Into the West - APRIL 2013 (Digital)

!2.50

Vol 4. Issue 6March/April

2013

Countdown!

Glory for Sligo school

Galway U-21s triumph

OFFICIAL GAA PUBLICATION

Connacht counties gear up forstart of championship

Page 2

LLIIKKEE aa lloott ooff ppeeooppllee aatt tthhiissssttaaggee ooff tthhee yyeeaarr,, II aamm

ccoouunnttiinngg ddoowwnn tthhee ddaayyssuunnttiill tthhee ffiirrsstt ggaammee ooff tthhee CCoonn--nnaacchhtt cchhaammppiioonnsshhiipp,, aanndd wwiitthhtthhee mmeeeettiinngg ooff NNeeww YYoorrkk aannddLLeeiittrriimm aallmmoosstt uuppoonn uuss,, tthhee wwaaiittiiss nneeaarrllyy oovveerr..

OOnn tthhee bbaacckk ooff aa ddeecceennttlleeaagguuee sshhoowwiinngg MMaayyoo wwiillll rriigghhttllyybbee tthhee ffaavvoouurriitteess ttoo ddeeffeenndd tthheeiirr CCoonnnnaacchhtt ttiittllee,, bbuuttiitt iiss ffaaiirr ttoo ssaayy tthhaatt aallll ooff tthhee sseevveenn ppaarrttiicciippaattiinnggccoouunnttiieess wwiillll ffaannccyy tthheeiirr cchhaanncceess ooff rreeggiisstteerriinngg aattlleeaasstt oonnee wwiinn iinn tthhee ccoommppeettiittiioonn..

AAss aa rreessuulltt iitt sshhoouulldd bbee aa mmoosstt eexxcciittiinngg aanndd iinn--ttrriigguuiinngg ccoommppeettiittiioonn aanndd wwiitthh GGaallwwaayy''ss pprrooggrreessssiioonntthhrroouugghh aann uullttrraa--ccoommppeettiittiivvee pprroovviinncciiaall cchhaammppii--oonnsshhiipp aanndd iinnttoo tthhee AAllll--IIrreellaanndd UU--2211 ffiinnaall,, aanndd oouurrCCoolllleeggeess ddiissppllaayyss oonn tthhee nnaattiioonnaall ffrroonntt,, ffoooottbbaallllsseeeemmss ttoo bbee iinn aa hheeaalltthhyy ssttaattee iinn CCoonnnnaacchhtt..

IItt pprroovveedd ttoo bbee aann eexxcceelllleenntt CCoonnnnaacchhtt SSccóórr ffoorrtthhee hhoommee ccoouunnttyy LLeeiittrriimm aa tthheeyy wweenntt oonn ttoo ttaakkee ffiivveeooff tthhee eeiigghhtt ttiittlleess uupp ffoorr ggrraabbss aatt tthhee pprroovviinncciiaall ffii--nnaallss iinn AApprriill.. AAss aallwwaayyss tthhee ssttaannddaarrdd ooff tthhee ccoommppeettii--ttiioonn wwaass vveerryy hhiigghh aanndd tthhee vveerryy bbeesstt ooff lluucckk ttoo aallll ooffoouurr rreepprreesseennttaattiivveess aass tthheeyy ggoo oonn ttoo tthhee AAllll--IIrreellaannddffiinnaallss iinn DDeerrrryy..

IItt iiss aallwwaayyss ddiiffffiiccuulltt ttoo llaauunncchh aa nneeww ccoommppeettii--ttiioonn,, bbuutt iitt hhaass ttoo bbee ssaaiidd tthhaatt tthhee ffiirrsstt yyeeaarr ooff tthheeCCoonnnnaacchhtt GGAAAA TTááiinn LLeeaagguueess hhaass pprroovveedd ttoo bbee aa hhuuggeessuucccceessss..

WWeellll ddoonnee ttoo GGaallwwaayy''ss AAbbbbeeyykknnoocckkmmooyy aanndd ttooMMaayyoo''ss CCaassttlleebbaarr MMiittcchheellss oonn tthheeiirr rreessppeeccttiivvee ddiivvii--ssiioonn oonnee aanndd ddiivviissiioonn ttwwoo vviiccttoorriieess,, bbuutt aallssoohheeaarrttiieess tthhaannkkss ttoo aallll ooff tthhee tteeaammss tthhaatt ttooookk ppaarrttaanndd mmaaddee tthhee ccoommppeettiittiioonn ssuucchh aa rreessoouunnddiinngg ssuucc--cceessss..

EEnnjjooyy tthhee cchhaammppiioonnsshhiipp!!

IIss mmiissee,, llee mmeeaassJJOOHHNN PPRREENNTTYY

RRuunnaaii,, CCLLGG CCuuiiggee CCoonnnnaacchhttaa

A CHAIRDE GAEL,

WITH the nationalfootball and hurl-ing leagues be-

hind us for another yearall of our attention nowturns to the Connacht foot-ball championship, andthis year's competition isone to look forward to.

The way the draw has panned out, weare sure to have a number of titanic bat-tles before we get anywhere near a Con-nacht final. Leitrim face a difficultassignment in New York, London willtest Sligo's mettle, and if the two homecounties get over their foreign tests,their meeting in Carrick on Shannon issure to renew their age old derby ri-valry.

On the other side of the draw themeeting of Galway and Mayo in PearseStadium is a quarter-final worthy of thefinal, but with Roscommon waiting inthe wings for the winners, we can expectthe fireworks to continue. It should be acouple of entertaining months.

Galway's victory in the Connacht U-21championship concluded a tight provin-cial competition and their hard-foughtwins over Mayo and Roscommon in thefinal has set them up nicely for anothercrack at the All-Ireland title.

And their victory over Kildare in thesemi-final sees Connacht representationin the final for the third season in a row.Hopefully they can now go on to pick uptheir second title in three years againstCork.

Congratulations are due to CastlebarMitchels and Abbeyknockmoy on theirsplendid victories in the inaugural Táinhurling leagues. In total 18 clubs were

involved in 41 games overthe divisions, which was thebrainchild of the NationalHurling Development Com-mittee. The work of AdrianHassett, John Prenty andDamien Coleman has to beapplauded and the competi-tion has brought a new levelof organisation to club hurl-ing in the province.

It was disappointing thatmany eligible clubs chose not to partici-pate in the competition, but I earnestlyhope that they will reconsider their posi-tion in the future.

We also had much to cheer in the Col-leges football championships as St At-tracta's CS, Tubbercurry claimed theAll-Ireland 'B' title, which shows thegreat work that has been done in theschool in the last few years. Specialmention also goes to Scoil Mhuire,Strokestown who lost in the All-Ireland'C' final, to St Gerald's Castlebar whowere defeated by the eventual champi-ons in the Hogan Cup semi-final and toLoughrea's St Brigid's who narrowly lostout in the Vocational Schools 'A' hurlingfinal.

And finally, I was delighted to see theefforts of the Football Review Commit-tee were rewarded at the GAA AnnualCongress. The introduction of the newrules to the game should result in amore enjoyable game to watch with theremoval of much of the game's cynicism.Congratulations to the Connacht repre-sentatives on the committee: JohnTobin, Kevin Griffin, Declan Darcy andPaul Earley, it is a great achievementthat will give us a better game.

Is mise,FRANK BURKE,

President, Connacht Council GAA

Secretary’s NotePresident’s Note

KKeeeepp yyoouurrsseellff iinn tthhee lloooopp.. SSiiggnn uupp ttooddaayy ffoorr yyoouurr ffrreeee eelleeccttrroonniicc ccooppyy oofftthhee mmaaggaazziinnee –– eemmaaiilleedd ddiirreeccttllyy ttoo yyoouurr IInnbbooxx.. TToo ssiiggnn uupp,, eemmaaiill mmaaggaazziinnee@@ccoonnnnaacchhttggaaaa..iiee

‘Into the West’

‘Into the West’ is produced by the Connacht GAA Council.Editor: John Fallon. Published by: Pádraig Corcoran.

News and photographs for inclusion can be emailed to [email protected]. To obtain an electronic copy of the magazineeach quarter, free of charge, email [email protected].

• Next edition: May/June 2013. Deadline for advertising and copy: June 7th 2013. www.connachtgaa.ie.

CCoovveerr PPhhoottooss –– Main Picture: Mayo’s Michael Conroy in action in the Allianz National Football League Divi-sion 1 semi-final against Dublin. Photo: Ray McManus / SPORTSFILEInset: Galway U-21 captain Fiontán Ó Curraoin lifts the cup following his side’s victory in the Cadbury Con-nacht GAA Football Under-21 Championship Final against Roscommon.Photo: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILEInset: The St Attracta's team and management celebrate their victory. Photo: Eamonn McMunn

Page 3

Tribe U-21s reclaim Connacht title..............................4Young Tribesmen meet Cork in final...........................8Cadbury’s Connacht GAA U-21 Football ......................10Glorious victory for St Attracta’s................................12St Brigid’s let lead slip in final....................................14Gerald’s campaign ends .............................................15Late agony for Strokestown .......................................16Connacht media presented with McNamee Awards ....17International hurling festival for Galway ...................18Six Mayo senior clubs appoint new managers ............19Killererin footballer hoping to crack Everest..............20NUIG students honoured ...........................................21Galway’s Alliance Football league round-up...............22Galway’s Alliance Hurling league round-up ................24Allianze Hurling League final .....................................26Abbeyknockmoy take Connacht GAA Táin title ...........27Focus on Galway ........................................................28Focus on Leitrim .......................................................33Leitrim’s Alliance Football league round-up...............34Mayo’s Allianz Football league semi-final ..................36Mayo’s Alliance Football league round-up..................38Adrian Freeman remembered ....................................41Roscommon’s Alliance Football league round-up .......45Sligo’s Allianz Hurling league round-up......................49Sligo’s Allianz Football league round-up ....................51Focus on Ladies football ............................................56Girls Inter-provincial handball team of ten ...............61GAA writers’ Players of the Month .............................63Knowledgeable Noel ..................................................64

Galway hurling captain, FergalMoore, at the launch of GalwayInternational Hurling Festival.

Kilkenny’s determination toogreat for Galway in league final.

Killererin’s Peter O'Connellhopes to conquer Everest.

Mayo at wrong end of two goalleague semi-final defeat.

St Attracta’s take All-Ireland BColleges’ football final.

Seán Moran of Galway in fullflight in Connacht U-21 final.

St Gerald’s (Castlebar) fall toeventual champions.

Connacht media presented withMcNamee Awards.

CONNACHT GAA U-21 FOOTBALL FINAL

Galway ..................1-17Roscommon ...........2-11

After extra-time

By DECLAN ROONEYMedia West Ireland

SHANE Walsh kicked four points inthe last four minutes to force extra-time as Galway denied Roscommon

a second Connacht U-21 title in a row atHyde Park.

Three extra-time points from IanBurke sealed Galway's 17thtitle, but Walsh proved thehero for Alan Flynn's sideone again.

On a beautiful evening forflowing football the entertain-

ment was switched on fromthe outset and Galway had rat-

tled the Roscommon net before40 seconds had elapsed.

Cathal Mulryan's would have been dis-appointed to see his attempt at a point

drop below Tadhg Lowe's crossbar, but thestopper appeared to briefly lose the ball inthe setting sun and it was deemed to havecrossed the line.

Roscommon soon got their own gameplan under way when Conor Daly pickedout Donie Smith in front of the Galwaygoal and he rattled the net with a low driveto level the game at 1-0 each just threeminutes in.

Galway looked extremely dangerousup front and soon began to pick off theirpoints. Firstly Adrian Varley set up hisbrother Paul for a point, before the at-tacker laid it off to Walsh to score from theright to open out a two point lead.

But in the 20th minute Roscommon hita vital goal to take a 2-2 to 1-4 lead; Fin-tan Cregg applied the finish after DonieSmith picked the pocket of Mulryan asGalway tried to work the ball slowly out ofdefence.

Galway trailed by 2-4 to 1-6 at thebreak, but three points either side of half-time from Ian Burke soon drew them level.

But their challenge took a serious blowin the 41st minute when corner-back EoinWalsh was shown a straight red card forstriking out at Donie Smith, who was

Tribe U-21s reclaimConnacht title

Galway's David Cunnane in action. Photo: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE

Burke andWalsh kickTribesmento victory

Seán Moran of Galwayin full flight. Photo: Stephen McCarthy /SPORTSFILE

Page 4

pulling his shirt.Smith joined him on the sidelines 12

minutes later following a high tackle, andafter Walsh worked his magic to forceextra-time, Galway cruised to the win.

SCORERS – Galway: S Walsh 0-7 (4f), IBurke 0-6, C Mulryan 1-0, S Moran, P Var-ley, S Maughan & G Kelly 0-1 each. Roscommon: D Smith 1-2 (2f),C Murtagh0-4 (2f), F Cregg 1-0, C Compton 0-2, ESmith, M Holland & T Corcoran (1f) 0-1each.

GALWAY: T Healy; L Silke, JShaughnessy, E Walsh; M Lough-nane, G Canavan, P Varley; F ÓCurraoin, D Comer; C Mul-ryan, S Moran, S Maughan;S Walsh, A Varley, IBurke.Subs: T Flynn forSilke (28), C Rabbittefor Maughan (44), PCunningham forMoran (46), P Ezer-gailis for Canavan(48), G Kelly forComer (59), D Comerfor Mulryan (74), M Hes-kin for Cunningham (78).

ROSCOMMON: T Lowe; DMurray, R Timothy, C Caf-ferky; M Connaughton, J Mc-Manus, C Daly; F Kelly, TCorcoran; E Smith, C Connolly,F Cregg; D Smith, C Compton, CMurtagh.Subs: S Killoran for Cregg (52), CKilcline for E Smith (61), M Hollandfor Kelly (60), P Corbett for Killoran(66), C Cox for Connaughton (67), ESmith for Connolly (74).

REFEREE: E O'Grady (Leitrim).


The Galway squad assemble ahead of their Cadbury Connacht GAA U-21 football final at Dr. Hyde Park. Photo: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE

Page 5

Ó Curraoin chuffed tolead Tribe to title

By DECLAN ROONEY (Media West Ireland)

GALWAY U-21 captain Fiontán Ó Curraoin wasthrilled to see his side get across the winningline and allow his pick up the Connacht U-21

title on behalf of the team.“It’s great. I still can’t believe we’ve won. I’mstill in shock. It’s a great moment for Galway

football. They’re a great team and agreat bunch of lads.

“We were a few points down butwe just kept believing. We knew

that if it came down to the end,we’d be able to fight and we

did. Luckily, we grabbed itat the end.

“Roscommon were veryunlucky. I feel sorry for alot of the boys. I know them

well. When Donie (Smith)went off, he was a big loss to

them. Then Ian Burke stood upand took our scores.

“We knew going into extra-time that we had to push on in

the first five minutes. But in fair-ness to Roscommon they came

back at the start of the second pe-riod. It could have gone down to the

wire again,” he explained.Looking forward to the All-Ireland

semi-final against Leinster championsKildare, Ó Curraoin felt that another tight

game was in the pipeline.“I don’t know too much about Kildare.

They won a very strong Leinster champi-onship so it’s going to be a tough match,” he

concluded

Galway captain Fiontán Ó Curraoinlifts the U-21 title.

Photo: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE


Page 6


GALWAY U-21 man-ager, Alan Flynn,thinks the Tribesmen

are ready to progressthrough the All-Ireland seriesafter his side edged pastRoscommon in a tense Con-nacht final at Hyde Park.

“That's be another biggame for us. Kildare are All-Ireland favourites now andwe are going to have to raiseour game again.

“But we are delightedwhat the boys have done sofar. They have beaten Sligo,Mayo and Roscommon andin fairness, when you beatthose three teams you de-

serve to win a Connachttitle,” said Flynn.

“We have always doneourselves proud and I'd ex-pect nothing less in a coupleof weeks.

“I'm delighted we didn'tfall into the trap of just look-ing for a goal, we got therein the end. In extra-time, theguys we brought on had agreat impact. Then our de-fence got stronger the longerit went on,” he said.

“They did not start tryingfor goals. They held theirnerve and that is to theircredit. This group of lads hasa lot of character and a bit ofsteel to them. They showedthat against Mayo in thesemi-final and they showedit again last weekend when itwas needed most.”

Flynn hopes Connachtchampionshipwill prime side

for All-Ireland

The Roscommon squad ahead of their Connacht U-21 final defeat to Galway. Photo: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE

Galway manager Alan Flynn gives Shane Maughan some final words of adviseahead of his introduction. Photo: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE


Page 7

By IAN COONEYRoscommon Herald

NIGEL Dineen staredinto space, trying tocomprehend what had

just unfolded. As a former for-ward, he knew about the im-portance of being ruthless andputting away chances. But heshrugged his shoulders as if todeduce that it was one ofthose unexplainable things inlife. The potency of Roscom-mon’s forward line had beenwell flagged beforehand but,ironically, it had let him downwhen it should have garnereda historic second Connacht U-21 title in succession.

“After the sending-off, wehad Conor Daly as a free manand everything seemed to begoing according to plan. The

chances we missed, what canyou do? They were unforgiv-able. Then when Donie (Smith)was sent-off, we were underserious pressure.

“We still thought we had achance going into extra-time. Itwas always there for us,maybe we’d get a lucky breakor something like that if wekept plugging away. But theyran us off our feet in the endand we couldn’t cope with it.

“The forwards missed thechances but we missed a fewfrees too that we’d normallyget on another day. Look,that’s the way football goes.Some days it goes for you andsome days it doesn’t,” helamented.

Despite the cruel nature ofthe defeat, Dineen had nothingbut positive things to say abouthis players afterwards.

“I’m very proud of the lads.They’ve trained very hard andthey’re so disappointed goingback into the dressing room.We nearly had it wonwith all the chanceswe had. It’s neverover until the fatlady sings but

I’m still proud of them, andthat’s the most importantthing,” he felt.

Into the WestSubscription service ensures you stay

totally on top of GAA news from Connacht

THE IDEAL PRESENT FOR THE GAA FANATIC IN YOUR HOUSE – OR JUST

INDULGE YOURSELF

Amount enclosed(see details in opposite column)Send payment to: Into the West, Padraig Corcoran, Toneybane,

Foxford, Co. Mayo, Ireland.Make cheques payable to:

Connacht Council

Ireland: !20 (includes post and packaging)UK: !25 (£22)Rest of Europe & Asia: !25America: !25 (US$35)Australia: !25 (Aus$33)South America: !25

SIGN UP HERE:Delivery name:...................................................................................................

Delivery address:...............................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................

Tel No. ..............................................................................................................

– delivered through your own letter box, every time

Dineen rues missed chance atback-to-back titles

Galway full-forward Adrian Varley is chased by David Murray ofRoscommon during the Cadbury Connacht U-21 final.


GALWAY REACH U-21 FOOTBALL FINAL

Page 8

Galway ...............2-10Kildare .................2-5

By JOHN FALLONMedia West Ireland

GALWAY’S smarter use of the ballproved decisive as a wasteful Kil-dare side were brushed aside in

the first of the All-Ireland U-21 footballsemi-finals at O’Connor Park in Tullamore.

The traditional Kildare penchant forwasting chances was all too evident asthey paid the price for shooting 19 widesto just five for Galway.

But Galway made good use of posses-sion, with players only chancing a shotwhen the odds were in their favour. Thatwas in sharp contrast to a Kildare sidewho kept repeating the same mistakes.

Galway led by 1-6 to 1-3 at the intervalhaving had the advantage of the diagonalwind with Tom Flynn giving them a bigboost with a goal after ten minuteswhen he collected a poor kickoutand took a return pass from thehard-working Ian Burke toshoot low to the net.

Kildare, despite a string of bad wides,hit back and Daniel Flynn fired low to the

net after 13 minutes afterNiall Kelly had inter-

cepted a sideline fromGalway full-back

James Shaugh-nessy.

A pointfrom Kelly edged

Kildare 1-2 to 1-1 infront after 17 min-utes but theirhopes of advanc-

ing to the final for the first time in fiveyears were undermined when they failedto score for the next 13 minutes.

Galway, with Damien Comer, Fiontan OCurraoin, Flynn and Burke prominent, hitfour points in succession to go 1-5 to 1-2in front after 28 minutes.

Shane Walsh, always dangerous infront of goal, tacked on another point be-fore the break after Fionn Dowling, who hitsix wides from play in the course of thegame, had pointed for Kildare with theTribesmen leading by 1-6 to 1-3 at the in-terval.

Flynn praises efficient forwards

By JOHN FALLON Media West Ireland

GALWAY U-21 boss, Alan Flynn, always thought that his forward linehad the potential to oust Kildare from the championship at O'Con-nor Park on Saturday.

“We felt ourselves that if we got enough ball to our forward linewe could cause a little bit of damage. In fairness to Kildare they

came out of the Leinster championship. I suppose they wereso dominant that their back-line wasn't tested enough.

“We would have felt that our midfield, was going to testtheir midfield and that we were going to get enough posses-

sion and if we did Adrian Varley, Ian Burke, Sean Moran andShane Walsh; when these guys get balls they were going to do

damage.He continued: “I think the most important thing to say today is that

there is nothing won. It's a semi-final and it gets us a place into a final andwe certainly have areas to work on.”

Young Tribesmen now meetCork in All-Ireland final

Damien Comer gathers possession ahead ofThomas Moolick during the U-21 All-Irelandsemi-final. Photo: Paul Mohan / SPORTSFILE

Galway forward Seán Moran is put under pressure by Kildare's Jonathan Byrne at O'ConnorPark. Photo: Paul Mohan / SPORTSFILE

GALWAY REACH U-21 FOOTBALL FINAL

Page 9

Walsh landed two more points for Gal-way in third quarter either side of effortsfrom Padraig Fogarty and Paul Cribbin,and just when it seemed that Kildare mightrally, Galway struck for their second goalwhen Sean Moran finished to the net afterreferee Barry Cassidy played a good ad-vantage following a run from Burke after46 minutes.

Sean Hurley responded with a Kildaregoal three minutes later but they did notscore for the remaining eleven minutes.

Walsh added an insurance point forGalway eight minutes from time and theyfinished in style with Cathal Mulryanadding another point in the closing stagesas they reached their second final in threeyears. SCORERS – Galway: S Walsh 0-6 (3f), SMoran 1-1, T Flynn 1-0, D Comer 0-1, IBurke 0-1, C Mulryan 0-1.

Kildare: D Flynn 1-1, S Hurley 1-0, NKelly 0-1, F Dowling 0-1, P Cribbin 0-1, PFogarty 0-1.GALWAY: T Healy; M Loughnane, JShaughnessy, D Cunnane; D Burke, PVarley, G Canavan; T Flynn, F Ó Curraoin;C Mulryan, S Moran, D Comer; S Walsh, AVarley, I Burke.Subs: C Rabbitte for D Burke 41, P Ezer-gailis for Cunnane 44, L Silke for Canavan52, E Commins for Comer 59.KILDARE: M Donnellan; S Higgins, D Hy-land, M Konstantin; P Cribbin, F Conway,J Byrne; T Moolick, S Hurley; D Flynn, LMcGovern, F Dowling; P Brophy, P Foga-rty, N Kelly.Subs: H Mahon for Fogarty 49, G Farrellfor Dowling 55, T Gibbons for McGovern55.REF: B Cassidy (Derry).

Ó Curraoinexcited byanother final


FIONTÁN Ó Curraoin was de-lighted with the team's display at

the back that helped them to makea return to the All-Ireland final forthe second time in two years.

“I put it down to our backs. I thinkthere were five or six blocks in thefirst-half alone. When you see ablock like that, it really drives a teamon, especially in the forwards. Whenyou get chances, you know you'vegot to take them,” said the MicheálBreathnach's powerhouse.

And the skipper said that lessonslearned in the Connacht final sawthem to the win as the most efficientteam.

“Against Roscommon, wedropped a lot of ball and kicked a lotof ball wide, so in the last fewweeks training we really focussedon that. Thankfully, we used thepossession a lot better today andthat's what we needed,” he said.

Galway's Mark Loughnane pulls off a terrific divong block to deny Paddy Brophy a point. Photo: Paul Mohan / SPORTSFILE

Paul Varley (left) and Damien Comer cele-brate reaching the All-Ireland U-21 final.

Photo: Paul Mohan / SPORTSFILE

Seán Moran, Galway, who was presented withthe Cadbury Hero of the Match Award byShane Guest, Senior Brand Manager, CadburyIreland. Photo: Paul Mohan / SPORTSFILE

CADBURY’S CONNACHT GAA U-21 FOOTBALL

Page 10

Galway ................0-9Mayo ....................0-7

By FRANK KEARNEYMedia West Ireland

GALWAY left it late to edge pastMayo into the Connacht U-21semi-final at Tuam Stadium, but it

was largely thanks to Shane Walsh thatthe Tribesmen made it through to the de-cider.

Walsh kicked two excellent points fromplay in the last six minutes to give Galwaya three point cushion, but Mayo senior Cil-lian O'Connor came very close to forcingextra time when his blistering late free wasdeflected over the bar to ensure the Gal-way goal remained intact.

In total Walsh kicked six points for Gal-way, who go on to meet Roscommon in

the provincial final in two weekend's timeat Hyde Park.

Both sides failed to finish the first-halfwith their full complement as Mayo'sConor Horan picked up his second yellowcard after 20 minutes, while Galway cor-ner-back Liam Silke follow him to the lineseven minutes later for a similar offence.

Referee Paddy Neiland showed a totalof nine yellows and two red cards in thefirst-half, but after the restart the gameflowed as Walsh and O'Connor did battle.

By the break Galway had workedthemselves into a 0-4 to 0-3 lead afterplaying with the wind at their backs, butO'Connor levelled the match with a freeafter the restart.

O'Connor added another point nineminutes from time to pull Mayo within apoint after a Galway surge, but Walshpowered on in the closing stages with twopoints from play, and the goal-line heroicsto stop the Ballintubber man's freeclinched a spot in the final in two weeksfor the 2011 champions.

SCORERS – Galway: S Walsh 0-6 (2f), AVarley 0-1, C Mulryan 0-1, D Comer 0-1.Mayo: C O'Connor 0-4 (3f), E Regan 0-2(2f), D Kirby 0-1.

GALWAY: T Healy; L Silke, J Shaugh-nessy, E Walsh; M Loughnane, D Burke, PVarley; F O Curraoin, D Comer; C Mul-ryan, S Moran, P Cunningham; S Walsh, AVarley, G Kelly.Subs: C Rabbitte for Cunningham (h-t), SMaughan for Kelly (38), E O hEochaidh forMoran (53), I Burke for A Varley (57), GCanavan for Comer (59).

MAYO: P Mannion; B Harrison, N Free-man, A Butler; C Horan, C Walsh, ECollins; D Kirby, M Forde; A Gallagher, ERegan, F Durkan; D Coen, C O'Shea, CO'Connor.Subs: J Shaughnessy for Gallagher (42),E Jordan for Durkan (44), E Lavin forCoen (49), K Rutledge for Regan (59).

REF: Paddy Neilan (Roscommon).

Roscommon .......4-10 Leitrim .................2-8


ROSCOMMON'S defence of the Con-nacht U-21 title remains on courseafter they eased past Leitrim in Kil-

toom to reach the provincial final.And they go on to meet 16-times

champions Galway in the final after ShaneWalsh's magic gave the Tribesmen an en-couraging victory over Mayo at Tuam Sta-dium.

Roscommon never looked in dangeragainst Leitrim from the first minute whenColm Compton goaled and DiarmuidMurtagh pointed for the Rossies.

Shane Moran proved accurate fromdead balls for Leitrim, but once Comptonbagged his second goal after Cian Con-nolly's three-pointer for the 2012 champi-

ons, the result was never in doubt.Winning a championship game by eight

points usually means a good day’s workbut the sight of Nigel Dineen and his man-agement team in the middle of the Kiltoompitch, deep in conversation ten minutesafter the final whistle was revealing.

Leading by 13 points at half-time andwith the wind to come in the second half,one of Roscommon’s biggest champi-onship victories against Leitrim lookedlikely.

But the visitors were far from embar-rassed during the second period. Theytook the game to Roscommon and ex-posed frailties that need to be rectified be-fore the provincial decider against Galway.

When Dineen eventually made his wayoff the pitch, he found it hard to putRoscommon’s performance into context.

“It’s hard to sum it up really to tell youthe truth. The first half went well butLeitrim won the second half. I’m obviouslydisappointed with the way the lads slack-ened off in the second half. The effort was-n’t good enough to win a championshipgame. The lads switched off and we just

couldn’t get them to lift their performance,”he explained.

SCORERS – Roscommon: C Compton2-1, C Connolly, D Smith 1-1 each, KMurtagh 0-3 (2f), T Corcoran (f), D Murray,S Killoran, E Smith 0-1 each. Leitrim: S Moran 0-5 (5f), C Gilheaney, MBeirne 1-0 each, M McWeeney, P Mc-Gowan, C Guckian 0-1 each.

ROSCOMMON: T Lowe; D Murray, R Tim-oney, C Cafferkey; M Connaughton, J Mc-Manus, C Daly; F Kelly, T Corcoran; SKilloran, C Connolly, F Cregg; D Smith, CCompton, C Murtagh. Subs: M Flahertyfor Keenan (22), E Kenny for Compton(37), E Smith for Corcoran (37), M Hollandfor Cregg (52), D McDermott for Daly (62).

LEITRIM: B Flynn; M Murphy, D Keane, MClancy; S Quinn, J Rooney, M McGourty;D Wynne, C Guckian; D Flynn, T Mulvey,M McWeeney; J Mulligan, S Moran, KBoyle.

REF: S Hehir (Galway).

Brilliant Tribesmen into final

Roscommon too strong forLeitrim’s challenge

AROUND THE PROVINCE • AROUND THE

Page 11


GALWAY'S intentions ofdefending their Leinsterhurling title have been hit

with the news that forward NiallHealy could miss the next fourmonths after tearing tendons inhis bicep.

Healy has already undergonesurgery to repair the damagesustained in a recent trainingmatch with Anthony Cunning-ham's side, but could be a worryfor the championship.

And the injury blow is particu-larly galling for Healy who hasjust returned to the Galwaypanel this year after missingmost of last year with a trouble-some hand injury.

“It is a huge blow for Niall. Itis horrible, desperate altogether,”said Galway boss Cunningham.

“I hate to see any of the ladsgetting injured but Niall has hadno luck at all. He has had his fairshare of injuries and bad ones atthat.”

The 27-year-old Craughwellattacker had already appearedback to his best in the earlymonths of the year and hit thenet for the Tribesmen in theirleague win over Kilkenny.

But Cunningham is hopingthat the injury will not prove asserious as first thought and thathe may yet be able to play somepart in their provincial champi-onship.

“To be honest Niall still has togo back to the surgeon for acheck up to see how things havegone. It will be a maximum offour months, but it could be aminimum of a month yet.

“We should have more newslater this week after his checkup. Hopefully he'll be okay toplay this summer, maybe he canget some club hurling under hisbelt for June,” he said.

The news is a little better forNiall Burke, who has undergonesurgery on a calf injury. But Cun-ningham expects the talentedyoungster to be ready for aleague final, should Galwayovercome Kilkenny on Sunday.


GALWAY'S top hurling offi-cial has welcomed theexcitement brought by

the six-team format in the na-tional league but is concernedthat it does not give managersthe opportunity to experiment.

Joe Byrne, chairman of theGalway hurling committee, saidthat there was great intensity toSunday’s final round of gameswhere each of the six teams hada chance of making the semi-fi-nals while each also faced thepossibility of relegation.

“There is no doubt there wasan edge to matches and that willbring teams on.

“But against that, teams prob-ably felt they had little room to

experiment or try out players.Tipperary drafted in a lot of play-ers for the opening gameagainst Cork but were less in-clined after that after suffering abig defeat. “I’m sure other coun-ties felt the same, you just abouthad to win every game. Ofcourse, players who did get achance and impressed will havedone their cause a power ofgood because the matches werea step up on other years in termsof intensity,” he said.

Byrne said that reaching thesemi-finals was a huge boost toGalway for their championshippreparations.

“It extends the league by atleast another three weeks. Theclocks have changed, there willbe more time for hurling and thatwill bring this Galway side on alot,” he added.

CADBURY’S CONNACHT GAA U-21 FOOTBALL

Poetry inmotion asYeats men fallto GalwayGalway .................................1-20Sligo ......................................0-7


GALWAY easily qualified for the Connacht U-21 champi-onship semi-final after Gary Kelly and Shane Walsh ledthem to victory over Sligo at Tuam Stadium.

Anthony Brennan's side had no answer to Galway's dynamicperformance and a tally of 1-18 from open play underlines Gal-way superiority.

The Tribesmen now have just four full days recovery beforetheir semi-final with Mayo on Saturday, so Galway manager AlanFlynn was thankful they had an easier than expected challenge.

“It is very quick. We are lucky that we don't think we have anyserious injuries after that game. We were able to take off a fewlads early enough, we made five changes pretty quickly, but Sat-urday won't be long coming around.

“The winning margin probably flattered us a bit in the end, butwe have to be happy with it being our first day out. The boys in-side were pretty sharp, but they were been given good servicefrom out the field too. Any time they got quick, early ball theystarted to do a bit of damage,” said Flynn, who also acts as a se-lector with Alan Mulholland and the Galway seniors.

Sean Moran's goal after 13 minutes gave the Tribesmen asignificant cushion early on, but they stretched that advantageout to 1-8 to 0-5 by the break, as Walsh and Kelly began to findtheir range.

Moran's rattled the net after some good creative work fromPaul and Adrian Varley, but two good points from Niall Murphybrought Anthony Brennan's side back to within two points by the20th minute.

But they never got any closer than that as Galway kicked 12of the last 13 points to cruise into the last four.

SCORERS – Galway: G Kelly 0-5, S Walsh 0-5 (2f), S Moran 1-1, A Varley 0-2, C Mulryan 0-2, P Cunningham 0-1, P Varley 0-1,F O Curraoin 0-1, D Comer 0-1, D Burke 0-1Sligo: N Murphy 0-4 (1f), S Cawley 0-1. R Connolly 0-1, JRodgers 0-1 (1f)GALWAY: T Healy; L Silke, J Shaughnessy, P Ezergailis; MLoughnane, E Walsh, P Varley; F O Curraoin, D Comer; C Mul-ryan, S Moran, P Cunningham; S Walsh, A Varley, G Kelly.Subs: C Rabbitte for Cunningham (39), D Burke for Loughnane(44), S Maughan for Kelly (49), E O hEochaidh for O Curraoin(50), M Heskin for Comer (55).SLIGO: J O'Hora; C Gorman, G Ryan, E Flannigan; M O'Hehir,C O'Dowd, Ciaran Brennan; D Coffey, R Connolly; J Rodgers, NMurphy, S Regan; S Cawley, B Egan, Cathal Brennan.Subs: K McDonnell for B Egan (21), D Brady for Rodgers (27),M Gordan for O'Dowd (31), E Connolly for Gorman (49), C Surlisfor Regan (58).

Healy injury blowfor Tribesmen

Byrne applaudsleague format

Page 12

St Attracta’s College(Tubbercurry) ...............4-11

Our Lady’s College(Templemore) .................1-7

By LEO GRAYSligo Champion

ST. Attracta’s College, Tubbercurry,emerged as worthy All-IrelandChampions with a sparkling display

against a highly-rated Our Lady’s Second-ary School, Templemore, in a thrilling Ma-sita Senior ‘B’ final at Cusack Park.

The South Sligo boys produced abreathtaking performance to fashion athoroughly deserved 4-11 to 1-7 win,thereby clinching the coveted title for thefirst time since 2006

The Tipperary team went into the gamewith a great reputation but they were nomatch for a ruthless St. Attracta’s teamwho stamped their authority early on andnever looked like surrendering their gripon a thrilling encounter.

The ‘Super Saints’ led by 0-4 to 0-3after 22 minutes and then came the goalwhich dramatically transformed the patternof the contest. Padraig Mitchell won pos-session about 50m from goal and set offon a penetrating run before linking withStephen Connolly who unleashed a pow-erful shot low to the net.

It got worse for the Munster side twominutes before half time when St. At-tracta’s struck for a second goal. This timeit was Cian Gilmartin who inflicted the

damage, finishing to the net from closerange after good work by Jason Perry.

That gave the South Sligo boys a 2-9to 0-5 interval lead and they had no hesi-tation in resting on their laurels in the sec-ond half.

Templemore added on a goal and fourpoints in the second period but the goalcame from a penalty while all the pointswere from frees.

It was St Attracta’s who continued to bethe dominant side, however.

Even after Sean Patrick Guerins foundthe net from a penalty for Templemore, theSouth Sligo boys came back with the per-fect response, a clinically taken goal byConor McIntyre.

That put St. Attracta’s 3-10 to 1-6 infront and they rounded off a sensationalperformance with a fourth goal from Dar-ragh Kilcoyne near the end.

On their relentless march to All-Irelandglory, the South Sligo boys rattled up amagnificent 18 goal spree, an indication ofthe strength and power of their forwardline.

All six forwards got on the scoresheetin the final but they had plenty of defen-sive qualities as well.

All in all, it was an exceptional perform-

ance by the St Attracta’s squad who werea credit to their manager, Colm McGee,and his selectors, Pat Kilcoyne, and GaryGaughan.

ST ATTRACTA’S: Eoin McDonagh(Coolaney/Mullinabreena), Pearse Gorman(Coolaney/Mullinbreena), Barry Walsh(Tourlestrane), Michael Gordon (Curry);Stephen Barrett (Coolaney/Mullinabreena),John Carr (Tourlestrane), Niall Murphy(Charlestown) 0-1; Jason Brennan (Cloonacool)0-1; Cathal Henry (Tourlestrane (0-1); StephenConnolly (Coolaney/Mullinabreena) 1-2,Padraig Mitchell (Bunninadden) 0-1, KennethGavigan (Tourlestrane) 0-2; Jason Perry (Tub-bercurry) 0-1, Cian Gilmartin (Tubbercurry) 1-0, Conor McIntyre (1-0). Subs: Jonathan Durkin (Curry) for Mitchell(38); Darragh Kilcoyne (Tubbercurry) 1-1 forBrennan (49); Darren Coleman (Coolaney/Mul-linabreena) for Gavigan (51); Sean O’Donnell(Bunninadden); J P Lang (Tourlestrane) forCarr (55). OUR LADY'S: L Murphy; M Campion, D Brere-ton, James Bergin; J Ryan, B Kennedy, JJ Ryan;C O'Riordan, J McGrath; J Fogarty, E Moloney, DMcEnroe; T Nolan, SP Guerins, B O'Connell. Subs: J Nyland for Nolan (23), Jamie Bergin forO'Connell (32), T Maher for Fogarty (55).

REF: D Maher (Westmeath).

ALL-IRELAND ‘B’ COLLEGES’ FOOTBALL FINAL

Glorious victoryfor St Attracta’s

St Attracta's seniors from the Coolaney/Mullinabreena GAA club celebrate their win on All-Ire-land final day. From (L to R): Brendan Doddy, Stephen Connolly, Pearse Gorman, Eoin McDonagh,Darren Coleman and Stephen Barrett. Missing from photo is Colin Marren. Photo courtesy ofCoolaney/Mullinabreena GAA Club.

Tourlestrane's John Carr aims for the posts in St Attracta's All-Ireland final win over Templemore. Photo: Eamonn McMunn

Tubbercurry side crownedAll-Ireland champions

Page 13

St Attracta'sTubbercurry .........3-10

St Michael'sLurgan .................0-7

ABLISTERING second half performancepaved the way for St. Attracta's compre-hensive win over St. Michael's, Lurgan,

in the Masita All Ireland Post Primary Schoolssenior football B semi-final at Derrylin, Fer-managh.

Reduced to fourteen men when captain,Jason Brennan, was rather harshly sent off fora second bookable offence in the 26th minute,the South Sligo boys had to dig deep to fashiona thoroughly deserved victory which was everybit as convincing as the scoreline suggests.

The teams were tied at three points each atthe time of Brennan's dismissal and it lookedas if the contest might swing in the Lurganteam's favour.

But the heroic Tubber boys refused to settlefor second best. They responded to their nu-merical disadvantage with renewed vigour andgot an important break when they wereawarded a penalty on the stroke of half timeafter St. Michael's 'keeper foot-blocked Ken-neth Gavigan's goalbound shot.

Jason Perry stepped up to take the spot-kickand was the calmest person in the ground ashe dispatched a perfectly-placed shot low tothe keeper's right to give the Connacht cham-pions a 1-3 to 0-3 lead at the break.

That changed the complexion of the gameand gave St. Attracta's the perfect platform onwhich to build a dynamic second half perform-ance.

True, St. Michael's hopes suffered a severe

setback when one of their better players, JohnMagee, was sent off after picking up a secondyellow card seven minutes into the second half.

They were trailing by a point at that stagebut they struggled to regain their composureafter Magee's departure as St. Attracta's setabout stamping their authority on the ex-changes.

With the teams both reduced to fourteenmen, the game became more open and free-flowing and this suited St. Attracta's perfectlyas they passed the ball with precision andpace, picking off a string of superbly executedscores.

Just two minutes after Magee's dismissal,the South Sligo college struck for a highly im-portant goal - and in its creation and executionit underlined what the St. Attracta's team is allabout.

An incisive attack, initiated by the unsparingStephen Barrett and carried on by the impres-sive Stephen Connolly, tore the Lurgan defenceto shreds and Perry provided the icing on thecake, crashing the ball low to the net.

That gave St. Attracta's a 2-3 to 0-5 lead andthere was simply no way back for the UlsterChampions.

The Sligo boys almost threw away a com-manding lead in the Connacht final but therewas no danger of any such anxiety on this oc-casion as they maintained a high-tempo mo-mentum right to the end.

Pushing forward with relentless determina-tion, St. Attracta's added on a third goal in the53rd minute.

And again it was a well-crafted effort asPadraig Mitchell set off on a penetrating runbefore firing a fierce drive to the net.

During this period of dominance, the Sligoboys also slotted over a number of exquisitepoints from Stephen Connolly, Padraig

Mitchell, Jason Perry, Cian Gilmartin, DarraghKilcoyne and Cathal Henry.

In the end, St. Attracta's ran out very com-fortable winners but it didn't look that way formost of the first half when there was very littlebetween the sides.

Ruairi Loughran, who scored all of his side'spoints, gave St. Michael's the lead with a pointfrom a free after five minutes but the Sligoside hit back with a pointed free from CathalHenry.

Then Niall Murphy from play and Henryfrom a free made it 0-3 to 0-1 in favour of St.Attracta's. Two pointed frees by Loughranmade it all square before Jason Brennan gothis marching orders.

The Sligo boys found inspiration in the faceof adversity and Perry's goal from the penaltyspot just before half-time gave them the confi-dence to go on and take the game by the scruffof the neck after the interval.ST ATTRACTA’S: Eoin McDonagh, Pearse Gor-man, Barry Walsh, Michael Gordon, StephenBarrett, John Carr, Niall Murphy (0-1), CathalHenry (0-4, 3f), Jason Brennan (c), StephenConnolly (0-1), Padraig Mitchell (0-1), KennethGavigan, Jason Perry (2-1, 1-0 pen), CianGilmartin (1-1), Conor McIntyre.Subs: Darragh Kilcoyne (0-1 f) for C McIntyre(h-t).ST MICHAEL’S: Jack Wilson, Jason Rogers,Drew McKenna, Adam Kelly, Aaron Casey, SheaHeffron, Eoin McCabrey, Oisin Lenehan,Jonathan Torode, John Magee, Diarmuid O’Ha-gan, Declan Heaney, Padraig Judge, RuairiLoughran 0-7, 0-5 frees, James McDade.Subs: Matthew Mulholland for D Heaney, NiallO’Neill for A Casey, Paddy Sheehan for A Kelly,Conor McConville for P Judge.REF: Martin Higgins (Fermanagh)


The St Attracta's College senior footballers celebrate their All-Ireland 'B' Colleges’ victory after team captain, Jason Brennan, accepts the NoonanCup. Photos: Eamonn McMunn

St Attracta’s reach Noonan Cupfinal with spirited showing

Page 14


By LEO GRAY Sligo Champion

ST. Attracta's triumphant manager, ColmMcGee, was loud in his praise for his play-ers after their sensational victory in the

Masita Post Primary Schools All-Ireland final atCusack Park, Mullingar.

The former county star masterminded theSouth Sligo School's first national senior titlesince 2006 but he was more than happy to de-flect all the credit on to his talented bunch ofyoung players.

"These lads are just brilliant", he beamed."We had a hard year and I know I demanded

a lot from them."But everything I asked them to do,

they did it without complaint."They just kept coming up with the

goods and they never gave up, from ourvery first game right through to the All-Ireland final"

St. Attracta's had a real scare in theConnacht final when they almost threwaway a big lead but they were outstandingthroughout the Provincial and All-Irelandcampaigns, emerging as worthy champi-ons.

"We got a bit of a wake-up call in theConnacht final but we learned from it",said McGee.

"We knew that we had to keep going for sixtyminutes in every game and that was evident inthe final.

"We were well in control at half-time, leadingby 2-5 to 0-3, but our message to the boys in thedressing room was to keep going. No All-Irelandis won by one half of good football. So we knewwe had to keep driving on and the lads did thatbrilliantly in the second half"

The South Sligo boys ran up a remarkabletally of eighteen goals during the season andtheir goal machine was in top gear again in Sat-urday's final.

"Yes, we've got plenty of goals in the team,which is great, but the overall panel made agreat contribution all year. I'm very proud ofevery one of them", the manager added.

Captain, Jason Brennan, described thefinal as a great day for the College.

"This means so much to everybody - theCollege, our clubs and our families", he said.

"It's a great honour to be captain of sucha great bunch of lads."

"We came here to finish the job and therewas no way we were going to leave the All-Ireland title behind us.

"Every single member of the panel playeda role but our manager, Colm McGee, is themain man. He never stopped believing inus", the triumphant captain added

McGee thrilled with victory for Tubbercurry boys

St Attracta's Kenneth Gavigan (Tourlestrane).

St Attracta's Jason Brennan

St Brigid’s, Loughrea(Galway) ................................0-13

St Fergal’s College, Rathdowney (Laois) ...............2-10

By JACKIE CAHILL

AT half-time, John Casey couldn’t see ithappening. St Fergal’s, Rathdowney,were eight points down against St

Brigid’s (Loughrea) in last Saturday’s MasitaGAA All-Ireland Vocational Schools senior hurl-ing A final and it seemed there was no wayback.

The St Brigid’s full-forward line – DanielNevin, Brian Molloy and Jamie Ryan – hadbanged over nine points between them as theGalway boys cruised into a 0-10 to 0-2 intervallead.

The gap stretched to ten when St Brigid’sregistered the first two points of the secondhalf but what happened next brought a fittingend to this competition.

Casey and his backroom staff looked on,awestruck, as St Fergal’s outscored their oppo-nents by 2-8 to 0-1 for the remainder of thegame.

Ten points down in the 35th minute, theyended up winning by three, with two late goals

from captain Aidan Corby and Daire Quinlansealing victory in the last ever final of the Vo-cational Schools A championship.

“Maybe they might give us the cup forever!”smiled Casey, a hurling evangelist who arrivedfrom Causeway in county Kerry, in 1977.

What Casey and successive managementteams have achieved is noteworthy, at a timewhen Laois hurling is struggling to make an im-pression on the national stage.

This was a second title for St Fergal’s, whopreviously won it in 2006.

St Brigid’s, meanwhile, were chasing three-in-a-row, having been awarded the 2012 crownin the boardroom following the abandonmentof the semi-final between Nenagh VS and StFergal’s.

“We had our setbacks,” Casey recalls. “In1994, against Athenry by a point. We lost a fewsemi-finals to Loughrea with good teams.Today is the icing on the cake.”

Seven years ago, Conor Dunne captained StFergal’s to glory. On Saturday, at sunny SempleStadium, Conor’s brother Gavin was quite su-perb at centre back.

In an entertaining game, St Fergal’s refusedto say no and with the breeze at their backs inthe second half, they set about eating into theSt Brigid’s lead. Slowly but surely, the marginreduced and when Corby took a pass fromQuinlan in the 56th minute to rifle home a

super goal, the sides were level at 1-10 to 0-13.In the final minute of normal time, Quinlanbeat Garry McHugo to Robbie Phelan’s longball and fired home a memorable winning goal.

Casey said: “Once they believed in them-selves, that they could do it, they moved for-ward. In the first half, they were overtakenwith the whole situation. A lot of them neverplayed here before, a lot of them never playedunder a camera and I think the whole thing gotto them.”

SCORERS – St Brigid’s: B Molloy 0-6 (2f), JRyan 0-3, D Nevin 0-2, D Dolan & E Burke 0-1each. St Fergal’s: D Quinlan 1-3 (0-2f), A Corby 1-1, LO’Connell (1 65) & M Kavanagh (1 sl) 0-2 each, CKilbane and C Stapleton 0-1 each. ST BRIGID’S, LOUGHREA: R Brennan; JMooney, G McHugo, D Cronin; C Jennings, DO’Donoghue, P Prendergast; D Dolan, E Burke;B Dolan, J Mannion, J Monaghan; D Nevin, BMolloy, J Ryan. Sub: K Cooney for Mannion (60+1). ST FERGAL’S COLLEGE, RATHDOWNEY: DBrennan; C Quinlan, E Doyle, C Kilbane; BMeade, G Dunne, R Phelan; C Stapleton, LO’Connell; S Bergin, P Whelan, L Cleere; M Ka-vanagh, D Quinlan, A Corby. Subs: E Fitzpatrick for Whelan (38), D Hoganfor Bergin (46), S Phelan for Cleere (60+1).REF: C Lyons (Cork).

MASITA GAA ALL-IRELAND VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS’ SENIOR HURLING ‘A’ CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

St Brigid's let lead slip in final

St. Attracta's triumphant manager, ColmMcGee. Photos: Eamonn McMunn

Page 15

St Pat's (Maghera) .........3-8St Gerald's (Castlebar) ..1-7

AFTER a thrilling victory over great ri-vals St Jarlath's of Tuam in the Con-nacht semi-final, St Gerald's were

unable to make it though to the HoganCup final for the first time since 1997.

The obstacle of Sean Marty Lockhart'sSt Pat's of Maghera proved too high toclear for the Castlebar side as two goalslate in first-half action put the Derry side incontrol.

The MacRory Cup winners went intothis semi-final at Brewster Park in En-niskillen as favourites and fully justifiedthat tag, although they were made to workhard by St Gerald's.

The Connacht champions looked goodin the early stages as they established athree-point lead but the concession of thetwo goals as they were forced to chasethe game against the breeze after therestart.

Those early points came from JamesDurcan and Ronan Carolan but Magherahit back through powerful full-forwardStephen O'Hara and Neil McNicholl.

St Gerald's then enjoyed their bestspell of the game that yielded points fromtwo Durcan frees and a '45' from MarkMcHugh, but that was as good as it got forthem.

The Derry side began to find their feetand 2-3 without reply before the break putthem in control.

Midfielder Peter Cassidy got a brace ofpoints before 15-year-old wing-back ConorGlass finished off a mazy run with a su-perb individual goal.

And when Gerald Bradley hit the netjust before the half-time whistle the Derryschool held a 2-5 to 0-5 interval lead.

St Gerald's needed a good start to thesecond half and they got it. Within ten min-utes they had reduced the deficit to twopoints as midfielder Eamon Reganshowed good strength to finish to theMaghera net.

Maghera didn't panic, though, and asecond Glass goal settled their nerves be-fore points from Conor Carville and DannyTallon sealed the issue.

In the end St Pat's went on to claimtheir fifth Hogan Cup in a blistering victoryover St Pat's Navan, so there was littleshame for St Gerald's who must be satis-fied to end the year as Connacht schoolschampions.SCORERS – St Pat's: C Glass 2-0, GBradley 1-0, C Carville, P Cassidy (1f), D

Tallon 0-2 each, N McNicholl, S O'Hara (f)0-1 each. St Gerald's: J Durcan 0-4 (3fs), E Regan1-0, M McHugh ('45'), M Plunket, R Car-olan 0-1 each.ST PAT'S: C McCloy; C Glass, D Hughes,O Hegarty; C Mulholland, C Carville, PHagan; J Kearney, P Cassidy; C O'Do-herty, G Bradley, N McNicholl; C Gal-lagher, S O'Hara, D Tallon. Subs: CConvery for O'Hara, N Toner for McNi-choll, N Gorman for Mulholland, D McFaulfor Hagan.ST GERALD'S: D McHale; K McNally, MMcHugh, K Egan; P Durcan, M Hall, JLydon; R Coleman, E Regan; J Gannon,M Plunket, S Conlon; R Carolan, A Mur-phy, J Durcan. Subs: C Dravins for Mc-Nally, M Ruane for Gannon, N Jordan forLydon, J O'Malley for Carolan.REF: N Mooney (Cavan).

ALL-IRELAND COLLEGES’ SENIOR ‘A’ SEMI-FINAL

Gerald’s campaign ends athands of eventual champions

St Gerald's College captain Patrick Durcan ispresented with the Connacht title by PaddyNaughton.

Ryan Coleman battles for possession

Page 16

St Augustine's(Dungarvan) ......................2-8

Scoil MhuireStrokestown ...................0-10

By NOEL FALLONRoscommon Herald

SCOIL Mhuire manager Séamus ÓDonghaile spoke with dignity andpride about his team as they coped

with the heartbreak of losing an All-Irelandfinal in injury-time.

A gripping, intensely-contested gameshowed that no All-Ireland title, at anylevel, is easily won but Ó Donghaile wasn’tsurprised by how good St. Augustine’s,Dungarvan were.

“St. Augustine’s were an extremelyphysically, strong team, they had somepowerful men. Six of that team will bestarting in the All-Ireland Colleges’ ‘A’ hurl-ing final and three of four more are on thepanel. We had done our research onthem. We had seen their results and weknew they were good,” Séamus explained.

“They were physically fit and powerful,we didn’t have the same power. St. Augus-tine’s had 15 huge men who were very fit.

They were great athletes and they weretough. They have a great tradition andwere in an All-Ireland ‘B’ final in the past,”the manager maintained.

“I was happy at half-time even thoughwe would be playing into a very strongwind. The concession of a goal was cru-cial in a game between two such evenly-balanced teams. At half-time neither of thetwo teams had any goal chances,” henoted.

The Scoil Mhuire manager didn’t try tomake excuses for his team’s defeat butacknowledged that county minor CathalCompton, who was missing through injury,was “a massive loss”.

The defeat was particularly hard totake as Strokestown had held an 0-8 to 0-3 lead at half-time and could now be All-Ireland champions, but for two goals in thelast six minutes from Joe Allen andMichael Sweeney.

“We could have had a penalty but thatwas out of our hands. I am very proud ofthis group of players for the way they con-ducted themselves on and off the field.They have been absolutely super. Thisteam has been a credit, they have beenfabulous all year long. Their behaviour hasbeen 100 per cent. No matter what wasasked of them, they did it,” Séamus em-

phasised.He also paid tribute to the team’s sup-

porters. “The support we’ve received allyear has been phenomenal. From theConnacht final in Kiltimagh to BrewsterPark for the All-Ireland semi-final andagain today,” he commented.

As one All-Ireland campaign ended justminutes earlier Séamus admitted it wasdifficult to think about starting all overagain.

“We won’t have Cathal or Thomas Cor-coran but we will have Tadhg O’Rourke,Seán Mullooly, David Neary and DiarmuidMcGann so we have the nucleus of a re-spectable team but it’s difficult to startfrom scratch again,” he concluded.ST. AUGUSTINE’S: K Dwane, C Tobin, BLobby, J Mullaney, C O’Neill, T Devine, RBrowne, S Keating 0-1, D Gartland, J Allen1-0, T Bourke 0-3, B French, M Troy 0-3,C Prunty 0-1, M Maher. Subs: E Kiely forFrench (42), M Sweeney 1-0 for Maher(48), C Cusack for Kiely (58).SCOIL MHUIRE, STROKESTOWN: C Mac-Donagh, K Beirne, C Gibbons, C Higgins,E Kelly, D Neary, D O’Rourke, T Corcoran0-2, S Mullooly, M Fallon, D Carleton 0-2,E O’Beirne, M Conway 0-2, T O’Rourke, DMcGann 0-4.REF: F Barry (Kildare).

ALL-IRELAND COLLEGES’ ‘C’ FOOTBALL FINAL

Late agony for Strokestown

Scoil Mhuire, Strokestown, where defeated in the All-Ireland Colleges’ ‘C’ football final. Photo: Roscommon Herald

AROUND THE PROVINCE • AROUND THE PROVINCE • AROUND THE PROVINCE

Page 17

MEMBERS of the Con-nacht GAA Media werehonoured for their work

in 2011 and 2012 at the recentGAA McNamee Awards cere-mony at Croke Park.

The three winners werepresented with their McNameeAwards by GAA PresidentLiam O'Neill to recognise theiroutstanding contributions inthe area of media and commu-nications.

The Awards, the GAA Na-tional Communication andMedia Awards named after thelate Pádraig McNamee, formerPresident of the GAA, Chair-man of the GAA Commission(1969-1971) and member ofRTÉ authority are presentedannually to members of thelocal and national media.

Mayo based newspaper'The Western People' washanded the 2012 ProvincialMedia Award for their previewof the 2012 All-Ireland seniorfootball final ‘D-Day for Mayo’.

This 72 page tabloid sup-plement is a worthy publicationcapturing the importance ofthe event for the people ofMayo. Its scope, editorial con-

tent, quality of the writing, andpictorial content were excel-lent.

It combines expert matchanalysis of the big game withreflections on major games ofyears gone by and alsoreaches out to the Mayo Dias-pora with articles outlining theirviewpoint.

It was attractively pre-sented, merging colour withblack and white pictures taste-fully, and is an ideal souvenirof the great memento.

The McNamee Award for2011's Best GAA Publicationwent to James Laffey for hisbook 'The Road To 51: TheMaking of Mayo Football'.

Laffey’s book is a com-pelling read; tracing the historyof the rise of football in Mayoand sets that rise within thehistory of the county and withinthe history of Ireland.

It is much more than asports book offering as it doesa brilliant insight into the menwho made football such an in-tegral part of the life of Mayopeople.

And the Gradaim naGaeilge 2012 award went toRaidió na Gaeltachta's 'Spórtan tSathairn' show.

Bíonn clúdach cuim-sitheach ar imeachtaí spóirt arfud na tíre, agus níos faide óbhaile chomh maith, ar angClár “Spórt an tSathairn” arRTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta idir14.00 – 18.00 gach Satharn ócheann ceann na bliana.

Bíonn faisnéis, anailís,agallaimh, torthaí, tuairiscíagus tráchtaireacht bheo ar angclár a chuireann Seán BánBreathnach i láthair, aguséagsúlacht thar cuimse sagclár. Pé scéal tugtar tús áitedo na cluichí Gaelacha, peil,iomáint, camógaíocht agusliathróid láimhe.

GAA President Liam O'Neill presents James Laffey, fromMayo, with the 2011 Best GAA Publication Award.

Photo: Matt Browne / SPORTSFILE

Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael Liam Ó Néill presents Sean BanBreathnach, Raidió na Gaeltachta, with the 2012 Irish Language Awardat the GAA's recent McNamee Awards ceremony at Croke Park.

Photo: Matt Browne / SPORTSFILE

GAA President Liam O'Neill presents Anthony Hennigan and Michael Gallagher,from the Western People with the 2012 Provincial Media McNamee Award.Photo: Matt Browne / SPORTSFILE

Connacht media presentedwith McNamee Awards

FROM the 18th to 21st September this year,Aer Lingus in partnership with Etihad Air-ways, will host the first ever International

Hurling Festival. The qualifying games will takeplace in regional towns around Galway withthe finals being staged at Pearse Stadium.

Teams from all over the world are being in-vited to compete in this unique tournament.Sixteen overseas teams will participate in thecompetition including teams from New York,San Francisco, Canada, the UK, Continental Eu-rope, the Middle East and Australia.

The tournament will also serve as an oppor-tunity to promote the game of hurling in devel-oping regions by including teams such asBuenos Aires, Milwaukee, Indianapolis and aEurope team made up of non-Irish nationals.

Aer Lingus announced the four festival hosttowns; Loughrea, Gort, Ballinasloe and GalwayWest, along with the festival hotels who willprovide accommodation for the overseasteams. A number of lively traditional musicand dance events will be staged in these ven-ues throughout the festival.

Aer Lingus also announced details of thelocal underage Hurling Tournament that willrun in parrell to the adult International HurlingTournament.

Speaking at the launch were representivesfrom European GAA, PRO Brian Clerkin andBritian GAA - President Brendy Brien andDonal McCarty from the Middle East GAA whospoke of the huge level of interest and excite-ment around the Hurling Festival in their re-spective regions. Also in attendance were theMayor of Galway City Cllr, Terry O' Flaherty andMayor of Galway County Thomas Welby, a se-lection of All Star Players amongst other spe-cial guests.

Aer Lingus Chief Human Resources OfficerMichael Grealy said, "We are very excited tobring this one of its kind hurling festival to Gal-way City and County, in the year of The Gather-ing. Galway is renowned not only for itshospitality but also for its festivals of tradi-tional music and dance.”

He added, “We have seen a huge response tothe event and are confident that the Aer Lingushurling festival, together with our partners Eti-had Airways, will help to foster an interest inone of our most loved national sports. Thegame of hurling is uniquely Irish, like Aer Lin-gus, and is a source of enormous pride to the

Irish all around the World. We look forward towelcoming many friends and visitors home toIreland and we will be extending a special wel-come to all the visitors to Galway next Septem-ber.”

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways’ ChiefCommercial Officer, said: “As proud sponsor ofthe GAA Hurling All Ireland Senior Champi-onship and official airline to the GAA, we aredelighted to support the International HurlingFestival. The festival will bring teams from theMiddle East and Australia to Ireland, the homeof Gaelic sports, and we are very proud to playsuch a key role in making the event a huge suc-cess. We wish best of luck to all the teams thattake part.”


Page 18

International HurlingFestival for Galway

PARTICIPATING TEAMSNew YorkSan FranciscoChicagoLondon – St GabrielsLondon – Kilburn GealsLondon – Robert Emmets Rest of BritainAustraliaCanadaEurope (Irish)Europe (Non-Irish)The Middle East Buenos AiresBarley House Wolves / AllentownDenver / IndianapolisMilwaukee

For more information visitwww.aerlingushurling.com

Nuala Cooney Aer Lingus, Dave Walsh, General Manager, Ireland, Etihad Airways, Galway hurlingcaptain, Fergal Moore; Michael Grealy, Chief Human Resources Officer, Miroslava Andrejkova,Etihad Airways. Photo: Andrew Downes.

Leanne McGarry, Etihad Airways ,and Carmel Coyne, Aer Lingus, with Galway Hurler, DavidCollins, and Salthill Knocknacarra hurlers, Donal O'Shea and Finn Timon. Photo:Andrew Downes.


Page 19


JOE Canning believes that it would be asuperb move by the GAA if they coulddevelop an international dimension

to hurling.The first ever international hurling

festival will be hosted by Galway nextSeptember as part of The Gathering andCanning reckons it could be the front-runner to a tournament on a biggerscale.

Sixteen teams from Britain, Europe,the Middle East, Australia, the UnitedStates and Argentina will take part inthe tournament next September.

Four of the teams will feature non-Irish born players and Canning be-lieves that the hurling gospel isspreading all the time.

“It is growing the whole time. There are newclubs popping up all over the world. That's onlygood for the marketing side of Gaelic games.Hopefully it will grow and grow into much big-ger things,” said the All-Star.

Canning said that it remains to be seen if ahurling equivalent of the International Rulesseries against Australia for the footballers canbe developed.

“It is something that you'd have to look atfurther down the line. Maybe down the line youmight have teams from Australia or something.There is so many people going abroad at the

moment that you'll have a pretty good teamout there in another few years. There might besomething like that in the future, which wouldbe great for hurling,” said the Galway attacker.

The festival, which is being sponsored byAer Lingus in partnership with Etihad Airways,will involve host venues in Loughrea, Gort, Bal-linasloe and on the west of Galway city, willrun from September 18-21.

Many of the teams who have been invited to

participate will feature players who have hadto emigrate because of the economic crisis inthis country and Canning says it will be a greatopportunity for them to come home.

“It is huge for guys that had to emigrate dueto work commitments and so and so. It is greatfor those guys to just come home for a coupleof days and get to meet their families andfriends again and play a bit of hurling and havea bit of craic over the weekend,” he added.

By MIKE FINNERTY Mayo News

COUNTY champions Ballaghaderreen areone of six Mayo senior football clubs thathave appointed new managers for the

2013 season.The East Mayo club have appointed Michael

Solan to succeed Mark O’Dowd, the Roscommoncoach that led Ballagh’ to the Moclair Cup lastyear.

Solan (30), a former Mayo minor, has had hisplaying career cut short by a knee injury butwas part of the Ballagh’ squad in both 2008 and2012 when they won the Mayo SFC title.

His brother, Barry, is a well-known strengthand conditioning coach who works with the likesof Katie Taylor, the Polish national soccer team,and the Laois senior footballers.

Meanwhile, Ray Connelly (Ballinrobe) and De-clan O’Reilly (Breaffy) have also made the step-up to senior management at club level this yearto replace Norman O’Brien and Jim O’Shea re-spectively.

Connelly, who is continuing to play juniorfootball with his home club, Hollymount/Car-ramore, won a National League medal withMayo in 2001.

O’Reilly, a former Mayo minor manager, hasextensive experience at vocational schools levelwith St Brendan’s College, Belmullet.

Elsewhere, John Healy (Ballina), Nigel Reape(Knockmore) and Declan Ronaldson(Shrule/Glencorrib) have returned to the man-agement positions in their home clubs after tak-ing a break from the sideline.

Healy, who last managed the Stephenites in2011, will combine the role with being chairmanof the North Mayo club. He will be joined in theBallina dugout by Paul McGarry and Robert‘Nobby’ McLoughlin.

Reape has enlisted the help of former Mayomidfielder Kevin Staunton as a trainer/selector.The ex-Knockmore attacker was also in chargewhen the North Mayo side lost the Mayo SFCFinal to Charlestown in 2009.

Meanwhile, Declan Ronaldson has returnedto take over Shrule/Glencorrib after a five-yearabsence following his decision to step down asmanager in 2007.

The former Mayo minor and U-21 boss led theSouth Mayo club to a county final in 2005 whenthey were beaten by Crossmolina.

Ronaldson’s selectors are Padraic Hennelly,Jimmy Duffy and David Walsh.

The remainder of the clubs competing in theMayo championship have retained the servicesof their managers with Pete Warren (Davitts),Denis Kearney (Charlestown), Pat Holmes(Castlebar), Peter Ford (Ballintubber), MartinMcNamara (Claremorris), Michael Moyles(Crossmolina), Tomas Tierney (Westport), Jack

Grimes (Tourmakeady) and Seán Finnegan(Aghamore) all back on board again.

There are also a number of new faces in themanagerial ranks among the clubs competingfor Mayo Intermediate championship honoursthis year.

Former Mayo captain Noel Connelly has takenthe reins of Hollymount/Carramore with JamesRegan, John Stagg and Pat Walsh installed ashis selectors.

Over the road in Kilmaine, Ollie Walsh re-places David Loughlin while Paul Keane is nowmanaging The Neale, last year’s Mayo juniorchampions.

Burrishoole, who have lost the last threecounty finals, will be under the tutelage of NeilChambers this year who has taken over fromColm McManamon.

Other newcomers to the bainisteoir bibs in-clude Michael ‘Duther’ Durkan (Parke) and DesRyan (Islandeady).

Elsewhere, former Crossmolina senior man-ager Hugh Lynn has taken charge of the Ardna-ree Sarsfields junior football team.

He succeeds Declan O’Dea who led the NorthMayo club to three county finals in the last fouryears, losing to Kiltimagh (2009), Islandeady(2011) and The Neale (2012).

Other new managers in the Junior ranks in-clude Padraig Walsh (Louisburgh) and JohnFeeney (Ballintubber).

Canning backs internationals

Six Mayo senior clubs appoint new managers

Joe Canning at the launch of theGalway Hurling Festival


Page 20


AGALWAY man has takenthe first steps on his ex-pedition to conquer

Mount Everest to raise fundsfor Pieta House West.

Peter O'Connell (29), whoplays Gaelic football for theKillererin club that also pro-duced Padraic Joyce, reachedthe Everest Base Camp onWednesday 17th April and isexpected to spend two daysacclimatising before setting offon the arduous climb to thehighest peak in the world.

O’Connell is attempting toclimb the 8,848 metres ofMount Everest to raise fundsfor Pieta House West who arein the process of establishing acentre in Tuam Co Galway. Hehas already broken throughthe !20,000 mark.

Pieta House, a centre forthe prevention of self-harm orsuicide, is 90 percent fundedby donations and O'Connell ishoping that his climb will raisevital funds and awareness forthe much needed centre inTuam, which is expected to

open later this year.And already he is in awe of

the challenge that is ahead ofhim as he attempts to becomethe first Connacht man tocrack the mountain.

“I have Everest towering infront of me for the past coupleof days, as well as gettingviews of four other 8,000mpeaks we saw on our acclima-tisation hike today.

“The views are simplyspectacular in every way youlook. We hiked up to 5000mtoday just for a the craic, ea-gles flying in the valleys, it'sjust unreal.

“The locals are kind andwarm, the fellow climbers aremighty craic, although some abit mad! All going great, sure i'llbe up in a few weeks,” he said.

His trip and expedition isfull self funded and all moniesraised will go directly to PietaHouse.

After passing throughGorak Shep to reach EverestBase Camp, the adventurer iscurrently preparing to climb thenotoriously unstable KhumbuIcefall at some stage in thenext week, which is regardedas one of the most dangeroussections of the route.

He has estimated it willtake four weeks to reach thesummit of Everest, and any-one interested in his progresscan follow him on Facebookunder PeterOConnellEver-est4Pieta.

Donations to Pieta HouseWest can be made online atwww.idonate.ie .

Killererin footballer hoping to crack Everest for Pieta House

Peter O'Connell at the summit of Manaslu.

Nicola Fahy and Leo Moran.Peter and his Granny, Jane Kelly from Tyrur, Newbridge, Co. Galway, before his 12th climb ofCroagh Patrick

Page 21

NUI Galway graduate and Galway GAA hurling committeerepresentative, Joe Byrne presented the University’s inau-gural Player of the Year Awards at a special ceremony atthe University recently.

The Player of the Year Awards honours all teams led bythe outstanding players who participated on behalf of NUIGalway during the past third-level GAA season. A numberof inter-county players from different counties were win-ners in hurling, camogie, ladies football and men’s Gaelicfootball.

Special Merit awards were also presented to those who,whilst not winning individual awards, achieved distinctionby playing with both fresher hurling and football awards,as well as club administration.

NUI Galway GAA Officer Michael O’Connor said: “This ispart of NUI Galway GAA's increased involvement with thecommunity and the players that represent the University.NUI Galway is also involved in the sponsorship of Man ofthe Match Awards in all Connacht hurling and football fi-nals at second level to help showcase the best Gaelicgames talent and highlight the games that take place atthis level.”

2012-13 PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARDS:Fresher A Football: Lee Cullen from Bellanleck, Co. Fermanagh Fresher B Football: Ger McWalter from Foxford, Co. MayoFresher C Football: Éanna Bane from Caherlistrane, Co. GalwayJunior Football: Joint winners - Paddy Collins from Breaffy, Co. Mayo and Ruardhí

McLoughlin from Carrick on Shannon, Co. LeitrimIntermediate Football: Kieran O’Donnell from the Aran Islands, Co. GalwaySenior Football: Shane Nally from Garrymore, Co. MayoFresher A Hurling: David Reidy from Ennis, Co. ClareFresher B Hurling: Hannan Iqbal from Ballyhaunis, Co. MayoIntermediate Hurling: Eoin O’Farrell from Blackpool, CorkSenior Hurling: Joseph Cooney from Bullaun, Co. GalwayCamogie: Aisling Dunphy from Graigue Ballycallan, Co. KilkennyFresher Ladies Football: Emer Gallagher from Termon, Co. DonegalLynch Cup Ladies Football: Michelle Guinan from Tullamore, Co. OffalyO’Connor Ladies Football: Ciara Hegarty from Moville, Co. DonegalSpecial Merit Awards: Conor Cleary from Kilmaley, Co. Clare (Dual Fresher); Kevin

McMahon from Marino, Co. Dublin (Dual Fresher); Gordon Joyce from Fairhill,Cork City (Dual Fresher); Dinny Mulvey from Butlersbridge Co. Cavan (JuniorFootball Manager); Maureen Heneghan from Portstewart, Co. Derry (Camogie);Rebecca Towey from Ballaghadeeren, Co. Mayo (Ladies Football); and ByranO’Loughlin from Kilmaley Co. Clare (Intermediate Hurling).

FOCUS ON GALWAY • FOCUS ON GALWAY • FOCUS ON GALWAY

Rebecca Towey from Ballaghaderren, Co.Mayo, receives a Special Merit Award fromGalway GAA hurling committee representativeJoe Byrne at the inaugural NUI Galway GAAAwards.

Hannam Iqbal from Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo, re-ceives the Fresher B Hurler of the Year Awardfrom Galway GAA hurling committee repre-sentative Joe Byrne at the inaugural NUI Gal-way GAA Awards.

Paddy Collins from Breaffy, Co. Mayo, receivesthe Junior Footballer of the Year Award fromGalway GAA hurling committee representativeJoe Byrne at the inaugural NUI Galway GAAAwards.

Ruairdhi McLoughlin from Carrick on Shan-non, Co.Leitrim, receives the Junior Footballerof the Year Award from Galway GAA hurlingcommittee representative Joe Byrne at the in-augural NUI Galway GAA Awards.

Éanna Bane from Caherlistrane, Co. Galway,receives the Fresher C Footballer of the YearAward from Galway GAA hurling committeerepresentative Joe Byrne at the inaugural NUIGalway GAA Awards.

Kieran O'Donnell from the Aran Islands, Co.Galway, receives the Intermediate Footballerof the Year Award from Galway GAA hurlingcommittee representative Joe Byrne at the in-augural NUI Galway GAA Awards.

NUIG students honoured for excellence in sport

Page 22

ROUND 6

Galway ...............1-16Wexford ..............0-11


GALWAY produced a storming finishto 1-5 without reply to clinch victoryat Pearse Stadium.

Wing-back Gary Sice was the herowhen he burst forward 11 minutes fromtime to blast the ball to the net after agood passing movement involving MichaelMeehan and Danny Cummins.

The sides were level for the fifth time inthe game at that stage but Wexford col-lapsed after that.

Meehan secured possession from thekickout and put four points between themand the rampant Tribesmen tacked on an-other four points to seal an invaluable vic-tory.

“We are relieved to be honest,” saidGalway boss Alan Mulholland. “If we had-n't come through today we were look at

ROUND 5

Laois ...................1-15Galway ...............0-10


GALWAY manager Alan Mulhollandlamented the seven second-half widesthat cost his side any chances of testingLaois at O'Moore Park.

“We had a lot of chances in the secondhalf – I’m not saying we should have won– but we could have made the score a lotless that the eight point difference at theend.

“We had some missed frees on the leftside and right side from Paul and Michealwhich could have made the gap a lot ofcloser,” said Mulholland whose side nowface a relegation battle, as well as retain-ing faint hopes of promotion.

As well as the wides from Conroy andMeehan, Galway dropped countless spec-

ulative point attempts into the goal-keeper's hands, but in reality they neverrecovered from the concession of GaryWalsh's first-minute goal, which delightedLaois boss Justin McNulty.

“I think on occasion we played ab-solutely sublime football and created someunbelievable opportunities. We weren't asruthless as we needed to be in front ofgoal,” said the Laois manager, who also

had Cahir Healy sent off late on for twobookings.

In truth the eight point defeat flatteredGalway as they never came to terms withLaois' excellent movement up front. RossMunnelly landed two points from play ineach half while MJ Tierney and Walshproved deadly accurate from frees as Gal-way never looked like a side chasing a slotin the top flight.

In a division with much at stake and lit-tle confirmed, the picture will become a lotclearer next Sunday when Galway meetWexford (12.45pm) at Pearse Stadium.

SCORERS – Laois: G Walsh 1-4 (3f), MJTierney 0-5 (4f), R Munnelly 0-4, P Clancy,D Kingston 0-1 each. Galway: M Martin 0-4 (3f), P Conroy 0-3(2f), N Coleman, M Meehan(1f), G Sice 0-1 each.GALWAY: M Breathnach; J Duane, F Han-ley, G Sweeney; G Bradshaw (K Kelly 56),G O'Donnell, G Sice; N Coleman, A Griffin(F O Curraoin 42); M Boyle, P Conroy, SDenvir (C Doherty 46); E Concannon (SArmstrong 44), M Meehan, M Martin (DCummins 53).

ALLIANZ NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE – DIVISION 2

Galway picked apart by Laois

Footballers back on track against WexfordGOAL GETTER: Galway wingback Gary Sice and GraemeMolloy of Wexford duringSunday's NFL action atPearse Stadium.

Photo: Ray Ryan /SPORTSFILE

Alan Mulholland lamented the seven second-half wides

Page 23

Round 7

Armagh ..............0-21Galway ................1-12


IN the end this result was great for Ar-magh who needed to win to hold on totheir division two status and needed

other results to go their way and whileGalway lost their way, one would feel thatit would have been an injustice if theTribesmen had spoil the Armagh party.

Galway were already safe in divisiontwo and if other results went right, a vic-tory could have given them a place back indivision one, but in the end Derry andWestmeath go back to division one.

From the outset Armagh had Galway introuble as Kevin Dyas, Stephan Harold,Tony and Aaron Kernan kicked points atwill with breeze advantage and by theeleventh minute led by five points.

Michael Meehan got Galway off themark with a pointed free after Gary O’Don-nell was fouled, but Armagh dominated thegame and with midfield totally on top, theOrchard men had raced into a 0-8 to 0-2with ten minutes left in the opening half.

Then Galway received a lifeline whenConor Doherty broke through for a Galwaygoal that in fairness came completelyagainst the run of play. It was a score thatignited Galway and Michael Meehanadded a point that put Galway in strikingdistance as the half time whistle soundedas the scoreboard read Armagh 0-10 Gal-way 1-3.

Galway started the second half in blis-tering fashion and made full use of thewind advantage and four points in asmany minutes. Sean Armstrong struck twofrees and Michael Meehan had two, onefrom play.

While it was looking good for Galway,Armagh needed a right result if they hadany hope of survival.

Tony Kernan and Stefan Forker addedArmagh points which pushed Armagh fiveclear and Galway had a mountain to climbat the three quarter stage.

The introduction of the lively DannyCummins led to two more Galway scoresbut when Aaron Kernan and StephanHarold scored two wonderful points insidea minute, the writing was suddenly on thewall for the Galway side.

Cummins and Gareth Bradshawscored another brace, but Armagh hitthree in the final five minutes to seal thegame and ultimately their division two sta-tus for another season.

SCORERS – Armagh: A Kernan 0-6 (3fs),K Dyas 0-5, S Forker, S Harold 0-3 each,S Clarke, B Mallon, C Rafferty, T Kernan0-1 each. Galway: S Armstrong 0-5 (2fs), M Meehan0-3 (2fs), C Doherty 1-0, D Cummins 0-2,P Conroy, G Bradshaw 0-1 each.

GALWAY: M Breathnach; J Duane, F Han-ley, C Forde; G Bradshaw, K Kelly, G Sice;G O'Donnell, A Griffin; E Concannon, PConroy, C Doherty; S Armstrong, M Mee-han, M Hehir. Subs: D Cummins for Hehir(h-t), G Higgins for O'Donnell (39), GSweeney for Sice (45), M Martin for Con-cannon (53), S Denver for Bradshaw (64).


the other end of the division so that putrelegation to bed now I am nearly sure.We can rest easy now after that.”

Cummins, Sean Armstrong and Mee-han landed early points for Galway, butWexford corner-forward Shane Roche wasin top form and he shot three points fromin the opening half and they trailed by just0-8 to 0-7 at the break having playedagainst the wind.

Galway went a goal in front with astrong start to the second-half against thewind with points from Paul Conroy andsubstitute Gareth Bradshaw but Wexfordrallied and points from frees by Roche andBen Brosnan reduced the margin beforeRedmond Barry equalised after 50 min-utes.

Wexford then hit the front five minuteslater and looked good for victory when PJBanville pointed but, remarkably, that wastheir final score of the match.

Armstrong levelled the game 13 min-utes from time Wexford hit some badwides and then they were made pay whenSice burst forward for the decisive score ofthe match, with substitute Michael Martinlanding three points in a strong finish forthe Tribesmen.

It was a disappointing end for Wexford

and manager Aidan O’Brien was alarmedwith the way their heads dropped afterconceding the goal.

“In the last ten minutes we fell awaybadly so that is very disappointing,” hesaid.

GALWAY: M Breathnach; J Duane, F Han-ley, C Forde; G O'Donnell, K Kelly, G Sice(1-0); F Ó Curraoin, A Griffin; J O'Brien, SArmstrong (0-5, four frees), C Doherty (0-1); P Conroy (0-1), M Meehan (0-2, onefree), D Cummins (0-3).Subs: G Bradshaw (0-1) for Duane (34mins), E Concannon for Griffin (half-time),S Denvir for O'Brien (54 mins), M Martin(0-3, two frees) for Doherty (61 mins), SWalsh for Meehan (64 mins)WEXFORD: T Hughes; R Tierney, G Mol-loy, J Wadding; B Malone, D Murphy, AFlynn (0-1); D Waters, R Quinlivan; JHolmes, C Doyle, R Barry (0-1); S Roche(0-4, one free), B Brosnan (0-2, two frees),PJ Banville (0-3).Subs: C Carty for Doyle (25 mins), C Lyngfor Holmes (58 mins), P Byrne for Roche(66 mins), L Chin for Murphy (69 mins), ADoyle for Flynn (69 mins),REF: Padraig O'Sullivan (Kerry).

Galway lose out to Armagh

Footballers back on track against Wexford

HEADS UP: Paul Conroy tries to take posses-sion despite the attentions of Armagh'sKieran Toner. Photo: Paul Mohan / SPORTSFILE

Page 24

Tipp run riotin SalthillROUND 3

Tipperary ...........4-22Galway ...............1-20


GALWAY boss Anthony Cunningham had a perfectweekend ruined by rampant Tipperary at PearseStadium .

Cunningham had double cause for celebration whenhis native St Thomas’ won the All-Ireland club hurling titleon Sunday and then St Brigid’s, where he lives and whohe managed to Connacht glory, captured the footballcrown.

But hopes of completing a memorable hat-trick ofsuccesses were blown away by a sharp Tipperary sidewho had a cutting edge which the Tribesmen could notmatch.

A soft goal from a long range Brendan Maher sidelinesaw Galway fall 1-5 to 0-1 behind after just nine minutes.Three points from Joe Canning and one from DamienHayes got the Tribesmen back in contention.

But once more Tipperary upped the pace and a goalfrom Shane Bourke after 17 minutes helped them go 2-10 to 0-5 ahead after 21 minutes. A goal from Joe Can-ning from a 20-metre free reduced the margin to 2-13 to1-9 at the interval.

Galway’s best spell came in the third quarter but whileAidan Harte, Canning, Niall Healy and Davy Glennonfound the range. They only got within a goal of Tipp.

And then Eamon O’Shea’s men put on the burnersagain and pulled away in the final quarter. John O’Dwyercrowned a superb performance with a goal from closerange after 53 minutes.

Seamus Callanan quickly followed with a point tomake it 3-18 to 1-17 with 17 minutes remaining. Tipp fin-ished strongly with Lar Corbett soloing through beforeflicking it with one hand to the net.

Jason Forde, Shane McGrath and O’Dwyer finishedthe rout with a flurry of points in the final moments.

TIPPERARY: D Gleeson; P Stapleton, P Curran, MCahill; P Maher, C O’Mahony 0-1, C O’Brien; J Woodlock0-3, B Maher 1-0, sideline; S McGrath 0-1, L Corbett 1-1,J O’Brien; J O’Dwyer 1-6, S Callanan 0-7, 4f, 2’65, SBourke 1-2.Subs: D Maher for O’Mahony 35 mins, N McGrath forMaher 48, B O’Meara for O’Brien 51, J Forde 0-1 for SBourke 65, P Bourke for Callanan 68.

GALWAY: F Flannery; F Moore, K Hynes, J Coen; DCollins, J Cooney, N Donoghue; I Tannian 0-1, A Smith; JGlynn, C Donnellan 0-1, D Glennon 0-2; N Healy 0-2, JCanning 1-10, 1-7f, D Hayes 0-2.Subs: A Harte 0-2 for Donoghue 21 mins, B Flaherty forCooney 35, N Burke for Donnellan 35, A Callanan forBurke 51,

REF: B Gavin (Offaly).

ALLIANZ NATIONAL HURLING LEAGUE – DIVISION 1

BACK IN FORM: Cyril Donnellan was back to his best for Galway against Cork atPearse Stadium on Sunday. Photo: Ray Ryan / SPORTSFILE

BACK WITH A BANG: Galway forward David Burke made a big impact for Galwayin his return to inter-county action against Waterford at Walsh Park.


Page 25

ALLIANZ NATIONAL HURLING LEAGUE – DIVISION 1

ROUND 4

Galway ...............2-12Cork ...................2-12


GAA bosses spent a lot of time at theweekend trying to find ways of makingthe games more entertaining but Joe

Canning showed them that the best way is toproduce a skill level that is awesome.

Canning looked sharp and deft in open playand threw in a few sublime touches as well inanother superb display and while it was notwithout fault, Galway would have been in trou-ble without him.

In the end, his display was not enough to se-cure victory as Cork rallied well in the closingstages just when it seemed the game was goingaway from Galway.

Afterwards, manager Anthony Cunninghamwas displeased with the manner they let a win-ning hand slip but he took comfort from thefact they can still qualify despite being bottomof the table.

“There was a lack of concentration there in

the finish really. It is something we will talk tothe players about and go through it in detail,you can't allow and good team like Cork into itand take your foot off the pedal because they'llcome back and sucker punch of a goal.

“We paid the price for that there. Thisleague is extremely competitive, I don’t thinkthere is any team qualified and definitely wehave everything to play for on the last day.”

Canning was superb for the Tribesmen,shooting 0-10 in another awesome display butCunningham will be looking for a bigger returnfrom some of the other forwards in their finalgame against Waterford next week.

“We'd always be looking for more scores,and that we get scores easily, and maybe a bitmore easily than we are getting them at themoment. That's what we'll be back on thecoaching field on Tuesday night with,” headded.

His side hurled well in the opening half andit took a goal from a penalty by goalkeeper An-thony Nash to give the Rebels a 1-7 to 1-6 inter-val lead having played with the wind, but theyshot ten wides.

A sublime overhead handpass from Canningsent Davy Glennon through for the openinggoal after 20 minutes.

But with Lorcan McLoughlin, who finishedwith 0-3 from midfield, in good form Cork ral-lied before the break and again after half-time

when points from Conor Lehane and McLough-lin put them 1-9 to 1-8 in front following a su-perb point from a sideline by Canning.

Galway got moving and another Canning ef-fort reduced the deficit before Cyril Donnellanleveled the match after 46 minutes and thenCanning edged them in front from distance.

Galway looked set for victory when Donnel-lan blasted to the net after taking a deliveryfrom Glennon but the Cork was response wasgood.

Cian McCarthy and Stephen Moylan pointedbefore McCarthy picked out Paudie O’Sullivanwith a great crossfield pass and the Cloyneman found the net to tie the game at 2-11apiece ten minutes from the end.

Canning restored Galway’s lead with a freebut McCarthy secured a deserved draw fiveminutes from time for the Rebels.

SCORERS – Galway: J Canning 0-10 (7f, 1sl), CDonnellan 1-2, D Glennon 1-0. Cork: P O'Sullivan 1-1, A Nash 1-0 (1-0pen), LMcLoughlin 0-3, C McCarthy 0-2 (2f), P Horgan(1f), P Cronin, W Egan, S Moylan, C Lehane andL O'Farrell 0-1 each.

GALWAY: C Callanan; F Moore, K Hynes, J Coen;A Harte, D Collins, N Donoghue; I Tannian, ASmith ( B Flaherty 68); J Cooney, J Canning, JGlynn; C Donnellan, D Hayes, D Glennon (THaran 65).

ROUND 5

Hurlers reachsemi-finalWaterford ..........0-12 Galway ...............0-15

By BILL KIELY

GALWAY qualified for the semi-final of thenational hurling league division 1A aftera workman-like victory over Waterford .

Once more Joe Canning led the scoringcharts for Anthony Cunningham's side, butseeing five of his six starting forwards registeron the scoreboard will please the Galway man-agement no end.

Indeed Canning could have filled his boots,but he saw he 14th minute penalty saved wellby Waterford and he also let a couple of other

efforts slide by.But the slack was taken up by the ever im-

proving Davy Glennon. The Mullagh manbagged four points from play to add to his im-pressive outing last week against Cork, whilethe returning St Thomas' contingent alsoboosted Galway up front.

Galway managed to work their way into a 0-8 to 0-3 lead at the break in an icy Walsh Park,with two points from Canning, Iarla Tannian –who was partnered by Joesph Cooney at mid-field – and Niall Burke giving them the advan-tage.

Waterford managed to gain some footholdin the tie after the restart as points from Mau-rice Shanahan and Seamus Prendergast pulledthe Deise men to within three points, but thenGalway's superiority saw them to a vital win.

Three of the St Thomas' All-Ireland winnersmade their first appearance of the season inWaterford. James Regan was a second-halfsubstitute, while Conor Cooney and DavidBurke were added to the starting 15 late on.

And David Burke hit his first inter-countypoint of the season in the second-half to settleGalway after Waterford's early brace, beforeGlennon and Cyril Donnellan tagged on pointsto see Galway over the line, despite a late

comeback from the home side that reduced thewinning margin to just three points.

But the Galway management will care not ajot. The main early season objective to remainin the top flight for 2014 has been accom-plished; they have a league semi-final to lookforward to on Sunday fortnight; and they willthere get a chance to lay down another markerto Kilkenny, who they have already beaten inthe league this season.

WATERFORD: I O'Regan; S Fives, L Lawlor, SDaniels; J Nagle, M Walsh, D Fives; S O'Sullivan(0-1), K Moran; R Barry, S Prendergast (0-1), BO'Halloran (0-1); J Dillon (0-1, 0-1f), M Shana-han (0-7, 5f, 1 '65'), J Barron (0-1).Subs: P Mahony for O'Halloran (53), S Walshfor Barry (59), B O’Sullivan for Dillon (63).

GALWAY: C Callanan; F Moore, K Hynes, NDonoghue; A Harte, D Collins, J Coen; I Tannian(0-2), J Cooney; D Burke (0-1), C Cooney, J Can-ning (0-5, 3f); D Glennon (0-4), C Donnellan (0-1), N Burke (0-2).Subs: D Hayes for N Burke (53), A Smyth for JCooney (57), J Glynn for C Cooney (61), J Reganfor Donnellan (68), B Flaherty for D Burke (70).

REF: Anthony Stapleton (Laois).

Super Can saves Galway

Kilkenny next forCunningham’s boys in last four

Page 26

Galway ................1-17Kilkenny .............1-24

By JACKIE CAHILL

IT was business as usual for Kilkenny asthe Cats produced their best perform-ance of the season to please absent

manager Brian Cody. The Allianz League and All-Ireland

champions cruised past Galway to set upa mouthwatering final with neighbours Tip-perary on May 5.

Pundits and neutrals alike wonderedhow the Cats would cope without Cody,who was unavailable after undergoingheart surgery recently.

Martin Fogarty and Mick Dempsey tookcharge of team affairs and the transitionwas seamless as Galway were sent pack-ing.

Kilkenny’s progression to a third suc-cessive league final was routine stuff.

Galway scored an early season leaguevictory against Kilkenny but with thestakes higher yesterday, the tables wereturned emphatically.

Eoin Larkin hit 0-10 for the winners, in-cluding nine points from placed balls.

At the other end, Joe Canning wasGalway’s leading scorer with 0-8 but thePortumna star failed to score from play.

At half-time, wind-assisted Kilkenny ledby 0-15 to 1-6, having fought back from asluggish start.

Cyril Donnellan’s fourth minute goalhanded the Tribesmen a 1-1 to 0-0 leadbut Kilkenny don’t do panic and they werelevel by the 24th minute at 0-6 to 1-3.

The sides were deadlocked twice morebefore Kilkenny unleashed a flurry ofscores before half-time to lead by six.

And they killed the game stone dead inthe 46th minute when Colin Fennellypounced from close range for Kilkenny’sgoal.

This game was overshadowed, how-ever, by a serious injury sustained by Gal-way captain Fergal Moore.

The Turloughmore defender was in-volved in a sickening tenth minute collisionwith Kilkenny’s Walter Walsh – andstretchered off the pitch.

A semi-conscious Moore was report-edly transferred to hospital in Clonmel,where he received treatment for concus-sion.

Lester Ryan, one of the real finds of

this league campaign, bagged three pointsfrom midfield and his partnership withMichael Rice at centre-field was the plat-form for this comfortable win.KILKENNY: E Murphy; P Murphy, JJ De-laney, JJ Tyrrell; T Walsh, V Hogan, KJoyce, L Ryan (0-3), M Rice (0-2); WWalsh, R Power (0-1), E Larkin (0-10, 0-6f,0-3 65s); C Fennelly (1-0), R Hogan (0-5),A Fogarty (0-2). Subs: M Ruth for W Walsh(55), C Buckley (0-1) for Fennelly (62).

GALWAY: C Callanan; F Moore, K Hynes,N Donoghue; J Coen, D Collins, A Harte (0-2); I Tannian, J Cooney (0-1); C Donnellan(1-3), C Cooney, D Burke (0-1f); D Glen-non, J Canning (0-8, 0-6f, 0-2 65s), DHayes (0-1).Subs: A Smith (0-1) for Moore (inj, 15), PKilleen for Donoghue (26), J Glynn for CCooney (46), J Regan for Hayes (57).

REF: D Kirwan (Cork).

ALLIANZ NATIONAL HURLING LEAGUE – DIVISION 1 – SEMI-FINAL

By JACKIE CAHILL

TOM Helebert said that a return toclub hurling will be the perfect tonic

for the county stars as they prepare fortheir Leinster championship semi-final ineight weeks time.

“At the end of the day, you're alwaysplanning to the next game. We'll pickourselves up after today.

“They need a break, we've had atough campaign right the way through,because we've been gearing ourselvesprogramme wise all the time to a Lein-

ster final – or a Leinster semi-final – andthat's our big target.

“I'm sure they'll be very happy to takea week off from us now; their club cham-pionship commences next week, that willbring a little bit of freshness and spice tothe whole thing, and off we go again.

“We've to manage a schedule.Whether you play one game, threegames or five games in between makesno difference, you have a programme tomanage and times to peak and times toease up, and that's the way we plan it,”said the management team member.

Tribesmen have no ans wer forKilkenny dominance

Players need a break: Helebert

Conor Cooney alludes the challenge of Kilkennywing-back Tommy Walsh in the Tribesmen's de-feat in the NHL semi-final.Photo: Barry Cregg / SPORTSFILE

Page 27

Abbeyknockmoy .0-12Tooreen ..............0-11

ONE of the best games played inthe inaugural Connacht GAA Tainleague was reserved for the final

game in the series at the windswept Con-nacht GAA Centre as Abbeyknockmoywithheld a determined second-half fight-back from Tooreen to gain their first pieceof silverware for the season.

In what has been acclaimed by all in-volved as an inspired creation the Con-nacht GAA Tain league has helped toinvigorate hurling in Connacht counties atseasons beginning with a fitting final for allconcerned.

Whoever played with the strong wind inthe Connacht GAA Centre required ab-solute accuracy otherwise a difficult sec-ond-half would be their lot.Abbeyknockmoy, managed by Galwayhurling icon Michael Coleman were with-out the services of Galway senior panellistBrian Flaherty whilst Tooreen bemoanedthe loss of NUI, Galway Sigerson playerCathal Freeman, who missed the gamedue to a shoulder injury.

The Galway side played with the ele-ments in the opening period but it wasTooreen who had as many chances toscore but were off target from placed ballsand in the final analysis this was crucial tothe final outcome.

Padraig O'Donnell opened the scoringwith a free for the Galway side after threeminutes. Kenny Feeney responded forTooreen before Padraig O Donnell struckthree in a row (2 frees) in a four minutespell as Abbeyknockmoy realised that adouble digit lead would be welcome at thebreak.

A constant feature of the game was theinability of either side to carve out cleargoal chances and had one or the otherdone so success would have been theirswith ease. Shane King sent Abbeyknock-moy into a short lived four-point lead be-fore Tooreen wing forward David Kennywith a well created score gave hope to theMayo men who had spurned four scoringchances in the first ten minutes.

At the other end of the field Abbey-knockmoy were creating a sizeable tally ofwides giving Adrian Hession a relaxedfirst-half in the Tooreen goal. Undertremendous pressure in the last ten min-utes of the first half Tooreen held out to

concede a paltry four points to Abbey-knockmoy with Danny Mullins, Sean Mc-Carthy and O'Donnell (2) on target.

Tooreen on the one hand went in at thebreak happy to be only 0-9 to 0-2 in ar-rears but from the other viewpoint disap-pointed that they themselves had hitseven wides against the breeze with atleast three eminently scoreable.

The standard of play increased consid-erably in the second half as Abbeyknock-moy defended well allowing littleconcession of frees after what had been afree ridden first half. Both sides uppedtheir efforts in the physical stakes as theentertainment value was now at an opti-mum.

As the second-half matured andTooreen were finding it difficult to scorefrom frees and play and the magical goallooking impossible they allowed Abbey-knockmoy off the hook for a crucial seg-ment of the second half and in thattimespan Padraig O'Donnell struck threevital second half Abbeyknockmoy scores.Kenny Feeney did the most that could beexpected with half a dozen second halfscores (2 frees) as Fergal Boland, PatMorris and Ciaran Finn also tagged on mi-nors to leave the minimum between thesides entering the final moments.

Great scenes of jubilation greeted GusChapman's final whistle as Abbeyknock-moy accepted that they had used up alltheir good fortune in securing the title andcould thank a mean defence and a mar-vellous freetaking exhibition by Padraig ODonnell. Likewise for Tooreen whoshowed great honesty in defence just fellshort in the first half when an extra scoreor two would have garnered the odds. Asa consequence and such tiny marginschampions are created.ABBEYKNOCKMOY: Declan Molloy,Tommy Farragher, Tom Blade, Mike Gan-non, Paddy Flaherty, Steven Ruane, DavidCarton, Ronan Cooley, Colman Maher,Ger Ruane, Padraig O Donnell (0-9),Shane King (0-1), Sean McCarthy (0-1),Brian O Donnell, Danny Mullins (0-1)TOOREEN: Adrian Hession, Paul Hunt,Shane Morley, Brian Delaney, Joey Gan-ley, Michael Morley Conor English, CiaranCharlton, Gary Nolan, David Kenny (0-1),Kenny Feeney (0-7), Ciaran Finn (0-1),Dylan Lynskey, Sean Ganley, Pat Morris(0-1). Subs: Conor Henry for J Ganley,Shane Boland for S Ganley, Fergal Boland(0-1) for D Lynskey.REF: Gus Chapman (Sligo).

CONNACHT GAA TAIN LEAGUE FINAL DIVISION 1ALLIANZ NATIONAL HURLING LEAGUE – DIVISION 1 – SEMI-FINAL

Abbeyknockmoy defenceholds solid to take Connacht GAA League titleMoore injury not

as bad as fearedBy JACKIE CAHILL

THE nine minutes delay to the first-half ac-tion for the treatment of Fergal Moore's

head injury had no effect on the match's out-come, according to selector Tom Helebert.

After a clash of heads with Walter Walsh,Moore was stretchered from the field after re-ceiving extensive attention. However, the newsfrom the camp appears to be good as Moorelooks to be suffering from 'slight concussion'.

“They had the momentum just before hegot hurt. They were after tacking on threepoints just before he got hurt; we were startingto leak a little bit around the middle third at thatparticular juncture.

“Again, I wouldn't pin it completely on Fer-gal's injury. We would be probably hiding be-hind the obvious. I suppose the fact was theystarted to get a grip on the game. RichiePower started to drift out from centre forwardto the middle-third, picked up a lot of ball, andcertainly their half back line solidified them-selves very well when he did that.

“As a unit, they all just basically clamped usin the middle of the park, and from there thatwas their springboard,” said Helebert.

Tribesmen have no ans wer forKilkenny dominance

Galway goalscorer Cyrill Donnellan in actionagainst Kilkenny full-back JJ Delaney, during theNHL semi-final at Semple Stadium.

Photo: Barry Cregg / SPORTSFILE

Page 28

CORTOON Shamrocks GAA Clubwas founded in 1888, and cele-brated its 125th anniversary on the

22nd of April.And to mark this significant milestone,

members of the club have written a de-tailed history entitled 'Half A Parish, AComplete Club', encompassing eventsboth on and off the field.

The fruit of this arduous task was re-vealed at the official launch in The Ard RiHouse Hotel, Tuam, with the official un-veiling completed by former Cortoonplayer and past President of the GAA,Joe McDonagh.

As part of the launch, an exhibition ofphotographs and club memorabilia alongwith a selection of club jerseys, past andpresent, were put on display.

Among the many highlights from thebook are personal contributions from wellknow players including, Derek Savage,Tommy Joe Gilmore, Peter Finnerty,Emer Flaherty, Edel Concannon, as wellas Joe McDonagh.

“The club to me epitomizes all the en-dearing characteristics of the quintessen-tial rural GAA club, from the sense ofbelonging, the indomitable communityspirit, and the pride and passion of thesupporters,” said Savage, Cortoonplayer, Galway All Star 2000 and seniorAll-Ireland football winner in 1998 and2001

“The Club made me...one should al-ways be proud of the club no matter whereyou play or at what level,” said Tommy JoeGilmore, Cortoon player and manager,Galway All Star in 1972 and 1973 and NFLwinner from 1981.

“I’ve come to realize what footballmeant to everyone in the parish. Gaelicfootball is everything to the people of Cor-toon,” said Peter Finnerty, former Cortoonplayer, five time All Star, and All-Irelandhurling winner in 1987 and 1988.

But it wasn’t just the men of Cortoonthat brought pride to the club as attested

to by members of the victorious 2004 Gal-way Ladies football team.

“The memories of the year we willcherish forever. One in particular that weboth share is our return to our home club

Cortoon. The warm feeling that we ex-perienced on that night has remained inour hearts since. We were so proud tobe able to bring home senior All-Irelandmedals to the parish,” said Emer Fla-herty and Edel Concannon.

And the highest honour of any GAAmember went to former player Joe Mc-Donagh, who was named GAA Presi-dent in 1997.

“I am very proud to have been asso-ciated with one of the oldest clubs in theGaelic Athletic Association. I cherish thememories I have of a life-long associa-tion with my place of birth. I thank Cor-toon Shamrocks for allowing me reclaimmy birthright,” said Mr McDonagh.

Situated within the boundaries ofTuam parish, and bordered by sevenclubs, Cortoon Shamrocks have had toovercome many obstacles in order tosurvive. From winning their first trophyin 1945, a Galway North Board Juniortitle, to winning the Senior League in2009, the club has come a long way.

They currently field ten teams fromunderage to senior level. Their home pitchis Brownsgrove, which has been theirplaying ground since 1939.

A copy of 'Half A Parish, A CompleteClub' can be purchased through clubmembers. For more information contactclub chairman, Mark Gilmore [email protected].


Ballinderry NS, Corofin Co Galway were honouredrecently by a visit from Mr Liam O'Neill, Presidentof GAA. Anne Canney, PRO Corofin LGFA, took theopportunity to sell Mr O'Neill a St Patrick's Dayribbon. The Galway Ladies Football clubs assistthe Carers Association with their fundraising ac-tivities by selling ribbons for this worthy cause.

NEW DEAL: Pictured at the announcement of Boston Scientific as the sponsors of the Galwayclub football Division 1 and 2 Leagues are (L to R): Finian Hanley,(Galway senior captain),Milo Costello,(Galway Football Treasurer), Michael O'Flynn,(Vice-President, Boston Scien-tific), Tadhg O Conghaile,(Galway Football Chairman), Anatine O'Griofa,(Galway seniorplayer).

Half a Parish, a complete clubThe history of

Cortoon Shamrocks

Page 29


U-13 Division 1 North Shield winners Monivea Abbey. Back row (L to R): Jack Mannion, Devon Kelly, Jaden O'Conner, Cillian Burke, Mark Harrison,Matthew King, Keith Boyle, Dara Colman, Sean King, Niall Forde, Evan Moylett, Jack Fleming. Front row (L to R): Niall Martyn, Cathal King, CianHarris, Cillian Lindner, Greg Higgins, Ciaran Farrelly, Jason Joyce, Luke Forde, Shane Cosgrove, Daniel Lydon, Gavin Cosgrove, Reece Forde.

Larry Larkin (Secretary, Coiste Peil na nOg),presenting the cup for the U-13 Division 1North League Final to Andrew Burns, Corofincaptain.

Padraig Coyne (Coiste Peil na nOg), presentingthe cup for the U-13 Division 3 North LeagueFinal to Darren Costello, captain of Milltown.

Bobby Mullins (Vice Chairman, Coiste Peil nanOg), presenting the U-13 Division 1 NorthShield to Sean King, captain of MoniveaAbbey.

U-13 Division 1 North Shield Finalists Tuam Stars. Back row (L to R): Seamus Fallon and Gerry Bodkin (Management), Conor Higgins, Robert Murphy,Brian Mannion, Darragh Creaven, Dean Ward, Anthony Keating, Liam Colleran (management). Front row (L to R): Joe Burke, Liam Gormley, LukeHiggins, Eoin Fowley, Caoimhin Marren, Cathal Mannion, Cillian Reidy, Darren Leufer, Jack Davin and Mark Colleran.

UNDER-13 NORTH DIVISION 1

Page 30


Under 13 Division 1 North League Final winners Corofin. Back row (L to R)Dean Finnegan, Patrick Reilly, Cian Forde, Darragh Burke, Eoin Broderick,David Canon, Rossa Ryan, Jonathan Whyte, Jamie McIntyre, Richard Creighton, Sean Finnegan, Conor Melia. Front row (L to R): Nathan Kearney,Cian Gillespie, Matthew Cooley, Sean Raftery, Ian Collins, Adam Hession, Andrew Burns, Ciaran Melia, Kieran Costello, Darren O'Brien, Joseph Dug-gan, Jack McHugh, Dean Hynes and Jake Hogan.

Under 13 Division 1 North League Finalists Annaghdown. Back row (L to R): K. McLoughlin (management), D. Tunney, S. Dennigan, P. Shaughnessy,S. Mitchell, J. Hickey, C. Harkin, E. Kilcoyne, T. Kilcommins (management), A. Reilly, R. Barrett, L. Thornton, C. Maloney, D. Curry, M. Curry (man-agement). Front row (L to R): S. McLoughlin, K. Naughton, A. Heneghan, J. McCarthy, C. Newell, D. O'Sullivan, C. Ross, D. Kilcommins, C. O'Flynn, D.Hegarty, J. McNicholas.

Under 13 Division 3 North League Finalists Padraig Pearses. Back row (L to R): Des McCabe (management), Shane Hynes, Dylan Grady, Jack Barrett,Ronan Flannery, Darragh Healy, Gordon Kenny, Oisin Flannery, Dean Reilly, Stephen Doran, Cathal Kitt, Mike Carr (management). Front row (L toR): James Friel, Darragh McCabe, Eoin Lally, Mark Hennelly, Conor Burke, Eoghan McCabe, Niall Moran and Thomas Carr.


Page 31


Under 13 Division 3 North League Final winners Milltown Back row (L to R): Terence Godwin and Kevin Carney (management), Sean Walsh, RobertConnolly, Darren Costello, Niall Carney, Cathal Kelly, Oisin Burke, Jack Kirrane, James Kirrane (management). Front row (L to R): Ben Cronin, ConorMullahy, Terence Godwin, Niall Costello, Conor Carney, Eoin Mannion, David Flanagan, Thomas Carney and Matthew McGuinn.


Under 13 Division 2 North League Final winners Glenamaddy. Back row (L to R): Management: Pat Collins, Kevin Duffy, Alfie O'Brien, Michael Coyneand Pat Geraghty. Middle row (L to R): Jonathan Whyte, Ronan Coyne, Daragh Keaveney, MacDara Geraghty, Matthew Curley, Ryan Keaveney, LukeDivilly, Odhron Geraghty, Eoin Collins, Daniel O'Rourke. Front row (L to R): Thomas O'Brien, Patrick Fitzmaurice, Adrian Divilly, Thomas Collins,Damien Mannion, Ryan Duffy, Gerard Smyth, Niall Conneely, Raymond Joyce and Michael Ryan.

Under 13 Division 2 North League Finalists Caherlistrane. Back row (L to R): Michael Cunningham (manage-ment), Padraig McCabe, Peter McDonagh, James Monaghan, Colin Boltan, Patrick Monaghan, Michael McDon-agh, Jack Walsh, Sean Cunningham, Shane Nally and David Nally (management). Front row (L to R): JamesCollins, Joseph Monaghan, Mark Higgins, Stephen McDonagh, Conor Donnellan, Liam Judge, Cillian Nally, Kee-lan Mannion, Alan Morris, Conor O'Shaughnessy, David Quinn, Rory Molloy, Mason Glynn and Evan McHugh.

P.J. Rabbitte (Chairman, CoistePeil na nOg) presenting the cupfor the Under 13 Division 2 NorthLeague Final to MacDara Ger-aghty captain of Glenemaddy.


Page 32


Claregalway Feile Winners 2013

Oughterard Feile Shield 'A' Winners

Menlough Feile Shield 'B' Winners 2013

Clifden Feile Shield 'B' finalists

P.J. Rabbitte (Chairman, Coiste Peil nanOg), presenting the shield to PatrickMonagahn, captain of Menlough.

P.J. Rabbitte(Chairman,Coiste Peil nanOg), present-ing the shield toDaniel Kenny,captain ofOughterard.

P.J. Rabbitte(Chairman, CoistePeil na nOg) andCathal McGinnpresentingthe Niall McGinnCup to PadraigCummins, captainof the ClaregalwayU-14 team.

UNDER-14 GALWAY FEILE

Page 33

IT proved an incredible nightfor the host county in theConnacht Scór Finals in St

Mary's Hall Carrick on Shannonas Leitrim topped the polls of ti-tles on the night by winning fiveof the eight events.

This haul has broughtLeitrim's Connacht titles to 110in Scór since it started in 1970.Leitrim also retained the Cor-mac MacGilla Cup which waswon in recognition of their suc-cess, the cup has never beenoutside of Leitrim since it wasintroduced to the competition, itwas presented to Rúnai MauraMulvey by Ailbhe McGill.

St Mary's were first to thestage in Rince Foirne and won

the Figure Dance on homeground, beating the eight ladiesfrom Kilglass, Co Roscommon.This is the clubs second trip ina row to the All-Ireland, havingwon it for the first time in 2012and they will be hoping to gothe extra mile and bring the titleback to Leitrim.

Aisling Maxwell from Balli-namore gave a fabulous per-formance in solo singing butNorrie Kane of Abbeyknockmoytook the title back to Galway.

Drumkeerin representedLeitrim in Instrumental Music,they gave a flawless foot tap-ping performance but in theend St Farnan's of Sligo wereannounced the winners.

Brendan Brennan from

Sean O'Heslins club went downa treat in Recitation giving all inthe crowd a very entertainingpiece and clinched his Con-nacht medal on his fabulousperformance.

Tthe St Mary's Ballad groupgave yet another outstandingAll-Ireland standard perform-ance, but were pipped at thepost by their Roscommonneighbours. Having made it tothe All Ireland on two separateoccasions in the last five years-the St Mary's perfromers willhave to come back again nextyear.

It wasn't the night either forthe 2012 All Ireland championsfrom Bornacoola in the Ques-tion Time. And as the final

marks were totted up, ClannNa nGael of Roscommon werenamed the quiz winners.

The fantastic and witty SeánO'Heslins won the Novelty Act.Having last won the All-lrelandin 2009 they will be hoping forsuccess again in Derry.

Leona Reynolds from Augh-nasheelin competed in RinceSean-Os, a very well executedperformance, mixing the tradi-tional old style steps with somevery nice quirky modern clicksand lifts and successfully wonthe title.

Set Dancing was won by thefabulous young Fenagh team,a fine performance and worthywinners.

FOCUS ON LEITRIM • FOCUS ON LEITRIM • FOCUS ON LEITRIM

Plenty of glory forLeitrim at Connacht Scór

Club Achadh na Síleann

Keith Sammon,winner of theAchadh naSíleann JuniorClub Player ofthe Year, withTerence Boyle,Runaí and MáireNí MhaoilbhliaCathaoirleachClub Achadh naSíleann.

Sean McWeeney win-ner of the Senior

Club Player of theYear with his awardand the Seanie Tub-

man Cup with Ter-ence Boyle, Runaí,

agus Máire NíMhaoilbhlia,

Cathaoirleach, ClubAchadh na Síleann

Tara Fitzpatrickbeing presentedwith her Achadhna SíleannLadies Player ofthe Year byMáire NíMhaoilbhlia,CathaoirleachAchadh naSíleann.

Achadh na Síleannclub member, LeonaNic Raghnaill, is pre-sented with her goldmedal by MichaelRock, Chairperson ofScor Connachta.Leona representedthe club and Countyat Scór Sinseair andwon the Sean nOsDancing title.

Page 34

The FBD league win-ners open their Con-nacht championship

account away to New Yorkon May 5th and - speakingafter the narrow league winover London - Dugdaleknows a professional ap-proach is required againstthe other Exiles:

"We have to make surethat we have our ownhouse in order, that weplan properly," the co-man-ager says in The LeitrimObserver. "We're takingnothing for granted.

"We need to go in aprofessional manner, dothe job and get a result.That is what we have tofocus on.

"They're probably a big,physical team who willthrow everything at us. Wehave to make sure we canplay at a slightly higherpace as obviously they

won't have had muchmatch practice and weneed to use that to our ad-vantage.

"We have plans inplace. We know what liesahead for us. We're goingto work hard and seewhere it takes us. Hope-fully we can go to NewYork and do the job."

Round 6

Leitrim ...............3-14Waterford ............3-7

By JOHN CONOLLYLeitrim Observer

IF the words Jekyll & Hyde were usedonce, they were probably used a hun-dred times as a Leitrim team mixed the

fabulous with the awful in liberal measureand still came away with a deservedseven point victory over Waterford inround five of the Allianz League DivisionFour campaign in Pairc Sean Mac Diar-mada.

Any day a Leitrim team scores 3-14 isa very good day as the Leitrim forwards,and a very impressive Ray Cox in particu-lar, found their shooting boots in devastat-ing fashion, scoring from a variety ofangles and distances to score a realmorale boosting victory.

And in keeping with a growing beliefthat this Leitrim team perform best whenthe pressure is off, the Green & Gold at-tacked in waves and produced an attack-ing display full of imagination and vigour,a stark contrast to the nervy display justsix days previously against Offaly.

The recalled Ray Cox was at the heartof everything good Leitrim did when thisgame was alive – the Annaduff man waseither the scorer or the creator of all buttwo points of Leitrim’s opening 1-6 as heended with a personal tally 2-1, his sec-ond goal finally killing off Waterford’s re-sistance in the second half.

Yet, and the paltry die-hard Leitrimsupporters who bothered to show upwould be the first to admit this, had Wa-terford taken any one of four gilt edgegoal chances, to go with the two goalsthey did score, it could very easily havebeen a very different story.

Defensive mistakes and loss of pos-session saw Waterford through on fouroccasions in one-on-one situations withyoung keeper Brendan Flynn, atoning fora howler in the third minute, making two

wonderful goal saving stops as the Mun-ster men wasted two more gloriouschances when goals seemed certain.

The defensive frailties were exposedtime and time again and had Waterfordshown a modicum of the finishing thatLeitrim displayed, they would, not could,have won this game and it must be a con-cern for the Leitrim management.

Attacking does not seem to be a prob-lem when Leitrim’s mind-set is right butwhen the pressure is there, accuracy suf-fers badly and it was only when Ray Coxgot his second goal that Leitrim were trulysafe.

LEITRIM: Brendan Flynn, Fabian McMor-row, Ciaran Egan, Paddy Maguire, GaryReynolds (0-1), Enda Williams (0-2),Danny Beck, Brendan Brennan (0-1),Tomas Beirne, Robbie Lowe, Emlyn Mulli-gan (0-6), Paul Brennan, Brian McDon-ald, Conor Beirne (1-2), Ray Cox (2-1).Subs: Gerry Hickey (0-1) for Lowe (HT),Shane Moran for McDonald (62 mins),Gavin Reynolds for Gary Reynolds (65mins), Barry Prior for Beck (67 mins).


Cox stars in undulatingperformance

Leitrim joint managers, George Dugdale, left, and Barney Breen, keen tolook to the championship. Photo: David Maher / SPORTSFILE

Dugdale intent on victoryGeorge

Dugdaleexpects

Leitrim to“do the job”

at Gaelic Park

Page 35


ROUND 7

Tipperary ...........2-15Leitrim ...............0-14


LEITRIM’S hopes of figuring in the promo-tion shake-up in division 4 of the AllianzNational Football league, ended in deep

disappointment at Semple Stadium, Thurleson Sunday, where they were out-played by aslicker home combination who were not flat-tered by their seven points winning margin.

Both sides needed to win to stay in the racebut Leitrim manager Brian Breen acknowl-edged afterwards that his men could not copewith the movement, and interchanging of theTipperary forwards. “It was all over after fif-teen minutes”, he said.

Not quite, but at that stage Tipperary were1-5 to 0-1 ahead and might have had anothergoal had Alan Moloney not dragged his shotwide of Brendan Flynn’s post in the fourthminute, spurning a great goal chance.

The Tipp attack was carving the Leitrim de-

fence open thanks to the quality ball beingprovided from outfield. A goal was inevitableand it came in the 8th minute when Brian Foxdelivered to Michael Quinlivan whose dummyset up Barry Grogan for a classic strike.

Leitrim were struggling to find a rhythm.Gerry Hickey had their opening point in the7th minute but they were on the back foot asthe Tipp attacks came in waves. Leitrim en-joyed a productive spell from the 16th to the23rd minutes when points by Conor Beirneand Emlyn Mulligan (2) narrowed the gap tofour points but the flourish was short-lived asTipperary regained control.

This was when the game was really lost, asTipperary added 1-5 without reply in the lasteight minutes of the half, their goal, again byGrogan, coming on the stroke of half-time.

Down 0-4 to 2-10, even the most optimisticLeitrim man in the paltry 351 attendance,could not have held out much hope for thesecond half, although the help of the freshbreeze would be considerable. However, therewas no immediate sign of improvement asTipperary scored the first three points of thehalf in five minutes and could have had an-other goal had Robbie Costigan put away asimple chance in the 37th minute.

Sub Sean McWeeney who had come on at

the interval, had Leitrim’s first score of thehalf in the 44th minute, and the Beirnes,Conor and Tomas, added further points asLeitrim sought to salvage some pride.

At 12 points adrift, there was really no hopeof catching the home side but to Leitrim’scredit they stuck to their guns, a further braceof Mulligan points leaving them 0-9 to 2-14behind in the 54th minute.

It might be said that Tipperary had takentheir foot off the pedal by now, but certainlyLeitrim began to get seriously into the game.

Emlyn Mulligan, well policed until now byTipperary’s Munster player, Ciaran McDonald,found space to exert his influence on play, andin an encouraging finish to the game, Leitrimshot the last five points, two from Mulligan,and one each from Ray Cox, Paul Brennan andColm Clarke.

LEITRIM: Brendan Flynn; Gary Reynolds, Cia-ran Egan, Paddy Maguire; Paul Brennan (0-1),Enda Williams, Daniel Beck; Brendan Brennan,Tomas Beirne (0-1); Brian McDonald, EmlynMulligan (0-6), Gerry Hickey (0-1); JamesGlancy, Conor Beirne (0-2), Ray Cox (0-1); Sub:Fabian McMorrow for Williams; SeanMcWeeney (0-1) for McDonald; Paddy Mc-Gowan for Beck; Colm Clarke (0-1) forReynolds.

ROUND 8

Leitrim ................1-11London .................1-9


AN Allianz League Division Four campaignthat started with the promise of greaterthings ended in much the same fashion

as the entire campaign transpired, withLeitrim turning in a baffling mix of the goodand the bad as the Green & Gold were some-what lucky to get the better of an improvingand impressive London side in Pairc Sean MacDiarmada.

The match turned decisively in Leitrim’sfavour 13 minutes from full-time when Lon-don’s Ciaran McCallion crashed a shot off theLeitrim cross-bar. A desperate Leitrim clearedtheir lines, worked the ball up the field whereConor Beirne expertly finished a great shot tothe net.

The goal ultimately proved the difference ina tight contest where an emerging and physi-cally powerful London put Leitrim to their pinof their collars to emerge with the win, in-deed, it was London who were chasing a lategoal as Leitrim were growing increasingly des-perate in injury time.

Conor Beirne’s goal proved crucial but the

real match-winner was the imperiousEmlyn Mulligan whose return of fivepoints fails to show just how muchinfluence he had on this contest.When the pressure was on, Mul-ligan was the man his team-mates looked to and theircaptain delivered in style.

Two brilliant points fromplay after London had taken atwo point lead early in thesecond half typified Mulli-gan’s display and it was defi-nitely needed as a Leitrimteam who looked as if theyhad one eye already firmlyfixed on New York deliveredtheir most lackadaisical dis-play of the League campaign.

Perhaps it is understand-able that Leitrim weren’t fir-ing on all cylinders – with nothing to play for,the focus is very definitely on the champi-onship, now just four weeks away, but the pal-try few fans who turned out last Sunday toPairc Sean will have been worried by Leitrim’serratic form.

The championship will bring greater inten-sity and focus but the optimism that rose sosharply thanks to Leitrim’s FBD League tri-umph has been slowly eroded and leavesLeitrim more than a shade anxious when theymake the long journey across the Atlantic toface New York in Gaelic Park.

What Brian Breen and George Dugdale will

be most anxious to deliver is a consistentperformance as all of Leitrim’s displays

in the League have mixed periods ofwonderful football with equally fre-quent bouts of haphazard andnervous football.

LEITRIM: Brendan Flynn, SeanMcWeeney, Fabian McMorrow,Paddy Maguire, Colm Clarke,Paul Brennan, Wayne McKeon,Tomas Beirne (0-1), BrendanBrennan, Gerry Hickey, EmlynMulligan (0-5), Cian Reynolds (0-1), Robbie Lowe (0-2), JamesGlancy (0-1), Kevin Conlan. Subs:Conor Beirne (1-0) for Glancy (22mins), Daniel Beck for McWeeney(32 mins), Shane Moran for B.Brennan (45 mins), Ray Cox forConlan (60 mins), Barry Prior for

Hickey (67 mins).

LONDON: Declan Traynor, Seamus Hannon (0-1), Stephen Curran, Philip Butler, Eamon Mc-Conville, Anthony Gaughan, Danny Ryan,Caolan Dole, Gregory Crowley, Sean Kelly (0-1), Lorcan Mulvey (1-3), Ciaran McCalli8on,Padraig McGoldrick (0-3), Cathal Magee, MarkGottsche. Subs: Seamus Stenson for Mc-Goldrick (45 mins), Barry Mitchell for Kelly(50 mins), Mark Cahalane for Ryan (62 mins),Aidan McTigue for Crowley (67 mins).

REF: Pat Fox (Westmeath).

Tipp end promotion dreams

Mulligan proves the difference once again

Conor Beirne bagged a vitalgoal for Leitrim in their divi-sion four win over London.

Photo: David Maher / SPORTSFILE

Page 36

Dublin ................2-16Mayo ..................0-16

By MIKE FINNERTYMayo News

THE months ahead will reveal exactlyhow relevant and important this lat-est Mayo reversal at Croke Park

was in the context of Championship 2013,but this performance certainly threw upenough talking points to keep us occupiedbetween now and May 19.

James Horan described this leaguesemi-final as a ‘crazy’ game and it cer-tainly wasn’t your conventional, run-of-the-mill affair as Mayo maintained their recenthabit of mixing the good, bad and indiffer-ent in the same 70-minute cameo.

They were undone on the scoreboardby two Dublin goals in the space of twominutes in the first quarter, but the truth isthat other, more pressing issues were alsoexposed during the course of the after-noon.

Mayo badly missed their absent and in-jured contingent, as Keith Higgins, BarryMoran, Alan Dillon and Andy Moran allwatched from the wings, along with DannyGeraghty, Cathal Freeman, Tom Cunniffeand Alan Freeman.

Dublin made their superior strength-in-depth, fitness and general well-beingcount, recovering from a slow start to rackup 2-9 (all but one point from play) in thespace of twenty blistering minutes in thefirst half.

Mayo responded with just two points oftheir own during that spell and by the timeDublin took their foot off the acceleratorthey were ten points clear.

By that stage, Mayo’s three point leadafter ten minutes, achieved courtesy ofDonal Vaughan’s strong running andpoints from Cillian O’Connor (2 frees), plusa well-taken score from Cathal Carolan,seemed a very distant memory.

The game was less than fifteen min-utes old when Dublin proceeded to takecontrol of midfield and cut Mayo’s defenceto shreds.

Michael Dara McAuley, Cian O’Sulli-van, Ger Brennan and Paul Flynn werethe main protagonists as Dublin won thekick-out contest 18-10 in the opening half.

They wiped out Mayo’s early advan-tage on 13 minutes when the pacy PaulMannion brushed past Kevin Keane alongthe endline and rifled a shot past DavidClarke.

Diarmuid Connolly, who was given fartoo much latitude by Lee Keegan in thatopening half, then curled over the lead

score before Dublin struck for their secondgoal.

The clock showed 15 minutes whenKevin McLoughlin made an uncharacteris-tic error, sending a stray handpass to GerBrennan, and seconds later the inexperi-enced Jason Whelan was hammering theball past Clarke again.

In the fifteen minutes that followedDublin were awesome, tagging on eightpoints and giving an exhibition of pace,power and finishing.

Mayo mustered just two points at theother end, including a solo effort from the

excellentMichael Conroy, but a2-9 to 0-5 deficit on 31 min-utes told its own story.

As is their wont, Mayo rallied justas quickly as they had faded andthree points on the bounce in asmany minutes from Conroy, CillianO’Connor and Jason Gibbons nar-rowed the margin to more man-ageable proportions by the break.

However, only the most opti-mistic and naïve of Mayo support-ers would have felt there was a way back,

ALLIANZ NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE – DIVISION 1 – SEMI-FINAL

Goals sink Mayo ship

Kevin McLoughlin goes past Darren Daly. Photo: Ray McManus / SPORTSFILE

Page 37

especially given the team’s recentgoalscoring drought and Dublin’s range offirepower and options on the bench.

Sure enough, Mayo fought the goodfight in the second half, restoring AidanO’Shea to his rightful place at midfield andoutscoring the winners by 0-8 to 0-7.

By and large though the exchangeshad a challenge game feel to them duringthat period; Mayo never getting any closerthan six points, and Dublin always givingas good as they were getting.

Stephen Cluxton had denied Jason Do-herty and Donal Vaughan when goalsthreatened in the first half and he alsofrustrated Cillian O’Connor and Vaughanagain later in the day.

At the other end only the brillianceof David Clarke prevented BernardBrogan and Dublin from surgingeven further ahead, while Ger

Cafferkey and Vaughan alsomanned the defences as bestthey could.

Mickey Conroy wasMayo’s best forward againand his third point fromplay was just reward for ahard shift while AidanO’Shea underlined hismidfield credentials witha couple of superbscores from distance.

James Horanthrew Michael Walshand Alan Murphy in at

the deep end for theirleague debuts and also

gave Brian Gallagher hissecond run at centre-for-

ward. In the circumstances,making an impact was easier said thandone.

Mayo now have less than five weeksuntil they must put what they have learnedthis spring into practice.

There is no time to be wasted.

DUBLIN: S Cluxton (0-1, 1f); K O'Brien, JCooper, P McMahon; J McCaffrey (0-1), GBrennan, D Daly; MD Macauley, C O'Sulli-van; J Whelan (1-1), D Connolly (0-3), PFlynn; P Mannion (1-4, 1f), P Andrews, BBrogan (0-5, 1f). Subs: N Devereux for Daly (47); D Bastickfor O'Sullivan (50); B Cullen for Flynn (54);K McManamon for Connolly (55); M Fitzsi-mons for Cooper (65).MAYO: D Clarke; K Keane, G Cafferkey, CBarrett; D Vaughan, L Keegan, C Boyle; JGibbons (0-1), S O'Shea; K McLoughlin(0-1, 1f), A O'Shea (0-2), C Carolan (0-1);C O'Connor, J Doherty, M Conroy (0-3). Subs: R Feeney for Doherty (h-t); B Gal-lagher for Gibbons (44); M Walsh forKeane (45); A Murphy for Carolan (55); ERegan for McLoughlin (65).REF: J McQuillan (Cavan).

ALLIANZ NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE – DIVISION 1 – SEMI-FINAL

Michael Walsh, Mayo, in action against Paul Mannion in the division one semi-final at CrokePark. Photo: Ray McManus / SPORTSFILE

A dejected Colm Boyle, Mayo, leaves the fieldafter losing the league semi-final to dublin.

Photo: Dáire Brennan / SPORTSFILE

Page 38

ROUND 5

Kildare ................1-11Mayo ..................0-13


FRUSTRATION. Disappointment. Dis-belief. These were the prevalentemotions among Mayo management,

players and supporters as they troopedout of McHale Park and the appalling vistaof relegation from the top flight becameeven more of a realistic prospect.

Another patchy performance, moremixed messages to try and comprehend,and another narrow defeat that leaves allinside the Team Mayo camp scratchingtheir heads in search of answers.

Kildare’s victory was their first overtheir hosts since 1998 and meant that thiswas Mayo’s first time to lose four leaguegames in-a-row since 1994.

By the time the final whistle sounded,confirming this latest agonising loss, thememories of Mayo’s first quarter blitzkrieghad long since faded.

They played with pace and purpose inthose first twenty minutes, prising the Kil-dare defence open time and again, andclocking up points from all sorts of anglesand distances.

A six-point lead was no more than theydeserved as Evan Regan, Jason Doherty,Kevin McLoughlin (free), Cathal Carolan(2) and Colm Boyle all posted stylishscores.

It looked like it was going to be one ofthose nights for Kildare but, crucially,Mayo failed to take two good goal opportu-nities during this purple patch, opting notto go ‘for the kill’ on both occasions.

Those decisions, allied to waywardshooting, meant that Mayo paid a heavyprice for racking up fourteen wides, drop-ping five shots short of the target, andmissing a string of scoreable frees.

The excellent Niall Kelly opened theLilywhites’ account in the 20th minute andpoints from Seanie Johnston and JohnnyDoyle (free) edged them closer before theonly goal of the night arrived. It was to bethe game’s decisive moment.

A contentious free to Kildare in theirown half, after Jason Doherty appeared tohave been fouled in front of the stand,started the move which ended with wing-

back Eoin Doyle palming the ball pastMayo ‘keeper David Clarke seconds later.

The tide was beginning to turn at thisstage and the lively Seánie Johnstontagged on a couple of scores to send Kil-dare in ahead by 1-5 to 0-7 at the break.

For some reason Mayo had started tofall back into the bad habit of bringing theball into the tackle, and generally lose theirway as Kildare took control of the midfieldbattleground.

Kieran McGeeney’s decision to switchMick Foley and Peter Kelly in order to curbthe influence of Aidan O’Shea and PeterKelly also altered the pattern of the match,while Daniel Flynn’s relocation to midfielddid Mayo no favours either.

As a consequence Kildare tacked onfour points after the restart from Flynn,Johnston (free), Paddy Brophy and NiallKelly and, despite a couple of well-struckfrees from Evan Regan, Mayo were be-hind by 0-9 to 1-9 at the end of the thirdquarter.

The last twenty minutes was nothing ifnot frenetic as Mayo gave chase in typi-cally, swashbuckling fashion but a lack ofcomposure in attack spoiled much of theirdecent approach work.

Normally reliable free-takers like JasonDoherty and Kevin McLoughlin were out ofsync’ too so it was no major surprise tosee Cillian O’Connor eventually take onthe place-kicking duties after his arrival offthe bench.

Mayo managed just one point fromplay in the entire second half (from theboot of centre-back Tom Cunniffe on 58minutes) but it was enough to reduce thegap to the minimum swinging for home.

Remarkably, Mayo were unable to

draw level though as Kildare kept them atarm’s length.

First, Fionn Dowling cancelled out Cun-niffe’s effort before another Kildare substi-tute, Eoghan O’Flaherty, responded to aconverted free from Cillian O’Connor.

The mood among the large partisanhome crowd in the attendance of 6,572was palpable for long stretches of the sec-ond half, in particular, as they watchedtheir team press and probe in vain for thegame-changing scores.

It was a case of so near and yet so far,once again.

The All-Ireland champions are up nextfor Mayo on Sunday, with time running outfor James Horan’s team to save their top-flight status.

Two games and counting. . .

KILDARE: M Donnellan; O Lyons, MFoley, H McGrillen; E Bolton, P Kelly, EDoyle (1-0); H Lynch, P O’Neill; D Flynn(0-1), N Kelly (0-2), M O’Flaherty; S John-ston (0-4, 1f), P Brophy (0-1), J Doyle (0-1, 1f). Subs: F Dowling (0-1) for Doyle(52); D Hyland for Bolton (55); T O’Connorfor Johnston (69); E O’Flaherty (0-1) for MO’Flaherty (61). MAYO: D Clarke; C Barrett, G Cafferkey,K Higgins; L Keegan, T Cunniffe (0-1), CBoyle (0-2); B Moran, S O’Shea; KMcLoughlin (0-1, 1f), A O’Shea, C Carolan(0-2); E Regan (0-3, 2fs), J Doherty (0-2,1f), M Conroy. Subs: C O’Connor (0-2,2fs) for Regan (54); R Feeney for Carolan(57); E Varley for Conroy (60); J Gibbonsfor A O’Shea (64).

REF: M Higgins (Fermanagh).


Geezer’s boys provetoo powerful

Seamus O’Shea in action against Daniel Flynn

Page 39


ROUND 6

Mayo ..................1-10Donegal ...............0-9


EVERYBODY with a vested interest inthe fortunes of the Mayo senior foot-ballers needed this performance and

that result.Especially the loyal, faithful, long-suf-

fering (and freezing) supporters whoturned out in their thousands again atMcHale Park in search of reasons to becheerful and optimistic about Mayo’schances of making an impression onChampionship 2013. They left as relievedas they were frozen to the marrow.

Ending the county’s worst run of leaguedefeats since 1994 was the main objec-tive, and a first win over Donegal in sevenattempts over the course of the last eightseasons has been achieved.

However, it was the manner of the per-formance and the noticeable improvementin attitude and application from recent out-ings that caught the eye more than any-thing else.

Collectively, and individually, Mayowere better and the fact that they matchedDonegal, the All-Ireland champions, interms of work-rate and endeavour for longspells before eventually wearing themdown is a positive worth noting.

It also augurs well for Mayo’s trip toCork on Sunday week next when anotherwin will not only safeguard their top-flightstatus for another year, but it may also cat-apult James Horan’s team into the semi-fi-nals.

In the end, Michael Conroy’s 47thminute goal (Mayo’s first from a forwardsince the Davitts dynamo netted againstDown in the All-Ireland quarter-final lastAugust) transpired to be the watershedmoment.

It came after a typically searing burstupfield from Keith Higgins (who lookedevery inch an All Star all afternoon) and anincisive pass that allowed his first cousinConroy to volley a ground-shot into the netoff Paul Durcan’s post.

The crowd roared their approval to sig-

nal the end of the goal drought.Driven on by an inspirational perform-

ance from towering midfielder BarryMoran, with no little help from his newpartner, Seamus O’Shea, Mayo playedwith a style and a purpose that has beenconspicuous by its absence in recentweeks.

Their display also bristled with intensityand a well-organised and disciplined de-fence restricted Donegal’s sharpshooters,Michael Murphy and Colm McFadden, tojust three points from play between them.

All six backs worked effectively as aunit with Tom Cunniffe deputizing effi-ciently for the injured Donal Vaughan, andColm Boyle’s tenacity setting the tonefrom the outset.

Early on Mayo were a little uncertain,as Donegal eased into a 0-4 to 0-1 leadwith Michael Murphy and Colm McFaddenleading the line as usual.

Slowly but surely, however, Mayo set-tled and with Cillian O’Connor on songfrom frees, posting four fine scores, fivepoints without reply meant Mayo led by 0-6 to 0-4 at half-time.

Jim McGuinness admitted afterwardsthat his team surrendered possession ofthe ball on nine occasions to Mayo in thatfirst half due to unforced errors.

However, he neglected to mention howmany times sheer pressure from willingand able tacklers like Chris Barrett, ColmBoyle, Kevin McLoughlin and Cathal Car-olan won possession back for Mayo.

They forced turnovers like they wereon overtime all day long.

Donegal were never going to roll over,despite their inability to inflict their gameon to Mayo a lá last September, but theydid level the game for the third time withquickfire scores from Marty O’Reilly andColm McFadden after the restart.

But Mayo’s goal changed everything.The confidence garnered from the

score seemed to spread through the teamwithin minutes and they continued to huntin packs, press forward, and do most ofthe basics right.

In truth, not unlike Donegal last seasonin terms of their approach but Mayowanted this one more and they finishedwith a flourish, outscoring their guests byfour points to two down the home straight.

Colm Boyle and Jason Doherty both hitthe target before Enda Varley enhancedhis reputation as an ‘impact sub’ with twostylish points that made the game safe.

Both sides finished the match with four-teen men after Donegal’s Anthony Thomp-son and Mayo’s Jason Doherty were bothdismissed in the final quarter by refereeMarty Duffy after being booked twice.

But the red cards were merely foot-notes on a day when Mayo got back towinning ways, and not before time.

MAYO: D Clarke; C Barrett, G Cafferkey,K Higgins; L Keegan, T Cunniffe , C Boyle(0-1); B Moran, S O’Shea; K McLoughlin(0-2, 1f), A O’Shea, C Carolan; C O’Con-nor (0-5, 4fs), J Doherty, M Conroy (1-0).Subs: R Feeney for O’Connor (47m); DVaughan for Higgins (inj, 59m); E Varley(0-2) for Conroy (63m); B Gallagher for SO’Shea (64m).DONEGAL: P Durcan; P McGrath, NMcGee, E McGee; D Walsh, F McGlynn, AThompson; N Gallagher, R Kavanagh (0-1); R Bradley, L Mcloone, M McHugh; PMcBrearty, M Murphy (0-3, 2fs), C McFad-den (0-3, 1f). Subs: R Wherity for Walsh(23m); R McHugh (0-1) for McLoone (HT);M O’Reilly (0-1) for Bradley (HT); RBradley for N McGee (inj, 46m); M McEl-hinney for Wherity (60m).REF: Marty Duffy (Sligo).

Sweet revenge forGreen and Red

Ryan Bradley in action against Barry Moranand Cathal Carolan.

Page 40

ROUND 7

Cork ...................0-10Mayo ..................0-11

TWO late sideline kicks from Cillian O'Con-nor secured victory for Mayo at Pairc UiCaoimh, but more importantly they sur-

vived the drop to division two on points differ-ence.

Cork, who also survived the drop, looked setto cruise to a facile victory by 0-8 to 0-2 fiveminutes from half-time, but Mayo rallied be-fore the break to trail by just three at the turn-around.

And Mayo, who also managed to make itthrough to the league semi-final thanks to thatpoints difference, dominated the second-halfand with O'Connor and Kevin McLoughlin kick-ing vital scores, James Horan's men took theirthird win of the campaign.

Despite struggling as the first-half went on,Mayo started the game very brightly and alovely point from Kevin McLoughlin off the out-side of his boot gave them the lead in the firstminute.

But for the next 27 minutes the home sidedominated entirely as eye-catching pointsfrom Aidan Walsh and the excellent FintanGoold got them up and running.

After getting himself off the mark with agood score from the left, Daniel Gouldingshould have punished Mayo even more, but hesent his tenth minute close range free wide.

But those early wides looked like theywouldn’t matter as seven points in a row in-cluding another booming effort from Goold,saw Cork open out a 0-7 to 0-1 lead by the 23rdminute.

However, as half-time approached Mayo re-covered and Michael Conroy, Aidan O'Shea andAlan Freeman scores before the break to re-duce the deficit to 0-8 to 0-5 at the break.

Donal Vaughan pointed immediately afterthe restart to get Mayo off to a great start andafter Goold kicked his third point from play torenew the half-time lead, Mayo began to showthe form that saw them reach last year's All-Ireland final.

O'Connor kicked his first free after a foul onMichael Boyle in the 47th minute, beforeMcLoughlin added a free and a point from playto draw Mayo level five minutes later.

Goulding edged Cork ahead with a free asthe intensity was upped noticeably, but with

their division one status hanging the balanceMayo looked the hungrier for the battle.

And that proved to be the case as O'Connorlanded two huge kicks from each touchline togive Mayo the lead with six minutes remaining,as they held on to secure the win and claim aspot in the semi-finals.

MAYO: D Clarke; K Keane, G Cafferkey, SMcHale; L Keegan, D Vaughan (0-01), C Boyle; JGibbons, S O'Shea; K McLoughlin (0-04, 0-02f),A O'Shea (0-01), C Carolan; C O'Connor (0-03,0-03f), A Freeman (0-01), M Conroy (0-01).Subs: E Varley for Conroy (42 mins), R Feeneyfor Carolan (47 mins), J Doherty for Freeman(57 mins), D Coen for Varley (57 blood), C Bar-rett for McHale (63), E Regan for O'Connor (72mins),

CORK: K O'Halloran; J McLoughlin, J O'Sulli-van, M Shields; P Kissane (0-01), N O'Leary, TClancy; A Walsh (0-01), G Canty; M Collins (0-01, 0-01f), F Goold (0-03), A O'Sullivan; DGoulding (0-04, 0-03f), B O'Driscoll, P Kerri-gan.Subs: J Loughrey for O'Leary (27-35 minsblood), P O'Neill for A O'Sullivan (51 mins), JLoughrey for McLoughlin (51 mins),

REF: Maurice Deegan (Laois).


Cilliankicks on

By MIKE FINNERTY Mayo News

HE’S the last man to leave the Mayo dress-ing-room and looks as calm and unfazed asever as he signs some jerseys, meets and

greets his parents and relations, and stops to chatabout another hectic day in his footballing life.

Cillian O’Connor spent most of the last sixmonths on the sidelines, looking on, as he recov-ered from a shoulder injury.

Now he’s making up for lost time.His two points from sideline balls at Pairc Ui

Chaoimh not only turned out to be the definingscores that settled this arm-wrestle, but they aredestined to become You Tube sensations.

We were watching an artist at work as heswung over the first from the left touchline, curl-ing it over on the breeze, before trotting across tothe far wing, four minutes later, and repeating thetrick, this time with the outside of the boot.

Special? Yes. Surprised? No.This is what Cillian O’Connor does best.Unsurprisingly, for a 20 year-old with ability

and ambition, he is relishing the prospect of pit-ting his wits against Dublin again.

“It was a nice carrot to have coming down here,that if we did our business we’d be back in Croker.Who doesn’t love playing the Dubs at CrokePark?” he smiled from underneath his wooly hat.

“This year they’re the form team, they have somany players playing well, such a big panel, it’snice to get to play against teams like that so thatyou can measure yourself against the best, to seewhere you really stand.

“It’s going to be a good test, a good measurefor us.”

O’Connor’s brace of remarkable points mayhave been the scores that ultimately made thedifference, but it was David Clarke’s save fromFintan Goold on 47 minutes that kept Mayo incontention.

The Young Footballer of the Year couldn’t agreemore.

“That was a vital moment in the game. Thatprobably would have turned it I think. They had agreat flowing, passing move, they did cut us open,it was probably the only time they got through.

“There’s no better man in the country you wantin that position, closing down the goal. He’s got abig frame and gives great confidence to the restof the team.

He’s hard to beat, we know that from trainingourselves.

“I think the defence deserve massive credittoo. Cork got two points in the second half, andthey supplied us with the ball that allowed us toget the scores.”

On a day when the wind howled and the rainfell, you wonder how Mayo engineered a one-

point victory after trailing by six points after 25minutes.

“We trained well the last week or two, wedidn’t panic with the couple of results that wentagainst us, we had a couple of good training ses-sions, that’s where the work was done,” repliedthe Ballintubber student.

“I think we showed good character and compo-sure out there, the likes of Lee [Keegan], Aidanand Seamie [O’Shea] around the middle, we didn’tgive any ball away.

“Composure when things went against us, andto stick to our game, and not let the scoreline orconditions affect us.”

It would have been easy for Mayo to lose theplot early on as Cork attacked from all angles,picked off scores, and kept Messrs Conroy, Free-man et al at bay.

But, despite a scoreless 25 minute spell, justthree points separated the teams at the shortwhistle.

“They got a bit of a run on us at the start, theyhad the breeze and we didn’t start particularlywell,” explained O’Connor.

“I thought the team showed good character, wedidn’t panic, we knew what we had to do. We justhad to up the intensity a small bit.

Aidan [O’Shea] got a great point before half-time as did Mickey Conroy, they were two bigscores. At half-time we were relaxed and confi-dent.”

Nobody moreso than the man himself as ittranspired.

Mayo into semis thanksto O’Connor magic

Page 41

AAddrriiaann FFrreeeemmaann rreemmeemmbbeerreedd

By JOHN FALLON Media West Ireland

ATALENTED inter-county hurler who was tragi-cally killed in a road traffic accident in Aus-tralia three years ago after emigrating to find

work, was remembered at an underage tournamentin his honour recently.

The inaugural Adrian Freeman Memorial Cup wasup for grabs as the Mayo U-14 hurling Feile na nGaelcompetition took place in Tooreen grounds whenWestport, Caiseal Gaels and host club Tooreen bat-tled it out.

Adrian Freeman helped Tooreen win the Mayosenior championship and he went on to play in thelargely Galway dominated Connacht side in theinter-provincial championship in Abu Dhabi in 2009.

Freeman, an engineer, whose brother Cathal iscurrently on the Mayo senior football squad, alsowon a Christy Ring All-Star before emigrating to findwork in Australia in October 2009.

However, he was killed the following May in anhorrific crash south-west of Melbourne in an acci-dent which also claimed the life of Robbie Twomeyfrom Listowel in Co Kerry, as they returned homefrom work.

“It is fitting that his cup will help promote the U-14 grade within Mayo, a grade at which Adrian him-self first came to prominence as a hurler in the late1990's,” said a spokesperson for the Tooreen club.

ALLIANZ NATIONAL HURLING LEAGUE – DIVISION 2B

Down ..........1-22Mayo ..........1-14

By BRENDAN GERAGHTY

MAYO and Down con-tested Round 5 of the Al-lianz National Hurling

League 2B in Newry with bothsides having little to play for.

Before the final round ofgames Meath and London hadsecured their places in the Divi-sion final and barring unlikelywins for Roscommon and Ar-magh both Mayo and Meath hadsecured their Division 2B statusfor next year.

Mayo started the brighterand led 0-6 to 0-3 after 13 min-utes with two points from thebustling Darren McTigue, SeanRegan (2), Kenny Feeney andCaptain Derek McDonnell.

But Mayo faded alarminglyfor the next 20 minutes withDown scoring nine points with-out reply with Daniel Toner, PaulSheehan, Conor Woods andPaul Braniff to the fore. Mayoresponded just before the shortwhistle with points from Feeney(f) and Regan to leave the half-time score Mayo 0-8, Down 0-13.

Down were first out of theblocks in the second half withpoints from Braniff and EoinClarke. Disaster then struck forMayo as keeper Donal O’Brienfailed to deal with a fairly weakeffort on his goal with the ballbreaking to Toner who lashed itto the Mayo net.

After 42 minutes gone thescore read Mayo 0-10, Down 1-16. Christy Phillip’s and hisManagement team emptied thebench bringing on Declan Gal-lagher, Paddy Barrett, SeanMarkham and Fergal Lyons inan attempt to overcome the

huge deficit.A magnificent point from cen-

tre back Padraig O’Flynn on 45minutes began Mayo’s fightback. Stephen Hoban gaveMayo supporters further hopewhen he made a penetrating runfrom the right to strike low to theleft of Down custodian StephenKeith to bring the margin back to6 points, 1-12 to 1-18. Try asthey might Mayo could not catchtheir more experienced oppo-nents losing out by eight pointsin the end.

When the Mayo manage-ment team of Christy Phillips,Ciaran Hynes and Austin Kennyreview their team’s performancethey will be concerned by thepoor display in the second quar-ter when Down fired nine pointswithout reply.

Phillips and his backroomteam will have to address thisissue ahead of Mayo’s openingChristy Ring Championshipgame away to Kildare on May4th.MAYO: D O’Brien, A. Brennan,S. Morley, B. Hunt, C. Finn, P.O’Flynn (0-1), C. Charlton, P.O’Grady, G. Nolan, S. Hoban (1-0), D. McDonnell (0-1), N.O’Malley, D. McTigue (0-2), S.Regan (0-4 (1f)), K. Feeney (0-6(4f)). Subs: F. Lyons for P.O’Grady (30), D. Gallagher forN. O’Malley (41), P. Barrett forK. Feeney (61 inj.), S. Markhamfor D. McTigue (65), F. Lyons forC. Finn (66).DOWN: S. Keith, M. Hughes, P.Flynn, P. Hughes (0-3), C. Coul-ter, B. Toner, M. Ennis, A. Sav-age, C. Woods, S. Nicholson(0-2), P. Braniff (0-5, (0-4f), P.Sheehan (0-5), D. Toner (1-3),G. Johnson, E. Clarke (0-2).Subs: M. Conlon for C. Coulter(50), M. Turley (0-2) for D. Toner(52), D. Hughes for A. Savage(67)REF: P. Murphy (Carlow)

Mayo hurlerstaste defeatin Newry

The late Adrian Freemanwho was remembered in

the Mayo U-14 hurlingFeile recently. Pictured

here in Christy RingCup action for Mayo

in 2009. Photo: Paul Mohan / SPORTSFILE

Page 42

FOCUS ON MAYO • FOCUS ON MAYO • FOCUS ON MAYO

The succesful James Stephens BallinaU14 Hurling side who claimed the MayoGAA U14B Feile na nGael title with anarrow win over Castlebar Mitchels inMunnelly Park in Castlebar recently.The Moysiders now travel to Limerick onthe weekend of 5th - 7th July where theywill be hosted by the St Kierans GAAClub in Ardagh. Back (L-R): David O’Sulli-van (Coach), Luke Hurley, Billy McVann,Mark Stevens, Aiden Orme, ChristianJudge, Shane Kennedy, David Judge,Michael Delaney, Declan Ginty, DavidFlood, Daniel Senkevics, Seamus Hurley(Coach). Front (L-R): William Stevens,Chris Walsh, Tom Mulhaire, OliverFeeney, Hugh O’ Sullivan (C), DarraghGill, Dylan Kelly, Kristers Prizevoits andLiam Kelly.

The Castlebar Mitchels U14 Hurling side who went down to James Stephens in theMayo GAA U14B Feile na nGael Competition Blitz in Munnelly Park recently. Theteam are pictured here with coaches Tony Stakelum and Keith Feehily.

Hugh O'Sullivan - Ballinacaptain, receives the Shieldfrom Adrian Hession (MayoGAA Hurling DevelopmentOfficer).

THE Ballina JamesStephens Hurling Clubwere celebrating after

their U-14 hurlers claimed theMayo GAA U-14B Feile nanGael title, after overcomingboth Ballyvary and CastlebarMitchels to claim the title.

In a close-fought final, theMoysiders overcame theMitchels on a 1-1 to 0-1 score-line. They now go forward torepresent Mayo in Division 5of Feile na nGael where theywill be hosted by the St Kier-ans GAA Club in Ardagh inCounty Limerick. Feile nanGael takes place over theweekend of 5th-7th July withover 80 hurling clubs and over60 camogie clubs taking partin the three-day event. For

further information visitwww.feilelimerick2013.com

RESULTS:Semi1: James Stephens 2-5

Ballyvary 1-1Semi2: Castlebar Mitchels

3-6 Ballyhaunis 2-2Final: James Stephens 1-1

Castlebar 0-1.

Mayo GAA Feile na nGael U14B title goes to Ballina

Page 43


Pictured are the participants and coaches at the recent Easter Hurling & Camogie Coaching Camp held in the Tooreen Hurling Grounds. The campsaw eighty-nine school children from both clubs come together for the three-day event, with fun games and enjoyment being the theme of all activ-ities. The highlight of the event was the visit of Mayo GAA star Aiden O'Shea, who proved very popular with the children from the Tooreen area. Theevent also promoted the 'Respect Initiative' in Mayo GAA which is being roled out at underage level in the county. Back row (L-R): John Cassidy,Aoife Cassidy, Labhaoise Cunnane, Aisling Lynskey, Stephen Commons, Sean Kenny, Aiden O'Shea, Kenny Feeney, Dom Greally, Eleanor Harrison and Adrian Hession.

Pictured are the Caiseal Gaels (White) and Claremorris (Blue) U13 hurling sides who took part in the half-time 'Respect Initiative' games atMacHale Park in Castlebar on Sunday. The sides formed part of a very action packed day which saw London defeat Mayo in the NHL and Mayo de-feating Donegal in the NFL.

Page 44


Pictured are the Mount-pleasant NS (Ballyglass)hurling side who tookpart in the South MayoCumann na mBunscolMini 7's Hurling Blitz inBallinrobe recently. Theside acquitted them-selves well in gamesagainst Kilmaine NS andClaremorris BNS. It wasthe first occasion thatMountpleasant tookpart in a Cumann namBunscol Hurling eventafter undergoing a se-ries of 'Hurling in theSchools' coaching ses-sions recently.

The Gaelscoil na Cruaithe(Cathair na Mart), Mini 7shurling side who werepresent at the West MayoCumann na mBunscolBlitz in Westport GAAGrounds recently.

West MayoCúmann namBunscolBlitz

The Brackloon NS (West-port) Mini 7s hurling sidewho were present at theWest Mayo Cumann namBunscol Blitz in WestportGAA Grounds recently.

Page 45

Evanshappyafterleaguesurvival


JOHN Evans boundedoff Breffni Park like aspring lamb, full of

energy and looking for-ward to the next challenge.He had just seen his sideproduce their best displayunder his tenure to end theleague campaign on an ex-tremely positive note.Evans has always accentu-ated the positives, even indefeat, and the last threegames has seen substan-tial progress being made.

“We’ve had some frus-trating times but when youget a couple of extra play-ers, it helps. To come hereto Breffni Park whereRoscommon haven’t beentoo successful, it wasgreat to put up that score.Hitting 16 scores was themost pleasing part of it.The workrate of the teamsince half-time in theMeath game has beenwonderful. It’s the style offootball they’re playingand they’re getting the re-sults now.

“The camp is good.There’s great honesty inwhat the players are doing.There’s a wonderful atmos-phere in training. Everyfella is pushing one an-other.

“We still have a lot ofplayers to come back.They’re on the sidelinelooking in and they knowit’s going to be tough towin their place back,” hepointed out.

Roscommon ........0-11 Antrim ...............1-06

IT was tight in the end, but Roscommonshould have this win wrapped up long be-fore the full-time whistle.

With nine wides in total to add to their 11points on the board, John Evans' sideshould have cantered to the win.

But perhaps they might have been madepay for some lethargy in front of goal if therewas another five minute son the clock whenHealy hit the net for the Saffrons in injury-time.

Antrim were very poor in the opening 35minutes as Roscommon led 0-7 to 0-1 at the

break, with Colin Compton doing most of thedamage.

After an even third quarter, the closingstages quarter belonged to Antrim but thehome side only added two points before thelate, late face-saving goal.

Roscommon manager John Evans said:“Last week, we lost two terrible goals toMeath and you can call this win a backfire ora rebound but we were hungry.” ROSCOMMON: M Miley; N Collins (0-1), NCarty, S McDermott; D Keenan, N Daly, CDaly (0-1); M Finneran, K Higgins; C Gregg(0-3, 3f), D O’Gara (0- 1), D Keane; D Smith(0-2, 1f), C Compton (0-3), C Devaney. Subs: F Gregg for O’Gara (56), D McDer-mott for C Gregg (60), S Oates for Keane(65), C Dineen for Devaney (69).

Roscommon ...............2-14 Cavan ........................1-07

IT looked easy for Roscommon as JohnEvans' men put Cavan to the sword in apoor Division Three tie at Kingspan/Breffni

Park.The westerners led from the off and

eased tot he victory with two goals by full-forward David O’Gara key to victory.

Wind-aided Roscommon careered intoan early 0-4 to 0-0 lead, corner-forwardDonie Smith’s three frees helping them ontheir way.

Cavan replied in the tenth minute whenMartin Dunne goaled against the run of playfrom the penalty spot, while points from NiallMcDermott (free) and Martin Reilly helpedclose the gap to a point (1-3 to 0-7) on thehalf-hour.

However, Roscommon took over contorl

of the game when O’Gara goaled in the33rd minute to open a 1-7 to 1-3 half-timelead.

Cavan tried to work their way back intocontention, but Roscommon held solid andsub Donal Keane and half-back DavidKeenan heaped on the misery as the visitorscut loose.

And late on O’Gara pounced for his sec-ond goal of the day to clinch a well neededwin for Roscommon.

ROSCOMMON: D O’Malley; N Collins, NCarty, S McDermott; D Keenan (0-1), S Pur-cell, I Kilbride; M Finneran, K Higgins (0-1);C Dineen, K Mannion (0-1), C Cregg (0-3,2f); D Smith (0-6, 6 f), D O’Gara (2-0), D Mc-Dermott. Subs: D Keane (0-1) for C Dineen (half-time); P Brogan for S Purcell (half-time); SOates for D McDermott (42); E Smith (0-1)for D Smith (62); D Butler for C Cregg).

Too easy forRoscommon in Belfast


O'Gara shines in big win

Roscommon .................0-8 Monaghan ....................0-7

MONAGHAN'S promotion chargewas dealt a blow by Roscommon atDr. Hyde Park, as John Evans' side

came from behind against the Farney Mento secure their own status in the third tierfor another season.

A win would have seen Monaghan sealtheir promotion back to Division II, andMalachy O'Rourke's side led 0-7 to 0-3

with 20 minutes to go, with Paul Finlay,Owen Lennon, Darren Hughes and KieranHughes all on the scoresheet for the Ulsterside.

However, Roscommon showed tremen-dous heart to kick five unanswered pointsin the final quarter and take the game.Donie Smith, Kevin Higgins and CathalCregg all fired over for Roscommon in thatthrilling final flourish, and the Connachtside now even have an outside chance ofpromotion going into the final round ofgames.

Roscommon foil Mons hope of promotion

Page 46

ROSCOMMON GAA are hosting afundraiser in aid of Mayo Roscom-mon Hospice Foundation on Satur-

day June 15th in the Abbey Hotel,Roscommon.

The event will be a “singing competi-tion with a difference” and will see per-formers from GAA Clubs throughoutRoscommon battle it out to impress thecelebrity judging panel and the audience.

Votes from the audience, votes fromthe judges and donations made to MayoRoscommon Hospice in their name of asinger will also count towards determiningthe winner. In addition to helping a worthycause the winner will receive a cash prizefor their club and a weekend away forthemselves.

Speaking at the announcement,Michael Fahey, Chairperson of Roscom-mon GAA County Board, said: “In early2012 John and Lily Murphy took the deci-sion to sponsor the Roscommon seniorfootball team in order to give somethingback to the local community and to gener-ate awareness of the Hospice movement.

“Everyone involved with RoscommonGAA is proud to be associated with theHospice movement; a group of voluntaryorganisations which have helped so manyfamilies throughout the country and we de-cided to follow the lead of the Murphys byorganising this event, which will help raisefunds for our local foundation - MayoRoscommon Hospice and hopefully in-crease awareness of the good work car-ried out by the organisation”.

The event will also feature live musicand the 2013 Roscommon GAA MembersDraw will take place on the night.

Full details of the contest and ticket in-formation will be published in local mediaand on www.gaaroscommon.ie shortly. Ifentries are oversubscribed two semi-finalswill also be held, with these “pencilled in”for late May.

Cynthia Clampett CEO of MayoRoscommon Hospice Foundation said:“We were delighted when RoscommonGAA approached us with the offer to helpraise funds for our Palliative Care Service.

“The contest sounds like a really noveland fun event. In the current economicclimate fundraising is more difficult andeach year we have to organise so manydifferent events and projects to raise thefunds necessary for the service so it’s agreat boost to have the support ofRoscommon GAA.

“The Palliative Care Service inRoscommon and Mayo is heavily depend-ent on voluntary funding and the Founda-tion have to raise !1.3 million each yearthrough donations and fundraising efforts

to fund approx. 50% of the service costs,in association with the HSE.

“We are now in the final stage of nego-tiation with the HSE to develop HospiceUnits in both Mayo and Roscommon.Plans are drawn for a 14 bed Unit inCastlebar and an 8-bed Unit in Roscom-mon. Our Foundation has to fund 100percent of the capital cost of both Unitswhich is in the region of !7.5million forMayo and !4.5 for Roscommon.

“It’s a huge undertaking for a smallorigination but we are confident that withthe support of the people we can do it.We are hopeful that we will be in a posi-tion to make an announcement to go toplanning in the coming months”.

FOCUS ON ROSCOMMON • FOCUS ON ROSCOMMON • FOCUS ON ROSCOMMON

Roscommon GAA supportsMayo/Roscommon Hospice

Dermot Hughes of Dermot HughesCars, Roscommon recently madea presentation to the RoscommonUnder 21 Football team. Pictured at the presentation were(L-R): Charlie Ward, Team secre-tary; Ross Tomothy; DermotHughes (Sponsor); Dara Hughes;Nigel Dineen; Ciaran Cafferkey,Team Captain; and Enda Smith.

Pictured at the announcement were John Murphy, Roscommon Senior Football team sponsor;Michael Fahey, Chairperson of Roscommon GAA County Board, and Lily Murphy, Roscommon Senior Football team sponsor. Photo: Gerard O'Loughlin

Page 47

Roscommon ........0-17Sligo ....................2-6

By MARTIN WYNNERoscommon Herald

THE Roscommon minors produced astrong closing ten minutes to comethrough a tough encounter with Sligo

at Connolly Park in Collooney. The visitors, who had led by three

points at the break, were pegged back bySligo as the game entered the final quar-ter. But Fergal O’Donnell’s side respondedby hitting unanswered five points to claimtheir third win on the trot in this year’sConnacht Minor League.

The Roscommon manager would havebeen pleased with the character shown byhis side in the closing stages, particularlyas they were facing into a strong breeze.However, they should have taken a biggerlead into the break after playing with thewind at their backs in the opening half.

Seán Farrell, Ultan Harney and RonanDaly had Roscommon three points upafter seven minutes. The next eight min-utes were scoreless, but Roscommondoubled their lead with three quick pointsbetween the 16th and 19th minutes. Twoof them came from Henry Walsh, the firsta free, and sandwiched between thosescores was a fine strike from near the lefttouchline by Evan McGrath.

It took Sligo 23 minutes to get off the

mark, but when they did it was a three-pointer. It came from the penalty spot afterConor Mulry was penalised for trippingSligo wing-back Liam Henry. It appearedto be a rather soft decision, as Henryseemed to collide into Mulry who was al-ready falling over. Nevertheless, it wasgiven and Kevin Henry found the bottomleft corner with his spot kick.

It halved the deficit, but Roscommonresponded positively with three points inas many minutes. The first, which camefrom the boot of Darren Kelly, came just30 seconds after the goal. Ronan Dalyand Walsh (free) added the other two.

It restored the six-point advantage, butthe deficit was halved once again whenKevin McDonnell raised a second greenflag for Sligo in the 28th minute. It leftRoscommon holding a rather precariousthree-point lead, 0-9 to 2-0, facing into thebreeze in the second-half.

The sides went score-for-score in thethird quarter as six points were shared.Sligo’s three points all came from frees,Cian Breheny getting two of them andDylan Kilgallon converting the third. HenryWalsh (two frees) and Ronan Daly re-sponded for Roscommon.

Sligo enjoyed a purple patch at the be-ginning of the final quarter, reeling offthree points in two minutes. Jamie Gillengot two of them, and sandwiched in be-tween was a point from Kilgallon.

Sligo looked like warm favourites topush on for the victory at that stage. How-ever, Roscommon rallied impressively dur-ing the closing ten minutes. Niall

Connaughton edged the visitors ahead inthe 51st minute when he pointed afterbeing set up by Seán Farrell.

Walsh added a free on 52 minutes, andRonan Daly stretched the lead to threepoints 60 seconds later. Sligo registered acouple of wides shortly afterwards as theyspurned the opportunity to reduce thedeficit.

A Walsh free in the 58th minute pro-vided the insurance score for Roscom-mon, and Harney capped off a fine displaywith the final score of the match 60 sec-onds later. The result means that Roscom-mon’s hopes of retaining the ConnachtMinor League title remain very much aliveahead of a crucial clash with table-toppersGalway at Dr. Hyde Park on Saturdaynext.

ROSCOMMON: S. Mannion; C. Mulry, M.Daly, K. Keenan; M. Murtagh, C. Casserly,R. Daly (0-4); U. Harney (0-2), E. McGrath(0-1); Senan Farrell, Sean Farrell (0-1), T.Butler; D. Kelly (0-1), N. Connaughton (0-1), H. Walsh (0-7, 6f). Subs: S. Pettit forButler (43), J. Early for Senan Farrell (56).

SLIGO: K. Kelly; A. Clerkin, S. Keenan, C.Heraghty; K. Carty, J. Gillen (0-2), L.Henry; K. McDonnell (1-0), K. Henry (1-0,a penalty); G. Brady, D. Kilgallon (0-2, 1f),S. Curley; T. Mahon, J. Farrell, D. Cum-mins. Subs: C. Stenson for Heraghty(half-time), C. Breheny (0-2, 2f) for Farrell(half-time), D. Keown for Curley (half-time), D. Cafferky for Mahon (52).REF: G. Foley (Leitrim).

ROSCOMMON are faced a goalkeeper crisisahead of their Connacht SFC clash with thewinners of Galway and Mayo on June 16.

Geoffrey Claffey and Mark Miley featured be-tween the posts for the Rossies during their FL Divi-sion 3 campaign but reports are that both havesince quit the squad.

Claffey wore the number one jersey in the defeatto Meath and was replaced by Miley for the nextgame against Antrim.

Miley was then dropped and has opted out of thepanel leaving Darren O'Malley as the likely firstchoice for their championship campaign.

Under 21 'keeper Tadgh Lowe has been calledup by John Evans who also has to plan without theservices of St Brigid's stars Senan Kilbride andPeter Domican who are currently not part of thesquad.

The Kerry native is, however, hopeful that the ex-perienced pair will make themselves available aftertaking an extended break from football followingtheir club All-Ireland success.

CONNACHT MINOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Strong finish seals Rossies win

Evans faces goalkeeping dilema

Harry Dawson,Dublin, has hisshot saved byRoscommon goal-keeper Tadhg Loweduring last year'sCadbury's GAAFootball All-IrelandUnder 21 Champi-onship Final. Photo: Dáire Brennan /

SPORTSFILE

Page 48

ROSCOMMON GAA recentlylaunched its annual Members Drawin Dr Hyde Park.

This year the draw has a top prize of!35,000 and eleven further cash prizesranging from !5,000 to !500.

In addition there are nine hotel breakson offer:13th prize is Two All-Ireland Football Final

Tickets and one night B&B in a DublinCity Hotel

14th prize is Two All-Ireland Hurling FinalTickets and one night B&B in a DublinCity Hotel

15th prize is Two nights B&B and oneevening meal for two in the Galway BayHotel

16th prize is Two nights B&B and oneevening meal for two in the RegencyHotel, Dublin

17th prize is Two nights B&B and oneevening meal for two in the Mill TimesHotel, Westport

18th prize is Two nights B&B and oneevening meal for two in the Park HouseHotel, Galway

19th prize is One night B&B and oneevening meal for two in the Hilton Hotel,Malahide Road, Dublin

20th prize is One night B&B and oneevening meal for two in the WelcomeInn, Castlebar

All prizes will be drawn onSaturday June 15th at an event in

the Abbey Hotel, RoscommonSpeaking at the launch Chairperson of

Roscommon GAA. Michael Fahey, ap-pealed to Clubs and supporters to get be-hind the draw.

“Your support for our draw is a verytangible way of helping our teams com-pete at provincial and at national level.The progress that is being made at under-age level

over the past few years is there for allto see and resulted in three All-IrelandFinal appearances last year. This develop-ment is beginning to bear fruit at adultlevel and was particularly evident duringthe current Allianz Football League. OurSenior football team was missing a largenumber of experienced players due to in-jury, exam commitments and St. Brigidsvictorious All-Ireland run. Their placeswere

filled by members of the 2012 and2013 U-21 panels who acquitted them-selves very well and showed that support-ers have a lot to look forward when the fullpanel is available for selection ahead ofthe Championship.”

Mr. Fahey concluded by saying: “Any

financial support we receive from our sup-porters will be invested wisely in the futureof our players”.

In addition to supporting the county fi-nances the draw is also an importantsource of funding for clubs and this wasanother point highlighted at the launch -since this type of draw commenced in2006 clubs have received over !500,000in commission from ticket sales.

This year clubs who reach their salestargets will be entered into a draw forsome excellent prizes, which include !500vouchers donated by local businesses -Class Grass, Castlecoote; Seamus HuntSports Therapy; Roscommon LeisureZone; Connolly's Red Mills; J.F. HanleyGroundcare; Roscommon Signs; AbbeyHotel Health and Fitness; Treacy Decór /Colortrend Paints.

Tickets costing, !100, are availablefrom your local Club, from the Roscom-mon GAA Offices or online atwww.gaaroscommon.ie/draw . For moreinformation on the draw call 09066 27176or email [email protected]

Roscommon GAA would like to takethis opportunity to thank the local busi-nesses listed above who sponsored theClub Prizes; our Media Partner theRoscommon People and the Hotels whosponsored prizes in the Main Draw.

FOCUS ON ROSCOMMON • FOCUS ON ROSCOMMON • FOCUS ON ROSCOMMON

Pictured at the launch of the 2013 Roscommon GAA Members Draw were (L-R): Anthony Flaherty, Roscommon GAA Hurling Committee Chairperson;Michael Fahey, Roscommon GAA Chairperson, and John Evans, Roscommon, senior football team manager.

2013 Roscommon GAAMembers Draw launched

Page 49

Longford ..............1-8 Sligo ....................0-9

LONGFORD withstood the dismissal ofKevin Conneely after 30 minutes tocapture Division 3B Hurling honours

at Pairc Sean Mac Diarmuda in Carrick-on-Shannon.

Frank Browne's side were reduced to14-men for the closing 40 minutes, butstood firm to claim rare silverware and aplace in Division 3A next year.

Longford had already beaten Sligo inthe competition by 18-points in their final

round tie, but this game was always goingto be tight in nature.

Sligo welcomed back Keith Raymondto their side after he had opted out for thebulk of the early season, but Longford re-stricted the talented full-forward well, ontheir way to this hard earned two-pointwin.

Longford led by 1-5 to 0-3 at half-time,with Luke Kelly netting a 13th minute goal,after doubling on a dipping Eoin Donnellanfree.

Sligo kept in touch thanks to the effortsof Gary Waldron, with the returning Ray-mond; Liam Reidy, Benny Kenny andBrian McMahon contributing scores in thesecond half.

The Connacht side worked hard in theclosing 35 minutes, to eat into Longford'slead, but the Leinster outfit just hadenough to take honours, despite Con-

neely's dismissal.After the game Joe O'Brien accepted

the cup on behalf of the victorious Long-ford side as Division 3A Hurling awaits fornext year.

LONGFORD: E Daly (0-1, 1f); P McGarry,R Breslin, B Stakem; C Egan, T Roche, KMurray; C Finucane, P Barden; L Kelly (0-1), K Conneely, E Donnellan (0-1, 1f); DTanner (0-1, 1f), J Newman (0-1), JO'Brien (0-4, 2f). Sub: P Corcoran forKelly (66).

SLIGO: D Reidy; F Coyne, J Kelly, T Caw-ley; E McGowan, B Kenny (0-1), J Kenny;L Reidy (0-2), D Collery; A Morrison, RCox, K Gilmartin; G Waldron (0-4, 4f), KRaymond (0-1), M Gilmartin. Subs: B

McMahon (0-1) for Coyne (HT); MConnelly for Gilmartin (68).

REF: BrendanSweeney(Cavan).

ALLIANZ NATIONAL HURLING LEAGUE – DIVISION 3B – FINAL

The Sligo hurling squad that was defeated by Longford in the recent division 3B league final. Photo: David Maher / SPORTSFILE

Sligo fail to secure promotion

Sligo hurler Brian McMahon in action duringtheir Allianz Hurling League, Division 3B finaldefeat to Longford at Pairc Sean McDiar-muida. Photo: David Maher / SPORTSFILE

Sligo midfielder LiamReidy chases posses-sion in the leaguefinal. Photo: DavidMaher / SPORTSFILE

Page 50

Longford ............4-13 Sligo ....................1-4


THIS third round game played infreezing conditions at Glennon BrosPearse Park turned out to be a pre-

cursor of the AHL3B final.But Sligo will be hoping that they can

improve on last Sunday's performance asthey were outplayed by a physicallystronger and more direct Longford team ina game that was ruined by a constant suc-cession of frees.

Sligo started without a couple of regu-lars including Brendan Kenny and BrianMcMahon but they were on the back footfrom the start.

Longford raced into a 1-4 to no scorelead after 16 minutes of play, with man ofhe match Joe O'Brien grabbing two freesand Donnellan adding to his first pointagain from a placed ball.

Some bad wides, in albeit blustery con-ditions that favoured the home team,meant that Sligo failed to register a scoreuntil the 19th minute when Gary Waldronfired over a good point as he latched onto

a loose ball from around 35m out and con-verted to the relief of the Sligo support.

However, Longford had their tails upand continued to press as Sligo continuedto foul. Donnellan added his third con-verted free from distance and Kevin Con-neely, who dominated at centre-forwardthroughout, pointed with some style whenhe swiftly fired the sliotar over the bar togive Longford a 1-6 to 0-1 lead following21mins of dominant home play.

Longford showed no mercy when somedesperate defending lead to another freebeing conceded and former Offaly hurlerDeclan Tanner stepped up to strike theball firmly past the Sligo "efenders andgive the hosts and unassailable lead 2-8to 0-3.

The home side had an emphatic 3-9 to0-3 lead at the break and were relentlessin the early stages of the second half asJoe O'Brien grabbed another goal in the43rd minute.

Sligo had their most dominant spell interms of possession and chances from the45th to 60th minutes but a succession of 4wides and the concession of a convertedfree by Tanner typified this game whennothing would go right for the away team.

Ciaran Brenan fired an unstoppablestrike into the top corner of the net in the56th minute to restore some pride with thescores at 4-10 to 1-4.

Longford finished strongly as Sligo's re-sistance petered out in the final fifteenminutes.

Further points from Joe O'Brien (2)gave him a 1-5 total.

Declan Tanner scored from a free, tofinish off a disappointing Sligo perform-ance by 4-13 to 1-4.

Sligo have, however, qualified for thedivisional final against Longford and amuch improved performance will beneeded if promotion is to be achieved.

LONGFORD: E Daly; P McGarry, R Bres-lin, G Moore; J Gaffney, B Stakem, CEgan; P Barden, K Murray; E Donnellan(0-5), K Connelly (0-1), D Tanner (2-2); LKelly (0-1), J Newman (0-1), J O'Brien (1-4). Subs: K Cox for Donnellan, D Connolly forBreslin, P Corcoran for Kelly, J Mulhern forO'Brien.

SLIGO: D Reidy; J Kelly, R Cox, T Caw-ley; F Coyne, L Reidy (0-1), J Kenny; EMcGowan, D Collery; K Gilmartin, C Bren-nan (1-0), N Cadden; G Waldron (0-2), MGilmartin, C O'Mahony (0-1). Subs: A Morrisson for Coyne, G Caddenfor O'Mahony,T Conneely for Cadden, MDavey for Gilmartin, M Connolly for Kelly.

REF: J Keane.

ALLIANZ NATIONAL HURLING LEAGUE – DIVISION 3B

Scór finalST Mary's GAA Club hosted thecounty Senior Scór final at the Club-house on Saturday night 23rdMarch.

It was a great social event withmusic, song, recitation & Trath nagCéist performances from aroundthe county.Roisin Kilgannon -, St Farnan’s win-

ner of Solo singing . Naomh Molaise -Grúpa Bailead (

Ballad Group )Gene Sheerin - Naomh Molaise -

Aitriseoireacht ( Recitation)Naomh Fearnain – Ceol Úirlise ( In-

strumental Group.Naomh Mhuire – Trath na gCeist (

Quiz).The winners later went on to rep-

resent Sligo in the Connacht Final inCarrick on Shannon on Saturday 6thApril.

Championship draw throwsup some interesting groupsREIGNING County senior Champions, Curry,and the 2012 Intermediate winners, Bunni-nadden, have been drawn in the same groupfor this year's Belfry Sligo senior footballChampionship.

They will be joined by Eastern Harps inwhat promises to be an intriguing Group A.

Tubbercurry, St. Molaise Gaels and St.John's are in Group B while Tourlestrane willbe joined by Coolera/Strandhill and Ballymotein Group C. St. Mary's, Geevagh andCoolaney/Mullinabreena make up Group D.

In the Kennedy's Intermediate Champi-onship, last year's beaten finalists, Drum-cliffe/Rosses Point have been drawn withCalry/St Joseph's and Eastern Harps inGroup D. Shamrock Gaels, Owenmore Gaelsadn St. Michael's will constest Group A whileGroup B will be an all West division affair withSt. Pat's, Castleconnor and Easkey involved.

Group C contains Enniscrone/Kilglass andCloonacool.

St. Molaise Gales, Shamrock Gaels andCurry are in Group A in the Toffs Junior AChampionship with St. Mary's, Tubbercurryand Coolera/Strandhill in Group B. St. John'swill be joined by Bunninadden and Geevaghin Group C.

BELFRY SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPGroup ACurryBunninaddenEastern Harps

Group CTourlestraneCoolera/StrandhillBallymote

Sligo hurlers reach league final despite hefty loss

Group BTubbercurrySt Molaise Gaels St. John's

Group DSt. Mary'sGeevaghCoolaney/

Mullinabreena

Page 51

ROUND 5

Sligo ....................2-9Cavan .................1-12

SLIGO squandered a five point lead ina dramatic finish as Cavan foughtback to earn a share of the spoils in

this thrilling Allianz Division Three Leagueclash at Markievicz Park last Sunday.

After their disastrous performanceagainst Monaghan the previous week,Sligo looked to have done enough to havesecured a priceless win when they led byfive points with just four minutes remain-ing.

However, they pressed the self-de-struct button in a frenzied climax, allowingCavan to get back on level terms, with theequalising goal coming from substitute,Eugene Keating, two minutes into stop-page time.

And if all that wasn't bad enough, Sligohad centre-back, Adrian McIntyre, sent offfor a second yellow card offence in the lastminute.

It was a cruel blow for the YeatsCounty, who led by six points at one stagein the first half and also had a command-ing lead in the closing stages.

Even more frustrating was that theybrought most of the trouble on them-selves, turning over possession on numer-ous occasions and giving away the ballwith sloppy passing far too frequently.

On the plus side, it was a vastly im-proved performance from the Clones de-bacle, with the unsparing Frankie Quinn,Gerry McManus and Pat Hughes, whowas very effective as a target man in thesecond half, giving renewed impetus tothe forward line

And Adrian Marren was also in goodform, kicking five excellent frees.

A near gale force wind made it a test-ing afternoon for both sides and the robustnature of the exchanges meant there waslittle free flowing football.

Sligo looked marginally the better teamfor long stretches of the game but Cavandeserve a lot of credit for their never-say-die attitude and the introduction of substi-tutes, Barry Reilly and Keating, both ofwhom were very influential in the lastquarter, had a major impact on the finaloutcome.

Early points from frees by Mark Bre-heny and Marren settled Sligo's nervesbut Cavan wasted little time in gettingback into contention with good scoresfrom play by the lively Cian Mackey andNiall McDermott.

A free by Marren edged Sligo back infront in the 13th minute and then came the

game's opening goal four minutes later.It was the product of a clever passing

move as Hughes twice linked with Quinnbefore releasing Shane McManus whoslammed the ball low to the net.

James Kilcullen claimed his first pointfor Sligo shortly afterwards and then Mar-ren slotted over a free to give the YeatsCounty a six point advantage, 1-5 to 0-2.

Sligo failed to sustain the momentum,however, and four unanswered points fromMartin Dunne, David Givney, Niall McDer-mott (free) and Damien O'Reilly cut thegap to just two points at the interval.

The Ulster side were on level termswithin five minutes of the restart, thanks totwo excellent scores from impressive mid-fielder, Gearoid McKiernan, but Sligo re-sponded with a point from a free by theever reliable Marren.

And only a brilliant reflex save byCavan keeper prevented Marren's de-flected '45' from finding the net minuteslater.

However, the 'keeper was at fault asSligo struck for their second goal in the55th minute. He failed to hold a shot fromHughes and Stephen Gilmartin pouncedon the rebound to finish to the net.

That gave Sligo a 2-6 to 0-8 lead andthey looked to be home and dry whenHughes picked off a terrific point two min-utes later.

Cavan had other ideas, however. Two

points by Barry Reilly put them back in thehunt and even though McManus and Mar-ren added on a points for Sligo, it was theUlster side who finished the stronger.

Two pointed frees by Barry Reilly cutthe gap to three and then, with two min-utes of injury time almost up, Reillylaunched a long hopeful ball into the heartof the Sligo defence which was finished tothe net by the alert Keating.

SCORERS – Sligo: S McManus 1-1, AMarren 0-5 (5f), S Gilmartin 1-0, J Kil-cullen, M Breheny (f), P Hughes 0-1 each. Cavan: B Reilly 0-4 (2f), E Keating 1-0, NMcDermott (1f), G McKiernan 0-2 each, MDunne, D Givney, C Mackey, D O'Reilly 0-1 each.

SLIGO: P Greene; C Harrison, J Martyn,R Donovan; K Cawley, A McIntyre, B Cur-ran; S Gilmartin, J Kilcullen; S McManus,F Quinn, B Egan; M Breheny, P Hughes, AMarren.

CAVAN: A O'Mara; K Brady, J McEnroe, OMinagh; K Mehan, A Clarke, D O'Reilly; TCorr, G McKiernan; C Mackey, M Reilly, MMcKeever; N McDermott, M Dunne, DGivney. Subs: E Keating for Dunne (52),B Reilly for Reilly (52), J Reilly for O'Mara(56), P Reilly for Brady (60).

REF: E O'Grady (Leitrim).


Late goal robs Yeats men

Page 52


ROUND 6

Fermanagh .........0-15Sligo ....................0-9

Courtesy of Sligo Champion

SLIGO are hanging on to their DivisionThree status by their fingernails after thisheavy defeat to promotion chasing Fer-managh at Brewster Park, Enniskillen, lastSunday.

In a scenario which has become de-pressingly familiar during the course of theLeague, Sligo collapsed without trace inthe second half as rampant Fermanaghoutscored the Yeats County by ten pointsto three after the break.

Sligo were competitive and eager inthe opening period and were good valuefor their 0-6 to 0-5 lead aft the interval.

But what a transformation after thebreak as the Yeats County lost all theirshape and composure.

Fermanagh were seeking a win to en-hance their promotion prospects whileSligo desperately needed to get a result tohelp their chances of survival in the divi-sion.

It was a scenario which should haveproduced plenty of fire and passion but, intruth, both sides struggled to cope with thedifficult conditions.

That said there was no shortage of ef-fort and the game did produce some mem-orable moments, particularly from Sligosharpshooter, Adrian Marren, who was inoutstanding form throughout.

Fermanagh started off at a good paceand edged in front in the first minute whenthe hard working wing back, Declan Mc-Cusker, took possession from Shane Mc-Cabe's '45' and ran through unchallengedto fist over. A goal chance came as theSligo defence retreated but McCusker washappy with the point.

Minutes later, Sligo 'keeper, PhilipGreene, had to react smartly to keep outThomas McElroy's close range effort butthe Yeats County steadied the ship andplayed their way back into the game.

They were on level terms after 6 min-utes when good play by James Kilcullengave Niall Murphy to send over a well-taken point from play.

And the Connacht side edged in fronttwo minutes later when Marren got the first

of his scores, brilliantly firing over a 50mfree from a very tight angle.

The score had a touch of real classand the Curryman got an even better pointin the 10th minute, once again finding therange from a difficult angle to put Sligo twopoints clear.

At the other end, Thomas Corrigankept the home side in touch with a goodscore from play and then Paul Ward slot-ted over a free to tie the game up at threepoints each.

There was little between the sides atthis stage but Marren's class was key forSligo. He restored their lead with anotherbrilliant point in the 19th minute, this timeconverting a 47m free in great style.

Sligo had a slight wind advantage inthe opening period and Frankie Quinnmade good use of the elements when hepicked off a terrific long range point in the24th minute after good play by James Kil-cullen had opened up the Fermanagh de-fence. The Ulster side hit back with anincisive passing movement which endedwith Corrigan slotting over with his left footto cut the gap to the minimum.

However, it didn't take long for Sligo torestore their two point advantage. Andagain it was Adrian Marren who inflictedthe damage, taking a pass from Quinn inhis stride, before hammering over anotherexceptional point.

Fermanagh hit two bad wides and di-rected another effort straight into the armsof Greene before the pressure finally

brought their fifth point, a good effort bythe excellent McCusker just before the in-terval.

It was the unsparing McCusker whogot the home side up and running in thesecond half, popping over the equaliserwith a long range point within two minutesof the restart

Marren put Sligo back in front againfrom a free minutes later but that wasabout as good as it got for the YeatsCounty as they faded in alarming fashion

Corrigan converted two frees in quicksuccession to edge the home side in frontand then Keenan, Ward and Marty O'Brienadded on scores as the pattern of thegame swung decisively in Fermanagh'sfavour.

With Sligo losing all direction and giv-ing the ball away Fermanagh stretchedtheir lead to five points, 0-12 to 0-7 whenCorrigan slotted over a free. Shane Mc-Cabe added on a point from play beforeMarren, from a free, replied for Sligo.

However, as the Ulster side continuedto have things all their own way, clockingup two furthers scores, courtesy of Ward.

Marren had a consolation score from afree for Sligo five minutes from time butFermanagh out easy winners.SCORERS – Fermanagh: Tomas Corri-gan 0-5 (2f), Paul Ward 0-4 (1f), DeclanMcCusker 0-3, Daryl Keenan 0-1, TommyMcElroy 0-1, Martin O’Brien 0-1. Sligo: Adrian Marren 0-7 (6f), Niall Mur-phy 0-1, Francis Quinn 0-1.

Sligo in threat of dropafter latest loss

Sligo manager, Kevin Walsh.

Page 53


ROUND 7

Sligo ...................1-12Wicklow ..............0-11


AGAME which was identified as oneof the defining fixtures of the sea-son for Sligo produced the right re-

sult as the Yeats County delivered astrong finish to edge out Wicklow in thelast round of Division Three of the AllianzFootball League at Markievicz Park.

It means that Sligo beat the dreadeddrop by the skin of their teeth as Antrim'sdefeat to Monaghan consigns them to Di-vision Four along with Wicklow.

It was understandable that both teamslacked fluency and for a long time it lookedas if Sligo might not be able to find themomentum to bring victory.

A first half goal by Pat Hughes meantthat the sides went in level at the break, 1-4 to 0-7. And, given that they had the ad-vantage of a strong breeze in the secondperiod, it was reasonable to expect Sligoto stamp their authority on the exchangeson the restart.

But, as things transpired, it was Wick-low who looked the more composed sidein the early stages of the second half andSligo looked to be in real trouble when theLeinster moved three points clear, 0-10 to1-4 within six minutes of the restart. Withdisaster staring them in the face, Sligocame up with the required response, how-

ever.A switch which saw Hughes moving to

the full-forward line and the introduction ofthe lively Niall Murphy injected badlyneeded urgency and penetration up front.And the ever-reliable Adrian Marren alsobecame increasingly influential.

They hauled themselves back to equal-ity, 1-8 to 0-11, with fifteen minutes to goand pushed on in the closing stages to se-cure a priceless win.

Sub Tony Taylor, who was making hisfirst appearance of the campaign, winningsome good ball, Sligo dominated posses-sion, adding on four unanswered points.And it was also encouraging that theymanaged to keep Wicklow scoreless dur-ing the closing minutes as well.

In the end, the win was more comfort-able than might have been anticipatedearly in the match but the overwhelmingemotion among fans and players alike wasone of relief rather than celebration.

Wicklow led by three points to two after11 minutes, with Sligo's two scores comingfrom Marren. Then, in the 14th minute,Sligo struck for a vital goal as Pat Hughesconnected with Marren's sideline kick andpunched the ball low to the net. Wicklowhit back with three points in a row fromJohn McGrath, Dean Healy and Paul Earlsbut Marren slotted over from a free in the29th minute to keep things level.

Breheny edged Sligo back in front witha terrific score from way out on the left butthis was quickly cancelled out by McGrathto leave it all square at the break. AustinO'Malley, Patrick McWalter and KevinMurphy all scored from play to give the Le-inster side a three point lead early in thesecond half.

It was looking bleak for Sligo at thatstage but they dug deep to haul them-selves back into contention. Points by Bre-heny (2), Brendan Egan and Murphyhelped them to draw level by the 55thminute. It was all to play for now and Sligogot their noses in front when Murphy firedover after Marren's neat lay-off.

A great long range score by Marrenserved to settle the nerves in a tense fin-ish and Sligo never looked back, addingon two pointed frees from the excellentMarren in the closing minutes.

Scorers – Sligo: A Marren (0-6, 3f), MBreheny (0-3, 2f), P Hughes (1-0), N Mur-phy (0-2), B Egan (0-1). Wicklow: J Mc-Grath (0-5, 3f), A O’Malley (0-2), K Murphy(0-1), P McWalter (0-1), D Healy (0-1), PEarls (0-1).

SLIGO: P Greene, C Harrison, R Donovan,K Cryan, K Cawley, A McIntyre, B Curran,E Mullen, J Kilcullen, S McManus, PHughes, B Egan, M Breheny, K Sweeney,A Marren. Subs: T Taylor for J Kilcullen (’blood’ sub),5; J Kelly for C Harrison, 49; N Murphy forK Sweeney, 52; T Taylor for E Mullen, 55.

WICKLOW: R Lambert, C Hyland, D Power,A Byrne, D Hayden, S Byrne, D Healy, JStafford, A McLoughlin, K Murphy, PMacWalter, D Woods, J McGrath, A O’Mal-ley, P Earls. Subs: N Mernagh for D Woods, 51; L Ben-son for P MacWalter, 61; P Dalton for KMurphy, 61; J Bolger for S Byrne 65.

REF: Barry Cassidy (Derry).

Sligo escape the drop

Page 54

By Cathal Mullaney

ENNISCRONE/KILGLASS GAA clubin West Sligo started 2013 with apresentation ceremony to honour our

successful underage teams of 2012.the celebrations took place in late Jan-

uary, with Donegal’s All-Ireland winningcorner-forward Colm McFadden in atten-dance to present the teams with theirawards.

2012 was arguably the clubs most suc-cessful season in recent years at under-age level, with the U-12 team capturingthe ‘A’ Shield, the U-14 team winning the‘C’ Championship and the clubs minorteam being crowned ‘C’ league champi-ons. At the event in the Ocean SandsHotel in Enniscrone, Colm McFadden ac-knowledged the work being done at under-age level in the club, as did club chairmanDeclan Rouse, and both paid tribute to theeffort put in by players and mentors alike.

Everyone in the club felt privileged towelcome Mr McFadden to Enniscrone andhe was presented with a gift as a token ofthe clubs appreciation.

It was an enjoyable evening for allpresent and an ideal way to kick off clubactivities in what is the club's 125th year inexistence.

All of the club teams have since re-turned to the playing fields, and it is hopedthat 2013 will be an equally successfulone for our club.

FOCUS ON SLIGO • FOCUS ON SLIGO • FOCUS ON SLIGO

Enniscrone/Kilglass honoursuccessful underage teams

Donegal's All-Ireland winner and 2012 All-Star Colm McFadden pictured with the Enniscrone/Kilglass U-12 team, who won the 'A' Shield title in2012.

To obtain an electronic copy of the magazineeach quarter, free of charge, [email protected].

Page 55

CALRY/ST JOSEPH'S AWARDS

The MacHale Family Eddie, Katie and Eamonn Calry/St.Joseph's GAA Club, Sligo recently presented a Cup to Sligo County Scór Committee in mem-ory of the late Teresa MacHale, who represented the Club and County at the Connacht Scór Sinsear Finals shortly before her passing in 2009 – (L-R): Tom Kilcoyne, Catherine Gallagher, Eddie MacHale, Bridie McGovern, Kate MacHale Bernadine McGovern Joe Queenan and Eamon MacHale.

Toma!s Mulcahy pictured with Calry.St.Joseph's GAA Club Connacht Hurling Champions 2012.

Cork Hurling Legend Tomás Mulcahy pictured with (L-R): Brian Mc-Gauran, Bernardine McGauran, Cultural Officer, and Eddie MacHale,Chairman, Calry/St. Joseph's GAA Club, at the celebration night forthe Connacht Junior Hurling Champions in 2012 and the U16 Ladiesalso crowned County Football Champions

Page 56

OVER 45 people attended the ‘Gaelic4Girls’training in Ballinlough recently, with theseven clubs selected to host the G4G in at-tendance to get trained up on taking thenext steps in the programme.

LFGA development officers Lisa Caf-ferky and Noelle Gormley delivered thetwo-hour workshop and from the beginninghad all the participants interactive en-gaged. They started with a generic talkwhich discussed the importance of com-munication and working together in a club.

The co-ordinators and coaches thenwent into the hall where they got to be theparticipants for 'one night only' and experi-ence all the different games in which wehope they implement throughout the G4G

programme and also give them trainingideas going forward as coaches.

After Noelle and Lisa with had takenthe participants through the warm up andfour stations it was then the coaches turnto implement the skills/games they werejust shown. The coaches received feed-back on their coaching skills which en-sured they are now competent andcapable of delivering G4G training ses-sions.

The main emphasis on the night was tokeep it enypyable and develop the skillsthrough games. Participants got thechance to sample a variety of games andalso got ideas on coaching and how toadapt the games. The session lasted one

hour: the approximate time a G4G sessionshould last once a week.

Half way through the session the co-or-dinators undertook specific training on theirroles, which explained how they can pro-mote and roll out this programme to thebest of their ability within their club.

Thanks to the Michael Glaveys clubwho provided refreshments after the work-shop. This was a chance to sit down andmeet other clubs taking part and also toask any questions they had.

In addition, thanks to Aine Gormley andKatrina Connolly who helped throughoutthe night in the coaching workshop and toIta C. Hannon who took pictures which willbe in our photo gallery.

• FOCUS ON LADIES FOOTBALL • FOCUS ON LADIES FOOTBALL •

G4G co-ordinators andcoaches bang up to date

Eastern Harps GAA Club members. Tuam Cortoon Ladies GAA Club representatives.

LFGA development officer Lisa Cafferky, Aine Gormley, Katrina Connolly and LFGA development officer Noelle Gormley.

Page 57

CONNACHT Ladies Gaelic Football U-14Blitz took place on Sunday 24th March atConnacht GAA Centre.

Four counties participated on a verydry but bitterly cold day with a veyr huighstandard of football on display throughout.

As it turned out Galway and Mayoopened and closed the blitz, with theTriebsgirls edging the final after earlier los-ing out to the Green and Red in the firstgame.

Thanks to our three match officials:Sandra Shanagher from Roscommon,Johnny Burke of Mayo and John Gilmartinfrom Sligo. Thanks also to the blitz co-or-dinators Liam McDonagh from Sligo andMaura Burke from Galway.

Liam McDonagh Sligo Connacht Vice-President presented the Connacht Shieldand winners medals to the Galway captainand players while Maura Burke GalwayConnacht Registrar presented the runnerup medals to the Mayo captain and play-ers.

RESULTS:Mayo .........................................3-4Galway .....................................0-1

Sligo .........................................4-2Roscommon ............................0-0

Mayo .........................................3-1Sligo .........................................0-0

Galway .....................................2-2Roscommon ............................2-0

Galway .....................................3-1Sligo .........................................1-1

Mayo .........................................3-3Roscommon ............................1-0

FINAL:Galway .....................................1-2Mayo .........................................0-2

• FOCUS ON LADIES FOOTBALL • FOCUS ON LADIES FOOTBALL •

Galway Girls U-14 side who won the recent blitz at the Connacht GAA Centre'

Mayo Girls U-14 team.

Sligo Girls U-14 team.

Roscommon Girls U-14 team.

Galway win out in Ladies Football Blitz

DIVISION 3 CAMOGIE LEAGUE

Page 58

Roscommon .........1-11Westmeath ..........0-5


ROSCOMMON produced their bestperformance of the season to com-fortably defeat Westmeath and,

more importantly, qualify for the leaguesemi-finals a bitterly cold Oran GAAgrounds in Rockfield.

It was a hugely encouraging perform-ance from the home wide who made lightof the tough conditions to pull away fromtheir opponents in the second half.

With the wind behind them after thebreak, Roscommon built on their 0-6 to 0-4 interval advantage to leave Westmeathin their wake. Their workrate was com-mendable and, in the absence of theteam’s chief score-getter Kelley Hopkinswho broke her left hand in a club leaguegame recently, Caitriona Regan, FionaConnell and Annette McGeeney steppedup to the plate to get the scores Roscom-mon needed.

But there was so much more to be en-thused about. Caroline Connaughton wasvery solid in between the posts and madea couple of spectacular saves in the open-ing half when the game was in the bal-ance. Donna Kelly shored up the defenceat centre-back, while Susan Spillane,Deirdre Regan and substitute GrainneEgan made fine contributions.

The all-important goal came in thefourth minute of the second period whensome unselfish play by Egan and

McGeeney set up Fiona Connell and theAthleague player pounced for the game’sonly three-pointer. It proved to be the cata-lyst for a commanding second-half displayfrom Roscommon. With Caitriona Regandelivering a flawless performance frommidfield, there was to be no way back forthe Lake County girls.

It was a different story in the opening30 minutes as Westmeath were every bitas good as the home side early on.Pamela Greville and full-forward DeniseMcGrath were lively in attack and theRoscommon defence were on over-timetrying to keep the duo’s threat at bay.

McGrath opened the scoring in thefourth minute following a missed goalchance from the stick of Caroline Kelly.But the deadly accurate Regan levelledfrom a ’45 before the same player edgedher side in front from a free.

Laura Thompson pegged backRoscommon with a free following a foul onFiona Leavy in the tenth minute. ButRoscommon were back in front whenRegan made Elizabeth Hannon pay for awild pull on McGeeney.

Connaughton made the first of her ex-cellent saves soon after when she dealtwith an excellent effort from the left wingby Greville, clawing the sliothar away tosafety from underneath her crossbar. Laterin the half, the St. Dominic’s player didbrilliantly to deny McGrath from closerange.

McGrath and Annette McGeeneyswapped points before Regan added an-other free after McGeeney won a cleverfree. McGrath responded for Westmeathafter a free from Mairead McCormackbroke to her. But McGeeney gaveRoscommon a two-point interval advan-

tage when she took a pass from NoeleenMcCormack and pointed.

Four minutes into the second half,Connell had goaled and Roscommon wereon their way. Regan’s influence was grow-ing and a brace of points from the Oranplayer alongside two more from Connelland McGeeney firmly put Roscommon inthe driving seat.

Connell scooped a 48th minute effortover the bar but Catriona Murtagh repliedfor Westmeath in what turned out to be thevisitors’ only score of the half.

The game petered out to an inevitableconclusion as Roscommon, aided by thehard-working Donna Kelly and NiamhCoyle, closed out the game comfortably.

The hard work on the training ground isbeginning to pay off.

ROSCOMMON: C. Connaughton; N. Mc-Cormack, C. Morris, E. Gately; C. Killeen,D. Kelly, J. Beattie; N. Coyle, D. Regan; S.Spillane, C. Regan (0-6, four frees, one’45), P. Lennon; C. Curley, F. Connell (1-2), A. McGeeney (0-3). Subs: G. Egan forGately (half-time), C. Owens for Curley(43 mins), A. Fallon for Kelly (57 mins), C.Dervan for Spillane (59 mins), M. Cravenfor McGeeney (59 mins).WESTMEATH: F. Keating; S. King, J.Egan, E. Hannon; S. McGrath, E. Murphy,A. Boylan; F. Leavy, M. McCormack; L.Thompson (0-1, a free), C. Murtagh (0-1),P. Greville; T. Forde, D. McGrath (0-3), C.Kelly. Subs: R. Scally for Boylan (bloodsubstitution), J. McKeogh for Kelly (half-time), S. Jackson for Forde (half-time), E.Shaw for S. McGrath (56 mins), A. Corbettfor Thompson (56 mins).REF: R. McNicholas (Galway).

Galway ...............2-10 Dublin ..................1-7

GALWAY Camogie got their first winof the league after of a hard-foughtbattle with Dublin at O’Toole Park.

Galway made more of the diagonalwind than their opponents, leading 1-8 to0-5 at the interval.

Ali Maguire registered all of Dublin’sscores from frees but Ailish O’Reilly’s sixth

minute goal had Galway in a strong posi-tion. With Clodagh McGrath and NiamhKilkenny dominant and Rebecca Hennellyamongst the points, the Tribeswomenwere full value for their advantage at thechange of ends.

They only managed two points afterthe resumption but Ann Marie Hayes’ 40thminute goal ensured that they always hadenough in hand.

Dublin kept battling away, with Caitri-ona Power and Grainne Quinn standing

up well to the pressure in the full-back line.Aoife Kelly got their only point from play togo with another Maguire free and SarahRyan scrambled a goal with ten minutesremaining but Dublin never looked likeoverturning the deficit.

GALWAY: A Concannon; G Glynn, LRyan, H Cooney; S Cahalan, S Coen, TManton; C McGrath, N Kilkenny; E Kilkelly,N McGrath, E Haverty; R Hennelly, AMHayes, A O'Reilly.

First win of season for Tribesgirls

Roscommon showbest form of year

MAYO LADIES GAA NEWS BY SUSAN RODGERS

Page 59

BY SUSAN ROGERS

Good win for Mayo in U-14 ConnachtChampionship

Mayo ..........................8-11Roscommon .................1-5AFTER losing to Galway in the first roundMayo were determined to leave GilmartinPark with a home win.

Mayo were quick off the mark with LisaReid finding the back of the net in theopening minutes. Three goals followed inquick succession from Maria Reilly, RoísínFlynn and Lisa Reid. Another goal fromthe boot of Reilly gave Mayo a sizeableadvantage.

In the second quarter play was moreevenly matched with Roscommon scoring1-3 while Mayo put 4 over the bar withpoints coming from Reid, Reilly, Waldronand Ciara Whyte. Mayo opened the sec-ond half with a point from the impressiveReilly. Less than a minute after cominginto the game Jade Henry blasted over apoint from 30 metres. Lara Sweeney, an-other second half substitution, added apoint which was quickly followed by an-other from the hard working Lisa Reid.

Meanwhile Roscommon scored twopoints at the other end which were to betheir only second half scores, while in thelast quarter Ciara Whyte scored Mayo'sseventh goal and Maria Reilly, on coursefor a hat trick, deftly put the ball in theRoscommon net bringing Mayo's goal tallyto eight. SCORERS – Mayo: Maria Reilly 3-2, LisaReid 2-2, Ciara Whyte 1-1, Rebecca Wal-dron 1-1, Roisin Flynn 1-0, Jade Henry 0-3, Lara Sweeney 0-2.

MAYO: Michelle Treacy, Anna Regan,Emma Corr,Chloe McHale, Ella Brennan,Eilis Ronayne (Capt), Clodagh McMana-mon, Katelyn Concannon, Roísín Flynn,Laura Carroll, Ciara Whyte, Lisa Reid, Re-becca Waldron, Amy Dowling, MariaReilly. Subs: Sive Duffy for Brennan, JadeHenry for Dowling, Lara Sweeney for Con-cannon, Laura Brennan for Carroll, NiamhCostello for Regan

Mayo seniors secureleague semi berthMayo ..........................1-10 Dublin..........................0-8MAYO overcame Dublin in a tense en-counter at Naomh Mearnog to clinch theirspot in this year's league semi-final.

Both teams knew that a place in thelast four was at stake but it was the West-ern side that dealt better with the blusteryconditions in Portmarnock to emerge aswinners.

Mayo were the quickest to settle andthey had two points on the board beforeDublin were able to get any sustained pos-session thanks to good scores from AileenGilroy and Niamh Kelly.

Dublin’s first score came from LyndseyDavey who struck a good point on the runbut again Mayo replied well with a greatscore from corner back, Kathryn Sullivan.However, Dublin settled thanks to thegrowing influence of Noelle Healy in theDublin midfield. Healy scored two pointsherself as Denise McKenna added twopoints from frees and Leah McCaffreyadded a fine score after turning over Mayoin their own half back line.

However Mayo replied well with thehalf-time whistle fast approaching scoringthe last two points of the half from AileenGilroy and another from Deirdre Dohertyto leave the scores at half-time Dublin 0-6to Mayo’s 0-5.

Mayo came out in the second-half with

a stiff breeze at their backs and theyquickly started to take advantage of the el-ements as Cora Staunton grabbed her firsttwo scores of the day with both comingfrom play. The industrious Fiona McHalegot the score that her hard work deservedbut it could have been more as she col-lected the ball after a fantastic run andstrike off the post from Aileen Gilroy. CoraStaunton added her third score before thedecisive moment of the match. Stauntonstood over a free some 45 yards out fromgoal and her lofted free carried in thebreeze and was saved by Dublin keeper,Cliodhna O’Connor, who failed to see therebound fall to Niamh Kelly who swept theball into the Dublin net to clinch the win.

Mayo now advance to the semi-finalstage where they will face Monaghan whowere extremely impressive throughout thecampaign with a 100% record. Cork andLaois will meet in the other semi final asall four teams search for the first pieces ofsilver wear for the season.

Carnacon make it two in arow and retain the Boar’sHead TrophyBEFORE a ball has been kicked at clublevel in Mayo the Carnacon ladies alreadyhave silverware on the table. Congratula-tions to Carnacon and guest players;Yvonne Byrne, Ciara Hanahoe, AileenGilroy and Sarah Rowe on their recent winin the senior ladies final of Comótas PeilePaídí Ó Sé.

The girls travelled to Ventry in late Feb-ruary and brought home the Boars’ Headtrophy for a second year in a row. In roundone the Connacht champions defeatedTermon of Donegal on a scoreline of 4-8 to2-4. St Sylvester's from Malahide were un-able to field a team in the semi final andCarnacon found themselves with an easyroute to the final where they emerged ascomprehensive winners scoring 5-13 toFoxrock-Cabinteely’s 2-6.

Westport Ladies GAAClub Chairperson BredaBrowne receiving a newset of jerseys fromWilliam O'Halloran, TheBig Tree Bar Westport,who sponsored the West-port senior Ladies for2013. all pictured are:team managers VinnieBurke, Dave O'Malley,Ann Gavin, along withWestport senior players.

TESCO HOMEGROWN LADIES LEAGUE – DIVISION 3

Page 60

Leitrim Ladies lose outLeitrim ................3-6Tipperary ............1-13

By JOHN CONNOLLYLeitrim Observer

LEITRIM’S interest in this year’s TescoHomegrown Division 3 came to an abruptend in Clara when they were defeated by a

solitary point by Tipperary in the play-off todetermine who would advance to a semi-finalwith Armagh.

The defeat came in the most cruel mannerpossible as Edel Hanley converted a free fiveminutes into injury time as the Leitrim sup-porters would still have been celebrating AineTighe’s equalising third goal of the game asextra-time seemed inevitable.

Looking for where it went wrong for Leitrim,against a side they had beaten earlier in theleague, a significant problem was the failure tobuild a commanding lead in the opening halfwhen playing with a very strong breeze.

An early Aine Tighe free helped settle thenerves and the lead was doubled when RoisinCurneen and Anna Conlan combined to set upRoisin Fowley and her shot was tipped over thebar by Tipperary goalkeeper Jackie O’Gorman.

After Aine Tighe was on hand to force theball across the line and all of a sudden Leitrimwere looking to be in a strong position as theirlead was now five points.

However, Leitrim were unable to build on

that score and Tipperary came to the fore asthe half progressed. In the closing five minutesof the half Tipperary scored three unansweredpoints as Leitrim led 1-4 to 0-5 at the interval.

When looking for areas in which they canimprove Tipperary will know they should havebeen clinical in front of goal and they spurnedanother goal opportunity 13 minutes into thesecond half. Mairead Morrissey and JenniferGrant linked up well to release Edel Hanly butshe sent her shot over the Leitrim bar to thefrustration of the management team who werepatrolling the sideline. Another Hanly free mo-ment later meant Tipperary had a two pointlead with 15 minutes remaining.

The next score proved to be one of the bestof the game as it was a real team goal. Themove began with Michelle Guckian who com-bined with Enya McWeeney to bring the ballout of defence and when it was worked furtherup the field the Fowley sisters Sinead andRoisin helped find Aine Tighe who made nomistake from close range.

With five minutes remaining and Leitrimleading by the narrowest of margins Tipperarystruck emphatically with what proved to betheir only goal of the game. Hanly and Carewcleverly exchanged passes and released Jen-nifer Grant and this time there was no mistakeas Grant drilled her shot low and hard pastGuckian.

A further Edel Hanley point meant therewere three points between the sides as thegame entered injury time but Leitrim refusedto throw in the towel and their persistence wasrewarded when they were awarded a penalty

four minutes into injury time after Aine Tighewas fouled. The Kiltubrid forward took respon-sibility for the penalty and after Jackie O’Gor-man saved the initial effort Tighe scored therebound to spark great celebrations on thesideline as attention began to turn towardsextra-time.

However, Tipperary had not yet begun tofocus on extra-time and immediately went onthe attack after Leitrim failed to secure pos-session of the resulting kick out. A free wasawarded, five minutes into injury time mean-ing that if Edel Hanley was successful with hereffort Leitrim’s efforts would be in vain. Show-ing no signs of nerves Hanley effortlessly slot-ted the free between the uprights to bringLeitrim’s challenge to an abrupt end.

LEITRIM: Michelle Guckian, Mary Farrell, EnyaMcWeeney, Sharon Kerrigan, Clare Owens,Mairead Stenson, Kirby Gilgunn, Sinead Fow-ley, Anna Conlan, Roisin Curneen, DeirdreWard, Aine Heslin, Roisin Fowley (0-3), ErinFarrell, Aine Tighe (3-3). Subs: Joyce Cunning-ham for E. Farrell (53 mins), Vanessa Galloglyfor Ward (57 mins).

TIPPERARY: Jackie O’Gorman, Brid Condon,Samantha Lambert, Katie Lyne, Anne O’Dwyer,Claire Carroll, Barbara Ryan, Jennifer Grant (1-2), Sheelagh Carew (0-2), Niamh Lonergan,Mairead Morrissey (0-2), Orlagh Walsh, EdithCarroll, Aoife Ryan, Edel Hanley (0-8). Subs: Shauna Ryan for Carroll (54 mins), Ais-ling McCarthy for Walsh (57 mins).

REF: Paul Fahy (Roscommon).

By LOUISE O'DONNELL

SLIGO Ladies Football announced 'Pet Stop' astheir 2013 Main Sponsor at a recent celebration.

Everyone involved in Sligo Ladies GAA is de-lighted to bring 'Pet Stop' on board for the com-ing season. The company is a well known fueland pet food supplier situated in Carraroe RetailPark on the outskirts of Sligo.

The owner of 'Pet Stop' Mr John McKeon hasoffered a very generous donation to the Countythis year which will no doubt help in the develop-ment of ladies football in the County and wethank him most sincerely.

Everyone associated with Ladies Football inthe county is encouraged to support the Ladies'new sponsors whenever possible as they con-tribute immensely to the promotion of our organ-isation.

ON BOARD: Pic-tured at the officiallaunch of the 'PetStop' and SligoLadies GAA dealwas (L to R): LouiseLavin (Sligo LadiesGAA Chairperson),John McKeon (PetStop) and Ted Mal-oney (Sligo LadiesGAA Intermediatemanagement).

'Pet Stop' come on board withSligo Ladies Football

Page 61

PRIDE, passion, skill andintense competition wereall in abundance in

Kingscourt HC, Cavan re-cently, as 40 young girls fromacross the country proudlyrepresented their provinces atthe Girl 40x20 InterprovincialTeam of 10 event.

This event was reinstatedto this year's clár, after a two-

year absence, as part of the'She’s Ace' initiative to encour-age female participation inhandball.

And the decision was trulyjustified in a hugely entertain-ing and competitive day ofquality handball. The formatsaw five doubles pairings,aged between 13 and 17 com-pete on aggregate scoring,

with many of the young girlscompeting at national level forthe first time.

Connacht girls won theirsemi-final against Leinster by23 aces but were defeated inthe final by the narrowest mar-gin of one ace. Well done to allthe girls and team coachesFrances Curran and SeanFinnegan

RESULTSSF 1: Connaught dft Leinster

102- 79SF 2: Munster dft Ulster 82-653rd/4th: Ulster dft Leinster

103-75Final Munster dft Connaught

67-66

THE 2013 Connacht 40x20 Juvenile B Champi-onship came to it's conclusion on Saturdaywith the finals played in Ballaghadereen andCharlestowm.

Cormac Scollan was the only Leitrim com-petitor to reach the finals and he came awaywith the Boys U-11 title defeating Niall Flem-ing of Mayo on a scoreline of 15-6, 15-10.

In a very entertaining match with somegreat rallies and kill shots Scollan eased tovictory to take the first game. The second

game was much tighter early on with bothplayers swapping scores, but once Scollantook the lead he never relinquished it. Flem-ing put up a real battle but midway throughthe game Scollan took control and put enoughdaylight between them to secure a great vic-tory.

On his route to the final he defeated ConorFinn of Sligo 15-10, 15-12 in the quarter finaland Colm Cunningham Galway 15-6, 15-2 in thesemi-final.

Leitrim had a total of 11 competitors takingpart in the championship including: FergalMcLoughlin and James Wrynn U-11 Doubles,Eoin McLoughlin U-12, Robert Maguire U-13, David Wrynn U-14, Aaron McLoughlin U-15, James Maguire and Conor McKeon U-15Doubles Tony Simms U-16 and Mark Leddy U-17. All players reached the semi-finals againsta stronger Galway selection with Mark Leddylosing out to Eamon O'Maoilchianain in the U-17 Final.

HANDBALL • HANDBALL • HANDBALL • HANDBALL

Scollan wins Connacht 40x20 Juvenile BChampionship for Leitrim

Girls inter-provincialHandball team to shine

Back Row (L to R): Cora Conlon (Mayo), Aoife Quinn (Sligo), Heather Spelman (Galway), Elaine Nee (Galway), Fiona Tully (Roscommon), Eimear NíBhiadha (Galway). Front Row (L to R): Roisín Ní Ghionnúin (Galway), Mary Fahy (Galway), Anna Ní Odhrain Ní Mhurchú (Galway), Ciana Ní Churraoin(Galway).

Page 62

MICHEAL Breathnach'sCiana Ni Churraoin hadthe honour of becoming

the first Ladies Minor Handballtitle winner from County Gal-way after he victory at the Irishchampionships in Cavan.

Ni Churraoin took the win inKingscourt Cavan on Saturday23rd March against MaeveMcElduff from Tyrone in LadiesMinor Singles decider.

The girls know each othervery well and have met manytimes over the years and evenwon gold together at the re-cent World Championship asdoubles partners.

But all of that was behindthem as they were to competefor the blue riband title ofLadies Minor handball.

In the first game Ní Chur-raoin took control and blitzedMcElduff with a display ofpower and pace and won on acommanding 21-4 scoreline.

McElduff did make a fight ofit in the second and pushedher opponent all the way butthe ever focused Ní Churraoinwas not to be denied and sheclosed out the game 21-8 toseal her first minor title.

At just 16 years of agethere is certainly a bright futurefor her in the game and islooking forward to playing in

open grades next year.Ciana also plays centre for-

ward for the Galway minorcamogie team who competed

in the All-Ireland semi-final onApril 20th. And the family suc-cess doesn't stop with Cianaas her brother Fiontáin re-cently captained the GalwayU-21s footballers to Connachtglory.

Cúmann na mBunscol handballEARLIER on the same day theprovincial Cumann na mbunGirls winners competedagainst each other in a fun dayof handball.

Connacht were representedby U-11 singles Ailbhe Breath-nach, An Spidéal, U-11 dou-bles Orla Breathnach andSadhbh Ní Flaithearta, alsofrom S N An Spidéal.

Also turnign out for Con-nacht on the day was U-13Singles Roisín Ní Ghionnúinfrom Scoil Sailearna Indreab-hán, and U-13 doubles LauraShannon and Lisa Ruane Bel-carra N.S Mayo.

All girls received a t-shirt,certificate and medal for theirday's work and all went homehappy after a great days actionwhere new friends were madeand a lot of fun was had.

HANDBALL • HANDBALL • HANDBALL • HANDBALL

Ní Churraoin adds minor title toher list of many achievements

Micheal Breathnach's Ciana Ni Churraoin receiving her All-IrelandMinor Ladies 40x20 medal from incoming GAA Handball PresidentWillie Roche

Pictured with the certifi-cates and medals areConnacht representa-tives at the Girls Cumannna mBunscol event. (L toR): Laura Shannon andLisa Ruane Belcarra N.SMayo; Orla Ní Churraoin,S N An Spidéal; Roisín NíGhionnúin S N SailearnaIndreabhán; Sadhbh NíFlaithearta and AilbheBreathnach S N AnSpidéal.

Dolan and Gordonhonoured by GAA Writers

GAA WRITERS’ PLAYERS OF THE MONTH

Roscommon andAll-Ireland clubfootball champi-

ons St Brigid's havebeen further awardedfor their St Patrick'sDay success in CrokePark, with the news thatinspirational forwardFrankie Dolan has beennamed as the ConnachtGAA Writers Personality ofthe Month for March.

Like has has done onso many occasion in thepast for both club andcounty, Dolan stepped upin the dying embers of thegame to kick the point thatended the Roscommonfamine for All-Ireland clubfootball titles.

While the victory forPaul McStay's side wasvery much a teameffort, Frankie

Dolan's consistency overthe years and his per-sonal fortitude late on torescue his side againstBallymun, has been re-

warded by the province'sGAA Writers.

St Brigid's Frankie Dolan celebrates with the Andy Merrigan Cup after leading hisside to the win over BallymunKickhams.

Photo: Ray McManus / SPORTSFILE

AND the award for April's Player of the Month goes to St At-tracta's Community School and Sligo U-21 defender MichaelGordon.Gordon (19), who also made his Sligo U-21 debut against Gal-

way in Tuam earlier this year, proved a steadying influence onthe Tubbercurry school as they overcame St Aloysius Col-

lege, Athlone in the Connacht Colleges 'B' final; StMichael's from Lurgan in the All-Ireland 'B' semi-final,

before starring once more in the Noonan Cup finalvictory over Our Lady’s College, Templemore.

The Curry club-man has previously played aleading role at under-age level for his home club

and for the Sligo minor team and is definitelyone to watch for the future.

Both Dolan and Gordon will be presentedwith their awards at the ConnachtGAA Banquet at the end of the season,along with the January and Februarywinners Wayne McKeon and DarraghMcCormack.

Sligo defender Michael Gordon in action for theYeats County during the 2012Connacht GAA football minorchampionship semi-final atMcHale Park.

Photo: Paul Mohan / SPORTSFILE

Page 63

WHEN it comes to appraising how players perform inmatches, I have long favoured a system of self-as-sessment – and, indeed, years later, the Revenue

Commissioners and many builders’ providers followed my lead.When I get players into the dressingroom at half-time, I

make each one account for his performance. Like a sráidbhailegrocer, they count the pennies on both columns of the ledger,and hope the balance falls on the right side.

This approach promotes honesty in a player. A man, or,indeed, a woman, cannot improvewithout the capacity to identify theirown mistakes.

Yet, this can only be achievedin a caring and trusting environ-ment where a player feels com-fortable. You pick the lock,centimetre by millimetre, until hevolunteers a searingly honestevaluation of his own display*

Force the issue, however, andthe moment is lost: that’s whathappened Keating in lateryears, and I don’t mean Ro.

If your style is to deliverrasping team-talks, de-ploying piercing in-sults in the hope ofstimulating the appro-priate response, it is al-most certain you will neverget players to open up inthe way I have describedabove.

But, there’s a ‘but’ ineverything.

This ‘but’ is one ofthe many paradoxes ofthe game I have loved so well (and vice-versa): if you go deepenough, dredging up something from the bowels of the familyhistory, perhaps an uncle who drank farms or an aunt known totake ten years off her age, you can actually provoke an un-wonted openness in even the most obdurate of players.

There wasn’t a player yet I couldn’t reduce to a brokenwreck – even if it wasn’t necessary, particularly if it wasn’t nec-essary. Prick, poke and prod until you find the vulnerable spot.

As his – or, indeed, her – tears flow, resist what temptationyou may feel to draw back: until you hear a player wail “look,Noel, I kept a secret diary until I was ten – I just can’t let myselfcut loose”, you have no prospect of creating the unique bondthat underpins every symbiotic manager-player relationship.

Fortunately, and perhaps not surprisingly, I am able to play itboth ways: tender and thoughtful, or low and hard, and it has in-variably brought me unprecedented results over and overagain.

Which begs the obvious question: in what way do I differfrom Cody? Which begs the answer: who said we are differentin the first place?

We are, as it happens. But I would still like to know who saidit in the first place.

I see a lot of myself in Cody, which is not surprising perhapsconsidering the amount of time he spent in Ballybore during hisformative years. The one thing about Cody is that there is noone thing about him.

Do I like him personally? Actually, I do. That may surprise alot of people, but, behind it all, Cody is a decent man.

I know him long enough to take no notice of the prancingand preening on the sideline: in point of fact, I interpret that

as a clear sign that deep within Cody actually enter-tains a great deal of self-doubt.

I had him as a player in St Pat’s.I drove up every day for the train-ings. Cody tried my patience in theearly days. Loughnane counselledcaution but Cody bearded the lion,at great cost to himself.

It was a wet day in Saggart thatthe penny – and Cody – finallydropped. My patience was worn

thin, my full-back line too. Codycame out to remonstrate withthe midfielders.

“Cody, boy” I said, “I thinkyou’ll find there’s only oneboss around here. Ifthere’s a problem with mid-field, I will sort it out myself,in my own good time, andnot a minute sooner.”

And then I took him off.He was furious, frothing

at the mouth.I could barely conceal my

laughter.And then, just to send him

over the edge, I took off thetwo midfielders together.**

Cody didn’t know which way to turn. He wasn’t sure if hewas coming or going. “Going,” I warned him at half-time, “if youdon’t smarten up your act.”

It was a seminal moment for him, but merely run-of-the-millfor me. On such moments do seasons, careers, empires, andepochs turn. Get it right, and you are a hero: get it wrong, andyou’re on your own.

* JP Darmody preferred to call it “signing my owndeath warrant.” He says: “Every time I tell the truth athalf-time, Noel, you take me off. The only time I don’tget to tell the truth at half-time, is when you have metaken off beforehand. I can’t win.” Thus he encapsu-lates the very essence of the approach I am champi-oning here.** We came back to draw, the best possible result in acomeback as it keeps a team dishonest.Facebook: Knowledgeable Noel

No easy ways to get tothe root of things

KNOWLEDGEABLE NOEL

Page 64

Documents

Into the West - APRIL 2013 (Digital)