Author / thesaffrongael

Posts by thesaffrongael

Photographer and GAA writer who has been covering hurling, football and camogie for almost forty years
by thesaffrongael

St. Gall’s too good for visiting St. John’s

U21 A Football semi-final

St. Gall’s 3-14 St. John’s 0-5

St. John’s made the short trip to Milltown on Sunday, confident that they could build on last weekend’s excellent win over St. Paul’s at Corrigan in the quarter-final and when Conor Hand kicked them into a two point lead after 8 minutes that confidence looked justified.

The young Johnnies flattered to deceive however as St. Gall’s responded through Manus McCrossan in the 9th minute and Daniel Quinn had it all square with 11 minutes on the clock.

The Milltown Row side were starting to get on top and they struck with a well worked goal at the end of the opening quarter with several involved in the build-up before Niall Fallon finished emphatically to the net.

Manus McCrossan who was excellent at mid-field for St. Gall’s in their win over St. John’s

Daire King replied with a point for the Whiterock side but with McCrossan dictating matters around mid-field it was St. Gall’s who finished strongly and Callum Walsh kicked a great point from out on the left.

The St. Gall’s pressure was beginning to pay dividends and Daniel Quinn punished a bad kick out to return the leather between the posts and the same player concluded the first half scoring with another from play to leave it 1-5 to 0-3 at the half way point.

St. John’s needed a good start to the second half if they were to make inroads into their opponents lead but things went from bad to worse for the Corrigan Park side when substitute Padraig Murray fired to the net with only ten seconds gone.

Daniel Quinn fisted a point as the visitors looked rocked by the early onslaught before their best on view, Conor hand replied with his third and his side’s fourth of the afternoon.

It failed to inspire his side however and with Manus McCrossan covering every blade of grass for the home side they responded with three on the bounce from Liam Lynn 0-2 and Barra McCaffery.

St. Gall’s were now playing with great confidence and another good move saw the impressive Daniel Quinn fire to the net for their third goal in the 10th minute with Padraig Murray following with a point.

Conor Hand continued to carry what little threat the visitors were providing and the Johnnies number 8 pointed an 18th minute free for his fourth of the evening but it would be the Johnnies final score of the contest.

They did look in for a goal soon after but Ciaran Og Mullan produced an excellent save and it was St. Gall’s who finished on the front foot to run out convincing winners.

Joe Diamond added points in the 20th and 25th minutes with the excellent Daniel Quinn wrapping matters up with a pointed free in the 27th minute and another from play as the game edged into time added on.

A good win for the Milltown side and it should make them slight favourites against Con Magee’s Gaels in next weekend’s final. They are sure to face a stiffer test however against a side who recorded a good semi-final win over St. Mary’s Aghagallon at Fr. Maginn Park.

St. Gall’s Vice Chairman, Gareth Higgins presents a cheque for £400-00 to Saffron Gael photographer, Bert Trowlen prior to the U21A semi-Final at Milltown on Sunday

St. Gall’s: 1 Ciaran Og Mullan, 2 Dubhaltach MacLiam, 3 Gairech MacAdhaim, 5 Ethan Walsh, 6 Conall McGirr, 7 Liam Lynn, 8 Che Smyth, 9 Manus McCrossan, 10 Aodh Mullan, 11 Daniel Quinn, 12 Aaron Mackel, 13 Barra McCaffery, 14 Niall Fallon, 15 Callum Walsh

St. John’s: 1 Padraig Graham, 2 Michael Darragh, 3 Enda McGurk, 4 Matthew Mallon, 5 Joshua Robb, 6 Ronan Quinn, 7 Daire King, 8 Conor Hand, 9 Ronan Donnelly, 10 James Wilson, 11 Odhran McAuley, 12 Conan McKinney, 13 Fintan McKinney, 14 Odhran Quinn, 15 Fionnbar McKernan

Referee: Brendan Toland (Lamh Dhearg)

TO VIEW MORE OF BERTS PICS CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW

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by thesaffrongael

Con Magee Gaels gain the spoils to clinch spot in decider

U21A Football Semi-Final

Sunday 3rd November 2024

Con Magee Gaels 0-14   Naomh Mhuire Aghagallon 2-04

Report by Niall Kelly

Con Magee Gaels sealed their spot in the showpiece of this year’s U21A Championship overcoming the rigorous challenge of a dogged Aghagallon side at a greasy Father Maginn Park on Sunday afternoon. Truth be told, the men from the tenth glen were good value for the win but it didn’t come easy as Aghagallon’s resiliency didn’t wane throughout the sixty minutes and they always seemed to have an answer when the going got tough. In the end, Glenravel’s sharpshooters at the top end of the pitch made the telling difference as they had that little bit more composure in front of the sticks when it mattered most.

It was the hosts who started brightest and were two ahead after ten played thanks to Daire Higgins and Colla Ward. The visitors replied through Enda McCartin who applied the finishing touches to a patient move. Glenravel though looked the more menacing and driven forward by Cormac McKeown, Niall Hynds and Callum Higgins they appeared an ominous prospect. The Aghagallon goal was indeed living a charmed life in the opening quarter as netminder Gabhan Baine came to the rescue to deny Colla Ward from close range before Daire Higgins’ scorching effort rattled off the wrong side of the post.

The home side needed to start making their efforts count on the scoreboard and Fionntan Hodgson increased the gap as he met a flighted effort from Shea Ó’Broin to fist over from close range. Naomh Mhuire kept about their business though and their patient approach was starting to pay dividends with Hugh Hannon responding almost immediately with a delicate effort off the outside of this right boot.

With the short whistle approaching, Glenravel sought about increasing their advantage and two great scores from Fergus Donaghy and a Daire Higgins free-kick did the trick. However, it was Aghagallon who had the final say of the half as talisman Jonny Hannon converted from the placed ball to leave the score 0-05 to 0-03 in favour of Glenravel.

The second period burst into life as Aghagallon came storming back to gain the lead in the opening two minutes. A goal-bound effort from Eoin Maginnis was saved spectacularly by Con Magee’s number one, Déaglán Carey, but among the melee the ball somehow diverted into the net off an unsuspecting Glenravel defender to trigger an almighty roar from the travelling faithful.

The visitors further capitalised on their early second half momentum as Michael McStravick angled his effort to perfection to increase the gap to two. Glenravel would’ve been scratching their heads and could’ve been forgiven for a temporary lapse in performance but instead they immediately sought about rectifying the situation and taking back their stranglehold on proceedings.

A Shea Ó’Broin free settled them back into things nicely as they started to wrestle momentum back in their favour. How the Con Magee’s didn’t manage to notch a goal to their tally remains a mystery as another flowing move once again ended with a thundering Daire Higgins effort being thwarted by the post. The Glenravel number 15 though did have some joy as he converted from a close range free moments later.

Higgins then turned provider for centre forward Shea O’Broin, who unleashed a colossal effort from just outside the 45 to reestablish a slender lead with 15 minutes remaining, triggering an almighty roar from the ‘Balcony Boys’ as their side were beginning to purr.  Substitute, Ronan McCormick, then announced his arrival to the game with a well-taken point to further increase the gap.

With the game now finely poised, the heavy artillery up top for the hosts sprang to action. O’Broin was on hand to convert another free before Fergus Donaghy negotiated himself the smallest slither of space and carressed his effort between the posts. Glenravel were relentless now in their offensive pursuits and after Callum Higgins had commandeered possession with an outstanding fetch in the middle third, he fed the tireless Cormac McKeown who rampaged up the field before tapping over to increase their advantage to five with as many minutes remaining.

Just as it seemed that the Con Magee’s were cantering home to victory, Aghagallon turned the screw themselves to set up a grandstand finish. The men from the Lough Shore were bombarding forward and were thwarted on more than one occasion by Déaglán Carey’s heroics in goal. However, the Glenravel shot stopper and his defenders were powerless to stop Padraig Gowdy rising highest to fist home to the net from the high ball at close range.

Still the visitors came surging forward as the game entered time added on with Glenravel’s lead a perilous one now at two points. Aghagallon then thought they had struck gold as the ball found its way to the net yet again, but the whistle had sounded just before to signal a free out. They continued to pepper Carey’s goal but the host’s defence remained resolute led by some outstanding defending from Callagh Mooney and Niall Hynds.

Cormac McKeown then embarked on one of his trademark runs before firing over to settle the host’s nerves. The visitors were unperturbed though and knew another goal would force extra time as the bodies continued to file forward. With the last action of the game though, they were caught on the counter as again the Glenravel defence stood tall with Callagh Mooney emerging from defence before setting up Shea O’Broin to hit his fourth and final point of the game to clinch a superb win.

Credit to both teams for an excellent game. November football is usually far from pretty but both sides demonstrated that it can be done. Aghagallon fought tooth and nail and can be proud of their efforts as they refused to surrender right to the last. Glenravel will now look forward to yet another underage final. They will meet familiar opposition in St Gall’s in a repeat of the 2021 final of the old U20A competition in which they were victorious. The Con Magee’s will seek to repeat the same feat again whereas St Gall’s will have revenge on their minds. Either way, it promises to be an intriguing final.

Teams:

Con Magee’s Glenravel

D Carey; N Dickson, N Hynds, A Campbell; C Mooney, D McQuillan, E Ward; C Higgins, F Hodgson (0-01;) F Donaghy (0-02,) S O’Broin (0-04,) C Ward (0-01;) C McKeown (0-02,) P McDonell, D Higgins (0-03)

Substitute scorer

Ronan McCormick (0-01)

Naomh Mhire Aghagallon

G Bainne; J McCormick, S Devlin, C Hannon; C Magill, C Maginnis, J Hannon; J Hannon (0-01,) P Gowdy (1-00;) H Hannon (0-01,) E McCartan (0-01,) E Maginnis; S Gowdy, T Mallon, M McStravick (0-01,)

TO SEE MORE PICS FROM THIS GAME CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW

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by thesaffrongael

Shamrocks hit Clonduff for six

Armagh City Hotel Ulster Camogie senior club championship semi-final


Clonduff (Down) 1-14 Loughgiel (Antrim) 6-13

Match report by the Saffron Gael with photos from Michael Corcoran at Clonduff Park

In a tightly contested first half ending in just one point of a difference, Clonduff 1-09 Loughgiel 2-7, Loughgiel would reach deep into their war chest in the second half and drew out their big event experience to deliver a volley of goals that stunned Clonduff and put the game beyond any doubt of a Shamrock win.

Ironically it was the first half that seen Loughgiel on the ropes at times, as Clonduff stepped up to dominate play in periods, leaving the Hilltown fans wondering could this be the upset they were hoping for. Despite winning the toss and having an element of the breeze on their backs, Loughgiel seemed overly focused on scoring early goals rather than finding the ball net, but once the Antrim County champions found their stride, the half time whistle was nothing more than a pause in their game plan.

Clonduff opened the game with determination and strength that held Loughgiel back from advancing deep into the scoring zone, and scored the first three points, one from a 45 from O’Hagan and two from Sara Louise Graffin, just inside the first four minutes.

However, by the 10th minute, Loughgiel swung the game that left Clonduff trailing by three points. Initially, Loughgiel’s Anna Connolly’s point was followed with two from Lucia McNaughton and then Connolly sent Roisin McCormick blazing through for a one on one with goalie Cassie Fitzpatrick, the sliotar finding the net from close range.

Clonduff instigated a recovery using their three prominent players, O’Hagan and the Carr sisters. By the 20th minute they were just a point down, 0-7 to 1-5 and then Sara Louise Graffin sent O’Hagan through to find the corner of Loughgiel’s net.

A few minutes later the game had an element of drama as Christine McCloskey reached low to grab a dying sliotar allegedly off the ground, an almost impossible call for referee Sean Curran, but McCloskey wouldt ake the advantage and sent McCormick through, drilling the sliotar past goalkeeper Fitzpatrick.

Although Clonduff benefited from late points from Orla Gribben and Paula O’Hagan, Curran’s half time whistle saw the teams run in at Clonduff 1-9 Loughgiel 2-7.

It was Clonduff’s turn to benefit from playing down the pitch on the restart, with what looked like a slight increase in the breeze, but Clonduff weren’t even able to buy luck today as Loughgiel’s Annie Lynn lengthened her stride for the point and as it dropped viciously down out of the air, it beat Fitzpatrick, dropping in over her head for the goal.

Worse was to follow from the poc out when a tactical move involving McCormick and Lucia McNaughton ended with Katie McKillop firing to the net. McKillop, who hasn’t been prominent in recent games, featured well today and posed a continual threat to Clonduff in her full forward roll.

More drama would develop in the game, as McCormick’s 45 dropped short that had the hall marks of a lob, but was blocked out into the path of an alert Caitrin Dobbin, sweeping the sliotar to the roof of the net. It was now 5-7 to 1-10 and the game was all but over. To their credit, Clonduff remained engaged and alert, looking to create opportunities and close the gap, but a tenacious Loughgiel defence, with solid performances from Clare McKillop, Ciara Laverty and Emma McFadden, would deny Clonduff any hope of developing anything substantial withing 40 metres.

Tracking in on Clonduff’s goal area, much to the groans from of some of the fans, Loughgiel’s Caitrin Dobbin won a penalty in the 45th minute as she was impeded. McCormick stepped up, eyed inside the left post and despite a brave stretch by Fitzpatrick, completed her hat-trick.  In the last fifteen minutes of the game, O’Hagan, split the posts four times, with Loughgiel replying with five excellent efforts from play to set up a final against Derry Camogie County champions, Swatragh on Saturday 16th November.

Clonduff will gain from today’s encounter in the long run. Their championship run in the Down fixtures, whilst immensely competitive, couldn’t have fully prepared them for today’s game, where their opponents have annually built on the benefits from exposure to provincial and All Ireland games.

Loughgiel starting panel and scorers

 E Boyle, C McKillop, K Lynn, C Laverty, M O’Hara, E McFadden, M McGarry, A Boyle, A Connolly (0-1), C McCloskey Capt (0-2), L McNaughton (0-2), A Lynn (1-1), K McKillop (1-1), R McCormick (3-5, 1-0 pen, 0-3 fs), C Dobbin (1-0).

Subs: F McVeigh for M O’Hara (43), A McKillop for C Dobbin (48), S Deery for C McClockey (55), O Laverty (0-1) for R McCormick (55)

Clonduff starting panel and scorers

C Fitzpatrick, K Morgan, J Boden, I O’Hare, C Kearney, B Fitzpatrick, E Rafferty, N McConville, C McGilligan Capt, E Shields, SL Graffin (0-3), O McCusker, P O’Hagan (1-9, 0-4 fs), F Carr (0-1 f), O Gribben (0-1).

Subs: C Byrne for N McConville (19), N McConville for O McCusker (23), A Morgan for N McConville (38), T Savage for K Morgan (59)

Don’t forget to enjoy all of our photos in the Saffron albums on a large screen such as a laptop or tablet. Click on a photo to see it larger, look at the album as either a photo book or web pages and you can order a copy online as a keep’s sake.

https://myalbum.com/album/u4L8NvvHDB2FZ9/?invite=d255c6e9-e8b5-41c0-b464-fe68fe6d441d

Follow Michael G Corcoran @keep_clickin on X (formerly Twitter) for match Gifs when available.

Follow The Saffron Gael @TheSaffronGael on X for links to match reports.

by thesaffrongael

McGinn proves the hero as Faughs edge an epic battle

Ulster Club Intermediate Hurling quarter final

Carrickmore (Tyrone champions) 0-20 Carey Faughs (Antrim champions) 2-14

Carey won 3- 2 on penalties

Two brilliant saves from Carey goalkeeper Steven McGinn during the penalty shoot-out finally decided Sunday’s Ulster Intermediate Hurling Championship quarter final and gave the Faughs victory over Tyrone champions Carrickmore. The sides had been level at the end of normal time, and again at the end of extra time, Carey grabbing last gasp points to avoid defeat in both cases. With the light fading fast and both teams out on their feet a penalty shoot-out to see who would advance certainly added to the tension.

James McCouaig punches the air in celebration after his late point brought the game to penalties

Carrickmore sent the first penalty over the crossbar and Carey had their first one saved by the Carrickmore keeper Conor McElhatton which added to the tension. Things began to turn in the Antrim champions favour when Conlith McKinley hit the net, and even though the Tyrone champions came back with a goal from their next penalty Conor McBride kept his nerve to edge the Faughs ahead again. When Steven McGinn saved Carrickmore’s next effort the ball was firmly in Carey’s court and when James Rocket Black drilled his shot home the odds were now in the Faughs favour, probably for the first time in the game. That meant Carrickmore had to score to keep the game alive but McGinn was equal to the task and produced the goods once again, saving low to his right to spark scenes of great celebration which no doubt carried on during the Carey fans long journey home.

You had to feel for the Tyrone men at the end for thy had given so much in a classic game o hurling, which they dominated for long periods of play, but the Faughs simply would not give up the fight, even when the odds were stacked against them, and they were rewarded with McGinn’s great saves, which earned them a semi-final place against Castleblaney in two weeks, time.

Carrickmore started the game with a point from centre forward Dermot Begley on three minutes, but Caolan McCaughan levelled for the Antrim champions one minute later. Conal McGlynn who was to prove one of the heroes of the hour, briefly put the Faughs ahead, but Carrickmore were starting to gain the upper hand and they sent over the next four points through Justin Kelly, Aidan Kelly, Aidan Woods and Bryan McGurk to move three clear by the end of the first quarter. Carey needed to stem the flow and they did with two points from Conall McGlynn frees and the first goal of the game from Conlith McKinley to edge ahead on twenty minutes. Oisin Daly pulled one back for Carrickmore but two lovely scores from Conor McBride stretched the Carey lead to three, though top scorer Kelly hit the last two points of the opening half to cut the Carey lead back to a single point by the time match referee James Callaghan sounded the half time whistle.

Carey players jump with joy after Steven McGinn’s second save seals the win

The Tyrone champions levelled matters six minutes into the second half and though Conal McGlynn briefly restored the Carey lead, the next fifteen minutes would prove scoreless as Carrickmore got on top. Three in a row by their excellent free taker Kelly, and though the Faughs were creating chances they just could not find the target. The game appeared to be slipping away from the men in green, but James ‘Rocket’Black got them going again with a well taken point in the 50th minute. Conal McGlynn sent over a free off the inside of the upright, another from Kelly and one from Conor Grogan seemed to have sealed the win for the Tyrone champions, but right half forward Conlith McKinley showed great composure to slot over a brilliant equaliser thirty second from the end, to send the game to extra time.

Carrickmore again looked the more assured side when Daly and Kelly put them two clear in first part of extra time and for a while it looked like they could put the game beyond Carey, but the Antrim men grabbed a lifeline when Conal McGlynn grabbed a point just before the half-time whistle. When McGlynn got in for his team’s second goal early in the second part of extra time it started to look like Carey were holding the upper hand, but Carrickmore hit the next three points to move one clear as the game entered added time. The odd were again firmly in the Tyrone team’s favour but a fantastic score by midfielder James McCouaig just twenty second from time, tied thing up again and brought the game to penalties.

Facing a scenario which neither team had come up against before the tension was palpable but the Antrim champions handled it that bit better, and Steven McGinn, who grandfather moved to Ballycastle in the early sixties from Killclogher, just ten miles up the road from where Sunday’s game was played, proved the hero of the hour.

Young Faughs fans celebrate their team’s win

CAREY FAUGHS

Steven McGinn, Zach McCaughan, Sean McBride, Patrick Gillan, Michael McVeigh, James Black, Conall McGlynn, Caolan McCaughan, James McCouaig, Conlith McKinley, Conor McBride, John McBride, Shea Hunter, Patrick Butler, Callum Cane. Subs Eoin Hill

CARRICKMORE

Conor McElhatton, Michael Kelly, Dean Rafferty, Anthony Corssan, Bryan McGurk, Enda grimes, Conor Grogan, Cormac Munroe, Seamus Sweeney, Oisin Daly, Aidan Woods, Aidan Kelly, Tony Hughes, Sean Og Grogan, Justin Kelly

REFEREE – James Callaghan (Donegal)

https://myalbum.com/album/EzFUi6ho8G5MvT/?invite=3fd8f1a5-3aaa-4eaa-8862-e1f254c8ca96

by thesaffrongael

Moneyglass finish with a flurry but time runs out

LGFA Ulster SFC club semi-final

Clann Eireann 2-10 Moneyglass 1-10

Clann Eireann withstood a late sustained comeback from Antrim champions, Moneyglass to advance to the final of the AIB Ulster club final where they will meet Cavan champions Lurgan later this month.

A year ago St. Ergnat’s travelled to the same venue where they suffered a heavy defeat to today’s opponents and they were determined to put that defeat behind them.

Things certainly didn’t go to plan during the opening half when the Lurgan side raced into a 1-5 to 0-2 half time lead  and were well in control with Cassie Henderson with an 18th minute goal, the replacement forward also grabbing a point, while full-forward duo Niamh Murray and Eimear McConaghy each hit two points.

Emma Louise McArevey finally got the Antrim champions off the mark with a point in 23rd minute and Orlaith Prenter adding their second in first half injury time but at this stage it looked a long way back for the Marian Hill side.

It got worse for St. Ergnat’s on the restart as Aoibhinn Donohue extended the Clan Eireann lead when she found the back of the net two minutes in to move her side nine points clear.

Niamh Henderson extended that lead to 10 and that remained the gap after Maria O’Neill, Cathy Carey and Bronagh Devlin pointed for the visitors and Henderson and Cassie Henderson replied for the reigning champions.

Orla Prenter, who had been well contained up to this point, hit two more for the Moneyglass side and Niamh Henderson and Eimear McConaghy responded for the Lurgan side with what prove to be their final score with 13 minutes remaining.

It looked over, even at this early juncture but St. Ergnat’s came roaring back as Orla Prenter hit three in-a-row to reduce the gap to seven points with five minutes remaining.

Cathy Carey put the cat amongst the pigeons when she fired to the Clann Eireann net in the 62nd minute and Prenter followed with another point to leave just a goal separating the sides with Meabh McCambridge claiming a late delivery from Bronagh Devlin as the visitors pushed for an equaliser.

A brave performance from the Antrim champions after a bad start and on reflection they will probably look at that start as their downfall but they certainly restored pride in the jersey and no doubt, will be back in search of a first Ulster next season.

Clann Eireann: 1 Catherine Lawless, 2 Erin Melanophy, 3 Clodagh McCambridge, 4 Grainne Carville, 5 Roisin Mulligan, 6 Megan McCann, 7 Dearbhla Coleman, 8 Cait Towe, 9 Niamh Coleman, 10 Aoibhin Donohue, 11 Niamh Henderson, 12 Tirna Grimes, 13 Eimear McConaghy, 14 Niamh Murray, 15 Meabh McMambridge

Moneyglass: 1 Aine Devlin, 2 Danielle Duffin, 3 Niamh McIntosh, 4 Niamh Neeson, 5 Aoife Leahy, 6 Sarah O’Neill, 7 Rebecca Bradley, 8 Aoife Kelly, 9 Laura McCann, 10 Annie Griffin, 11 Cathy Carey, 12 Cliona Griffin, 13 Maria O’Neill, 14 Orla Prenter, 15 Jo Jo Darragh

TO VIEW ELAINE’S PICS CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW

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