By Rory O'Donnell - PRO
The first big event of the 2013 season was the AGM at the
Irish Cultural Centre in February. With
the frigid weather belying the heat that would come in late June and July, the
2013 board was appointed by the body of delegates present. At that time of year, with temperatures
around the freezing mark and the playing fields lying fallow, it is difficult
to picture the scenes that await just a few months ahead. Overcoats are put away in favor of tee shirts
and shorts as temperatures rise to much more agreeable levels, and the quiet of
a February Sunday lies in stark contrast to the spectacle of the Irish games
taking place on the fields on a late Spring or Summer Sabbath.
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| One of my favourite photos from 2013 Fr. Tom's Shane Howley in full flight. |
There were 12 competitions run over the course of the season. There were 3 cup competitions and 9
championships. Changes to the format of
the football competitions were implemented as a result of various suggestions
that were made at the AGM. The senior
football championship was reduced to 8 teams, while the junior competitions
were divided into 3 groups. The junior A
championship was divided into A1 and A2 sections and the junior B football was
reduced to 5 teams. Unfortunately the
New England Celtics were unable to field for the junior B competition;
hopefully the club will be back to compete again in 2014. With the addition of Hartford ,
Ct. to the junior C hurling competition, the
sport is now present in 4 of the 6 New England states with plans afoot for a
team in Vermont - that would leave just Rhode Island without a
hurling club. There was also a new team
made up of players from the Irish Sports Youth League added to the Ladies
junior football competition.
The Wolfe Tones and Connemara Gaels were the first Boston clubs in action as both traveled to New York to take part in
the John Joe Cassidy 7-a side. The Tones
were defending champions, the first non-New York club to win the tournament in 2012. Needless to say, New Yorkers were determined
to take the cup off the Boston
upstarts. The Gaels did not fare well
enough to make it out of their group. however, the Tones made it to the final
and lost out by a point to a very strong Cork of New York.
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| Cathal McHugh and Eoin Delmer in Blues v Macs Action. |
April 17 saw the opening day of the Pat O'Brien Cup in
football at the ICC in Canton . A back door round was introduced this year to
the competition to give teams at least two runs out before the championships
would begin in May. Aidan McAnespies
were eventual champions, winning handsomely against Wolfe Tones in the
final. The hurlers got their year on the
field off to a start with the Sheehan Cup.
Tipperary
defeated Fr. Tom Burke's in the final to make it back to back cup wins having
won in 2012. For the ladies footballers,
the Boston Shamrocks captured the Orla Benson Cup with a fine performance over
Connacht Ladies in the final.
The Championships kicked off in May. Senior Football was up for grabs all season. With the shortened field of clubs, everyone
was in with a shout late in July. In the
end, the 6 who made it to the playoffs were Christopher's, Shannon Blues, Aidan
McAnespies, Connemara Gaels, Kerry, and Wolfe Tones. Galway and
Donegal were the 2 left on the outside looking in despite some gallant displays
over the summer.
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| Hartford made a good run this year, but McAnespies made the Junior B Final. |
In the quarter finals the Gaels met Kerry and Aidan
McAnespies met Wolfe Tones. The Tones
could not break their playoff duck and lost by the narrowest of margins to
their arch rivals having had several chances to win the game. The Gaels dispatched Kerry with room to spare
in their game. The semi finals saw Shannon
Blues and Aidan McAnespies play a classic game of football. It was the type of game that leaves
spectators wanting more, and makes one wonder how, after a century of existence
on this side of the pond, that Gaelic Football is still a relatively unknown
sport in the United States. The level of
skill, excitement, and tension that the game can generate is second to
none. It was clear that neither side
wanted to come out on the wrong end of the result, and neither did - on Sunday
at least. The game ended in a draw after
extra time. The teams did it again the
following Tuesday, and McAnespies had the gas in the tank to hold off a late
Blues comeback and advance to the final.
It turned out to be the Gaels who made the final to meet the Macs after
defeating Christopher's with some room to spare.
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| Another one that I liked from 2013 - Shamrocks Captain Edel McGovern with the Orla Benson Cup making the post game speech. |
The talk on the Sunday evening of the semi-finals was that
the final had been played already, the Connemara Gaels were not given much of a
chance against what was a strong McAnespies team that looked to be gelling at
precisely the right time of year. With
a starting 13 that featured 7 home based players, and bench filled with
juniors, it was hard to see how the Gaels could come out on top. The old saying that the games are played for
a reason proved to be true as the Gaels won a famous victory with a performance
that contained all of the self-belief a team could possibly have, and left
McAnespies somewhat at a loss to figure out what happened when the final
whistle sounded. It was the first senior
victory for the club since 2001 and celebrations in JJs on Dot Ave. continued for almost a full week.
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| Christopher's Faithful looking confident of a result. |
In senior hurling it was Tipperary who proved to be top dog all
season. With a strong squad of players
from back to front, Tipp topped the table getting the key wins in the round
robin stages of the championship, while Galway and Wexford met in an all Brighton semi-final game, which was also a repeat of the
2012 final. Fr. Tom Burke's had done
enough to keep themselves in it until the late stages and worked themselves
into playoff with Wexford to Wednesday before the semi-final to see who would
meet Galway .
It turned out to be Wexford who came through to meet the old rivals. This time Galway
got revenge on their neighbors with a 3 point win that was a little more
comfortable then the score line suggested.
In the final game Tipperary captured
their first Boston
championship in 3 years as they pulled away from their opponents in the second
half. With 3 players stepping up from
the junior team, Tipperary
showed their resolve in the second half with a determined display and proved to
be deserved winners.
For the second year in a row, Connacht Ladies dominated the
Ladies senior football competition with some emphatic displays. Having made the final, a Connacht
win was on the cards as Amy Ring, Jane Ward, Joanne O'Connell and Co. were on
form all summer. There were some
spirited displays from the Shamrocks and Tír na nÓg over the season, but
heading into the final the newest team on the scene in Boston were hot favorites. The Shamrocks made it to the last Sunday in
August, and battled hard in the final, but it was never close with the
westerners running out 19 point winners.
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| Local born Conor Fitzgerald in action for the Shannon Blues in their Junior A semi-final. |
The revamped junior football competitions proved to be a major
success. Each section was more
competitive than in previous years, and teams had more to play for late in the
season. Cork , Mayo, and Armagh-Notre Dame joined
Wolfe Tones, Aidan McAnespies and Donegal in the A1 division, while the A2
division was composed of the other 5 senior clubs' second teams. The junior A championship went to Wolfe Tones
in convincing fashion. The South Boston based side avenged the disappointment of last
years defeat to Donegal in the final with a 9 point win over their arch rivals
with a relentless display. Of the former
senior teams, Cork
were the only side to make the semi-finals.
Hopes were high in the rebel camp, but the southerners lost out to the
eventual champions. The Shannon Blues
won the A2 division, beating Connemara Gaels in the final, and qualified for
the Junior A semi-final. With a team
that featured 5 American Born players, the Blues lost out to Donegal in their Junior
A championship semi-final after a spirited display. Donegal were crowned Junior B football champions
as they came back from the dead with two late goals to force extra time, and
then defeat a stunned Aidan McAnespies in the extra period.
Junior A hurling saw Wexford defeat Tipperary by 5 points in a closely contested final. It was all square coming into the final
stretch, and Wexford rattled the net twice in the late stages to set themselves
up for the win. There was much
excitement at junior C level where Worcester won
their first championship with a dramatic win over Portland .
Portland peppered the Worcester
goal late in the game, but their search for a game tying goal proved fruitless
as Worcester
held out. The Barley House Wolves
entered the NACB junior B hurling championship, but with no other clubs at that
level in the Northeast, preparation for the final in Cleveland was a challenge for them. Tír na nÓg won the Ladies junior football
championship with a 10 point win over the Boston Shamrocks in the final. The ladies junior competition saw the
addition of a fourth team made up of girls coming through the Irish Sports
Youth League. Hopefully this will
provide an avenue for graduates of the underage program to continue to play and
develop after minor level.
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| Wexford Junior Hurlers stretch under the watchful eye of James Kehoe before a big game versus Tom's. |
The competition at the ICC is probably the best live Gaelic
football and hurling that you will see in North America . Clubs continue to make tremendous efforts to
keep the show on the road. Some clubs
have adopted scholarship programs for players coming through the underage
ranks, Shannon Blues and Cork
are examples of that. Another
interesting observation from the 2013 season was that the winners of the men's
senior football and hurling and football championships called up several
players from the junior ranks for the late stages of the season due to sanction
players returning to Ireland, and these players helped deliver the championships. Perhaps it is time to think about changes to
the current rules governing player registration that could help ease the
pressure on some clubs to stay competitive, and to bring more of a reward for
recruiting and retaining home based talent.
Looking ahead, 2014 is a big year for the Boston Northeast
division. There is much work to do to
prepare for the North American Board Finals, and the visit of the All-Stars in October. The main field underwent a resurfacing, sponsorship
for a new electronic scoreboard is in the pipeline, and plans were well
underway to organize the logistics for the finals Labor Day weekend. The Boston Northeast Board would like to congratulate
the 2013 winners and thank the clubs for their continued efforts in making for
competitive and exciting competition at all levels of play. We look forward to meeting the challenges
ahead next season.
By Rory O'Donnell
Competition Finals Scores:
Pat O'Brien Cup Final:
Aidan McAnespies 3-13 Wolfe Tones 1-6
Sheehan Cup Final: Tipperary 5-20 Fr. Tom
Burke's 0-9
Orla Benson Cup Final:
Boston Shamrocks 3-6 Connacht
Ladies 0-8
Senior Football Championship Final: Connemara
Gaels 2-9 Aidan McAnespies 0-10
Senior Hurling Final:
Tipperary 2-19 Galway
3-13
Ladies Senior Football Final: Connacht Ladies 4-14 Boston Shamrocks 0-7
Junior A Football Final:
Wolfe Tones 2-13 Donegal 2-4
Junior A2 Football Final:
Shannon Blues 3-7 Connemara Gaels 1-9
Junior A Hurling Final:
Wexford 3-11 Tipperary
1-12
Ladies Junior Football Final: Tír na nÓg 3-4 Boston Shamrocks 0-3
Junior B Football Final:
Donegal 3-14 Aidan McAnespies 1-14
Junior C Hurling Final:
Worcester 2-7 Portland 2-4
