Ladies Football Final
Room must be running out in the Boston Shamrocks trophy
cabinet after another victory in the ladies football championship. The Shamrocks came up against the youthful
Sean Og’s Ladies team, a team of home grown players who have just come up from
underage ranks to play at adult level.
The Shamrock’s experience and strength was too much for the Sean Og’s to
handle, but to their credit the youngsters never let up with their efforts and
often had the Shamrocks goal under pressure, but the finishing touch failed
them on many occasions.
Sarah Jane McDonald and Marie Kelly were to the forefront of
the Shamrock’s efforts and when play went through those players the end result
was usually a score for the champions.
Two early goals put the Shamrocks in the driver’s seat. The Sean Og’s girls moved the ball well
themselves on occasion, and were in with goal chances themselves, but Kayla
Donovan was solid in goals for the Shamrocks and saved several would – be goals.
There were some points, Orla Gormley and
Aisling Kelly got on the scoresheet, but a flurry of scores before half time
for the Shamrocks put the outcome beyond doubt.
The second half opened with a goal from Eva Gannon for the
youngsters, but Shannon Kelly took the breeze out of Sean Og’s sails after the got
it back soon afterwards. The Shamrocks
brought on many campaign veterans, AnnMarie McDonnell, Stacy Fuller and Cathy McEleaney
all came on and saw out the game. A
tough first final for the Sean Og’s girls, but for them it is just the
beginning of what hopefully will be the beginning of successful football
careers. Shamrocks 8-11 Sean Og’s 1-6
Men’s Intermediate Football Final
Aidan McAnespies won the Intermediate football final with a
3-9 to 1-5 against the Shannon Blues.
The Blues came out full of intent and were only 4 points adrift at the
break, however, as the second half wore on McAnespies pulled away with 2 goals
and flurry of points to finish the game.
An early Eoin Gormley goal after the throw-in had the Blues on
their heels from the get go. The Blues
had a couple of goal chances of their own, but Paddy Coakley was sharp to the
danger and managed to keep the ball from crossing the line. Darren Wallace and Maurice Young pointed for
the Blues to get them off the mark, however, the Macs finished the half with 3
unanswered points to hold a 1-3 to 0-2 lead in a fairly low scoring opening
period.
The game was taken by the scruff of the neck by the Macs in
the second half. After the sides traded
points, a Gormley point was followed by a super one from Peter O’Connell, and a
Steven Ward goal. An O’Connell run made
the opening for Ward to net. The Blues
won a penalty after Wallace was pulled down in the box, and Young blasted the
kick home to cut the gap to 6 points.
The final quarter saw McAnespies push for the finish line,
Conan McCusker bagged a goal following a well worked move, and points from Colm
O’Malley and O’Connell put the finishing touches on the win. The Blues will look back at several missed
chances that could have kept their opponents within reach, but it has to be
said that the club deserves huge credit for fielding a team, one that contained
a healthy dose of home grown talent, in the top level football competition this
season. McAnespies play in the USGAA intermediate competition
next Saturday where they will meet the Pittsburgh Celtics. It will not be the first time the clubs have
met, Pittsburgh and Macs played in the junior B competition in San Francisco in
2011, and game that Pittsburgh won.
Since then the Midwestern side have risen through the ranks to
Intermediate level.
Senior Hurling Final
Galway hurlers pulled off the major shock of the weekend
with a totally unexpected win against Fr. Tom Burke’s. Tom’s would
have been considered de facto champions going into the game because of the
manner in which they were pretty much unchallenged in any game all season. Galway saved their best performance till the
final day, however, and after a tremendously exciting 60 minutes came out at
the other end 2 point winners.
Galway came out on fire.
A combination of John’s, John Coleman and John Moylan, made things
happen at the scoring end of the field. Molylan
had tallied 2 goals. The first followed
a great effort by corner forward JJ Doyle keeping the ball in play for Moylan to
finish from close range. The second was
a high ball into the box that came off the fingertips of Tom’s keeper, Kevin Flynn,
and into the back of the net. Coleman
was on the mark with the frees for Galway, and for Tom’s it was Fergus Byrne who
was the danger man early. Byrne tallied Tom’s
first 3 points before further scores were added by Fran Keenan, Aaron Moore,
Liam Moore and Jason Costello. At the
break Galway led by the 2 goals, 2-7 to 0-7.
The question was did they have enough of a lead to hold for the second
half.
The short answer was yes, but it looked very doubtful coming
to the run in to the final whistle. The
game continued at a blistering pace and players on both sides stepped up to try
and make the difference. Tom’s had it
all square within 8 minutes after the restart.
A Liam Moore goal and points from Aaron Moore and Byrne before Galway
managed a score had it looking like the tipping point was coming in Tom’s favor. It did not happen. Danny Burke, Patrick Moylan and Mike Moylan
stepped it up at the back for Galway, and wily veteran going back to the Dilboy
days, James Kinsella, won several balls.
The teams swapped 3 points each as the game hung in the balance. It was Byrne for Tom’s, and for Galway John Moylan,
Coleman and Eoin Morrissey kept Galway at parity.
Into the last 10 minutes and after John Moylan put Galway a
point to the good, Costello finally broke from his marker to fire the ball home
to the far corner of the net and put Tom’s 2 to the good. Galway did not die, though and kept up their
tenacious play. Darragh Lawler and Eoin Morrissey
won some fantastic ball in the air, and helped drive Galway forward. The final 4 scores went to Galway. Moylan got the tying point from play and Coleman
held his nerve with the go ahead free, and added one other from playas Tom’s
could not find the answer late in the game.
Final score, Galway 2-16 Fr. Tom’s 2-14.
It was a win for Galway over old rivals, Tom’s but it was also a win for
hurling such was the passion with which the game was played, and for the home
grown players in town. Mike and Patrick
Moylan, Aidan O’Malley, Eoin Morrissey, Liam Moore and Jack Martyn banging with
the best of them out there was great to see.
A great game and one that hurling in the town needed for sure.
Men’s Senior Football Final
There was a lot of expectation that the senior football final
would be one for the ages. Although Donegal
went the season unbeaten, and were going for 3 in a row, the Gaels had come
close to getting one over on them in their earlier season encounters, and
fancied their chances. In the end the
game went to the wire with no more than a score in it though the final 5 minutes,
and it was Donegal who had the extra legs to see it through to a 4 point win.
The teams traded points to get things going and a goal
chance for the Gaels ended with Hugh Boyle saving from Paddy Cunningham. After Mikey Kerr put the Gaels one to the
good in the early stages, Donegal hit with a goal from Shane Carthy. The Gaels responded well with Sean Conneeley
and AJ Maguire points to level it up again, and just as the westerners started
to feel encouraged Donegal went 4 ahead.
Darren Grant took a massive mark inside the 14 and pointed from the
kick, and Carthy again hit with a major and a fine finish. The
half ended with Caffrey and Niall Egan points, and a difference of 4
points. Donegal 2-3 to 0-5 for the
Gaels. There were some testy moments
with yellow cards issued to Kieran Killeen and Sean Winston from each side.
The second half opened with Donegal maintaining the distance
between the teams. Enjoying the better
of the midfield and ball possession battle, the northerners looked to be the team
in control. The lead was extended to 5
with Carthy getting the odd score of 5 10 minutes into the second period. The Gaels battled well and Jack Bambrick
established his presence in the game.
Bambrick pointed twice, and 2 Ryan Caffrey frees made it a one point
game entering the final phase. Enter Lee
Carr and his left foot, who had been quiet thus far, and back to back points
from the corner forward opened the gap to 3.
Another Caffrey free got it back to 2, and a goal was on the minds of
the Connemara men. Donegal’s defence was
stout, however. Sean Conneeley had a
half chance from inside the 14 that was blocked, and Sean Winston scored an
excellent point at a critical time to put a goal in it again. Into injury time Caffrey pointed for the
Gaels to restore some hope and possession was key now. Donegal were the side to win the all-important
kickout. Who else but Shane Carthy
carried the team to victory with 2 points in the added minutes. With 4 points in it, and well into injury
time, it was all but over in spite of a last gasp effort to get a high ball
into the net. Three in a row for Donegal
senior footballers who showed to be the best team in town this season.
A great game of football to finish out the first season with
all home based or home grown players in the Boston-Northeast division. It was season that saw old faces return to
the games, and as importantly if not more, the home grown player’s contribution
to the championships showed what the future looks like. As chair of the divisional board, Peter
Murray, noted, there are 24 adult clubs and this year 90 games on the schedule,
and would not have been possible without the young American born players. Continuing to nurture the talent coming
through the youth pipeline from 6 and 7 year olds, to 15 and 16 year olds, and
providing the opportunities for the players, shows that a bright future to be
grasped for Gaelic games in the region.
On to the USGAA Finals next weekend at the Irish Cultural
Centre in Canton.
Boston Championship Winners
Senior Football:
Donegal
Senior Hurling:
Galway
Ladies Football: Boston Shamrocks
Intermediate Football:
Aidan McAnespies
Junior A Football:
Wolfe Tones
Junior B Football:
Sean Og’s
Junior B Hurling: Sean Og’s
Junior C Football:
Hartford
Junior C Hurling:
Providence
By Rory O’Donnell
1 comment:
Well done Roary.. great match reports.
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