The Greater Chester Valley Sports Complex was the venue for
the 2018 USGAA Finals, hosted by the Philadelphia GAA. Located about 30 miles west of downtown
Philadelphia, the venue was second to none with playing surfaces that were in
immaculate condition. There were 5
fields in operation for 3 full days to host 110 teams competing in 19 different
competitions. Despite a wet and rainy
Friday all games were played according to schedule on the first 2 days, setting
the stage for some great finals on Sunday.
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| Cian Clifford Shoots |
5 teams traveled to represent the Northeast division. There were 3 finalists and one winner. Galway lost out in the junior B football
semi-final to a Dallas Fionn MacCumhaills team that was very good. The Eventual winners of the competition were
Donegal St. Patrick’s from Philadelphia who overcame a 6 point deficit in their
semi-final to defeat Pittsburgh Celtics, and went on the win the cup. Connacht Ladies also lost out in the
semi-finals to a superb Chicago St. Bridget’s team that went on to win the
championship in what may have been the best final of the weekend, beating the
defending champion Charlotte James Connolly’s by a single point.
Cork made the final of the junior A football competition
with a great one point win against Vancouver in the quarter final on Friday,
and Saturday the rebels repeated the feat by defeating Charlotte James Connolly
by the same margin. The final was a
different story however. Setanta San
Diego provided the opposition and from the beginning had Cork on the ropes and
ran out convincing winners.
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| It was a Testy Affair Between the Wolves and Milwaukee. |
For the New Hampshire Wolves in the junior B hurling
championship it was a high of coming back from 5 points down to defeat
Milwaukee in a fiery semi-final on Saturday but the disappointment of defeat on
Sunday. The New Hampshire boys came up
against a host team in Allentown and were very unlucky not claim the cup,
losing out by 2 points with a final score of 1-8 to 2-7.
Tipperary won the senior hurling championship in fine style
with a hard earned win against a good Vancouver team in the final. The semi-final saw the Boston team pitted
against San Francisco champions, Na Fianna.
The story on the street was that this game would effectively be the
final. Tipperary had to come back from
being down late in the game to pull out a 1-17 to 1-19 win. In the final it was far from a foregone
conclusion. Vancouver, who had former
Wexford Boston players Tony Murphy and Yom in the side, pushed the Tipp lads
all the way. Cronan Dempsey was to the
fore in a great performance in the final, and with Vancouver edging to within 2
points late in the game, Tipp stepped up with Dempsey clipping over a lovely
point and Joe Coleman added a booming shot over the bar. In the end Tipperary pulled away to win it by
a 3-21 to 1-19 score. In his speech
after the game Dempsey mentioned that it was 14 years since Tipperary had won
the North American senior hurling championship.
That year the finals were also held in Philadelphia, and it was
Dempsey’s first season with Tipp where he was named the player of the
tournament.
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Tipperary Captain Cronan Dempsey with his second
North American Senior Hurling Championship.
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In other news, Darren O’Donovan won a set of Masita gear for
his club after winning the Guinness Crossbar Challenge in hurling.
The senior camogie winners were Cu Chulainn from San
Francisco who won with a last puck of the game 60 yard free to prevent Liberty
Gaels from taking 4 in a row. Men’s
senior football was Donegal St. Patrick’s who had an easy win in the final
against Young Irelander’s/St. Brendan’s from San Francisco, while the Ladies
senior football final went to the wire in the game of the weekend where St.
Bridget’s from Chicago defeated Charlotte James Connolly’s in a tremendous
game.
The Mid-Atlantic division are hosting the 2019 finals.
By Rory O'Donnell
