St John’s and Slaughtneil, who meet in Sunday’s Ulster Senior Hurling Final at Armagh on Sunday have met in the finals of the Ulster Minor Hurling Club Championship in 2011 and 2012. The competition, which is hosted by Derry club Ballinascreen, has produced many great finals over the years, and these two were no exception, with St John’s winning tight games on both occasions.
To be honest I had forgotten who the Johnnies had played in the two finals they won until Michael McMullan of Gaelic Life pointed it out, so I went searching through the archives and found the pics from both games.
The 2012 winning team which has current players Shea Shannon (left) and Aaron Bradley (3rd from left front) , joining in the celebrations
Standing (L-R):
Shea Shannon, Feargal Morgan, Domhnall Quinn, Aaron Bradley, Ross Hannigan, Matthew Magennis, Mark McKenna, Caoimhin Hanna, Ryan McNulty, Anto Allsopp, Domhnall Nugent, Padraig Nugent, Ronan McCafferty, Jude McCurdy, Dermot Heading, Conor McEvoy.
Kneeling (L-R):
Jack Hannigan, Michial Dudley, Matthew McKiernan, Ciaran Johnston, Donal Carson, Michael Bradley, Conor Johnston, Aaron McQuillan, Simon Doherty.
In the 2011 final the man of the match awards, which goes to a player on each team, were won by Brendan Rodgers for Slaughtneil, and Conor Johnston for St John’s, two men who went on to have great careers at senior level. In the 2012 final Conor again won the MOM award, but I don’t appear to have taken a photo of whoever won the Slaughtneil award.
According to Michael McMullan there are twelve of the Slaughtneil team still playing and seven for St John’s, which is an incredible statistic. The Derry champions have Brendan Rogers, Shane McGuigan, Gerald Bradley, Ruairi McCartney, Meehaul McGrath, Conor McAllister, Prionsias Burke, Paul Neill, Cormac O’Doherty, Mark McGuigan, Conan Hunter, Sean O’Doherty, and though I’m not 100% sure of the Johnnies but Im taking a guess at nine Conor Johnston, Ciaran Johnston, Domnhal Nugent, Simon Doherty, Michael Bradley, Ryan McNulty, Michial Dudley, Caoimhin Hanna and Donal Carson
TO SEE PICS FROM THE TWO FINALS IN 2011 AND 2012 CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW
The fourth quarter final of the St.Paul’s/fona/cab Ulster Minor Football, Club championship is down for decision this weekend when Tyrone champions, Ardboe face Dromintee from Armagh.
The Armagh champions make their bow in the competition where they will face an Ardboe side with one game already under their belts and you would feel that the extra game will give the Tyrone side a slight advantage.
That game was against Antrim champions, Casement’s, Portglenone and while the Bann siders put it up to their opponents in the opening half it was Ardboe who turned the screw with five second half goals to win fairly comfortably in the end.
Darragh Devlin top scored for the Tyrone side with 2-8 to his credit while Darragh Muldoon, Ruairi O’Neill and Darcy Mallon were the Ardboe goal scorers whose confidence will have been boosted by this opening day win.
Armagh champions Dromintee who face Ardboe at St. Paul’s on Sunday
Their opponents on Sunday Dromintee, won their first Armagh Minor title in the club’s 138 year history when they defeated Clann Eireann in this year’s final.
The manner in which they did so in such a controlled, calculated and superbly coached display meant they were rarely troubled in their win at the Athletic Grounds. Dromintee had eight different scorers on the night. Oisin Byrne 0:06, Calvin Mooney 0:04, Michael O’Neill 0:04, Fionn Toale1:01, Ronan Martin 0:02 Fergus Toale 0:02, Conor Laverty 0:01 Odhran Martin 0:01 were the men on target in a team captained by Conor Laverty.
Dromintee entered the game without three of their spine players Gavin O’Rourke, Michael Walker & Diarmaid O’Rourke all of whom have long term injuries but the strength in depth of the squad was such that there was seamless integration with the three replacements.
Games in this competition have been very difficult to predict over the years and Dromintee will have to put the euphoria of winning that first Armagh title to the back of their minds if they are to advance to the semi-final with Ardboe given the nod but it should be close.
Brendan McTaggart speaks with St John’s manager Gerard Cunningham as we look ahead to Saturday’s game with Slaughtneil with the Four Seasons Cup on the line.
It’s Saturday Night Lights for St John’s this weekend as they bid for their first senior hurling provincial crown since 1973. In a year where they’ve ended their county championship drought having memorably defeated Loughgiel, they now face the GAA Juggernaut that is Slaughtneil.
Having seen off the challenge of Donegal champions Setanta two weeks ago, the Johnnies roll on to the Box IT Athletic Grounds, Armagh – or BOIG as it’s been referred to recently.
That game against the men from Tir Chonaill was as physical a battle as you are likely to see anywhere in Ireland with Setanta coming with a clear and obvious game plan. You wouldn’t fault them for trying it, if anything you have to acknowledge and give credit to the application they showed for the full hour but when I spoke with St John’s manager Gerard Cunningham, it was exactly the match they anticipated in the build up: “They brought exactly what we expected. It was a tough, physical game and we did show signs of rustiness. The four week break was always going to be a factor but we just needed to trust in our hurling ability and we’d come through it in the end.
“It was a good, physical test and good preparation for what lays ahead with Slaughtneil. We started to play more like ourselves as the game went on and that was pleasing.”
With the weather being far from ideal when it comes to preparation and no floodlights for outdoor hurling at Corrigan Park, the Johnnies have been on the road. No road too long nor mountain too high when it comes to sourcing pitches as ‘Cut’ told us: “We’ve been begging off anyone who could accommodate us to be honest. We were only able to get use of Dunsilly for one night, the county must have some amount of squads or development squads out already but we’ve been to Leitrim, Cargin and Jordanstown a couple of times. It looked like we were heading to Kilcoo not so long ago but we managed to get Jordanstown again.”
In better news, the St John’s manager confirmed they go into Saturday’s final with a clean bill of health with Ciaran Johnston and Oisin Donnelly both recovering from knocks and taking part in full training over the last two weeks. “Ciaran and Oisin would have been available had we needed against Setanta but they just weren’t 100%. Now, they’re good to go.”
It means the Johnnies will be close to the starting 15 that lined out against Loughgiel in the county final. Cunningham did admit that while the team isn’t finalised, Slaughtneil have a couple of players who will need ‘minding’.
For Slaughneil, Saturday will be their 11th Ulster final and fifth in eight attempts since their first provincial win in 2016. Five wins in those previous 10 finals and a couple of back to back’s in there, the Derry champions have been the team to beat in Ulster for a long time now. Cunningham alluded to that fact when he added: “Slaughtneil have been the standard bearers for Ulster hurling for a long time now. They were only a puck of the ball away from making an All-Ireland final last year and it’ll be a great game but it’s a super time for this group of lads and a great test for me as well as these lads. They can’t wait to test themselves against Slaughtneil and see exactly where they’re at.”
The current Ulster champions had five points to spare over Portaferry two weeks ago in their semi final win. It took a late goal from substitute Gerald Bradley to put some daylight between them and the Down champions in what was a hard hitting encounter with neither side shy when it came to big tackles. “It was two very good hurling teams coming up against each other” said Cunningham, “I expected Slaughtneil to maybe pull away in the last 10 minutes or so but Portaferry had their chances.
“It was an edgy, nervy match for long periods. We’ve taken plenty from it and have been working on it.
“I was quite surprised that Chrissy McKaigue stayed in at 14 for the full game and Brendan Rogers playing out on the wing as well. We’ve discussed these things but our mindset hasn’t changed. It’s been the same all year. We will have a look at teams and see what we need to do but our main focus is on ourselves and making sure we’re 100% ready for the game ahead.”
The return of McKaigue has given Slaughtneil a huge lift this season. They went into that game with two personnel changes from their win against Cushendall 12 months ago, Conor Coyle faces a race against the clock to be fit while Jack Cassidy is trying his hand at American Football – a massive loss in the middle of the park for Paul McCormack’s men. With Shea Cassidy immaculate from placed ball and Cormac O’Doherty playing in a deeper role, they will look to Rogers and McKaigue with minor star Cathal Ó Mianáin also finding his legs at provincial level.
It will take another herculean effort from the Antrim champions on Saturday afternoon if they are to progress their playing season into December. The Athletic Grounds under the floodlights is a super place to play your hurling and they’ll need to be out of the blocks fast. Slaughtneil are a team who once they get on top, they will show no signs of letting up. Extremely difficult to keep quieten once they get their ‘gander’ up. A fast start will be imperative.
Match ups will be key. Tracking the likes of Rogers, Cormac O’Doherty, Shea and Eamon Cassidy will certainly be on the mind of the St John’s management team but they need to have their own house in order. Conor Johnston is having the season of his life in 2025 while Shea Shannon, Oisin MacManus and Donal Carson have all been pivotal. If they can reach the levels they have done thus far, St John’s will have every chance.
It’s 21 years since the Four Seasons Cup resided in Ireland’s second city. Back then it was the other one of the city’s ‘big two’ who grabbed the honours with Rossa defeating Ballygalget. The Johnnies will go into this one as underdogs but you get the feeling this particular group of men from the Whiterock are revelling in proving the doubters wrong.
Cross & Passion Ballycastle 4-05 St Louis Ballymena 3-04
Cross and Passion College Ballycastle held on to edge out St. Louis Ballymena in a tough second half in the quarter final of the Senior Schools Camogie Championship in Ballycastle on Wednesday morning.
With the strong breeze at their backs in the opening half, Cross & Passion were totally dominant and, holding thier opponents scoreless they went in at half time leading by 4-03 to no score. St Louis started the second half strongly and they had to gap down to manageable proportions within ten minutes but the Ballycastle school finally settled into a rhythm and held on to win by four in the end.
In a game played in poor conditions Ballycastle made good use of the cold wind and after missing a couple of pointed chances they got going with a goal on four minutes from Tegan Conway from out on the wing. Eobha McAllister sent over a point from a free on seven minutes, Adria McAllister added another six minutes later before Eobha McAllister won the poc-out from that score and sent it back between the posts. Cassidy added another goal and after Eimhear McCaughan and Mary McArthur added points, Eimhear McCaughan got her team’s fourth goal just on half time.
It took St Louis a while to get going at the start of the second half but when Cliodhna McKeever got their first goal on thirty six minutes things began to change. Centre forward Maeve O’Donnell added a point from a free and when Erin McMullan grabbed goal number two the game suddenly had a different look about it.
Eobha McAllister settled the CPC nerves with a point from a free but two quick points from St Louis O’Donnell and McMullan got the Ballymena school going again. They were still piling on the pressure but three missed frees in a five minute spell knocked their confidence a bit. A pointed free from Anna Smyth kept St Louis in contention but Marie Laverty got one back for CPC to ease the pressure once again.
St Louis kept battling and were rewarded when Erin McMullan got a late goal but CPC held on to win in the end by four and set up a semi-final meeting with St Mary’s Magherafelt
CROSS & PASSION
1. Molly McToal 2. Sarah Flavin 3. Sarah-Louise Kearns 4. Micha Cunning 5. Cara Delaney 6. Aoibheann Gillan 7. Fiadh Sands 8. Eobha McAllister 9. Rose McMullan 10. Eva McGarry 11. Tegan Cassidy 12. Louise McBride 13. Eimear McCaughan 14. Mary McArthur 15. Adria McAllister Subs used 22. Hannah O’Neill 23. Marie Laverty
ST LOUIS
Annie Convery, Bronagh Doherty, Eva Lee, Rhea Dickson, Carragh Boyle, Cara Burns, Erin Mae Mitchell, Aoife Neeson, Anna Smyth, Maeve O’Donnell, Eimhear McCloskey, Molly McBride, Erin McMullan, Lola Storrie, Cliodhna McKeever
TO SEE MORE PICS FROM THIS GAME CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW
Just out of reach for the Shamrocks in the semi final of ’23
Loughgiel v St. Finbarr’s All Ireland Senior Club Championship semi final, Donaghmore, Ashbourne for 2pm – Preview and photos from Michael Corcoran
After last weekend’s camogie provincial action, we now know St. Finbarr’s will play Loughgiel in one of the semi finals to be played in Donaghmore, Ashbourne at 2pm. The other semi final will be between Dicksboro and Athenry in Kinnegad for 1pm.
St. Finbarr’s from Cork defeated De la Salle from Waterford in the Munster provincial championship by the narrow margin of two points, that lead coming from a late Kate Wall goal to seal the deal for St. Finbarr’s first provincial crown. The DLS featured All Star collector, Beth Carton. You might remember Carton from her attendance at Loughgiel during the summer of ’24, when Waterford played Antrim in the Glen Dimplex All Ireland Senior Championship preliminary round. You can read the archived report for that Antrim game here…
Beth Carton from Waterford was De La Salle’s powerhouse but wasn’t able to stop St. Finbarr’s
Carton and Co were unable to stop the Barr despite a gruelling top class display of camogie. So, what do we know about St. Finbarr’s? They have three Cork county faces on the current club panel, namely Méabh Cahalane, sister Orlaith and Sorcha McCartan. Orlaith Cahalane scored the Barr’s opening goal from a dropping free from team mate, McCartan. With a mixture of skill, intelligence and a dollup of luck, the right full forward backward flipped the sliotar over her head and into the roof of the DLS net. The Barr’s Kate Wall proved to be a ‘jinky’ player with sure footing that got through the DLS defence with only minutes to spare in the game and sealed the deal with a short range rocket to the back of the net. That was goal, game and championship.
The Shamrocks will relish the challenge ahead of them with the advantage of semi final experiences under their belt, given that this is the Barr’s first All Ireland semi final, but they’ll need to iron out a few wrinkles they know about in order to reduce the risk of those being exploited by the Munster champions.
Loughgiel’s Katie Lynn sat out the game against Dicksboro but will be needed in the Shamrocks’ wall at the weekend
Other parameters to factor into the game are the weather and pitch. At the moment, forecasts vary between the possibility of light rain and a gentle breeze to sunshine and calm. In between either of those, neither team will complain considering the time of year.
Loughgiel are no strangers to Donaghmore, having lost to the 2023 All Ireland champions, Dicksboro, on a tight winter turf. Loughgiel were strong in the first half 1-08 to 0-06 but Dicksboro came back in the second half to make the most of the conditions and went on to become 2023 All Ireland winners. You can read more on that 2023 game here…
Dicksboro would get back to deny the goal that would have changed the Shamrocks’ fortunes
In the end, it’ll come down to work rate, driven by training and hunger, but if Loughgiel can raise their bar of excellence one more time, the travelling supporters might have cause to spill into the Pound Bar on the way home. This will surely be a battle, Ulster v Munster. Where else would you want to be on Saturday?
