New Antrim manager Davy Fitzgerald was the guest of honour at Thursday evenings Devenish Antrim Club All Stars awards dinner at the West Belfast venue. As well as handing over the hurling awards the former Clare legend did an interview on stage with BBC GAA correspondent Mark Sidebottom, chatting about events throughout is illustrious career as a player and in management. Sidebottom questioned Davy about his decision to take the Antrim job this year, but the former Waterford manager was keeping his cards close to his chest.
Caoimhin Heaney who was chosen at right half back on the All Star team, with his family and friends from Davitt’s at the Devenish.
With football manager Andy McEntee unfortunately unable to attend the Football awards were handed out by his right hand man Terry McCrudden.
Footballer of the Year went to Michael McCann of Cargin while younger brother Tomas won the Top Scorer award,
The Eamon Trainor Memorial Shield for Referee of the Year was presented to Kevin Parke by Eamon’s sister and brother Elizabeth and Anthony.
A great variety of clubs were represented in both hurling and football and once again it was the players from the lower divisions who got the best reception for their achievements this season.
Overall another great night and special thanks must go to the man behind the event Paddy Cunningham, the Devenish for hosting the event and O’Neill’s Sport for their generous sponsorship.
Cargin’s clean sweep which saw Tom Shivers win the Young Footballer of the Year award, Tomas McCann win the Top Scorer of the Year and Mick McCann win overall Player of the Year
Joseph McLaughlin of Ruairi Og won the Young Hurler of the Year, Seaan Elliott of Cuchullains win the top scorer award while Ruairi Og’s Eoin Campbell won the overall Hurler of the Year award.
TO SEE ALL THE PHOTOS FROM THE DEVENISH ALL STAR NIGHT CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW
Abbey Vocational School proved too strong for a battling St. Mary’s in this Rafferty Cup meeting at Glenavy. The Donegal side, backboned by players from Four Masters, took control of proceedings early on and never really looked in trouble.
It was St. Mary’s CBGS who opened the scoring through the impressive Keelan McCann who pointed in the 4th minute but Abbey replied through a Gethin Mosby double to take the lead after 9 minutes.
D’Angelo Ward briefly tied the contest from a well struck long range free but Abbey came roaring back through Dylan Doherty and three from the excellent Thomas Lenehan to move four ahead after 20 minutes.
St. Mary’s tried to respond and looked in for a goal but Lewis McCalmont in the Abbey goals pulled off a smart save to deny Ward and the Donegal side rubbed salt in the wound when a long delivery from Lenehan finished in the St. Mary’s net.
Abbey Vocational School were in control and it took a great save from Aaron Crean-Crilly in the 27th minute to deny Finn Gillespie as the Donegal side started to turn the screw.
It wasn’t looking good for the Glen Road side but they found a response and just a glimmer of hope as Cormac McCann fired to the Abbey net in the 29th minute with Gillespie concluding the first half scoring with a point for the Donegal side.
Half Time 1-2 TO 1-8
Trailing by six at the break, St. Mary’s needed a good start to the second half and D’Angelo Ward provided it when he pointed a long range free in the 5th minute with Cormac McCann adding a fine point from play to cut the gap to four.
Thomas Lenehan got the Abbey going again as he pointed an 8th minute free but Ward replied immediately from a free at the other end as the Donegal side continued to look threatening and Aaron Crean-Crilly pulled off an excellent save to deny Gethin Mosby.
Another Abbey goal wasn’t long in arriving however and after Thomas Carr had added a point Mosby took advantage of a defensive error to fire home from close range in the 13th minute.
Thomas Lenehan and Jamie McMonigle tagged on points with Conan Madden replying with a second goal for the Glen Road side and then unfortunate to see an effort come back of a post when a third goal looked eminent.
That was as good as it would get with Thomas Carr, Thomas Lenehan and Finn Gillespie adding point for the the Doneal college and Conasn Madden replying with a consolation point for the Antrim representatives.
A fine performance from an Abbey side back-boned by players from Four Masters, 10 of whom played in their sides win over Casement’s Portglenone in the McGirr Cup at the weekend.
St. Mary’s gave it everything and in Aaron Crean-Crilly, D’Angelo Ward, Keelan McCann, Cormac McCann and Conan Madden they had strong performers on the day.
TO VIEW BERT TROWLEN’S PICS FROM GAME CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW
The excellent St. Paul’s Ulster Minor Club football tournament kicks off this weekend with two games down for decision.
Antrim champions, St. Brigid’s get the ball rolling when they take on Magherafelt on Saturday at Sportlann, Colaiste Feirste on Saturday at 5pm in the first quarter-final and it looks a tough opener for the Musgrave Park side.
Magherafelt retained the Derry championship and return to Shaw’s Road with the experience of last year behind them and Derry clubs have excelled at St. Paul’s over the lifetime of the tournament.
Magherafelt beat Lavey 0-15 to 1-9 in this year’s Derry final on their way to a sixth County title while St. Brigid’s edged out host club, St. Paul’s 2-8 to 1-8 in the Antrim decider at Lamh Dhearg. Played in terrible conditions back on October 6th two goals late in the first half from Joe Mulgrew and Joseph Mallon were the decisive scores that got them home
St. Brigid’s will be aiming to become the third Antrim club to win the tournament following the success of host club, St. Paul’s in the inaugural year of 1982 and again in 1986 while Lamh Dhearg were the most recent winners back in 2010 and we at the Saffron Gael wish St. Brigid’s good luck in this year’s tournament.
The action gets underway at Colaiste Feirste at 5.00pm on Saturday and should attract a good crowd.
Sunday 24th November 2024
Prelim Game
1pm
Sportlann, Colaiste Feirste
Kingscourt (Cavan) v Mayobridge (Down)
On Sunday it is the turn of Kingscourt Cavan and Mayobridge from Down to meet in a preliminary round at Colaiste Feirste.
Mayobridge defeated John Bosco in the Down final but we have to go back to 2004 to find the last time a Down club claimed the title when Rostrevor defeated Kilrea in the final.
We go back even further to find the last Cavan winners with Cavan Gaels defeating Slaughtneil in the 1999 decider but the Gaels made it to last year’s decider before losing to Four Masters by 1-10 to 2-4 in an exciting game.
Kingscourt are new to the competition while Mayobridge have competed recently but Cavan Gaels have brought a high standard of football to the tournament over the years and Kingscourt will be hoping to maintain that standard.
Kingscourt defeated Cavan Gaels in the Cavan final and will start Sunday’s game against Mayobridge as slight favourites but there is unlikely to be much between them.
Two goals early in the second half turned this McLarnon Cup encounter firmly in the direction of Aquinas Grammar as they overcame the challenge of St. Mary’s CBGS at Cherryvale on Friday.
The Glen Road seat of learning had looked the more accomplished side during the opening half and with their defence dealing with everything that came their way, they held a 0-9 to 0-5 half time lead and were good value for it.
Jack Watson shot Aquinas into an early lead with a point after 15 seconds but St. Mary’s replied through Padraig Murphy, Corey Walsh and Ethan Walsh to lead by two after 5 minutes.
James McConville pointed at the other end to close the gap to the minimum but it brought another response from the Glen Road side with Corey Walsh Oisin O’Boyle and Padraig Murphy hitting three on the bounce to move them four ahead at the end of the opening quarter.
JJ Higgins punished a bad kick-out to return the ball between the uprights and Oisin O’Hare added another but the momentum was still very much with St. Mary’s and Sean Og McLaren replied with two at the other end.
The sides exchanged points in the lead up to half time with O’Hare for Aquinas and Odhran McAuley for their opponents on target to leave the half time score 0-9 to 0-5 in favour of St. Mary’s.
At this stage of the game it was the Glen Road side who looked in control as their well organised defence were dealing adequately with everything Aquinas had thrown their way but the game would take a dramatic turn at the start of the second half.
Half Time: St. Mary’s 0-9 Aquinas 0-5
Aquinas came storming out of the start blocks as the second half got underway but were guilty of a bad miss in their first attack before Jacko Watson hammered home the game’s opening goal in the second minute.
The momentum was very much with the Ravenhill Road side and St. Mary’s Fiachra McDonald pulled off a great block to deny Higgins but it only delayed the inevitable as Jack McConville found the net for the second time with only four minutes on the clock.
St. Mary’s looked shell shocked but Padraig Murphy opened their second half account with a point which was quickly cancelled out as Jack McConville pointed a free in the 6th minute.
J J Higgins added a point and as things began to get a bit contentious, the Glen Road side lost a player to a second Yellow card.
The excellent Padraig Murphy pulled one back for St. Mary’s with a point in the 17th minute but it would be their last score of the evening as Aquinas finished strongly to take the points.
Substitute Sean Doyle got his name on the Aquinas score card and Padraig O’Hare concluded the scoring with a great long range point with things threatening to boil over at the final whistle before sanity was restored.
Casement’s Portglenone 1-7 Four Masters (Donegal) 2-11
Despite a superb individual performance from midfielder Odhran Doherty, Casement’s Portglenone were forced to succumb to an excellent all round Four Masters of Donegal in the quarter-final of the Paul McGirr Cup in Dromore on Sunday.
Doherty covered every blade of grass of Gardrum Park and accounted for all but one of his sides total over the hour but the Donegal champions had greater strength in depth throughout the field and that proved the difference in the end.
Doherty got the Antrim champions off the mark from a pointed free in the opening minute but Four Masters replied with a vengeance as Gethin Mosby found the net with four minutes gone.
Mosby’s goal seemed to fire the boys in Blue into action and they added points from Daire Slevin, Thomas Lenehan and a fine long range effort from Thomas Carr before Slevin fired home their second major of the evening with only 11 minutes on the clock.
Portglenone looked rattled as they tried to cope with the movement of the Masters but they did reply through two fine points from the impressive Odhran Doherty, much to the approval of the good crowd who had travelled to support them.
Thomas Lenehan, who was impressing on the ‘40’ replied for the Donegal side and Thomas McHugh moved them further ahead before Odhran Doherty brought his and his sides total to four for the half to leave Four Masters 7 ahead at the break
Half Time: Casements 0-4 Four Masters 2-5
The Bannsiders needed a good start to the second half if they were to turn this one around but in the event it was Four Masters who continued to call the shots as Finn Gillespie, Thomas Carr and Thomas Lenehan 0-2 moved the 11 ahead after14 minutes.
The Antrim side had yet to register in the second half and might have been further behind but Eoghan Smith pulled off a great save to deny the opposition when a goal looked certain.
Gethin Mosby moved the Donegal side 12 ahead before Odhran Doherty final opened the Casement’s second half account with a point in the 20th minute and it brought about a response.
Casement’s were still battling hard and it took a superb point blank save from Fintan James to deny the excellent Doherty as he tried to drag his side back into the contest.
Conor Burns became the second Portglenone player to get his name on the score sheet with a point in the 22nd minute and Doherty was finally rewarded for his efforts when he found a way past James in the Four Masters goal with five minutes remaining.
It was too little-too late with Lenehan replying with a point in the 26th minute but it was fitting that the final score of the game would fall to man of the match, Doherty as he brought his personal total of the evening to 1-6.
A good season for this excellent Portglenone side who have won the Antrim U16 championship and Breslin Cup but on the day they came up against a bigger and stronger Four Masters side.
More than half of today’s Casement’s side are under age next year again and they should again be serious contenders in the year ahead.
Four Masters: Fintan James, Eoghan Thomas, Ethan McCrea, Sean Sweeney, Thomas Healey, Jack McGroarty, Odhran McMullin, Thomas Carr, Thomas Griffin, Daire Slevin, Thomas Lenehan, Rory Doherty, Finn Gillespie, Gethin Mosby, Thomas McHugh.
Casement’s: Eoghan Smith, Cillian McKenna, Conall Morgan, Cillian McDonnell, Thomas Douthart, Christy McDonnell, Tom Duffin, Odhran Doherty, Rory O’Kane, Eoghan McErlean, Tom Convery, Conor Burns, Frank McAleese, James McVeigh, Conor McKeever
