Na Piarsaigh travelled to Woodlands on Sunday to face a St.Agnes’ side that were unbeaten to date in the league.
That looked set to continue as they won the throw-in and steamed forward, and an inside ball was cleared illegally and the ref had no option but to point to the stop. The penalty taker went for McKenna’s left but the Na Piarsaigh keeper pulled off a smart save.
A let off some would say but the Aggies men continued to pour on the attack recording 1-2 without reply. Poor shooting from the North Belfast men was the reason they were scoreless but plenty of time to remedy that. Oisín Grew was brought on and it seemed to spark his side.
Deegan got his side off the mark after a great approach by McFarlane, the opposition replied but then Moreland reduced the deficit. Then the North Belfast Gaels started to turn the screw. Oisín Grew cut inside two men and hit a lovely point; not to be outdone the younger Grew, Fionn struck one of his own.
Aggies briefly stopped the rot to equalise but the rest of the half belonged to Na Piarsaigh as they took the game by the scruff of the neck.
By now the away side were moving the ball well with O’Neill and McFarlane controlling midfield and setting up platforms for attack, one led to Sean Moreland taking advantage on a loose ball, he still had work to do but rifled the ball to the net.
Shortly after the away side got their second goal as a ball was brilliantly claimed by Daniel Magee only for him to be dragged to the ground. Young Fionn Grew had no hesitation in taking the ball and struck it past the keeper’s right hand side. Still they weren’t finished as a superb ball by Deegan through to Magee meant the only option was a point.
To finish off the half again the away side were pushing forward and as the ball meandered around the 13″ Daniel Magee was alert enough to pick it and slammed it home. This was the final score of the half and left the away side six points to the good.
The two sides swapped points at the beginning of the half with Sean Moreland being played a lovely pass by Cormac O’Neill. The West Belfast men were determined to keep their unbeaten record and an almost certain goal was denied by a goal line clearance by Aidan Bannon whilst McKenna was responsible for some first class saves between the sticks. The home side added two points to bring the gap back to four but Na Piarsaigh were creating chances of their own but were being wasteful in attack though Deegan added a couple to his tally with assists from Oisín Grew. The fight remained in the Aggies men and they continued to attack, predominantly down the right hand side putting a lot of pressure of Aodhán McCavana who proved himself up to the task.
This resulted in St.Agnes’ launching long balls towards the square, but these were dealt with by a sturdy defence, but the Aggies still managed to add three points to make it a dramatic two point game.
Time was nearly up and sensing that his side needed a score, Deegan did just that to give his side that wee bit of a cushion.
There was time for one more chance and the Aggies resorted to the Hail Mary but again the Pearses defence was resolute and only a point was given away. As the game went end to end a wide was the last play of the day as the away side held out to earn a 3-10 to 1-13 in what was an entertaining game of football.
A good win for Conor Henry’s men but he must be concerned by his scoring percentage. Next up is an uncomfirmed game away to Ballycastle. Barring that then it is straight into Championship.
Man of the Match : Eamonn McKenna – saved a penalty in the first half and made several crucial saves in the second balf, this was when the West Belfast men had the upper hand and at one stage narrowed the gap to two points. Other good performances from Donaghy, Moreland and both Grews.
Over 80 people have taken part in ‘Saffron Singers’ over the last 4 weeks. The aim of the initiative was to encourage Scór participation in the County. Scór is a GAA competition that combines all the colour and rivalry of Gaelic Games with the social/fun element of Ireland’s traditional past-times. The competition was established by the GAA in 1969 with the aim of promoting Ireland’s traditional pastimes and culture. There are 8 disciplines involving dancing, storytelling, singing, acting, music and a quiz.
County Cultural Officer, Bronagh Lennon, took the online sessions, where groups of children, teens and adults learnt basic skills needed for singing. Each group were taught a new Irish traditional song each week. Bronagh Lennon said “We are delighted with how successful the sessions were and we are hoping that the involvement in the online singing sessions will boost Scór participation in the months and years ahead. It was a great opportunity to touch base with people who had never been involved in Scór before, from 20 clubs throughout the County. I was absolutely delighted with the response and hope to run other Scór related workshops over the Summer months. Thank you to all of the parents who allowed their children to be involved.”
Today we look at the ‘Best 15’ footballers of Michael Davitt’s through the eyes of the club chairman and lifelong member, Tommy Shaw. Tommy has looked to players who have served Davitt’s with distinction in the past and has come up with a formidable looking line-up.
Not everyone will agree with his selection. It’s just one man’s opinion.
Just a bit of fun!
Tommy Shaw’s ‘Best 15’ footballers
After much deliberation and confusion I have finally completed the arduous task of picking out my considered best 15 which will undoubtedly cause arguments but what the heck, that’s what the GAA is all about difference of opinions.
Just why did I accept the challenge of selecting the best 15 players that have proudly worn the green white and orange club colours of my beloved Michal Davitt GAA? Over the past decades I have been blessed to be associated with such a great club, great players, great friends and camaraderie. In the club when in my youth I heard of truly amazing people who had been there for Davitt’s since the club was formed back in 1912. I recall listening to older members talk of two of Antrim’s finest footballers of the 1920s Terry Lyons (Davitt’s Captain) and Gerry Armstrong who helped bring our club it’s only senior football title in 1923. I’m confident that they would easily fit into the greatest ever Davitt’s team but not knowing the position they graced, I found it difficult to include both of them and I think that I honour them by this recollection. Indeed I’m confident that there were others including my late father Bobby who earned great reputations as players of that era but I will leave that part of our illustrious history in our glorious past. No matter whom I have chosen In my team there is sure to be murmurings from others in disagreement and perhaps discontent but then that is their prerogative and I’ve no doubt whatsoever that when I listen to their points of view, if they are put forward, then I may well rethink and accept that my selection may well be challenged, but I won’t be influenced because I’m content that I have given it my best shot, difficult though it has been to omit some great players and friends from my final 15.
I have deliberately omitted today’s players as I wanted to devote the team selection to those who gave their time willingly to Davitt’s in the years gone by. I know that in the future today’s stars such as Patrick Maguire, Sean Og O’Neill, Anthony Rowntree and Padraig McParland will surely figure on some other’s best 15 and I wish that selector the best of luck in narrowing down the 15 for it has been a nightmare for me, so here I go:
1) GOALKEEPER: This position in my opinion is critical to how the team performs on the day and we have had some fine players in between the posts John Murphy a giant of a man who went through two leagues without conceding a goal, Eddie Connolly a great keeper along with Joe O‘Riordan an excellent custodian whose bravery was undeniable. However in making my decision I had to plumb for John Murphy whom I remember how well he guarded his goal and the fact that he did not concede a goal in two league years speaks volumes about his ability. Joe was a close runner up.
BACKLINE a number of excellent contenders for the full and half backs and it was a very difficult time trying to place whoever I considered to be a shade in front of the others and I confess that I could have picked any of them and still not remained confident of my selection.
Names that came to mind included Jimmy Donnelly, Bobby Reilly, Seamus Reid, Gerry Topping, Frank Brady, Sean McCormick, Danny Toner, Davy Best, Paddy O’Neill, Pearse McCormick, Paul McGuigan, Jim Davis, Michael Brady and Eugene Gallagher. In the end I plumped for:
2) Right back went to Danso Toner who never ever stopped working hard to contain his opponent, a tireless team player who always gave his full commitment to the game and had an uncanny knack of being in the right place at the right time.
3) I put at full back Sean McCormick who in my humble opinion was the best full back we have ever had. Sean was capable of completely blotting out most full forwards by his reading of the attacks and denying possession to them.
4) I felt that left back should be Davy Best. As his name suggests he was one of the best, courageous in defence he always guarded his territory as if life depended upon it and he was capable of going forward when the opportunity was there.
5) My right half back choice was Frankie McAlorum, never ever said much but let his never say die attitude do the talking, not many guys ever got the better of Frankie. He was the complete gem of a defender.
6)centre half back is the mainstay of any defence and in Paddy O’Neill we had without doubt one of the best centre half backs I have ever seen and I’m including all other clubs here He was pure class! Made the game look easy.
7) Left half back suited Terry Park. Here was a footballing brain that was always in gear, great control when in possession and had the eye to utilise the perfect delivery when we had the ball. He would complement the link between backs and forwards admirably.
Midfield: Here again were many candidates in Jackie Goodman, Pappy O’Toole, Christy Donnelly, Sean O’Neill Sen. Liam Taylor, Joe McDonnell Gavin Shaw, and Stephen Toner.
In making my selections I have considered how well each player would gel with each other’s style of play to get the best team performances that would produce a style of play that would contribute to our forwards getting suitable ball to launch attacks. I could be accused of being biased in my choices here but it’s my belief that these two would enrich the format of the team and make a solid midfield pairing. Here I nominated:
8) Gavin Shaw. When in possession he had the ability to carry the ball and know where a colleague was better placed for distribution and always covered much of the pitch continually working in support of his teammates.
9) Frank Brady had one the best pair of hands you will ever see in the middle of the park. A tireless compact combatant he gave his all constantly driving forward when in possession and falling back when in defence, his forte was in punching points often afar from the opponents goals.
Half and Full Forwards
If you don’t outscore your opponent’s you don’t win so I looked for speed accuracy and tenacity and there was a plethora of candidates who came to mind to choose from including John and Pappy O’Toole Terry Magee, Fonsie McVeigh, James Coleman, Joe De Meulemeester, Gerry Withers, Stephen Brady, Jim McAuley, Liam O’Neill, Joe Muckian, Martin Mooney, Terry Park, Kevin McParland, Stephen Toner and Joe McDonnell. What a headache but what a forward line you could make up from these stars.
10) At right three quarters I place Jim McAuley the complete player who had great awareness of what was going on all around and could deliver the perfect ball to anyone for team benefit and he was also very accurate in free taking usually scoring from anywhere around 50 yards from goal.
11) At centre three quarters I opted for Martin “shiner “ Mooney who like Jim had a great knowledge of where we were better placed to inflict damage on our opponents, he was a team player who always gave his best over the entire game and could take scores readily from anywhere when the opportunity came his way.
12) This was a very easy pick. Stephen Brady stands out as one of the finest footballers ever to put a Davitt shirt on. Making his debut as a young teenager on our senior team his ability to play the game was quickly recognised and he would soon be selected on the Antrim senior team playing at the highest level. Undoubtedly an outstanding player he is fully deserving of his place on past and future best ever Davitt’s 15.
13) The position of right full forward goes to Kevin McParland a quick thinking player able to use both feet and take scores as they came and deadly from free kicks in close proximity of the opposition goals. Kevin often found space and penalised our opponents with numerous scores.
14) When one looks at the full forward position this is where games are won and lost and I believe you need brain brawn and bravery to better the full back (which is a key position). In choosing Joe McDonnell I am confident that he fits the bill perfectly. I could well have put him in midfield but having watched him in the role of poacher I think he would be the perfect target man with our nominated forwards supplying the ball to him. A great fielder of the ball and a talented footballer his attributes would make him more than a match for the best of full backs.
15) Left full forward I found hard to finalise this last position given the credentials of those mentioned above but in the end I took Stephen Toner who captained our minor championship team in midfield back in 1987 Stephen went on to display a quality of forward playing football, for many years at senior level, that was of the highest order. A skilled player he always delivered top drawer performances winning us many games.
As previously stated I could easily have picked another 15 and I regret not being able to put in some great players but that’s the name of the game. I do however list my substitutes (Under Covid 19 you can use more than the limited 5,) below knowing full well that they would easily slot into the team if called upon,
1) Joe O Riordan
2) Jimmy Donnelly
3) Alphonsus “Red” McVeigh
4 ) Paul McGuigan
5) Eugene Gallagher
6) Jim Davis
7) Sean O Neill
8) Liam O Neill
9) Joe Muckian.
10) Michael Brady
Given that there will be a hurling 15 coming soon I am sure some of those mentioned in my article will gain a place on that team and good luck to whoever the selector is I wish you well.
Yesterday I posted an article on the Dunloy footballers who enjoyed great success during the 20’s and 30’s, collecting six senior championships. Some of those victories were achieved against teams who no longer exist in Antrim football but who were very prominent at that time and it would be great to hear about them and bring Antrim Gaels a little bit of their history.
James Stephens immediately comes to mind and they were a real force in Antrim at the time, winning championships in 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919 and 1922 which included six in a row, a wonderful achievement by anybody’s standards.
Going back to the start of the last century a team called Seagan An Diomais won five Senior Championships in 1903, 1906, 1908, 1909 and 1910 and I have to be honest, I hadn’t heard of them but my curiosity was immediately heightened.
O’Connell’s, (3) Gaelhil Uladh (3) and Otlamh Fodhla (2) Tir na nOg, Belfast (1) were other names who came jumping out at me from the statistics page and it would be great to hear about their history and get reports and photographs of those finals if there are any about.
Sarsfields captain, Jimmy Ward and Glenravel captain, Colm O’Loan with the SFC Cup before the 1966 final. Glenravel defeated Sarsfields to collect their only Senior Championship to date
O’Neill Crowleys won a senior championship in 1905 but no longer exist and I was surprised to find that clubs like Eire Og (1948), Pearses (1968), Ardoyne (1932 &37), Mitchells (1911 &12) and O’Donnell’s (1940) all won Senior Championships.
Glenravel of course won their only senior championship in 1966 and I was privileged to have attended that final while Tir na nOg, Belfast were champions back in 1902.
As we know Eire Og, Pearses, Ardoyne, Mitchells, O’Donnell’s, Glenravel and Pearses still exist and are going strong but it would be great to get reports and photographs from their senior championship successes.
If any of our readers have reports and photographs from those championship successes or a bit of info on the history of those clubs it would be great to hear from you. I feel it is important that the history of these clubs is not lost.
Some photographs sent to me this week from our photographer, Bert Trowlen evoked memories of days gone by when Glenravel man, Gerard Higgins produced a magazine called Saffron Og. Gerard, a dedicated Gael and a member of Eamon Grieves’ backroom team in 1989 put a lot of time and effort into the production and distribution of the magazine.
Saffron Og was delivered to every primary school in Antrim and yours truly had the job of delivering them around schools in the South West where they were eagerly awaited by GAA enthusiasts. The Saffron Gael was an excellent production, littered with competition, reports and photographs and was an excellent way of promoting Gaelic games in Antrim at the time.
The Saffron Gael was published for five years from 1992 to 1995 and in 1994 was awarded the McNamee Award for Juvenile publication but folded in 1995 as no one was available to take over from Gerard Higgins who was forced to retire as editor because of an increasing workload.
Today we publish an edition from September 1992 and carried a photograph of Glenravel Primary School, a profile of Loughgiel and Antrim hurling goalkeeper, Niall Patterson, a profile of Cushendall and Antrim hurler, John Carson as well as competitions and reports.
I hope it brings back fond memories to those who read it at the time.
