Blues and Tipp Bring the Silverware Back East.

San Francisco hosted the 2017 North American GAA finals on Labor Day weekend.  The games were played at Pairc na nGael on Treasure Island, San Francisco GAA’s home facility.  Treasure Island is a man-made island in the middle of San Francisco Bay that was created from dredging the harbor to make for safer shipping channels.  The island was created in 1937-38 and the Golden Gate Exposition was held there in 1939, from which a lot of art deco style buildings remain.   The island was also the home for a naval station, and the San Francisco GAA opened their fields there in 2009.   It is accessible by road via the Bay Bridge and is just a short drive from downtown San Francisco.

Six teams from the Boston Northeast division made the 3,000 mile journey west to participate in the finals.  In senior competiton were the Shannon Blues footballers, Fr. Tom Burke’s hurlers, and Boston Shamrocks Ladies footballers.  Cork competed in the junior A football, Tipperary in junior A hurling, and Donegal in junior B football. 

A Great First North American for the Shannon Blues.

Saturday saw two Boston teams progress into the finals.  The Shannon Blues had a convincing win against Donegal Philadelphia with goals from James Feeney, Kieran Hurley and Darren Wallace seeing them to a 6-10 to 0-6 win.  Tipperary also made the Junior A hurling final with a 4-18 to 1-5 win over Vancouver. 

The Shannon Blues captured the senior football championship for the first time in the history of the club on Sunday.  The Boston side faced host team, Sean Treacy’s in the final.  The Blues fielded 5 of the starters from the Boston final two weeks earlier, and included no less than 6 players from the junior team in the starting 13.  Playing with the wind in the first half, the visitors built a sizeable six point lead at half time.  Kieran Hurley swung over some well taken efforts, with Darren Wallace doing some great running.   A goal from Hurley just before half time saw the Blues into a 1-7 to 0-4 lead at the break, but Treacy’s would have that wind advantage in the second half. 

The home side made the push and the game was tied coming down the stretch.  With the Blues struggling to make headway against the breeze, Treacy’s won most every midfield ball and capitalized on the possession.  Eventually a penalty brought it to two points, Mike Moriarty got his fingertips to the ball, but the kick had too much behind it and the it found the back of the net.  The Blues back line was under extreme pressure and had to dig in.  Two more points made it level and Treacy’s had the momentum, but wasted several golden chances to go ahead.  There was a late push in the Blues however, and the Boston side wet into a one point lead after substitute Jimmy Maher put them ahead. Fresh legs from Pat Moriarty also helped the Blues cause.  After the sides were level again, Moriarty won a scrappy kickout and set Darren Wallace free for a point to put the Blues one to the good again. 

After Treacy’s missed another chance, a quick kickout to Barry Hartnett set up a goal in a move involving Wallace and Moriarty, and finished with emphasis by none other than maestro, Hurley.  Treacy’s had one last chance to score and the shot flashed across the face of goal.  And so it was the Blues 2017 North American Senior Football champions by a score of 2-11 to 1-10.  It was a great victory to top off a season that saw them grow into the Boston championship and come good at the right time. 

The Blues team that captured the first ever North American Senior Football Championship for the club was:  Michael Moriarty, Derek O'Brien, Fionn Herlihy, Trevor Wallace, Barry Harnett, Conor Kerins, Pat Murray (AB), Maurice Young (AB), Steven Conway, Darren Wallace, Conor Fitzgerald (AB), Steven Conroy, Kieran Hurley.  Jimmy Maher, Pat Moriarty, James Feeney, Mike St. Bernard (AB), Shane Kelly, Conor Mullen.

Tipperary ended up capturing the Junior championship with room to spare after great overall team performance.  Facing an Auston Texas side, the Boston lads had put plenty of daylight between themselves and the Cowboys by half time.  With captain Jimmy Maher on form, and Seanie McGarr and Cathal Madden tight at corner back, it was a 4-10 to 1-8 half time lead for the Premier county.  Sean Delaney pulled off two wonderful saves and at the other end of the field the bulk of the scores went to Russell Quirke.  The Cappaghwhite man tallied 7 points from frees and ended with a haul of 4-7.  Joseph O’Sullivan tallied 3-3 in the other corner, while Cronan Dempsey chipped in with two points from center back. 

Fr. Tom's came up against a strong Naomh Padraig side from San Fran.

Cork junior A footballers were unlucky to get knocked out at the semi-final stage by a last minute goal having led by 0-16 to 0-14. The Boston Shamrocks came up against a very fit Charlotte team, which contained just 2 Irish born players, and an Olympian playing in goals.  The Shamrocks came back with the help of goals from Sara Jane McDonald and Eadoin Connolly after falling behind early, however the Charlotte keeper proved to be a game saver as on two occasions in the final stages.  With the Shamrocks putting the pressure on, Sara Jane McDonald and Shannon Mullen were through only to be denied by point blank saves.  The final score was Boston Shamrocks 3-6 Charlotte 5-9.  Donegal junior B footballers were also denied a place in the final following a 2 point loss to San Diego.  Diarmuid Moyne and Matthew Cutliffe were on form up front, and at the back Ciaran McDevitt and Sean Winston defended well.  There was a chance to win it at the end, however, Gerard O’Kane’s shot blazed wide with the keeper to beat.  Fr. Tom’s also went out at the first hurdle to a strong home team in Naomh Padraig who went on the win the championship. 

And so, the end of another Boston and North American GAA season with 2 national trophies headed back to the New England.  A year from now the finals come back east with Philadelphia hosting.

By Rory O'Donnell

Aidan McAnespies Win Second North American Title

Aidan McAnespies 2-15 Sean Treacys 1-7 (San Francisco)

McAnespies won their second North American Championship on the 20th anniversary of the murder of Aidan McAnespie at the Aughnacloy checkpoint in county Tyrone. Their first North American Championship came in 1998, on Aidan’s 10 anniversary. Kevin Barry’s of Philadelphia provided the semi final opposition, and the home side came through a dour enough encounter with a five point win. Kevin Barrys proved to be a tough opponent to break down, and in the second half made a run at McAnespies, scoring five points in a row to come within a point. Steven McGettigan then made the breakthrough and netted to put McAnespies in a comfortable lead. Declan Lally followed with a fine point to secure progression to the next stage.

In the final McAnespies met Sean Treacy’s from San Francisco, who defeated Chicago Parnells in extra time in their semi-final. McAnespies played some good, error free, football in the final and looked comfortable throughout. In spite of conceding a goal late in the first half that brought the visitors level, McAnespies maintained their composure and continued to focus and work hard, and ran out convincing winners in the end.

McAnespies looked comfortable in the first half, and went in at the break with a five point lead. Within 10-15 minutes of the throw-in it looked apparent that the South Boston side had the aces in its deck. The McAnespies back line did a lot of mopping up as Sean Treacy’s lost their way when entering the attacking zone. Christy Lynch had an excellent first half at corner back, as did Danny McBride in the middle of the field. The Strabane man supported the back line well and played the part of link man when McAnespies played the ball out of defence. McAnespies made good use of their posession. The local side went into a three-point lead in the early going, with Darren Ryan and Colm McCrory scoring the three points between them.

Treacys got off the mark after 13 minutes with a Mike McCauley point. There were a couple of lengthy stoppages as a result of some heavy challenges, and once things got going again in earnest, Treacys got themselves into the game. After Declan Lally added another point for McAnespies, Gene Griffin and McCauley again pointed for Treacy’s. The San Francisco side drew level after 26 minutes when Mark Gallagher goaled. It came somewhat against the run of play, and McAnespies got the goal back before half time. McAnespies were the beneficiaries of a somewhat curious decision by the referee who blew for a free out for a pick up after Declan Traynor came off his line and bundled over an attacking player – a let off for the home side. Steven McGettigan and Ryan each pointed, and the Alan Feeney goaled in injury time after being fed by McCrory. McAnespies led by five at half time.

Playing with the breeze and away from the sun in the second half, the Boston side extended their lead to eight points as what appeared to be inevitable came to fruition. McCrory pointed twice from play and once from a free. Shane Glennon, who had entered as a sub in the first half, stemmed the bleeding with a well taken point for the visitors and looked like the San Francisco side’s best attacking option. McCrory’s speed continued to cause problems for the visiting back line in the second half, and the Monaghan man added another point for McAnespies. Danny McBride and Lally added two more points and with 10 minutes left the locals led by 10 points. Treacy’s went looking for a goal - or two - that would be required to pull off a late comeback, and twice Glennon could have netted but shot over the bar. Colm McCrory underlined a great overall performance with a goal at the death. McAnespies win their second North American championship.

Captain Colm McCrory hoists the North American Cup and also won the man of the match award.

Macs: D. Traynor, G. Norton, C. Lynch, D. Donegan, N. Kerr, Alan Feeney (1-0), Danny McBride (0-1), M. Stanbrook, Declan Lally (0-2), C. Galligan, Darren Ryan (0-3), Steven McGettigan (0-1), Colm McCrory (1-8). Sean Treacys: H. Hughes, C. Murphy, B. Molloy, Mark Gallagher (1-0), Stephen Driver (0-1), C. Conneeley, S. McAleer, P. Turnball, R. Kane, Mike McCauley (0-2), Gene Griffin (0-1), B. Nugent, D. Faherty. Sub: Shane Glennon (0-3).

By Rory O'Donnell