Wolfe Tones and Connemara Gaels took the 3 hour drive down
I-95 last Sunday to participate in the John Joe Cassidy 7-a-side tournament in New York 's Gaelic
Park . The level of competition was the highest in
recent years and New York
big guns, Cavan and Leitrim, fielded strong teams. Although neither Boston team made the semi-finals, each came
within a hair of doing so, with some controversy mixed in for good measure!
The teams were drawn in 2 groups of 5, with the top 2 from
each group going into the semi-finals.
The Gaels won each of their first 2 games against Longford and Celtics,
an All-American team. Next up was
Leitrim, and old friend, Brian Connor who played for the Gaels in the 2011
season, turned foe as the tall Offaly man lined out for Leitrim. The Gaels had a man sent off after 3 minutes
and were forced to play 6 versus 7 for the remainder of the game. In the end it proved too tall of an
assignment to turn the local team. A win
against Monaghan in the final game would be required see the Gaels into the
semi-finals. It was end to end stuff and
there was a whisker between the teams all the way through. It came down to the last kick of the game. Monaghan apparently needed a goal from a last
kick of the game free, but the ball went over the bar and the Gaels understood
that a semi-final place against Cavan was earned - not so, as the Boston visitors found out
shortly afterwards. Returning to the
field for the semi-finals the Gaels were informed by the referee that an error
was made calculating the scores and that Monaghan had in fact won the
game. A controversial end to the
tournament for last year's Boston
champions.
The Tones story was almost identical to the Gaels - although
without the controversy. The 2012
winners of the tournament had similar success in their first 2 games, beating
Kerry and Rockland ,
only to fall to Cavan in their third game.
The Tones were up against it as Cavan are one New York GAA's heavy
hitters. The cause of the Boston side was not
helped by the discontinued participation of star player Marty Farrell who
suffered a dead leg in the first game and could not continue. After going down by 2 early goals the Tones
struggled all the way through, and the result left them needing a win in the
final game against Westmeath to advance.
Westmeath took the early lead and time ran out on the Boston side as the Tones came within a point,
but could not close the gap fully.
The semi-finals were an all New York affair. Cavan defeated Monaghan in a well contested
affair, while Westmeath shocked Leitrim by pulling off a win against their
favoured opponents. In the final it was Cavan who emerged victorious.
Connemara Gaels: Sean
Conneeley, Noel Graham, Chris Lafferty, James O'Donnell, Pat McNicholas,
Michael Coyne, Eoin Connolly, Thomas Curran, Eddie Healy, David Burke. Managers:
Martin Flaherty, Pat Nee.
Wolfe Tones: Johnny
Kelly, Kian Cleere, Cormac Joyce-Power, Marty Farrell, Collie Carr, Mike
O'Brien, Keith Gill, Kevin Lynch.
Manager: Gerry Prior.
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