Main picture – Colm McDonald with the Offaly and Laois captains before last year’s Joe Donagh Cup final in Croke Park
AIB All-Ireland Club IHC Final
Watergrasshill 2-15 Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry 0-18
The name of Watergrasshill will have come to the attention of most Antrim Gaels when they defeated Antrim and Ulster Champions, Carey Faughs in the All Ireland club intermediate hurling semi-final recently and on Sunday in Croke Park the Kilkenny club went on to defeat Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry in a spectacular final in Croke Park.
The knife-edge nature of sport, and how the break of the ball can make all the difference in the world, was plain to see in the dramatic finish that crowned a memorable AIB All-Ireland IHC final
A spellbinding hour’s hurling ended with Watergrasshill crowned the All-Ireland champions thanks to Seán Desmond’s winning goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
St. Gall’s and Antrim referee Colm McDonald certainly played his part in keeping this sensational game of hurling moving and came in for praise from president of the GAA, Jarlath Burns and the media for an excellent performance.
Well done Colm and keep up the good work in the future within Antrim and on the Ulster and All Ireland stage!
It is with deep sadness that we at the Saffron Gael learn of the death of former Creggan player, Brian Bateson. A quiet and unassuming man who loved the simple things in life, Brian had a distinguished career with the Kickham’s where he excelled in both codes over a long and distinguished career.
Brian was an integral part of Kickham’s throughout his life and served with distinction as a player, mentor, manager, sponsor and most importantly as a supporter.
Many will have very fond memories of Brian as their underage coach, he was always encouraging his teams to do their best, and also having a bit of craic along the way.
Indeed later in life he once came on and played the last few minutes of a reserve game when he was long retired when Creggasn were short of players! A real legend.
Brian served as a committee member for many years and his contribution to the Creggan and community was clear to everyone who met him.
Brian and his family have long been part of the fabric of the club and community and we offer Shelia, Mairead, Bernard, Gerard, Kevin, Mabel and their extended families our deepest sympathies at this time.
Electric Ireland Sigerson Cup, Round One – Davitt Park
St Mary’s UC 1-16 Queen’s University, Belfast 1-9
At the fourth time of asking St Mary’s UC made a great start to their Sigerson Cup campaign when they beat their Belfast rivals Queen’s University at Davitt Park on Sunday.
The game had been fixed three times last week, but the severe cold spell took its toll each time, but the weather conditions on Sunday turned out to be excellent and it was all systems go.
QUB had the better of things in the opening half and appeared to be in a strong position when they led at the break by two points. However St Mary’s grew into the game the further the game went on and after drawing level in the 48th minute they pushed on to dominate the final ten minutes to win by four in the end.
Antrim county player Ryan McQuillan pointed Queens ahead in the early stages, though Sean Quigley soon had St Mary’s back on terms with a fine long range point. However Queens held the upper hand as the opening quarter progressed and they went 0-03 to 0-01 ahead with points from corner forward Luke Donnelly and goalkeeper Oran McGrath, who foraged upfield to help his forwards out. Daniel Haigney cut the gap back to a single point but Ryan McQuillan and Padraig Purcell hit back for Queens to give them a three point cushion.
St Mary’s responded well and two well taken points from Sean Rock and Fergal O’Brien to cut the deficit to a single point, but a goal from full forward Ryan McQuillan swung the momentum back in Queens’ favour and put them four clear with just seven minutes of the opening half to play. St Mary’s appeared to be in danger of being cut adrift but they had the better of things in the run into half time and points from Niall McKenna and Sean Rock cut the gap back to just two by half time. (1-6 to 0-07)
A Fergal O’Brien points early in the new half cut the deficit to the minimum for the Falls Road men, and even though Fergal O’Brien put Queens two ahead once again, it was clear the momentum was swinging it St Mary’s favour and point from McKenna and Reavey brought them level. After soaking up a lot of pressure Queens went back ahead with a Patrick McGurk point and you began to wonder if St Mary would rue their missed chances, but two Niall McKenna points got them back in front and the confidence began to grow.
Corner back Brian Conway brought Queens level again and you wondered if they could hold on, despite St Mary’s dominance from play. However the Falls Road college were not to be denied and they produced a storming finish with McKenna leading the line, the full forward ending with seven in a man of the match display. Goalkeeper Shea Magill got on the scoreboard with a pointed free while centre forward Sean Rock put the icing on the cake with a well taken goal.
Both teams are on the road this week with St Mary’s travelling to TU Dublin, while Queens make the journey to Galway.
ST MARY’S: S Magill (0-1, 45); J Donnelly, F Murdock, M Hynes; D Haigney (0-1), M McCallan, S O’Donnell; D Treanor, F O’Brien (0-2); D Mooney, S Rock (1-3, 0-2f), S Quigley (0-1); C Logan, N McKenna (0-7, 4f, 1m), D Logue. Subs: C Reavey (0-1) for C Logan (40), C Walsh for D Mooney (60+4)
QUB: O McGrath (0-1); B Conway (0-1), J McErlaine, R Boyle; L Downey, L McBride, P McGurk (0-1); M Laverty, J Lenaghan; A Crimmins, P Purcell (0-1), D Higgins; R Cassidy, R McQuillan (1-2), L Donnelly (0-3, 2f, 1 m). Subs: C Love for L Donnelly (40), L McManus for P Purcell (46), J O’Hara for R Boyle (52).
REFEREE: Enda Mallon (Armagh)
TO SEE MORE OF BERT’S PICS FROM THE GAME CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW
Above – Ahoghill’s Katie McCloskey receives her Player of the Match trophy after helping St Pat’s Maghera to their third title in a row
Camogie – Corn Uan Uladh final
St Patrick’s Maghera 4-14 St Killian’s Garron Tower 1-8
St Pat’s Maghera won their 20th Corn Uan Uladh title when they beat St Killian’s Garron Tower in the third final in a row at the Dub Arena on Sunday with a high powered display of Camogie. The St Killian’s girls just couldn’t get going in the opening quarter, despite grabbing the first score of the game through Eva McNeill. However from then on St Pat’s held the upper hand and despite a revival from the Garron Tower girls in the second quarter they still led by 2-09 to 0-06 at the interval.
After the change of ends St Killian’s had a lot more possession but they found the scores a lot harder to come by against a top class Maghera defence. They fought to the very end and could have been a bit closer had they taken a couple of good goal chances, one from an Eva McNeill penalty which rattled off the under-side of the crossbar with the St Pat’s keeper well beaten. However the Maghera side were deserved winners and must surely fancy their chances of competing for an All Ireland title when they come around in a few weeks time.
Eva McNeill sent over an early point from a free to give St Killian’s a good start but St Pat’s hit back right away and Grace Kelly fired low to the net after a high ball had been blocked out. That opened the door for a flood of scores from the champions and Emma Quinn, full forward Caoimhe Chambers and Aoibh Mulholland all found the target.
Things went from bad to worse for St Killian’s when the Maghera side grabbed their second goal nearing the end of the opening quarter, full forward Chambers firing home and three pointed frees soon followed from the accurate Emma Quinn, plus one from play by Chambers and the gap was into double figures.
Eva McNeill steadied the ship a little when she sent over three more frees and when Amy McAlister and Cliodhna Thompson grabbed points apiece the gap was down to 2-9 to 0-06 by the time match referee Julie O’Neill sounded the half time whistle
During the third quarter the Garron Tower girls battled hard and had good spells of possession, despite playing ‘up the slope’, but St Pat’s skill level kept them firmly in control. Two goals from player of the match Katie McCloskey put the icing on the cake for St Pat’s the Ahoghill centre forward finishing with aplomb. St Killian’s kept their hard work going and got some reward when midfielder Leona Gillan grabbed a goal and full forward Cliodhna Thompson sent over a point. However the cup was on its way back to the Maghera for the third year in a row and they can look forward to their meeting with Galway champions Gort Community School in three weeks’ time
St Patrick’s: O Johnston, O McCartney, E Griffin, A McWilliams, R Doherty, E Murray capt, B Brolly, C Conway 0-2, MT McCullagh 0-1, G Kelly 1-2, K McCloskey 2-0, L Cassidy, A Mulholland 0-2, C Chambers 1-2, E Quinn 0-5, 4 frees
Subs: B Donaghy for L Cassidy (ht), E Conway for B Brolly (41), L McKaigue for A McWilliams (46), É McElhinney for C Conway (48)
St Killian’s: L McNaughton, L McCollum, M McAllister, E McCann, E McNaughton, L Black, E Ward, E McNeill 0-5, 3 frees, L Gillan 1-0, A McAlister 0-1, K McNeill, C McNaughton, R Black capt., C Thompson 0-2, T Black.
Subs: S Carey for C McNaughton (37)
Referee: J O’Neill (Armagh)
To see more pics from the game click on the link below
FOR the third successive Ulster senior schools’ camogie final, the line-up is St Patrick’s Maghera v St Killian’s Garron Tower with the Antrim side still in search of their first ever Corn Uan Uladh and Maghera aiming to stretch their record haul to 20 titles.
The schools have also met in the junior final for Corn Eimhear for the past two seasons and therefore are becoming very familiar with each other.
Nevertheless it is quite an achievement for St Killian’s to reach this level of competition, given that they have one of the smallest panels of players in senior camogie and rely heavily on the Ruairí óg Club in Cushendall. Eleven from the current Antrim minor champions started the semi-final against St Louis Ballymena with two more coming in as second half substitutes.
Just four of the Tower girls played in last year’s final against Maghera – Laura and Tamara Black and Eva and Kady McNeill while eight started the junior decider in November.
By contrast St Patrick’s have ten from last year’s starting team available including Cáit Conway who broke her collar bone in that final and missed most of the first half of 2024. She then picked up a second long-term injury at the end of the summer and missed Swatragh’s run to the provincial senior club final. However Conway came into the semi-final with Cross & Passion a week before Christmas as a substitute and should be available for the decider.
Younger sister Eimear put in a fine performance in that semi-final as did Swatragh team-mates Aoife McWilliams, Eimear Murray, Mary-Therese McCullagh and Emma Quinn. Indeed the Maghera attack is very strong with last year’s QUB GAA Player of the Match Grace Kelly, Bellaghy ace Caoimhe Chambers and Aoibh Mulholland who was one of the finds of the season for Slaughtneil seniors.
There is a lot of experience in the Maghera team overall and St Killian’s will need to have a lot of ball running for them in the final if they are to break through their glass ceiling.
Nevertheless Laura Black and Méabh McAlister in defence, the McNeills in midfield and Amy McAlister up front are all skilful hurlers and will challenge the Derry side.
Incidentally St Killian’s have beaten Maghera in the group stages over each of the past three seasons, but so far have come up short in the show-piece final. Can they make it third time lucky?
The more likely outcome however is that Maghera will continue their dominance of the competition and move on to challenge for what the Derry school really craves – a breakthrough All-Ireland success.
