Month / January 2019

by thesaffrongael

St Gall’s come up short as Galway champions book final place

AIB All-Ireland Intermediate Hurling semi-final

St Galls 2-04-1-13 Oranmore Maree

By Kevin Herron from Parnell Park

St Galls AIB All-Ireland Intermediate hurling dreams were ended at the semi-final stage by Oranmore Maree this afternoon as the Galway champions cruised to the final with a 1-13-2-04 win at Parnell Park.

The Milltown side will have rued their inability to press home a numerical advantage as Oranmore were reduced to 14-men on the 22nd minute after Alan Bannon tangled with Conor Burke off the ball and referee Patrick Murphy flashed a red-card in Bannon’s direction.

Leading 0-07-0-04 at the break the Galway champions hit the net through Sean McInerney and kept St Galls scoreless until the dying embers of the second period.

Despite Karl Stewart receiving a second yellow card which evened up the player count, the Galls hit two injury-time goals through CJ McGourty and substitute Antoin McCaffrey to restore a little pride at the end of a testing afternoon for the Antrim champions in the capital.

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Both sides spurned early opportunities to hit the front through Niall Burke and Tomas O’Ciarain – both from the placed ball but it was Oranmore who hit the first score through corner-forward Ross Malone, though St Galls restored parity after five minutes through Sean McAreavey.

It took Galway county star Niall Burke until the midway point in the opening half before he converted his first free of the afternoon – he had spurned three opportunities until that point but turned provider for namesake Alan to edge the Galway side 0-02-0-01 to the good.

CJ McGourty levelled for St Galls through his first placed ball of the afternoon and Karl Stewart then missed the chance to give the Milltown side the advantage after ten minutes.

There was plenty of spice from the first whistle and a flare-up between Kieran McGourty and Gearoid McInerney resulted in both being cautioned by referee Patrick Murphy.

Oranmore restored their lead on the quarter hour mark from a converted Niall Burke free, his first successful placed ball of the afternoon.

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A second would follow two-minutes later and at the other end CJ McGourty was off target from a 65′ and missed the opportunity to close the gap.

The first major talking point came shortly after the 20 minute mark – St Galls were awarded a free by referee Murphy and away from the whistlers attention Conor Burke appeared to be struck by Alan Bannon.

After consultation with his linesman and umpires Murphy proceeded to brandish a red-card to Bannon and the resulting free was converted by CJ McGourty to reduce the deficit (0-04-0-03).

Niall Burke (free)restored Oranmore’s two-point advantage – though a superb angled point by CJ McGourty put the bare minimum between the sides and was the wing-half forwards third successive score.

The fourteen men finished the half stronger however with Niall Burke adding two further scores – a third successive free and his first from play ensured his side would lead 0-07-0-04 at the break despite their numerical disadvantage.

Oranmore increased their lead on the 37th minute through a fifth converted Niall Burke free and the Galway side all but killed the game off from the resulting puck-out.

Piarais McCaffrey’s quick puck was turned over by Padraic Keane who burst forward and offloaded to Sean McInerney and the corner-forward batted Keane’s hand-passed effort past McCaffrey to give Oranmore a 1-08-0-04 lead.

Two further Niall Burke free’s brought the wing-half forwards tally to 0-08 (0-07f) – St Galls had failed to put Oranmore goalkeeper Rory McInerney under any considerable pressure, on the 40th minute a Niall O’Neill floated a high ball in on top of McInerney but it evaded the McGourty brothers CJ and Kieran who were queuing up inside the area.

Oranmore were firmly in the ascendancy and Niall Burke would add three further scores to his tally before the afternoon was out – one from a 65′ and the other two from frees to make it 1-13-0-04.

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St Galls numerical advantage disappeared a minute from time as Karl Stewart was dismissed for a second yellow card offence and the Milltown men were staring down the barrel of a 12-point defeat. However they restored some pride in injury-time when an Aodhan Gallagher’s high ball into the danger area was flicked to the net by CJ McGourty to make it 1-13-1-04.

A second goal followed seconds later as Gallagher again played the providers role and substitute Antoin McCaffrey made a great catch under pressure and turned to rifle the ball to the net past ‘keeper Rory McInerney.

In the end the two goals were little more than consolation however as Oranmore Maree booked their place in the AIB Intermediate Hurling final but it was indication of what they were capable off and they will look back wondering why it took so long to find their spark.

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St Galls: P McCaffrey, S Morrison, J McDaniel, A Hannaway, N O’Neill, S Burke, A Gallagher, K Stewart, J Hopkins, T O’Ciarain, K McGourty, C McGourty (1-03, 0-02f), M Donnelly, C Burke, S McAreavey (0-01). Subs: R Irvine for A Hannaway (30+3 mins), M Napier for M Donnelly (42 mins), A Healy for C Burke (48 mins), A McCaffrey (1-00) for K McGourty (58 mins), G McGreevy for J Hopkins (58 mins).

Oranmore Maree: R McInerney, S Bannon, S Geoghegan, A Bannon, M Hanniffy, G McInerney, L Keane, N Geoghegan, R Maher, M Quinn, A Burke (0-01), N Burke (0-11, 0-09f; 0-01 65′), R Malone (0-01), P Keane, S McInerney (1-00). Subs: E Burke for A Burke (54 mins), S Dunne for M Quinn (54 mins- blood sub), N Qualter for L Keane (58 mins), S Dunne for R Maher (58 mins), M Keane for P Keane (61 mins).

Referee: Patrick Murphy (Ceatharlach)

by thesaffrongael

CPC complete 3-in-a-row


Corn Uan Uladh final

Cross & Passion Ballycastle 3-8 St Louis Ballymena 0-3

IN THE end Cross and Passion Ballycastle completed their three-in-a-row of Ulster senior titles in Ballymena on Saturday morning with relative comfort to retain Corn Uan Uladh, but they were pushed all the way by St Louis Ballymena in an intense game of camogie.

CPC’s Maeve Kelly makes a break as St Louis players close her down. Pic by Sean Paul McKillop

Ballycastle’s greater experience of finals at this level and their success rate through their school careers meant that they were able to weather the Ballymena storm and come out the other end.

Defence was solid throughout with Katie Laverty and Enya McShane particularly prominent. Roisin McCormick and Maeve Kelly were well shepherded throughout by the hard work of Maura Downey and Caoimhe Molloy, but others picked up the slack to keep St Louis under plenty of pressure.

Four points from Riana McBride in the six minutes before the break opened a gap between the teams, but in the second half it was the decisive running of Ciara Laverty that created the goals to put CPC in the clear.

The Ballymena defence was heroic, particularly Eimhear McMullan and Bronagh Laverty, while Áine Graham brought off a number of stunning saves in the opening half. However in a game where they came in as underdogs they couldn’t afford to miss openings. And they did during both halves.

Bronagh Laverty brought off a brilliant block on Roisin McCormick in the opening minute to set the tone for the first half and after 27 minutes it was no surprise that the teams were locked on 0-2 each, with excellent defence from both schools.

CPC captain Roisin McCormick sets off on a solo run. Pic by Sean Paul McKillop

Then Anna Connolly shot through the centre to release Riana McBride. She went for goal, but somehow Áine Graham turned it over for a point. Over the next three minutes, McBride picked up three possessions and delivered three more points for her side to turn around with a 0-6 to 0-2 lead.

Immediately on the re-start Ciara Laverty’s run released Charley McCarry for a point and Laverty then created the opening that saw Áine Magill hit the first goal of the tie in the 38th minute.

If that score did not close the door on St Louis who continued to hit confidence-sapping wides, then Ciara Laverty’s solo effort in the 41st minute did.

Maura Downey popped over a Ballymena free in reply. Their defence continued to hold firm, but so did Ballycastle’s and there were only two further scores, Maeve Kelly picking up a half-clearance in the 58th minute and placing Charley McCarry for a low finish, while Riana McBride reminded everyone of her earlier contribution by posting a lovely point a minute from time.

Ballycastle now head to Connacht for the All-Ireland semi-final on the 9th February while St Louis will lick their wounds and look to the future for a breakthrough win.

The Cross & Passion team who beat St Louis in the Corn Uan Uladh final in Ballymena. Pic by Dylan McIlwaine

Cross and Passion : S McKillop, A McClafferty, M McGarry, E McShane, A O’Mullan, M O’Neill, K Laverty, M Kelly, C Laverty (1-0), A Magill (1-0), R McCormick capt (0-1), A Connolly, A Toner, C McCarry (1-2), R McBride (0-5)

Subs : A Lynn for A McCafferty (45), C McGarry for A Toner (46).

St Louis Ballymena. Pic by Dylan McIlwaine

St Louis : A Graham capt, L McAleese, E Kearns, B Delargy, B Laverty, E McMullan, K Mullan, C Molloy, M Downey (0-1 free), E McAreevey, K Burke, S Darragh, M McKillen (0-1), E Traynor (0-1), C Crawford

Subs : C McGaughey for S Darragh (43), C Martin for L McAleese (55)

Referee : Owen Elliott

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Pics by Sean Paul McKillop

by thesaffrongael

Antrim pay the penalty, but there are plenty of positives

Bord na Mona Kehoe Cup Final

Antrim 1-23 Westmeath 2-20

Brendan McTaggart reports from the GAA’s Centre of Excellence, Abbotstown

Antrim suffered defeat to the hands of Westmeath in the Kehoe Cup final in Abbotstown this afternoon. With the teams tied at the end of 70 plus pulsating minutes of hurling the game went straight to penalties and in the shoot-out the Leinster men took the honours by three goals to nil.  A cruel way to suffer defeat in what was a positive performance from the Saffrons but when the dust settles the Safrons management team will take many more positives than negatives from a heart warming display. 

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In defence Stephen Rooney and John Dillon were immense with Ronan Molloy and Conor McHugh excellent at centre half.  Up front, five of the six starting forwards all added their names to the score sheet with James McNaughton top scoring with 0-9 (6 f’s) with Nigel Elliott adding 1-3 from play in another top display.  The overall work rate of the forward unit has to be praised however.  James O’Connell and Kevin Rice putting in a mountain of work. With Rice finishing with two fine points to his credit

To be super critical, Antrim were five points ahead with two minutes of the 70 remaining.  Having weathered a Westmeath storm in the second half where the Lake County hit 1-6 to Antrim’s 0-2 in the space of 10 minutes, but the Saffrons hit back with Elliott’s major the catalyst for the Antrim resurgence.

Four additional minutes and Allan Devine’s second major, a questionable square-ball call, swung the momentum with Killian Doyle’s third white flag of the match forcing penalties where Westmeath sealed the win.

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After the opening exchanges, the travelling saffron faithful would have been forgiven for fearing the worst.  Four down in as many minutes with the Westmeath men swarming all over the Saffrons poc-outs, Antrim were struggling for any momentum but once they found their game, they would go and shade the first half. 

After seven minutes. Westmeath led 0-6 to 0-2 but such was the work rate and intensity of Antrim for the remainder of the half, they restricted Westmeath to just a further three points with one of those coming from a Niall Mitchell free.  McNaughton, Keelan Molloy, Ciaran Clarke and substitute Eoin O’Neill adding their names to the score sheet before John ‘Rocky’ Dillon showed the way forward with a great point towards the end of the half.

The Saffron’s held a slender two point lead at half time with a score line of 0-11 to 0-9 but there was plenty of goal chances throughout the opening 35 minutes that Antrim could look back upon with rueful effect.  First Rice with a sniff of a chance, using his strength to hold off two Westmeath defenders before innovatively getting his shot away but firing wide.  The second chance came moments later, Molloy playing a perfect pass to Elliott but his shot was well saved by Westmeath ‘keeper Paddy Carroll.  The rebound fell to Clarke but the Westmeath captain Tommy Doyle somehow got his body in the way to deflect the sliotar over the bar.

Westmeath’s Killian Doyle brought the best out of Ryan Elliott in the Antrim goals towards the end of the half but it was a deserving yet slender lead for the Saffrons at the short whistle.

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The Lake County management team looked to their bench at half time to try and regain the momentum but Antrim started the second on top.   Rice and Darragh Clinton exchanged points before a trio of white flags from McNaughton (2 f’s) opened a five point lead for the Saffrons for the first time in the final.

McNaughton’s third point of the trio would be Antrim’s last for 11 minutes though as Westmeath with Clinton, Mitchell (3 f’s), Allan Devine and substitute Jack Galvin giving them their side the lead for the first time since the 28th minute.

Antrim responded with points from McNaughton (free) and Molloy with a superb score from wide on the right before Westmeath scored the first goal of the final.  Robbie Greville with the initial run before laying off to Clinton.  Elliott somehow saved Clinton’s drive but Allan Devine was on hand to sweep the rebound into the empty net.

The Antrim response was every bit as emphatic as it was dramatic.  Eoin O’Neill (on for the injured Clarke) split the posts for his second point of the final before Nigel Elliott scored Antrim’s major in the 57th minute.  Elliott with the finish but the work rate and desire shown by captain Conor McCann to force the turnover and provide the assist epitomised the Saffrons performance.

Molloy and Elliott took the Antrim lead to four points once again before Ryan Elliott denied Westmeath with a save right out the top drawer.  Darragh Clinton receiving the ball 25 yards from goal in a world of space, unleashed a drive for the top corner but Antrim ‘keeper managed to beat the sliotar away.  An outstanding save and one that deserved to be decisive with five minutes remaining. 

Antrim stretched their lead to five once again with Nigel Elliott taking his tally to 1-3 and McNaughton adding his third from play, and while Westmeath responded with a point from Shane McGovern, Conor McCann restored the Saffrons five point lead with two minutes of time remaining. 

Westmeath finished the game superbly however with the strength of their bench proving to be the difference.  Counting the three changes made at the interval, Westmeath made nine changes in all during the second half and while Antrim were reaching for the full time whistle, Westmeath found another swing of momentum.

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First Darragh Clinton reduced the gap to four with his fifth point of the match before Devine was on hand to score Westmeath’s second goal.  Gary Greville sending the sliotar high to the edge of the square where Devine flicked the sliotar to the back of the net with the deftest of touches.  The umpires hesitated before waving the green flag and while Antrim had chances at the other end of the pitch to double their lead, Killian Doyle’s third point of the final with the last poc of the game restored parity at the final whistle.

The penalties weren’t exactly the highlight of the day.  James McNaughton and Nicky McKeague sending the sliotar over the bar while Keelan Molloy saw his effort saved by Paddy Carroll.  Westmeath were more decisive from the spot with Niall Mitchell, Allan Devine and Killian Doyle – scorer of the equalising point, landing the winning penalty to gain their first silverware under name manager Joe Quaid.

Despite the defeat there were plenty of positives to take from the performance as we go into the league in Corrigan Park on Saturday against Kerry. In truth Antrim should have won but the disappointment was not too great among the players, especially with the novel way the game was decided.

TEAMS

Antrim: Ryan Elliott; Phelim Duffin, John Dillon, Stephen Rooney; Ronan Molloy, Matthew Donnelly, Conor McHugh; Conor McCann, Nicky McKeague; Nigel Elliott, James McNaughton, James O’Connell; Ciaran Clarke, Keelan Molloy, Kevin Rice.

Subs: Eoin O’Neill for C Clarke (32); Donal McKinley for J O’Connell (44); Conor Boyd for K Rice (55); Sean Duffin for N McKeague (61); Connor Patterson for R Molloy (inj).

Scorers: J McNaughton 0-9 (6 f’s); N Elliott 1-3; K Molloy 0-4; K Rice 0-2; E O’Neill 0-2; J Dillon 0-1; C Clarke 0-1; C McCann 0-1.

Westmeath: Paddy Caroll, John Gilligan, Tommy Doyle, Naoise McKenna; John Bermingham, Aaron Craig, Gary Greville; Robbie Greville, Shane Power; Shane Clavin, Conor Shaw, Allan Devine; Killian Doyle, Niall Mitchell, Darragh Clinton.

Subs: Shane McGovern for S Power (HT); Aonghus Clarke for N McKenna (HT); Jack Galvin for C Shaw (HT); Paul Greville for J Galligan (47); Darragh O’Reilly for S Clavin (65); Philip Reilly for A Craig (67); Kavin Regan for J Bermingham (70); Emmett Corrigan for N Mitchell (70); Robbie Gillen for G Greville (70).

Scorers: A Devine 2-3; D Clinton 0-5; N Mitchell 0-5 (5 f’s); K Doyle 0-3; S Power 0-1; A Craig 0-1; K Regan 0-1; S McGovern 0-1

Referee: Richie Fitzsimons (Offaly).

by thesaffrongael

Antrim GAA launch 5 Star Centre Initiative for primary schools

A new primary schools-based project to promote physical activity has been launched under the umbrella of Gaelfast, Antrim GAA’s new strategic initiative,

Antrim GAA, in collaboration with St Mary’s University College, launched the GAA 5 Star Centre Pilot Project involving sixteen primary schools within the greater Belfast area and County Antrim.  The 5 Star Centre initiative, which was recently launched by the GAA, aims to acknowledge the outstanding work of teachers in promoting Gaelic games. The 5 Star Centre initiative is, effectively, an exercise in empowering teachers to engage children in a manner where they experience the optimum level of fun, friendship, fairness, freedom and, ultimately, fitness functionality.


Professor Peter Finn, Principal of St Mary’s University College

Antrim GAA County Chair, Ciarán McCavana, welcomes this new and exciting initiative. He said: -“The GAA 5 Star Centre initiative has the potential to make an significant and meaningful contribution to the health and well-being of children. This comes at a time when children are engaging in less and less physical activity and levels of obesity and diabetes are on the rise. We want every single boy and girl involved to have had positive introduction to our games by the time they leave primary school.

The GAA 5 Star Centre initiative is a means of achieving this. Without the contribution of Primary School Teachers, the GAA would not be the wonderful organisation it is today. We want to recognise this significant voluntary effort through the new 5 Star flag, which we hope will be a symbol of how proud we are to promote our games and our culture.”

Antrim chairman Ciaran McCavana

The Principal of St Mary’s University College, Professor Peter Finn also said: – “Promoting physical activity for pupils in primary schools, in a climate of diminishing financial resources, is a challenge for the education sector.  However, an even greater challenge is to ensure our children are learning physical literacy, understanding the importance of a healthy lifestyle and enjoying participation in sport.  St Mary’s University College has been a leader in this field through teacher education and is now delighted to be a partner in a new innovative pilot project”.

Pat Daly, GAA Director of Games Development & Research

GAA Director of Games Development and Research, Pat Daly, noted: “By 2022, we aim to have generated 39 million hours of moderate to vigorous physical activity across 90% of Ireland’s primary schools and 17 million of these hours per school year thereafter. The GAA, given its community framework and proven track record in the promotion and development of Child Sport, – as reflected in the enduring success of the Kelloggs Cúl Camps – is happy to Lead the Way in terms of ensuring that things are “Going WeLL” – that is where everyone involved experiences the best possible sense of Wellbeing & Lifelong Learning (WeLL)”.

Primary School Teachers/Principals who wish to express interest in becoming a GAA 5 Star Centre can do so at learning.gaa.ie/5star.

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by thesaffrongael

St Louis bid to halt CPC’s 3-in-a-row

Corn Uan Uladh final

Saturday 11am in All Saints, Ballymena

Cross & Passion Ballycastle v St Louis Ballymena

AFTER running Cross and Passion so close in last season’s Corn Uan Uladh final, St Louis Ballymena will believe that they have every chance of stopping their north Antrim neighbours making it three in a row for the first time in the province’s top schools’ camogie competition.

However everyone else is banking on an extension to Ballycastle’s reign and they certainly have the statistics to support them.

CPC can still call on Maeve Kelly (left) and Roisin McCormick, two of the stars of last year’s team. pics by Dylan McIlwaine

CPC have over half of last year’s teams still available. That was a team that came within a couple of points of winning a first All-Ireland senior title for the school. The school has just completed four in a row of Junior titles, a strong supply line for the seniors, while the seniors have blitzed everyone in sight in the group and knock-out stages, including a 5-20 to 1-3 win over St Louis Ballymena at the start of November!

Ballycastle also have four players on the Ulster schools’ All-star select, Maeve Kelly, Roisin McCormick, Charlie McCarry and Anna Connolly, and all four have two All-Ireland minor championships under their belts with Antrim. Indeed the first two are still under-age for the minors this year and have already represented their county at senior level.

McCormick scored 2-11 in the 4-26 to 2-3 semi-final mauling of St Mary’s Magherafelt and is a huge headache for St Louis Ballymena management ahead of the decider.

However she was well-curtailed in last year’s final with the challengers able to restrict her to just one score from open play although the Loughgiel ace did score five frees in the 0-8 to 1-3 win for her side. St Louis will aim for a similar score-line for this game, preventing a Ballycastle goal and hoping that they can break for a couple more scores than last January.

Just before Christmas in the semi-final, St Louis came from 2-5 to 0-3 down early in the second half and from 2-7 to 0-6 at the start of the last quarter to beat Maghera in similar circumstances to last year’s semi-final – they were the better team, but struggled to get over the line.

St Louis have three current All-stars, goalie Áine Graham and forwards Maura Downey and Kimberley Burke, but it was another Antrim minor, Caitlin Crawford, who impressed most in the fightback against Maghera.

St Louis staged a great second half comeback in their semi-final win over St Pat’s Maghera

With a number of strong Dunloy players from their under 16 Antrim championship winning squad, Loughgiel’s Mary McKillen as well as a few of the Brídíní Óga Glenravel players who have impressed at inter-county level in recent years, St Louis Ballymena have a strong enough panel of players.

However it is difficult to ignore the fact that they have not won at the top level through their school careers and have struggled in the two games against Maghera. And they were totally outclassed in Ballycastle in the league encounter.

If the game can be kept to the low-scoring tussle of last year, and Ballycastle fail to find the net, then St Louis have a chance. But everything points to Cross and Passion continuing their domination of camogie at the top level.

Cross and Passion : S McKillop, A McClafferty, M McGarry, E McShane, A O’Mullan, M O’Neill, C Laverty, M Kelly, K Laverty, A Magill, R McCormick capt, A Connolly, A Toner, C McCarry, R McBride

Subs : C Mathers, A Lynn, C McGarry, S Richmond, C McKeague, C Hegarty, E Kyle, B Ellis

St Louis : A Graham capt, L McAleese, E Kearns, B Delargy, B Laverty, E McMullan, K Mullan, C Molloy, M Downey, E McAreevey, K Burke, S Darragh, M McKillen, E Traynor, C Crawford

Subs : C Martin, N Martin, M Henry, A Johnson, C McGaughey, M McMullan, D Graffin, S McIlhatton, A McGilligan, A Traynor, A McCloskey, E Hardy, C McCormick, N Neeson, E McNeill, N McNeill, C McStravick