adultstravelled which was a huge tribute to theparents and kids.

The U-8 tournament was a huge suc-cess with teams coming from Dublin aswell as around Galway. Every player got amedal and each team had four matcheseach. The responses from the trainers andparents has been extremely positive andcommented upon by the Connacht Coach-ing committee as the right way to hold atournament.

We also head an U-12 tournamentwhich was very competitive with DurlasOg from Tipperary coming out winners inthe Cup and Shield. Again, all reportswere positive back on this.

The trip to Na Fianna was a mammothlogistical exercise with U-10, U-12 and U-16 hurling teams making the trip plus sib-lings and parents. We cannot express ourthanks enough to Na Fianna on the wel-come they gave us and the food and bev-erages they laid out for the players etc. Itwas a highly enjoyable day, pity about re-

sult in croker.Craughwell U-16’s keep on course for

a double. Our U-16 won the DivisionNorth 1 Football League versus Mount-bellow and beat Salthill in the league finalversus Salthill, while the Hurlers havequalified for the Semi-final of the A cham-pionship.

The U-16 Footballers qualified for theNorth Board football Final against Mount-bellew/Moylough which was played onTuesday 16th July in Tuam stadium.Craughwell ran out winners on the score-line of 4-7 to 1-9. It was a fantastic teameffort but Darragh Gilligan in goals wasman of the match and pulled off severaloutstanding saves in the last 10 minutes ofgame. The team for the final was DarraghGilligan, Niall Horan, Eric CallananAaron Brereton(0-1), Ian Fox, AndrewGreaney ,Brian Concannon (0-1), CillianMcdaid Gavin O Toole(1-1) , Shane Cos-grove(1-0), Eoin Lally(0-2), LiamForde(1-0) Conor Dolan (1-1), EddieMartin and Josh Mcfarlane(0-1). Subsused, Dylan Morgan, Adam Morrisey,Sean Garman.

COUNTY FINALWith the high number of teams in Divi-

sion 1 football, the winners of the North

meet the winners of the West in theCounty Final proper and so as NorthBoard champions, Craughwell finally cameface to face with Salthill/Knocknacarra forthe first time on Wednesday the 24thJulyin Duggan Park. Craughwell started wellwith two points from Liam Forde and EoinLally but Salthill quickly drew level. Salthillthen took the lead with a well taken goaland point but true to form the Craughwelllads bounced back with scores from EoinLally (0-3) and a great goal and point fromJosh Mcfarlane resulting in Craughwellleading 1-6 to 1-4 at half time. Eoin Lallystarted the second half with a well takenpoint but Salthill then started on the frontfoot and soon drew level with Craughwell.Through the excellent full back line of NiallHoran, Eric Callanan and in particular IanFox, Salthill could not threaten for goalsand so picked off points when they could.The outstanding half backline of BrianConcannon, Andrew Greaney and AaronBrereton launched attack after attackwhich resulted in a superb goal by ConorDolan who was a constant threat whenmoved to full forward. The midfield battleproved to be one of the key deciding fac-tors in the match and Cillian Mcdaid andcaptain Eddie Martin showed their classby edging out the two Salthill players both


Busy summer sees Craughwellplayers kept on their toes

Craughwell U-8s

Page 59

of whom are on County Ted Webb Foot-ball team. The final 10 minutes were pul-sating with great football being displayedby both sides. Eoin Lally added another 0-3, two of which were from frees followinggreat work by Shane Cosgrove, LiamForde and Gavin O Toole. Salthill broughtthe score down to the minimum before Cil-lian Mcdaid gained possession with agreat catch from the kickout, the referee fi-nally blew full time to relief of the greatcraughwell support. The game was de-

scribed by County board officials as one ofthe best finals witnessed at this grade andit was fitting that the crowd were treated toan Eddie Martin captain’s speech whichwas appreciated by both sides.

This was an outstanding team perform-ance and none of it would be possiblewithout the support and commitment of theentire squad who played in key matches toqualify for the final. The managementwould like to thank Parents for their contin-ued support especially those who helped

with lifts to games and performed thethankless jobs such as umpiring.

Congrats to our U-16 Hurlers who qual-ified for the A Championship Semi-finals ,their journey started on the 18th of Aprilaway to Turloughmore. The Hurlers havebeen impressive in most of their games,put up large scores in all their games, theyhave averaged 15 scores in every match,and meet Kilnadeemna Leitrim in Mid-Au-gust in the Semi-final.

!


U-10 Squad at Na Fianna Club, Dublin, on 7th of July, 2013.

Craughwell U-16 Hurlers.

Page 60


Crowe pounces for champsBy DECLAN ROONEY

Media West Ireland

SEAMIE Crowe saved defendingchampions Salthill/Knocknacarrawith an added-time winner to

reach the Galway SFC quarter-finalafter Tuam Stars staged an incrediblecomeback in the closing stages.

John Ross Bodkin scored from thepenalty spot three minutes from timeand Gary O'Donnell levelled momentslater, but Crowe gave the champions ahard earned 1-9 to 1-8 win.

Michael Meehan struck a crucialpenalty for Caltra but later went off in-jured as his side advanced to the quar-ter-finals of the Galway SFC with aone-point win over neighbours Mount-bellew/Moylough.

Meehan struck a memorable 13-metre free late on against Cork in CrokePark, but seven minutes into the sec-ond-half in Ballinasloe he produced asimilar velocity shot to fire Caltra ahead.

The Tribes' attacker limped off in theclosing stages to receive treatment tohis troublesome ankle injury with thescores level, but the 2004 All-Ireland

champions pushed on to clinch a 1-13to 1-12 victory.

In the battle of the Gaeltacht teams,Naomh Anna Leitir Moir staged a terrificsecond-half comeback led by PatrickMark O Flatharta to oust An CheathruRua.

O Flatharta kicked an amazing ninefrees in the second period alone asNaomh Anna recovered from a 0-9 to 0-5 deficit to reach the last eight.

A red card for Peadar O Conghailelate on didn't help An Cheathru Rua'schances of a comeback as they eventu-ally fell to a 0-15 to 0-12 defeat.

Red hot favourites Corofin madehard work of their win against NUI Gal-way, eventually emerging 0-17 to 0-6winners over a drastically understrengthstudents, who had just one survivor –Einne O hEochaidh – from their 2013Sigerson Cup team.

Corofin led by 0-7 to 0-3 at half-time,but they needed a lively four minutes toget there with four points from brothersAlan (2), Colm and Barry O'Donovan.

But they took control after the restartas substitute Ciaran Comer and JasonLeonard saw they home.

Six points from Nicky Joyce and an-

other four from his cousin PadraicJoyce proved insufficient for Killererinas four-goal Cortoon Shamrocks edgedtheir second round replay at Tuam Sta-dium.

Joseph Donnellan goaled twice inthe second-half for Shamrocks, who hita significant blow just before the breakwhen Martin Connell lobbed the ballover the advancing Alan Fahy to givehis side a one-point lead at the break.

Killererin had earlier hit five points ina row as Padraic Joyce rolled back theyears with a trademark performance inwhat could be his last ever champi-onship match, but once Fergal Heverinhit Cortoon's fourth ten minutes fromtime, there was no way back for the2010 champions.

City side St Michael's remain in con-tention for a first ever county title afterfive points from former Galway seniorEddie Hoare saw them past Annagh-down.

Each side had a man sent off withJamie Downes and Shane Collier bothpicking up two yellow cards, but a latekick from St Michael's saw Eamon O'-Donnell and Pat Regan score to clincha 0-12 to 0-11 win.

CLIFDEN GAA club Naomh Feichin hasbeen named as the Connacht winner intheir Community Den Fund competition.

Picking up the provincial prize of !5,000,Naomh Feichin will now go on to representConnacht in the All-Ireland stages of the com-petition, where another cash prize is up forgrabs.

The Super Valu Community Den Fund com-petition aimed to reward the GAA club thatmakes a real difference to their GAA commu-nity and the following entry earned the award.

Naomh Feichin Club is special because wehave been serving the local community forover 100 years. We are a rural club in a largeparish. The Club did not have its own groundsuntil the early 80’s, when Members raised themoney to purchase the land for the pitch andwhen this was done they set out to raise themoney for the dressing rooms. The club ismade up of many members who are not just in-volved in our club, but many other communitygroups. The club knows how hard it is to fundraise and to have money for facilities andbuses. When you live in a place like Clifden,you don’t have the facilities and you have totravel long distances to Events and games.Being the only Pitch in the area that stays openall year around, the club has offered their fa-cilities to all community groups and schoolsfree of charge. With 7 primary Schools and 1

Secondary School in the catchment area, theclub helps out with coaching, pays for equip-ment, and jerseys.

The other community groups and clubs thatuse our pitches and facilities are:RNLI – sponsored run- showers & toilets &

parking.Special Olympic Club- Pitch & Dressing Rooms,

accessible Toilet. Clifden Pony Show Committee – Extra ParkingConnemara West Community Games – Pitch &

Dressing Rooms Young Anglers Club – Pitch7 Primary Schools – Fundraising Events, Sport

Days, Games, Coaching, Equipment, etc.Clifden Community School – Pitch & Dressing

Rooms, Coaching , Equipment, etcClifden Fire Station- 7 a side Fund raiser.GAA Galway County Board - Pitch & Dressing

RoomsThe Clubs own Social Projects.

Also the Emergency Services use the pitchto land their helicopter in medical emergen-cies, so that local people can get to Galwayhospital quicker.

The Club have made a difference to the livesof it club members and to the community be-cause the members had the foresight to pur-chase the field all those years ago and to offerall its facilities to the community and still re-maining to be a GAA Club at the heart of itscommunity, because without the community

the Naomh Feichin An Clochan GAA Club wouldnot have a heart. The heart of this club is thecommunity.

The Club and community would benefit a lotfrom having an extra !5,000. As you can seefrom question one we do not have a lot ofmoney at the end of the year to spend. If wehad that money we would put a small kitchenarea into the store room. We could then offerclub members, coaches, parents, players a hotcup of tea and a sandwich and a chat. Thiswould make a big difference not just to theclub, but to all that use the Changing roomsand pitch. Clubs and community groups wouldbe able to use it during their events. If we wonthe !10,000, we could purchase a second handprefab and put the kitchen area into that andsome sofas and chairs, where club membersand community groups can meet, Some Par-ents have over 15 miles to travel to thegrounds, Parents can wait in comfort for theirchildren instead of waiting their cars on coldwet days. We do not have a club house so wewould have to have a gala dinner in the localhotel, and have the GAA President open thecommunity Kitchen or Community Room. Itwould mean a lot to the club if the GAA Presi-dent came to Clifden, for the dinner, 100 yearsin waiting. We are a small club in a large ruralarea working hard for the community and notjust for county titles.

Congratulations to Naomh Feichin!

Naomh Feichin An Clochan SuperValu win

Page 61

Hayes andKelly passingon their skills


SCORES of young hurlers in Galway weretreated to a skills extravaganza thanks toTipperary's Eoin Kelly and Galway's

Damien Hayes at the latest Centra Family Com-munity Event in Athenry GAA club.

To celebrate Centra's fourth year as sponsoras the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Champi-onship, Ireland's largest convenience retailerteamed up with some of the biggest stars inhurling to develop the game through a seriesof community hurling events.

And speaking at the third of the ten campsto be held nationwide, two time All-Irelandwinner with the Premier County, Eoin Kelly, un-derlined the importance of the basic skills ofthe game for youngsters.

“It is vital for any young hurler to developtheir skills. Camps like this one run by Centraplay a huge role in doing that. It is bringing thegame back to the community and back to afamily event,” said Kelly.

For the local man Hayes he remembers tak-ing part in similar camps as a youngster andthe influence it had on him.

“That's what I was remembering when I wasasked to become a Centra ambassador. I re-

member taking part and afterwards the prob-lem was getting the hurl out of my hand.

“Hopefully we can encourage the next gen-eration of hurlers to come through and workhard on their game,” he said.


The Cappataggle U-11 hurlers who claimed the East Galway A League title. Back Row (L to R): Michael Boderick (Mentor), Micheal Finn (Mentor),Ciaran Nevin, Liam Hession, John Lydon, Cormac Kenny, Dara Hession, AJ Lawless, Evan Clancy, Tiernan Bowes, Jamie Malone, Micheal Lawless(Mentor) Front Row (L to R): Tom Cafferkey, Donnacha Rogers, Caelum Dunne, Oisin Headd, Ross Finn, Lewis Coughlan, Liam Collins, Oisin Finn,Niall Delaney, Jamie Stankard, Ricky Martyn, Jack Finn, Adam Burke, Sean Raymond. Missing from photo: Thomas Naughton, John Ross Doherty,Cathal Daly, Joesph O’Connor

Page 62

St Mary'sGAA 7stournamenta huge successST. Mary's GAA club, Leitrimrecently hosted a 7s tourna-ment in conjunction with theCarrick 400 celebration year.

In total 16 men's and 16ladies teams took part, with theaction taking place across sixdifferent club grounds in Leitrimand two in Roscommon withthe Shannon Gaels club.

The 7s tournament proved abrilliant success with Galwayside Kilkerrin/Clonberne takingthe honours in the men's final,while Leitrim side Aughawillanemerged victorious in thewomen’s section.

Unfortunately for the homeclub, they lost out in both themen's and Laideis finals, butthey paid tribute to all theteams that travelled to take partand the clubs that gave the useof their grounds.

Dromahair ..........2-16Ballinaglera ..........1-5

By JOHN CONNOLLYLeitrim Observer

THE odds on Dromahair claiming theChampionship may have tumbled inrecent weeks but they cruised into

the last eight in impressive style.Without Paddy McGowan and Kevin

Conlan Dromahair were seen by some asbeing vulnerable but they bossed this en-counter in Leitrim Village.

The scoring power offered by ConorKelly, Christy McGowan and Cian Clintonmeans Dromahair will have a significantsay in the destination of this year’s cham-pionship but it was more than just the for-wards who impressed,

Adrian Fowley and John Evans weredominant in midfield while Fergus Mee-han and Barry Loughlin showed all theirexperience in a well marshalled full backline.

Five points inside the opening 10 min-utes put Dromahair in control as Ballina-glera failed to make any impact on thecontest.

The score that put Dromahair five

points clear was truly a special one asChristy McGowan scored from a ridicu-lously tight angle, almost on the endline,to put his side in control.

Three Conor Kelly points in as manyminutes (one free) further extended thelead and it was difficult to see how Balli-naglera could salvage anything from thecontest.

Ballinaglera registered their first scoreof the game from a Seamie McMorrowfree but Clinton completed the scoring togive Dromahair a 0-12 to 0-1 lead at thebreak.

Ballinaglera upped the intensity afterthe break with Seamus McGovern doing

FOCUS ON LEITRIM • FOCUS ON LEITRIM • FOCUS ON LEITRIM

The Aughawillian Ladies, who won the Carrick 7s tournament. Galway side Kilkerrin/Clonbernem who won the Carrick 7s.

The home team, St Mary's, who lost the decider in the Carrick 7s. St Mary's lost out in the Carrick men's final.

Dromahair show great form to reach last eight

Page 63

his utmost to get his team back in thegame.

Enda McGuire and Patrick McGrailwere both punished for early misses whenDeclan Fowley struck for the game’sopening goal.

Fowley timed his run perfectly to meetBrian Feeney’s delivery and with two out-stretched hands he placed the ball pastPadraig Clarke.

To their credit Ballinaglera kept battlingand were rewarded for their efforts whenSeamus McGovern released EndaMcGuire and he shot low into the Droma-hair goal.

That goal didn’t signal the start of a

comeback but Ballinaglera outscoredDromahair over the next 15 minutes - twopoints to one.

With nine minutes remaining Cian Clin-ton dispatched a penalty after DeclanFowley was fouled to further increase thelead.

Subsitutes Gerard Kelly and BertieCunningham both pointed in the closingstages for Dromahair while two of Ballina-glera’s shining lights Seamus McGovernand Seamie McMorrow pointed but theyproved to be little more than consolationscores.DROMAHAIR: Kieran Meehan, FergusMeehan, Stephen Keegan, Barry

Loughlin, Jamie Conlon, Conor Farrell,Sean McTiernan, Adrian Fowley, JohnEvans, Cian Clinton (1-6), Declan Fow-ley (1-0), Brian Feeney (0-1), Fergal Mc-Morrow, Christy McGowan (0-4), ConorKelly (0-4). Subs: Gerard Kelly (0-1),Bertie Cunningham (0-1).BALLINAGLERA: Padraig Clarke,Kieran Feeney, Adrian McGourty,Padraig Cornyn, Barry Gilmartin,Tomas Cornyn, Rory McPartland, AntonMcGourty, Seamus McGovern (0-1),John Crawford, Seamie McMorrow (0-3), Enda McGuire (1-1), Patrick McGrail,Colm McGuire, Shane Mulvey.REF: Francis McGloin.

FOCUS ON LEITRIM • FOCUS ON LEITRIM • FOCUS ON LEITRIM

Big hittersavoid eachother inLeitrim

By JOHN CONNOLLYLeitrim Observer

AN intriguing draw has seen thefavourites kept apart for the GWP In-termediate Championship Quarter-Fi-nals after the draw was made.

Favourites Ballinamore Sean O’H-eslin’s face a tricky encounter againstGlencar/Manorhamilton’s experienceladen second string in Drumkeerinwhile St. Patrick’s Dromahair face atough task against an Aughnasheelinteam coming in under the radar.

Eighth place play-off winners Fe-nagh St. Caillin’s face a derby withneighbours Eslin while the remainingtie sees an all north-Leitrim derbywith Drumkeerin taking on Glen-farne/Kiltyclogher, both games takingplace in Drumshanbo

In the relegation semi-finals,Aughavas face Ballinaglera whileCloone, fresh from the disappoint-ment of losing the eighth place play-off, take on Leitrim Gaels.

The draw for the Pyramid Book-makers Junior A ChampoionshipSemi-Finals also sees some intrigu-ing ties with Mohill taking on neigh-bours Gortletteragh while St.Patrick’s Dromahair take on St.Mary’s Kiltoghert.

Galway side Kilkerrin/Clonbernem who won the Carrick 7s.

St Mary's lost out in the Carrick men's final.

Dromahair show great form to reach last eight

Page 64

BallinrobeGAA Club

SEAN GRIMES

FORMER Mayo minor, U21, jun-ior and senior player SeanGrimes recently came out of re-tirement to play for Ballinrobein the Michael Walsh Cup - and,in the process, completed a re-markable record. Ballinrobewere short a large number ofplayers for the game, and Sean,who is a team mentor, came tothe rescue. He played in goal -and thus he can now claim tohave played in every single po-sition on the field for Ballinrobeat senior level. Unfortunately,Ballinrobe lost, and while Seansays he enjoyed the experi-ence, he didn't reveal any long-suppressed ambitions to be acareer goalkeeper.

FOCUS ON MAYO • FOCUS ON MAYO • FOCUS ON MAYO

Some young Ballinrobe footballers pictured before their recent U-8 Go Games blitz with Carras (Kil-maine-Garrymore) in Flanagan Park, Ballinrobe. Ballinrobe GAA club hold their under-age Skills Acad-emy each Wednesday (6.30pm) and Saturday (9.30am)

Page 65

CONGRATULATIONS and well doneto the Islandeady U-16 team andmanagement who pulled off a fa-

mous and well earned victory to land theDivision 3 League Title in sunny McHalePark.

The boys in green were quick out ofthe blocks and had six points on the boardbefore Ballinrobe scored after 19 minutes.

They continued to dominate the firsthalf and led 0-9 points to 1-1 at half time.

They resumed where they left off in thesecond half with a tremendous display ofskill, work rate and an exhibition of pointscoring from sharp shooter Paul Doyle.

There were great scenes of joy whenthe final whistle blew with Islandeady 1-15to 2-2 winners.

Division 3 League Title Winners Panel

2013: Nathan Barrett, Liam Foy, MaitiuMcCormack, Martin Gallagher, David Mc-Master, Barry Walsh, Seamie Lally, PatCarolan, Dylan Gallagher, Paul Doyle,Niall McHale, Donal Walsh, Kevin Ward,

Killian O'Brien, Jonathan Concannon,James Hughes, Daniel Devaney, CathalHastings, Willie Joe McHale, David O'-Donnell, Daniel McDonagh, Seamus Tier-nan, Esdrass Kimpwene.


The Islandeady U-16s who defeated Ballinrobe in the Division 3 final.

Islandeady U-16 take title

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Page 66

FOCUS ON MAYO • FOCUS ON MAYO • FOCUS ON MAYORight: Pictured are the coaches andthe Camp Champs at the recent Gar-rymore GAA Kelloggs Cul Camp heldrecently. The camp drew a crowd of148 young GAA enthusiats to garry-more over the five days of fungames and activities. Back (L to R):Darren Hennelly, Ciaran Finn, SeanPrendergast, Jayme OBrien, DarrenCoen, Barry Sheridan, CaolanCrowe, Paul Mannion. Front (L to R):Aimee Bell, Marina Cawley,Stephanie Delaney, Aoife Cunning-ham (Girls Champ), Jack Colleran(Hurling Champ), Justin Cummins(Boys Champ), Aoife Carroll, GerMcHugh (Supervisor).

Photo: Adrian Hession.

Left: Pictured are thecoaches and the CampChamps at the Mayo GAAKelloggs Cul Camp held inClaremorris GAA Club re-cently. Back (L to R): AdrianHession, Darren Coen, AlanFeeney, Caolan Crowe,Jamie OBrien, EamonLyons. Front (L to R): AimeeBell, Ger McHugh, ShakiraMerry (Girls Football),Patrick Kirrane (Hurling),Luke Gallagher (Boys Foot-ball), Marina Cawley.

Right: The Mayo U14A Hurling side who were inaction in the Connacht GAA Intercounty FeileBlitz Day at the Connacht Centre of Excellencein Bekan recently. Back (LtoR): David O'Sulli-van (Coach), Michael Freyne (Tooreen), HughO'Sullivan (James Stephens), Conor Hunt(Tooreen), Aiden Morrisroe (Cashel Gaels),Tomas Duffy (Cashel Gaels), Bobby Douglas(Tooreen), Uneeb Hassan (Ballyhaunis), KieranDoherty (Tooreen), Kaylem Connolly (West-port), Hannan Iqbal. Front (LtoR): FinnianBurke (Ballyvary), Paddy Ward (Cashel Gaels),Shane Kennedy (James Stephens), Billy Mc-Vann (James Stephens), Luke Hurley (JamesStephens), Cormac Phillips (Ballyhaunis), EoinDelaney (Tooreen).

Left: The Mayo U14B Hurling side who werein action in the Connacht GAA IntercountyFeile Blitz Day at the Connacht Centre ofExcellence in Bekan recently. Back (LtoR):Sean Freyne (Tooreen), David Judge (JamesStephens), Tomas Dillon (Cashel Gaels),Gareth Jordan (Westport), Liam Moffett(Cashel Gaels), Kevin Grogan (Westport),Dara Fehilly (Castlebar), Mark Cusack (Bal-lyvary), Jack Doocey (Ballyvary). Front(LtoR): James Freyne (Tooreen), JackCoyne (Ballyhaunis), John Heraty (Moy-tura), Chris Walsh (James Stephens),James Gallagher (Westport), Keelin Gal-lagher (Westport), Jason Potter (Bally-vary), Jamie Maxwell (Cashel Gaels).

Page 67

Pictured are the Mayo Minor Hurlers after their recent qualification for the All-Ireland Minor C hurling final in Markievicz Park in Sligo. The Mayoside overcame hosts Sligo (1-17 to 0-7) and Cavan (1-16 to 0-2) to claim their place in the final. They will now meet Monaghan on Saturday 7th Sep-tember in the final, after the Farney side had wins over Tyrone and Louth in their respective blitz in Monaghan. The Mayo side is managed by BrianFinn (Tooreen) with John Regan (James Stephens) and Adrian Brennan (Ballyhaunis) as selectors. Back (L to R): Mark Phillips (Ballyhaunis), StephenCoughlan (Westport), Morgan Lyons (Ballyhaunis), Rob Lee (Westport), Fergal Boland (Tooreen), Shane Healy (Ballyhaunis), Sean Mulroy (Ballyvary),Cyril Collins (Ballyhaunis), Shane Nugent (Castlebar), Davog Frayne (Tooreen), John Judge (Tooreen), Daniel Cunnane (Tooreen), John Morley(Tooreen), Jack Forde (Moytura), Robert Comer (Ballyvary). Front (LtoR): Naoise Kenny (Castlebar), Tomas Grimes (Westport), Ryan Kelly (CaisealGaels), Zack OToole (Westport), James Lyons (Ballyhaunis), Corey Scahill (Castlebar), James Gallagher (Castlebar), Conor Murphy (Castlebar).


Page 68

FOCUS ON ROSCOMMON • FOCUS ON ROSCOMMON • FOCUS ON ROSCOMMON

Pictured with Michael Rock (MC), Cynthia Clampett (CEO Mayo Roscommon Hospice) and Paul Earley(Judging Panel) are a selection of the competitors from "It takes two" - the Roscommon GAA fundraiserfor Hospice

Roscommon GAA County Board Treasurer Joe Gilligan and Roscommon GAACounty Board Chairperson Michael Fahey present Ollie McGuinness and Paul Foxe(Mayo / Roscommon Hospice) with a cheque for !11,240 which was raised at therecent "It takes two" fundaiser organised by Roscommon GAA.

Photo: www.hursonphotography.com

Pictured with local Hospice volunteers are some of the participants in "It takes two", the recent Roscommon GAA fundraiser for Mayo RoscommonHospice. Photo: www.hursonphotography.com

Ollie McGuinness and Paul Foxe (Mayo Roscommon Hospice)present a holiday break sponsored by the Hodson Bay/GalwayBay Hotel Group to Stephen Murphy, winner of the "It takestwo" ; the Roscommon GAA fundraiser for Mayo RoscommonHospice. Photo: www.hursonphotography.com

Stephen Murphy of St. Dominics wasthe winner of "It takes two" - thefundraiser for Mayo Roscommon Hos-pice, hosted by Roscommon GAA.

Photo: Andrew Fox / www.andrewfox.ie

Page 69

FOCUS ON ROSCOMMON • FOCUS ON ROSCOMMON • FOCUS ON ROSCOMMON

Supporters enjoying the recent Roscommon GAA Reunion at the Races at Roscommon Racecourse . Emmet Durney, Reuban’s Catering pre-senting a sponsorship cheque to JoeGilligan, Roscommon County BoardTreasurer at the Reunion at the Races.

Photo: Andrew Fox

Paul Staunton, Athlone Town Centrepresenting a sponsorship cheque to JoeGilligan, Roscommon County BoardTreasurer at the Reunion at the Races.

Photo: Andrew Fox

John Murphy, sponsor of the Roscom-mon Senior Football team presents acheque to Joe Gilligan, RoscommonCounty Treasurer. Roscommon GAApromotes and supports the work ofMayo Roscommon Hospice.

Photo: Andrew Fox

Willie and Bernie Compton, The Central Bar Strokestown pre-senting a sponsorship cheque to Joe Gilligan, RoscommonCounty Board Treasurer at the Reunion at the Races.

Photo: Andrew Fox

Eamon collins, Collins Boyd Engineer-ing presenting a sponsorship cheque toJoe Gilligan, Roscommon County BoardTreasurer at the Reunion at the Races.

Photo: Andrew Fox

Supporters enjoying the recent Roscommon GAA Reunion at the Races at Roscommon Racecourse.

Supporters enjoying the recent Roscom-mon GAA Reunion at the Races at Roscom-mon Racecourse.

Supporters enjoying the recent Roscommon GAA Reunion atthe Races at Roscommon Racecourse.

Reunion at the Races

Page 70

Four Roads .........0-13Athleague ...........0-12

By MARTIN WYNNERoscommon Herald

ALATE point from Micheal Kelly saw FourRoads edge out Athleague by the narrow-est of margins and seal their place in the

knockout stages of the senior hurling champi-onship.

It was a result that consigned their oppo-nents to the Losers’ Group, where they will beforced to slug it out with last year’s beaten fi-nalists Padraig Pearses.

It was not where Athleague wanted to be atthis time of the year, but they can at least takesome positives into the qualifiers after a spir-ited second half display against the reigningchampions.

The stifling heat at Ballyforan left both sideslooking lethargic in the opening half. Ath-league were particularly sluggish and theycould only manage two scores for the entirehalf, both of them close-range frees.

The opening point of the game went theirway, Robbie Fallon finding the target after

Peter Leahy was fouled inside the 20-metreline on four minutes. Enda Rogerson repliedfor Four Roads in the ninth minute, but Fallonrestored Athleague’s advantage two minuteslater.

The next five scores went to Four Roads asthey built up a 0-6 to 0-2 lead by half-time.Johnny Coyne got three of them, and thosescores were sandwiched between a couple ofEnda Rogerson efforts.

The opening four scores of the second pe-riod were shared. Fallon got the Athleaguescores, the second a long-range free. MichealKelly and Coyne replied for Four Roads.

The contest finally caught fire near the endof the third quarter when Athleague rattled offfour scores in a row. Cormac Kelly kick-startedthe fightback with a well-struck effort fromlong range in the 40th minute. David Delaney,Gary Fallon and David Flaherty added threemore to bring the sides level by the 43rdminute.

Micheal Kelly stopped the rot with a well-taken point after a strong run in the 44thminute. Cormac Kelly responded for Athleaguewithin 30 seconds, but an Enda Rogerson freeedged Four Roads ahead again.

That pattern continued over the final quar-ter as the sides went score-for-score but Ath-league could never get their noses in front.

Fallon got their final three points, all fromfrees, but on each occasion Four Roads hitback with scores at the other end.

Coyne edged them ahead in the 51st minute.An Enda Rogerson free from near the righttouchline put them back in front on 55 min-utes, after Fallon had equalised 90 secondsearlier. The winning score from Kelly arrived inthe 59th minute, although Athleague will bekicking themselves after late opportunitieswere spurned by Cormac Kelly and Robbie Fal-lon.

FOUR ROADS: N. Fallon; S. Curley, B. Don-nelly, Martin McLoughlin; J. Rogerson, P.Kelly, C. Coyle; M. Kelly (0-3), J. Moran; J.Lawlor, Mark McLoughlin, C. Dolan; E.Rogerson (0-5, three frees), J. Coyne (0-5),A. Lawlor. Subs: B. Kelly for A. Lawlor (39mins), R. Kelly for Moran (46 mins).

ATHLEAGUE: D. Connell; J.P. Murray, A.Moore. M. Keaveney; D. Heavey, T. Bannon,D. Delaney (0-1); A. Cunniffe, C. Kelly (0-2);M. Connaughton, S. Moore, E. Bannon; P.Leahy, D. Flaherty (0-1), R. Fallon (0-7, sixfrees). Subs: G. Fallon (0-1) for Moore (half-time), T. Reddington for Connaughton(half-time).

REF: A. Clogher.

ROSCOMMON County Board has issuedthe following statement regarding thedraws for the knockout stages of the

local championships that took place recently.“The draws for the knockout stages Shan-

nonside FM senior football championship andthe county intermediate football championshiptook place in Strokestown on Sunday eveningfollowing the last group game between Stroke-stown and Elphin.

The format of this year’s draws were slightlydifferent to last year’s as there were a numberof pre-conditions attached due to two motionswhich were passed by clubs at the annual “spe-cial fixtures meeting”.

A motion from Boyle proposed that teamswho met in the group stages could not bedrawn to meet again in the quarter-finals. Amotion from St. Brigid’s proposed that theteams that topped the groups would receive aseeded position in the quarter-final draw andthat one second placed team would be drawnas the fourth seed, on an open draw basis.

Earlier this year permission was granted tothe organising committee which enabled theseventh quarter-final to be drawn by means ofan open draw – which would remove the needfor an extra play-off in both competitions. Allof the above factors combined to form a very

complex draw process, which had to be com-pleted in a number of stages.

ROSCOMMON SFC FIXTURES

Shannonside FM Senior Football Championship7th place team: Western Gaels8th place play-off: Castlerea St. Kevin’s v Kilmore.

Quarter-FinalsSt. Brigid’s v St. Faithleach’sClann na nGael v ElphinRoscommon Gaels v Western GaelsSt. Aidan’s v Castlerea St. Kevin’s or Kilmore.

Semi-FinalsWinner of St. Brigid’s v St. Faithleach’s will playwinner of Clann na nGael v ElphinWinner of Roscommon Gaels v Western Gaelswill play winner of St. Aidan’s/Castlerea St.Kevin’s/Kilmore.

Shannonside SFC Relegation play-offs: Kilbride v Strokestown. The winner will playsenior football in 2014. The loser will playPadraig Pearses to determine what team willbe relegated to the intermediate champi-onship.

INTERMEDIATE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURESGroup B play-off (to determine what team fin-ishes second and third as St. Brigid’s concededtheir Round Three game with Éire Óg).Éire Óg v St. Barry’s

7th place team: loser of Éire Óg v St. Barry’s8th place play-off: St. Dominic’s v Clann nanGael

Quarter-FinalsOran v Kilglass GaelsSt. Michael’s v winner of Éire Óg v St. Barry’sBoyle v winner of St. Dominic’s v Clann nanGael BTulsk Lord Edwards v loser of Éire Óg v St.Barry’s

Semi-FinalsWinner of Oran v Kilglass Gaels v winner ofTulsk Lord Edwards/Éire Óg/St. Barry’sWinner of Boyle/St. Dominic’s/Clann na nGaelB v winner of St. Michael’s/ Éire Óg v St.Barry’s.

Intermediate Football Championship Relegation play-offs: St. Croan’s v St.Ronan’s. The winner will play intermediatefootball in 2014, the loser will play St. Brigid’sto determine what team will be relegated tothe Junior A championship.

ROSCOMMON KEPAK SENIOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP

Four Roads march on

Roscommon championship reachesquarter-final stage

Page 71

FOCUS ON SLIGO • FOCUS ON SLIGO • FOCUS ON SLIGO

The Owenmore Gaels U-16 team pictured with the Sam Maguire Cup on its recent visit to the club. The club U-16's won the Sligo U-16 B League in2013.

Tourlestrane GAA club is proud to announce Michael Cunney and CelticMetal Work, New York, as our new main sponsor of our club. Michael is aTourlestrane native (Carane) but moved to America in the late 80's. He cur-rently lives in New York with his wife, Ailish, a Curry native, and their threechildren, daughters Mikayla and Kristen and son Kevin, a keen footballer.We would like to sincerely thank Michael for his support and are lookingforward to working with him and his family over the next three years

INTO THE WESTTo obtain an electronic copy of

the magazine each quarter,

FREE OF CHARGE,

email: [email protected].

Page 72

Eastern Harps .......1-16Bunninadden .........1-11

MAJESTIC displays from a few senior playersallied to a run of seven points on the trotwithout reply in the final quarter greatly as-

sisted Eastern Harps overcome earlier accuracy de-ficiencies in their defeat of neighbours Bunninaddenin this close but none too exciting encounter playedat Kilcoyne Park, Tubbercurry.

Eastern Harps may be missing highly influentialplayers like Paul McGovern, Paul Taylor, Tony Taylorand Michael Doddy in this season's championshipwhile trying to blood in some youngsters to compen-sate however it was the scintillating performance offour seasoned players in particular – Paddy Grady,Ross Donovan, Thomas Cryan and Brendan Phillipsthat were the main dynamics of this second roundGroup A victory.

The abrasive Paddy Grady may have played manygood matches for Harps with his midfield fielding al-ways notable but this surely was his finest hour asputting the ball high into the midfield area in thismatch was like kids throwing biscuits to a hungrymonkey such was the determined way he attackingthe ball, caught it cleanly and powered his way men-acingly forward.

Little behind Grady in overall effect were defend-ers Ross Donovan and Brendan Phillips who heldtheir lines well while being extremely creative goingforward – full forward Thomas Cryan too had a mar-vellous match winning ball high and low, distribut-ing it fast and accurately while his free taking was ofthe highest order also, finishing the game withseven points.

Others to impress for Harps were goalkeeper

Stephen Heraghty, play anywhere defender KevinCryan, captain Kevin Gallagher and forward NiallMcGill now beginning to find his 2010 form when hewas the senior championships top scorer.

Bunninadden too showcased a number of won-derful players in this match as they competed sostrongly with Harps for long periods. Indeed it was aremarkable performance by them given that theyhad not played a senior championship match for fiveyears. They went toe to toe with Harps in the firsthalf while winning the third quarter handsomelyand going a point in front 1-10 to 1-09 after 45 min-utes but a lack of experience from a few of theiryounger players plus a narrower panel told in thefinal quarter.

In Vincent Frizzell at full forward they had thegames top scorer with 1-06 who gave the Harps de-fence a torrid time throughout and vied with PaddyGrady and Thomas Cryan for the games best per-former. Centre half forward Kenneth Kerins had abrilliant third quarter, his two right wing points fromdistance bringing gasps from the sizeable crowdwhile wing back and county panellist Michael Gorm-ley was outstanding throughout catching cleanlyand swiftly moving forward to attack. MidfielderPadraig Doohan and half backs Karl Brennan andSean Leamy can be satisfied with their contributionalso. On reflection the enthusiasm and notable levelof skill Bunninadden brought to this senior champi-onship match suggests they can still leave theirmark on its history given the scenario that all threegroup teams are still in the running for honoursafter their group games conclude.

Having missed a couple of good chances Harpsopened the scoring on four minutes and raced into athree points to one lead before the pendulum swungBunninadden's way as notching three points on thebounce they went ahead by one point 0-04 to 0-03

after 15 minutes. An attacking move after 17 min-utes by defender Kevin Cryan up the right wing sawhim take the ball almost to the end line where hisfine accurate cross to the far post found Niall McGillwho placed the ball in the net for Harps only goal.McGill tagged on another long range point before ahigh ball into the Harps goalmouth was expertlyfielded by Vinnie Frizzell who was promptlygrounded by Ross Donovan. Frizzell cooly finishedthe penalty to leave the half time score Harps 1-08Bunninadden 1-05.

An early second half point sent Harps four pointsclear before Bunninadden thundered into the gameonce more scoring five points without reply to go apoint in front with fifteen minutes left and wellpoised for victory such was the quality of their cur-rent play. However their momentum suddenly disap-peared in the final quarter as the shadows ofevening fell and so Harps went on to notch a matchwinning seven points on the trot before an injurytime Bunninadden point left them five points adriftat the final whistle.

EASTERN HARPS: SStteepphheenn HHeerraagghhttyy,, PPaattrriicckkGGaallllaagghheerr,, RRoobbeerrtt RReeiidd,, RRoossss DDoonnoovvaann,, KKeevviinn CCrryyaann,,BBrreennddaann PPhhiilllliippss,, PPeetteerr RRaaffffeerrttyy,, PPaaddddyy GGrraaddyy,, KKeevviinnGGaallllaagghheerr,, SShhaannee RReeggaann ((00--0011)) JJoohhnn RRaaffffeerrttyy ((00--0011))DDaanniieell FFllaahheerrttyy ((00--0022)) FFiiaacchhrraa GGoorrmmaann ((00--0022))TThhoommaass CCrryyaann ((00--0077)) NNiiaallll MMccGGiillll ((11--0033))..Subs: BBrriiaann CCrraaiigg,, DDeeccllaann HHaannnnoonn..BUNNINADDEN: DDaavviidd FFllaannnneerryy,, LLiiaamm oogg GGoorrmm--lleeyy,, TThhoommaass PPeerrrryy,, PPeeaaddaarr MMccMMaannuuss,, KKaarrll BBrreennnnaann,,SSeeaann LLeeaammyy,, MMiicchhaaeell GGoorrmmlleeyy ((00--0011)) PPaaddrraaiiggDDoooohhaann,, NNooeell KKeerriinnss,, JJoohhnnaatthhaann HHooddggiinnss,, KKeennnneetthhKKeerriinnss ((00--0022)) KKiieerraann GGiilllliiggaann ((00--0011)) EEvvaann BBrreennnnaann,,VViinncceenntt FFrriizzzzeellll ((11--0066)) JJoosseepphh RRooggeerrss ((00--0011)).. Subs:MMaarrkk GGoorrmmlleeyy,, SSeeaann OO DDoonnnneellll,, CCoonnoorr GGoorrmmlleeyy..REF: PPaatt KKiillccooyynnee..

SLIGO SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUND 1

Late points sees Harps conquer Bunninadden

Geevagh ........................0-18Coolaney/Mullinabreena 0-15

BATTLE hardened Geevagh showed that theexperience of playing senior championshipfor a number of years in recent seasons

counted as they overcame the challenge of a spir-ited but physically weaker Coolaney/Mul-linabreena side in this close and entertainingGroup D second round fixture at Kilcoyne Park inTubbercurry.

Midfield dominance, so important at all times,went to the winners through the efforts of ShaneMcManus and the outstanding Kevin Byrne whileCormac Hughes had spells in this zone also togood effect.

However despite the superiority of the menfrom the east in terms of physique and ball win-ning ability the younger Coolaney/Mullinabreenaside competed well and were in this match untilwell into the final quarter mainly due to the excel-lence of a couple of their forwards allied to somewastefulness on behalf of the Geevagh men. In-deed Coolaney/Mullinabreena may have gone tothe dressing rooms at half time in front ratherthan one point down had they opted for points ona few occasions rather than goals which were dulyblocked by the alert Geevagh defence with the re-sulting turnovers culminating in scores for Gee-

vagh at the opposite end.Coolaney / Mullinabreena got off to a good

start with an early Kieran Finan point from playand raced into a three points to one lead after tenminutes as Geevagh seemed slow to settle, anearly injury to wing back Denis O'Rourke who hadto be replaced not helping matters. However withtheir midfield getting on top and county minorplayer Kevin Henry in outstanding form in theirattack they forged their way back into the gamebut in the remainder of a tit for tat first halffound it difficult to get away from the south divi-sion side. Two points from Kevin Byrne and JimmyO'Reilly got Geevagh off to a good second halfstart but in true championship style back cameCoolaney / Mullinabreena once more mainlythrough the efforts of Kieran Finan and ShaneO'Brien to level the match for the fourth time bythe three quarter stage.

It looked as if either side could claim the pointsat this stage however it was Geevagh using alltheir experience and finally hitting the targetmore accurately that had the better of the finalten minutes to emerge three point winners. Wingforward Jimmy O Reilly hit a purple patch in thisfinal quarter scoring three excellent points fromplay while Keith McGrath and Tomas o Reilly wereamong their scorers also.

Captain Kevin Byrne proved to be the most in-fluential player on the field for Geevagh through-

out ably assisted by Shane McManus, Eamonn Mc-Donagh ( dismissed late on on a second yellowcard) Cormac Hughes , Kevin Henry and Jimmy OReilly. Durable midfield player Pat Cawley missedthe game as did county player Pat Hughes who isin the USA at the moment. Centre half back BarryKivlehan ably assisted by the Gorman brothersproved reliable defenders for Coolaney/ Mul-linabreena, captain Brendan Coleman did well atmidfield while in attack top scorer Kieran Finan,Shane O'Brien and the hard working John Mc-Gowan caught the eye most often.

GEEVAGH: Darren Kearns, Martin O Reilly,Liam McDonagh, Daniel Smith, DominicKearns, Eamonn McDonagh, Denis O Rourke,Shane McManus (0-01) Kevin Byrne (0-02)Kevin Henry (0-07) Keith McGrath (0-02)Jimmy O Reilly (0-04) Tomas O Reilly (0-02)Cormac Hughes, David O Reilly. Subs: ColmMcManus, Shane Hargadon.COOLANEY/MULLINABREENA: Francis Bren-nan, Aiden Coleman, Sean Gorman, ShaneMarren, Stephen Barrett, Barry Kivlehan,Conor Gorman, Brendan Coleman, Declan Mc-Cormack, Shane Kivlehan (0-01) RaymondConnolly (0-01) John McGowan, Kieran Finan(0-08) Shane O Brien (0-03) Eoghan O Dowd(0-01) Sub: Niall O Dowd (0-01)

REF: Marty Duffy.

Experienced Geevagh edge Group D tussle

Page 73

SLIGO DIVISION ONE LEAGUE FINAL

Tourlestrane .......0-15St John's ..............1-8

TOURLESTRANE retained their Divi-sion 1 League title with hard foughtvictory over St John's in a pulsating

final at Kilcoyne Park.It was John's who got off the mark first

with a well taken score from Ian Rossiter.But Tourlestrane replied in due fashionwith six unanswered points as they took agrip of proceedings

A free from John Quinn got Tourlestaneoff the mark and this was then followed byShane Dunne point as they took the lead.Quinn had three more points while JamesLeonard also got his name on the scoresheet. Rossiter kept St John's in touchwith t his second point of the match butBrian Egan claimed the ball inside the 45and flashed the ball over the bar to fivepoints between the sides once more.St.John's made a change as they broughton Dara McGarty but his stay on the pitchdidn't last long as he was shown a straightred card for an off the ball incident on the26 minute .

Tourlestrane seemed to use the extraman to their advantage when Barry Kir-rane scored his second point of the match.But John's showed real character beforethe half time whistle as first Rossiter re-duced the margin with fine score and thiswas then followed up with timely boost forthe North Sligo side as Charlie Harrisoncame up through the midfield and hepassed the ball into David Burke who toe-poked the ball into the back of theTourlestrane net. Brian Egan ensured thatTourlestrane went in at the break threepoints in front .

Whatever Fergal Kelly said at half timeseemed to work as John's got the first twopoints following the restart as Ian Rossiterand Killian Sweeney got on the score-board , reduicng the gap to just a singlepoint . Tourlestrane got their first score ofthe season half with a free from JohnKelly after Shane Dunne was fouled .

Eamon O'Hara came on as second halfsubstitute but just like Dara McGarty hisevening finished early as he was shown astraight red, also for an off the ball inci-dent. Charlie Harrison reduced the gap thegap once more after great run from ConorKearins . On the 54 minute the sides were

level after a Sweeney pointTourlestrane produced the goods when

the pressure was on with a 56th minutefree from Quinn putting them back in front.The same player then fisted a great pointto widen the gap and then Alan Dunneadded on the insurance score to seal thetitle for the South Sligo men.

TOURLESTRANE: Seamus Gildea, DavidDurkin, Barry Walsh, Noel Gaughan, GaryGaughan, Brian Kennedy, James Leonard 0-1, Shane Dunne 0-1, Adrian McIntyre,Stephen Henry, John Kelly 0-2(0-1f), JohnMarren, John Quinn 0-7(0-4f), Brian Egan0-1, Barry Kirrane 0-2. Subs: Gerry Mc-Gowan for Barry Kirrane, Eamonn O'Harafor Gary Gaughan, Alan Dunne 0-1 for JohnMarren, John P Lang for David Durkin, GaryGaughan for Gerry McGowanST JOHN'S: Philip Greene, Eoin Flanagan,Ronan McGarrigle, Charlie Harrison 0-1,Neal Hayes, Michael McNamara, ConorKearins, David Burke 1-0, David Rooney,John Scanlon 0-1, Killian Sweeney 0-2,Shane Stenson, Dara McGarty, Ian Rossiter0-4 (0-2f). Subs: Stephen Kearins, Ross Gor-don and Jim SheridanREF: John Gilmartin.

Tourlestrane take honoursthanks to powerful first-half

Page 74

Galway ...............0-10 Wexford ..............0-8

By FRANK KEARNEY Media West Ireland

AFTER losing their opening game toKilkenny, Galway camogie girls gotthemselves right back into con-

tention in the All-Ireland championshipwhen they defeated Wexford at WexfordPark.

Galway paved the way for success inthe opening half with a comprehensivedisplay of skill and scoring when aided bythe strong breeze. Indeed Wexford’s onlyresponse in the opening half were twopointed frees from Ursula Jacob in the10th and 32nd minute.

Niamh McGrath scored five of Gal-way’s first half points four from play, withAnn Marie Hayes, Niamh Kilkenny and

Brenda Hanney also on target as Galwayled by 0-8 to 0-2 at half time.

If Galway dominated the scoring in theopening half it was Wexford’s turn whenthey were wind assisted in the second-half. Successive points from Ursula Jacob,Shelley Kehoe and Kate Kelly left Wexfordtrailing by just a point six minutes from theend. Indeed one felt that Wexford wouldhave gone ahead had they not sent Shel-ley Kehoe away from the attacking area topolice Niamh McGrath at the other end.

However the turning point came whenShelley Kehoe came forward and watchedher effort to level the game come off theposts and Galway cleared their lines andpushed the ball quickly upfield whereNoreen Coen scored Galway’s first pointof the second-half six minutes from theend.

That score broke Wexford’s momentumand although an Ursula Jacob free re-duced the deficit again to a point, Niamh

Kilkenny provided the insurance point forGalway.

GALWAY: S Earner; T Manton, S Dervan,H Cooney; S Coen, T Maher, L Ryan; NKilkenny (0-2), M Dunne; E Haverty, NMcGrath (0-5, 1f), E Kilkelly; B Hanney(0-1), A M Hayes (0-1), A O’Reilly. Subs: S Cahalan for Coen (45), M Bre-hony for Hanney (45), N Coen (0-1) forHaverty (50), C McGrath for Dunne (50),R Glynn for Cooney (61). WEXFORD: M D’Arcy; C Donohoe, NLambert, K Atkinson; S Sinnott, MLeacy, S Redmond; J Dwyer, F Doran;K Kelly (0-1f), S Kehoe (0-1), F Ka-vanagh, E O’Connor, B Gordan, UJacob (0-6f).Subs: Stacey Kehoe for Dwyer (24), SMcGovern Glynn for O’Connor (26), LHammell for Shelley Kehoe (61).REF: G O’Dowd (Cork).

Galway ............3-12 Clare ................1-12

By FRANK KEARNEY Media West Ireland

GALWAY booked their place inthe All-Ireland Camogie champi-onship when they defeated

Clare at Cusack Park, Ennis on Satur-day.

Galway lost their opening game toKilkenny but victory over Wexford wasfollowed by another comprehensivesecond-half display that set them up forvictory.

Top class performances from AilishO’Reilly, Molly Dunne and LorraineRyan provided real leadership for theGalway side who will now play Derry intheir final group game next weekend.

Ailish O’Reilly and Brenda Hanneyhad Galway off to a flying start butClare responded with a succession ofpoints and after Emma Kilkelly left thesides level, Brenda Hanney brokethrough for a well finished goal midwaythrough the opening half.

After Clare finished the opening halfstrongly, Galway got the perfect start to

the second half when Ann Marie Hayesblasted to the net.

And after a great Galway moveMolly Dunne crashed to the Clare netGalway took control and outscoredClare by five points to two in the closingstages.

FOCUS ON CAMOGIE • FOCUS ON CAMOGIE

Photo from the official launch of the Ballygar Camogie Club at the Mattie McDonagh Centrewhere guest of honour, Galway hurling legend, Joe Connolly was in attendance.

Galway girls beat champions

Galway Camogie bookplace in last eight

GALWAY: S Earner; T Manton, S Dervan, HCooney; S Cahalan, T Maher, L Ryan; NKilkenny (0-2), M Dunne (1-1); E Kilkelly (0-1),N McGrath (0-6, 4f), E Haverty; B Hanney (1-1), A M Hayes (1-0), A O’Reilly (0-1). Subs: N Coen for Kilkelly (38 mins), R Glynnfor Cahalan (47 mins).

Page 75

Mayo ...................5-11Westmeath .........0-11

By KEVIN EGAN

ADEVASTATING start was the key toa comfortable victory for the Mayoladies last Saturday afternoon in

Longford, as three early goals killed offany dreams of a Westmeath upset.

Mayo, 1/10 favourites, opened with aLisa Cafferky goal and followed that upwith a second from Cora Staunton, imme-diately giving them a platform for victory.Both goals were tinged with a little luck –Cafferky got away with two hops in thebuild-up to her low finish, while Staunton’sstrike should have been better dealt withby goalkeeper Niamh Mulligan. But Mayohad Westmeath pinned back in their ownhalf throughout the opening stages andteenage corner forward Sarah Rowe got anicely-taken point.

Westmeath finally opened their accountthrough a ninth-minute free, but probablywished they hadn’t as Mayo swiftly and ef-fortlessly moved the ball down the centreof the field from the resultant kick-out andearned a penalty. Kathryn Sullivan, MarthaCarter and Fiona McHale were all in-volved, and when Cora Staunton pickedup possession inside the square, NiamhMulligan felt she had little choice but todrag down the Carnacon player.

Staunton placed a perfect penalty lowto bottom left corner, while the Westmeathcaptain went to the sin-bin. Westmeathdug in hard while they were down to 14,but Mayo were still able to tack on threemore points while Westmeath only scoredtheir second immediately after being re-stored to the full complement.

Niamh Mulligan’s poor day continuedwith her first kick-out after resuming ingoal, as a weak effort went straight toCora Staunton some 30 yards away. Withopen country in front of her, Stauntondrove decisively at goal and finished wellwith her left foot.

The next four points were shared, butfour more Staunton points either side ofthe break gave Mayo a 4-10 to 0-4 leadwith 25 minutes to play. It also signalled asevere drop in intensity from PeterClarke’s charges.

Aileen Gilroy and Deirdre Doherty weredropping very deep for Mayo, and whilethis meant Westmeath struggled to findspace, it also left Staunton and SarahRowe very isolated at the other end of thefield. Westmeath continued to play withthree in the full-back line, so both de-fences were completely on top in a dourhalf.

A fast break was the most likely sourceof a score and that was exactly how itturned out when Mayo scored their fifthgoal in the 45th minute, capitalising on afree kick dropped short into YvonneByrne’s hands. Quick hand-passing up the

field led to Rowe and Staunton combiningin front of goal and for the second time inthe game, Staunton was dragged down inthe square. Yet again the offender – West-meath wing back Laura Brennan – wassin-binned, and yet again Staunton’s spotkick was immaculate.

A late surge from Westmeath – aidedby yellow cards for Martha Carter andFiona McHale – gave them five of the lastsix points, but by that stage Mayo’sthoughts were already on the quarter-finaldraw. MAYO: Y Byrne; M Corbett, N Tierney, STierney; K Sullivan, M Carter, C Con-nelly; C Egan, F McHale; D Doherty (0-1), A Gilroy (0-1), C McManamon; SRowe (0-1), C Staunton (4-8, 2-0 pen, 0-4f), L Cafferky (1-0).Subs: Carol Hegarty for C Egan (43mins); A Bell for M Corbett (43 mins); LRyder for S Tierney (47 mins); N Kellyfor C Hegarty (53 mins, inj), D Hughesfor C McManamon (57 mins).WESTMEATH: N Mulligan; A Martin, TDurkan, A Giles, K Boyce-Joyce, L Dun-can, L Brennan; R Kearney, MA Foley(0-1); K Hegarty (0-1), L Walsh (0-2), JMaher (0-1); C Kelly, F Leavy (0-3, 3f), CBlundell. Subs: S Keegan for C Kelly (10mins); N Mulligan for S Keegan (20mins); S Dolan (0-3, 1f) for C Kelly (41mins); L Kiernan for C Blundell (41mins); A Brady for T Durkan (55 mins). REF: M Farrelly (Cavan).

Dublin ................3-10Galway ...............3-10

By JACKIE CAHILLat MacDonagh Park, Nenagh

CIANA Ni Churraoin’s injury-time point sal-vaged a draw for Galway at the end of anincredible All-Ireland minor A ladies foot-

ball final against Dublin at MacDonagh Park,Nenagh.

Holders Dublin had come from eleven pointsdown to almost snatch victory at the deathwhen sub Margaret Mohan and wing-forwardCarla Rowe netted stoppage time goals.

But there was still time for Ni Churraoin, sis-ter of Galway senior footballer Fiontan, to re-spond and earn a deserved replay for theWesterners.

Galway won comfortably when these coun-ties met in an All-Ireland U16 semi-final twoyears ago but looked winners from an earlystage as three first half goals helped them to

lead by 3-5 to 0-5 at half-time.Ni Churraoin, Emma Reaney and Shauna

Hynes all netted for the Tribeswomen and red-hot favourites Dublin, who trailed by 0-3 to 3-5approaching the break, were in all sorts oftrouble. The Sky Blues couldn’t capitalise onsin-binnings for both of Galway’s corner backs– Michelle Joyce and Alice Meagher – as theTribeswomen had the upper hand.

The second half was even more bizarre asboth sides finished without their full compli-ment of players.Galway wing-back Emilie Gavinwas issued with a straight red card 13 minutesfrom time.

And in the closing minutes, Dublin lost theservices of Muireann Ní Scanaill and Mohan toyellow cards.

Shortly after half-time, Leah Mullinsdragged Dublin back into contention with ascrappy goal from close range, after Rowe’sfree caused havoc in the Galway full-back line.

Bit by bit, Dublin inched their way back intocontention but Galway were five points aheadin stoppage time before Mohan and Rowestruck to turn the game on its head.

In front of a vocal attendance, it looked like

there was more heartbreak on the cards forGalway against Dublin but Ní Churraoinstepped forward with a fine point from play tolevel the game.

And Galway, powered by the Ward sistersNicola and Louise, felt aggrieved soon afterwhen Delahunty awarded a free out to Dublinfor overcarrying when Tribes wing-forwardOlivia Divilly appeared to have been fouled.

Delahunty blew for full-time seconds laterto end the game that had everything.SCORERS – Dublin: C Rowe 1-2 (0-2f), M Mohan1-1, L Mullins 1-0, M Davoren 0-2, M Lamb, CMcGuigan, É Rutledge, M McGrath & K Dwyer 0-1 each.Galway: C Ni Churraoin 1-3 (0-1f), S Hynes 1-2, EReaney 1-0, O Divilly 0-2 (1f), N Ward, L Ward &D Kehoe 0-1 each.GALWAY: C Ní Laoí; A Meagher, S Gormally, MJoyce; E Gavin, N Ward, M Glynn; S Gavin, MHeneghan; O Divilly, L Ward, S Hynes; E Re-aney, C Ni Churraoin, M Kelly.Subs: D Keane for Kelly (44), N Conway forJoyce (56), S Ní Shuilleabháin for Meagher(60+3).REF: K Delahunty (Tipperary).

LADIES FOOTBALL ALL-IRELAND CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIER

Great start eases ladies through

Ni Churraoin snatches draw for Tribesgirls

Page 76

THE Ladies Gaelic Football Associa-tion recently announced an excitingnew partnership with the Irish Can-

cer Society. The two associations will combine to

set the World Record for ‘Most peoplewearing Bandanas’ at the 40th LadiesFootball All Ireland Finals in Croke Park onSeptember 29th.

The pink bandanas will be on sale atCroke Park on All Ireland Final day, fromthe Croke Park Hotel and other outletsalong with being available from the LGFAoffices from September 16th, the speciallydesigned bandanas will be pink in colour.All proceeds from the sale of the ban-danas will go directly to the Irish CancerSociety’s Action Breast Cancer pro-gramme. The record will be set at half timeof the TG4 Senior All Ireland Final andevery ladies football fan from every part ofthe country is being urged to come toCroke Park to help support a great causewhilst having some brilliant fun and enjoy-ing top class ladies football action.

There is no family in the country thathas not been affected by cancer and

breast cancer is the second most commoncancer in the country with over 2,500women being diagnosed with the diseaseevery year. Research has shown that therisks of cancer can be reduced drasticallythrough simple lifestyle changes includingbecoming physically active and maintain-ing a healthy weight, these are two factorsthat can be positively affected by takingpart in ladies gaelic football which catersfor women of all ages and abilities.

Speaking at the announcement of thenew partnership between the LGFA andthe Irish Cancer Society, LGFA PresidentPat Quill said ‘We are extremely happy toannounce our new partnership with theIrish Cancer Society. This will form a majorpart of our 40th All Ireland Final celebra-tions and will add a huge amount of colourand extra atmosphere to an already fan-tastic occasion. The work the Irish CancerSociety do is amazing and we are de-lighted that we will be able to help out insome small way through helping driveawareness as well as contributing all prof-its raised from the sales of bandanas di-rectly to help them continue their greatwork.’

“We’re delighted to be the chosen char-ity for the Ladies Gaelic Football Associa-tion this year,” said John McCormack,Chief Executive Officer, Irish Cancer Soci-ety. “One of our key goals for 2013, as wecelebrate our 50th birthday, is to begin toimplement our new strategy – A futurewithout cancer. It is great to have the sup-port of the LGFA, especially in their 40thyear. We now know that positive lifestylechoices can hugely reduce someone’s riskof cancer so it is great to be associatedwith an organisation that does so much topromote sport in Ireland – in young peoplein particular. Being active in sport from ayoung age is a great thing to do for yourhealth. We look forward to working withthe LGFA over the next year.”

The Irish Cancer Society is the leadingprovider of cancer information, advice andsupport on all aspects of breast cancer aswell as being the leading funder of breastcancer research.

Tickets for the TG4 Ladies All IrelandFootball Finals will be on sale via theLadies Football Offices who can be con-tacted at 01 836 3156 or [email protected].

CONNACHT Ladies Gaelic FootballCouncil recently reviewed their ref-eree's programme and the Con-

nacht Referee Panel. As part of thisreview, a number of referees officiating atcounty level were identified as having po-tential to become a member of the Provin-cial Referee panel.

All referees identified and selectedwithin the counties must complete the fourcontact days scheduled as part of the ac-celerate programme. These referees willbe monitored throughout the year andhave to meet certain criteria to stay on theprogramme.

The four modules between July andnext May will look at all aspects of referee-

ing. 23 referees from the five countieswere selected and attended day one re-cently.

National Development Officer Lyn Sav-age was the co-ordinator of the NationalReferees programme and will be assistingConnacht in implementing the programme.Connacht GAA aim to increase the stan-dard of refereeing across the province andensure all referees are up to date with therules and have completed the requiredcourses on an annual basis. These refer-ees will be officiating in their own countyand the province throughout the yearwhere they will be assessed in order todevelop.

In addition, Connacht will be running

two referee workshops to up-skill all PPS(Post Primary Schools) referees and cre-ate a database for the PPS within theprovince.

Post Primary Schools will be able toselect referees from this database. TheProvince has been split in two and theseworkshops took place in Charlestown Co.Mayo on Thursday and Claregalway, Co.Galway.

This is a big step for Connacht and arethe first Province to run an accelerate pro-gramme of its sort.

Thanks to all the referees within ourprovince that takes time out to officiate inour games at club, school and countylevel.

FOCUS ON LADIES GAA • FOCUS ON LADIES GAA

Connacht accelerate referee programme

Ladies finals set to go pink

INTO THE WESTTo obtain an electronic copy of the

magazine each quarter,

FREE OF CHARGE, email [email protected].

Page 77

Cork ...................3-10Galway ................0-8

GALWAY’S U-16 girls footballersbowed out of the championship onSaturday last in Limerick to a very

strong Cork side after a brave display inLimerick on Saturday.

Galway started the half playing withthe wind but found themselves a goal be-hind inside the first minute when Corkcentre-forward, Kate O’ Keeffe, found theback of the net.

Galway’s first score arrived from a freeby Caoimhe Boyle in the eighth minuteand she closed the gap further with a sec-ond soon after, but in the 14th minute an-other Cork attack ended in a goal forHannah Looney and Galway found them-selves up against it.

Midway through the half Galway re-sponded with their best spell of the matchwhen star forward, Shauna Hynes, scoredthree points without reply, but in injurytime O’Keefe got in for her 2nd goal togive the Rebelettes a 3-5 to 0-5 lead atthe break.

The girls from the west knew they had

a mountain to climb and started the sec-ond-half brightly when Shauna Hyneskicked another point but Cork replied withScally kicking four of Cork’s five second-half points, while Megan Glynn completedGalway’s score with two points late on.

GALWAY: A Creaven, S Donnellan, AMahoney, E Glynn, J Flaherty, O Mur-phy, A Ryan, C Boyle (0-2, 2f), M Glynn(0-2,1f), S Molloy, S Hynes (0-4), SDivilly, C Maloney, C Naughton, CBurke. Subs: C Blade for Flaherty, SBurke for Ryan, S Devaney for Divilly,C Campbell for C Burke, E O’Kane.

FOCUS ON LADIES GAA • FOCUS ON LADIES GAA

The Galway U-16 girls who lost to Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final. Back Row (L to R): Sinead Burke (Dunmore), Roisin Godwin (Miltown), ValarieBrosnan (Barna), Jessica Flaherty (Corofin), Ciara Quinn (Annaghdown), Sarah Donnellan (Salthill/Knocknacarra), Aine Murry (Mt'b/Moylough),Ciara Naughton (Caltra), Ciara Burke (Claregalway), Siobhan Divilly (Kilkerrin/Clonberne), Elle Glynn (Claregalway), Áine Ryan (Men'gh/Skehana),Caitlin Maloney (Tuam/Cortoon), Ciara Campell (Claregalway), Karen Dowd (Claregalway), Orla Murphy (Claregalway), Eleanor Stafford (NaomhMhuire). Front Row (L to R): Sharon Devaney (Tuam/Cortoon), Ciara Mannion (Caltra), Eimear O Kane (St Furseys), Marie Treacy(Kilkerrin/C'berne), Chelsea Blade (Corofin), Aoife Creaven (Corofin), Shauna Hynes (Miltown), Caoimhe Boyle (Kilkerrin/C'berne), Shauna Molloy(St Fursey's), Ailbhe Mahoney (Kilkerrin/C'berne), Megan Glynn (Claregalway), Holly Keating (Killannin).

U-16 girls lose to Cork in semi-final

HANDBALL • HANDBALL • HANDBALL • HANDBALL

Page 78

By MICHAEL McGEE

CASTLECONNOR are Connachthandball club champions for the firsttime in their history.

The Castleconnor Club in Sligo qualifiedfor the All-Ireland Interclub 60 x 30 champi-onships semi-finals following victory overRoscommon’s Mount Talbot in the Connachtfinal played in Williamstown Galway re-cently.

Castleconnor defeated the RoscommonClub champions 113-89 in a well contestedfinal. In their semi-final contest Castleconnorscored a comfortable 83-39 win over Gal-way’s Loughrea Club the previous day. Ear-lier Castleconnor outscored Collooney120-94 in the Sligo final

The winning team members were JasonEarlis, Mark Murphy, Tom Foody,MartinCooney and Joe GormanAOIFE QUINN WINS PLATE FINAL INONE WALL NATIONALS.

In the Irish One Wall Nationals held inBreaffy House in Castlebar at the end ofJune. Overall 400 players from all over theCountry took part along with players fromPeurto Rico and England. Sligo were rep-resented by Odhran, Oisin and Aoife Quinnfrom the Castleconnor Club together withLaura and Conor Finn from Ballymotemaking their debuts in the One-Wall Na-tionals

Odhran Quinn was beaten by Cork’sEoghan Sheehan 18-14 in the Boys U-14singles. In the plate Odhran partnered Cia-ran Faulkner but were narrowly defeatedby Gavin Coyle and Jack Tobin 21-19.

Oisin took part in the Golden Masterssection and beat London’s Oliver O’Sulli-van in the opening game but fell to Down’sBrian Havern in round 2. Quinn and O’Sul-livan were runners up in the plate doublesfinal.

Aoife lost her opening match to EimearBeatty in the Girls U-15 singles. Examcommitments hampered her preparationbut she had better luck in the plate whenteaming up with Kildare’s Hannag Daggwinning the plate final 16-8 over MaireadKenny and Doireann Murphy.

Also representing Sligo were Laura andConor Finn from the Ballymote Club.Conor took part in the Boys U-11 Singlesgrade. Conor won two out of his three con-tests before losing out to a Roscommonopponent 31-14. Laura Finn took part inthe girls U-13 grade and in her first roundeasily overcame her Galway opponent.Laura was defeated by Tyrone’s ElizabethMcGarvey the eventual runner up in thisgrade. The Finn’s making their competitivedebut in the nationals equipped them-

selves very well and no doubt we will behearing much more about the “flying hand-ball Finn’s from Ballymote in the yearsahead.

Peurto Rican Herman Mendez won theMen’s Open title his second Irish win in theNationals in three years while Down’s Lor-raine Havern overcame Mayo’ Amy Corri-

gan in the ladies final. Corrigan and Hav-ern will be joined by Cork’s Killian Carrolland Armagh’s Conal McKevitt who will rep-resent Ireland in the World games In CaliColumbia next month. Handball is ademonstration sport in these games and itis hoped GAA Handball will become andOlympic Sport in the near future

Castleconnor crowned Connachthandball club champions

The Castleconnor and Mount Talbot Teams after the Connacht inter-club final.

The Castleconnor team who were recently crowned Connacht handball club champions. Back row(L to R): Mark Murphy, Tom Foody and Martin Cooney with their clubs mascots. Missing fromphoto is Joe Gorman.

ALL-IRELAND 60x30 SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

Page 79

THE St. Coman’s doubles pair of DamienMartin and Rikki O’Gara caused a bigupset in the senior 60 x 30 championship

in Cashel last weekend when they defeated2011 All-Ireland senior champions Barry Goffand Colin Keeling of Wexford on a scoreline of5-21, 21-18, 21-18.

This was a superb display by the Roscom-mon lads, who showed tremendous composureand determination to rally after losing the firstgame 21-5. The scoreline didn’t really reflectthe tough nature of the exchanges in the earlierpart of the match when the Roscommon ladsmatched the hard-hitting Wexford pair shot forshot. But a strange succession of straightfor-ward mistakes and lapses in concentration sawthem go from leading 5-4 to losing 21-5.

Thankfully, their experience came into playwhen analysing the game during the break as

they knew that once they cut out the unforcederrors and, most importantly, started killingthe ball, they were capable of winning. And soit proved as O’Gara immediately killed the firstfour balls in his favourite right corner to makea statement of intent. Although the scores weretight right through the second, it was notice-able that the Roscommon lads were much moreaggressive with their shot selection. On theother hand, the Model County men were gettingmore and more safety-conscious.

Goff, in particular, tried to make it a game ofstamina, but in Rikki O’Gara he met a younger,faster and extremely agile opponent who cov-ered every inch of the court and made someamazing ‘picks’. He also ruthlessly killed anyhalf-chance that came his way. Martin took theball on the ‘fly’ at every opportunity to keepthe opposition on the back foot, and with these

tactics Roscommon won the second 21-18.At this stage, with both momentum and

youth on their side on a stifling hot day, itlooked very promising for the Rossies. Theystarted the third like they wanted to end mat-ters as soon as possible, racing into a 12-2 lead.The Wexford lads now seemed dead and buriedand were making more and more mistakes, andnot long after they trailed 17-5. However, liketrue champions, they showed remarkable recu-perative abilities and started an unlikely come-back, chipping away steadily at the huge lead.Amazingly they managed to claw back all theway to 15-17 before the Roscommon boys madeit 20-15. The Wexford lads refused to die andreached 18. Then, in extremely tense circum-stances, both sides had four hands each with-out scoring before the Rossies finished off atremendous match with an O’Gara kill.

Roscommon pair take glory

Kilmactigue handball gathering

By Michael McGee

AN historic handball celebration took placein Kilmactigue as part of the Gathering onthe Bank Holiday Sunday August 4th last.

It brought back special memories of the 1940sand 1950s when handball was a popular sport andpastime in Kilmactigue. The old handball alley is101 years old. The historic court was originally athree wall court but oddly enough when a backwall was erected in the late 1950s interest inhandball sadly declined.

The idea to the handball gathering was torecreate a typical village scene from days of oldwhen locals congregated at the ball alley afterSunday Mass and played each other sometimeseven for a small wager before going home (usu-ally late) for their Sunday dinner.

A number of inspired locals have restored thealley to its former self especially Seamus O’Don-nell, Matt Barren, Brendan Kennedy, Seamus Mol-loy, Milo Maye and Joseph Gallagher.

An exhibition match took place in brilliant sun-shine between Sligo’s Francis McCann and ShaneBruen and Mayo’s the Cassidy brothers Ollie and

Peter. Seamus O’Donnell spoke prior to the startof the match and reminiscence about past playersand games played in the old court.

Mayo won the match but more significant thehandball alley again reverberating with the soundof handball being played brought back manycherished memories for the large crowd that at-tended.

Padraig Maye and All-Ireland handball cham-pion and an International Athletics Championwho played in Kilmactigue said he hopes that “theexhibition match will be the catalyst to a newgeneration to take up the game.”

Back row (L to R): Francis Mc Cann, Shane Bruen, Seamus Howley, Seamus O'Donnell, Jimmy Hegarty, Ben Ginty, Padraig Maye, Ollie Cassidy, PeterCassidy. Front row (L to R): Tom Golderick, Fr. Tom Quinn, Tommy Ginty, Jimmy Roper.

HANDBALL • HANDBALL • HANDBALL • HANDBALL

Page 80

THE eagerly awaited start tothe new Collooney handball40 x 20 court finally began

recently writes Michael McGee.It is a momentous and historic

occasion for the Sligo club in whathas been a long time coming.

The Club has been in existencesince 1928. The then ChairmanAlfie Higgins a signal man on theMidland Railway and WP McElroyand Secretary approached the landowners the Cooper Family ofMarkree Castle who kindly do-nated a plot of ground on the Fair-green. At the official opening in1928 Joe and Paddy Bergin whohad local connections and were re-siding in Tipperary played JimHunt and Eddie Perry from Sligo.Others who played included JoeLane, Guard Cunnion fromBallintogher, Jim and MickeyO’Rourke from Ballisodare.

In 1996/97 the height of thewalls was extended to 27ft and theinstalling of a new floor. Dressingrooms were added in 1999.The oldgalvanised roof was replaced in2001 with a modern roof. With theadded facilities Collooney hostedmany Connacht handball champi-onships matches and a number ofAll-Ireland semi-finals and finals.

The idea of a 40 x 20 handballcourt was first mooted in 2007 byPaddy Walsh, and Stanley Harteclub stalwarts and others whowere coaching the young players inCollooney. “It’s a pity they don’thave a 40 x 20 Court with a glassback wall to train in”. Club Chair-man Hugh McGarry immediatelyrecognised the potential in theyoung players but without theproper facilities they could not ad-vance the coaching.

“I was also very conscious thatif Sligo had a home game andvenue we didn’t have a Court with

a full glass back wall that could ac-commodate a crowd that wouldsee all the action – the St. Mary’sfacility in Sligo was made up ofconcrete and glass back wall.”

And with the idea now firmly in-grained in McGarry’s mind a com-mittee was formed. Fundraisingfor the new handball court beganin 2008 with tickets sales bringingin !13,000 initially. In August of2009 Andy Healy (a Sligo native)President of the Boston Sligo Asso-ciation handed over $2,000 to theclub following a St. Patrick’s Dayfundraiser in Boston to club offi-cials in Collooney handball club.Most recently the Club was grate-ful to receive !50,000 from theDepartment of Arts Sports andTourism in January.

The plans for the handball courtwas unveiled in January 2011 inCollooney. Indeed the handballclub got much satisfaction fromthe local Owenmore G.A.A Clubwith its award winning groundsand more recently the playgroundin the Fairgreen. Chairman of theOwenmore G.A.A Club Martin Can-non spoke at the unveiling of theplans as did Sligo G.A.A ChairmanCyril Feehily and P.J. Moran thetechnical advisor.

Present at the unveiling of theplans were Cyril Feehily ChairmanSligo G.A.A. Board, Michael McMor-row former Chairman Sligo Hand-ball Board, Martin CannonChairman of the local OwenmoreGaels Club, P.J. Moran Civil Engi-neer, and Fr. Pat Peyton P.P. who isa great supporter of the club. HughMcGarry Chairman CollooneyHandball Club and invited guests.All Sligo handball clubs were rep-resented.

The Club have taken a loan outof !76,000 from “Clan Credo andthe money is being paid back by

two sources of revenue the Bingoand from the club members them-selves who put in !5 every week.The club welcomes anyone who iswilling to contribute to the projectto come on board. The bingo willbe running for 3 years in Septem-ber each Thursday night and issuccessful to date. Former Chair-man of the Collooney Club BrendanCarey was the first who suggestedthat the club get involved in theweekly bingo and this has beenrunning every week since.

The project almost never got offthe ground according to the Chair-man. “It was vitally important thatthe new 40 x 20 Court would bebuilt adjacent to the existing 60 x30 court so that the two facilitieswould be side by side in the onevenue. At first The Park Committeewho own the park were reluctantto give up any ground. The club gotaround this stumbling block bybuying additional ground besidethe Park and in turn exchangedthat ground for the ground onwhich we are now presently build-ing the 40 x 20 court. The ParkCommittee were happy with this,thus allowing the project to pro-ceed. McGarry played a pivotalrole in this making sure that theproject would progress and hasworked tirelessly on it.

The cost of the entire project iscosting !200,000 to build. Theclub nominated the legendaryPaddy Walsh to deliver the com-mencement notice to Sligo CountyCouncil. Walsh the club coachalong with Mick Kelly, StanleyHarte and Shane Bruen has twentyeight All-Ireland handball titles ina glittering career going back to1974 when he won his first All-Ire-land medal.

The sod turning ceremony tookplace on Friday May 18th 2012 andwas attended by local politicians,G.A.A. Officials and the people ofCollooney. What pleased the Clubmost was the entire Collooneycommunity turned out for the cele-brations. Local G.A.A stalwartsMichael Flynn and Maureen Mullinwere given the honour of turningthe first sod on the club’s newhandball court. Maureen Mullinwas treasurer of the St. Feichin’sCommunity Games from 1973-1998and Treasurer of the Teeling Centrefor the past 27 years. MichaelFlynn was handball trustee back inthe 1970’s.

Next month there is rock festi-val on the Fairgreen but already allin the Collooney handball club arerocking with the prospect of a newand modern 40 x 20 handballcourt. Dreams are made of this…

Aidan Malone, Keith Lavin and Shane Malone starting the building tothe new 40 x 20 handball court in Collooney.

Back row (L to R): Con-nell Cannon, SeamusDuffy, Paddy Walsh,Micheal Flynn. Frontrow: Michael McGee,Shane Bruen, StanleyHarte, Micheal Bruenand Hugh McGarry, clubchairman.

Construction of Collooneyhandball court begins

Documents

Into the West - July/August 2013