Semi-Finals Results Sunday Aug 17

Senior Hurling: Wexford 0-20 Galway 1-12

Senior Football:

Wolfe Tones 0-5 Donegal 1-16

McAnespies 2-10 Shannon Blues 1-10

Ladies Senior Football: Boston Shamrocks 2-12 Roscommon 3-10

Junior A Semi-Final: Donegal 1-9 Cork 1-5

Junior B Football Semi-Final: McAnespies 3-16 Mayo 2-12

Ladies Junior Semi-Final: Boston Shamrocks 3-8 Roscommon 3-4

Reports to follow......

Semi-Finals Results Saturday Aug 16

Results:

Intermediate Football:
Galway 0-14 Connemara Gaels 0-7
Kerry 1-12 Armagh-Notre Dame 2-6
Final Next Sunday Galway v Kerry

Junior A Football: McAnespies 1-16 Kerry 0-2

Junior B Football: Shannon Blues 1-12 New England Celtics 1-15

Junior Hurling: Fr. Tom Burke's 1-13 Wexford 2-16

Reports to follow....

Playoffs and Final Tables

With the win over Galway last Sunday, the Shannon Blues have earned the right to play McAnespies in the semi-final of the senior football championship next Sunday at 5:30. Donegal and the Wolfe Tones will meet earlier in the day at 2:30. Earlier in the season McAnespies were the hot favourites and looked unbeatable, however, a couple of losses in personnel for the Macs has opened the door for the other teams. The Wolfe Tones have a well rested squad of players and look like a solid outfit, while the Blues have been playing well at the right time of the year. Like McAnespies, Donegal have also suffered a loss in personnel, but Donegal have a good midfield and several nifty forwards that can cause headaches for any back line. While McAnespies are undefeated and going for their fourth Boston championship in a row, it is still not a done deal. No clear favourites this Sunday, but all year it has been looking like the Macs and Tones in an all Southie (Both teams are based in South Boston) final and I'd say both games Sunday will be theirs to lose.

In many ways Tipp are a surprise package to be at the top of the table, in particular since it seemed that it would be Galway or Wexford earlier in the year. Wexford go into the playoffs looking to defend a championship, but have not been playing well of late and will meet a very good Galway team. It would seem that unless Wexford can raise their game that it will be Galway and Tipp in the final Sunday week. Wexford and Galway will meet next Sunday at 4:00.

Tir na nOg make the final by virtue of some very good football, the ladies from Brighton have looked strong all year. Next Sunday the Shamrocks and Roscommon will meet in the semi final at 1:00. Roscommon have not looked sharp in recent outings. Sunday's semi-final should be interesting, the Shamrocks will be favoured to win but in recent years Roscommon have been known to turn it on at crunch time.

The full playoff schedule for next weekend is:

Semi Finals Schedule
Saturday August 16
Field A
2:30: Junior Hurling: Fr. Tom Burke’s v Galway/Wexford
4:00: Intermediate Football: Connemara Gaels v Galway
5:30: Intermediate Football: Kerry v Armagh-Notre Dame

Field B
3:00: Junior A Football: McAnespies v Kerry
4:30: Junior B Football: New England Celtics v Shannon Blues

Sunday August 17
Field A
11:30: Junior A Football: Donegal v Cork
1:00: Ladies Senior Football: Roscommon v Shamrocks
2:30: Senior Football: Donegal v Wolfe Tones
4:00: Senior Hurling: Wexford v Galway
5:30: Senior Football: McAnespies v Shannon Blues

Field B
1:30: Junior B Football: McAnespies v Mayo
3:00: Ladies Junior Football: Roscommon v Shamrocks

Weather forecast update:

Changed from earlier in the week to mixed sun and showers Saturday, with the possibility of scattered thunderstorms - so bring an umbrella.
(Press box passes available for a nominal fee on a first come first served basis).

Sunday is for sunny all day - so bring the kids.

Armagh-Notre Dame v Wolfe Tones Aug 10

Armagh-Notre Dame 2-6 Wolfe Tones 2-16

Brendan Quinn and Joey Farrell vie for posession.

With their fate in the senior football championship decided, all that was in it for the Wolfe Tones was to fulfill a fixture. Win or lose the Tones would be facing Donegal in next weekend’s semi-final, while the Shannon Blues had ended Galway’s hopes, and those of Armagh-Notre Dame, of having any chance of making the senior championship playoffs by finishing on 10 points with their win earlier in the day. The Tones started without a few of their first choice players, Sean McVeigh, Collie Farrell, and Willy Milner did not feature in the starting 13. John Nolan began the game in midfield for the Tones, but the St. Annes (Dublin) man was clearly less than 100% and looked to be carrying a leg.

After Marty Farrell put the Tones 2 points to the good, Armagh-Notre Dame enjoyed a slew of possession, but unfortunately for them were their own worst enemies as they failed to make the most of the period in ascendancy. There were several missed opportunities to score, and they were not half chances either. Maurice Mulpeters opened Armagh-ND’s account with a goal, and Martin McStravog added a point. The four points was all the northerners had to show for a sustained period of pressure lasting a good 10 to 15 minutes. Having soaked up the pressure, the Tones took over from there on in. After Sean Kelly and Brian Downes swapped points, Marty Farrell got the goal back for the Tones, and the South Boston side finished the half with three points on the trot from Billy O’Loughlin, Farrell, and Gary Collins.

Quinn tries to find a way through for Armagh-Notre Dame.

Armagh-ND opened the second half brightly with two McStravog frees to reduce the deficit to two points and began to take the game to the Tones, but the big guns entered the fray for the Blue and Navy and the Tones put the game beyond their opponents, scoring 1-10 as opposed to two points. The Tones played the ball nicely and with half-backs Jamie Murphy and Eamon Hickson bringing the game forward, the Brighton side caved to the pressure. Murphy added a goal and three points to the Tones tally, Sean Kelly three points, and Marty Farrell two as the Tones ran amok. Brendan Quinn pulled a goal back in the dying minutes of the game to salvage some respect for the northerners.

Armagh-ND: C. Brady, L. Morrow, M. Digney, J. Taggart, A. Downes, F. Meehan, B. Molloy, Pauric McPeters (1-0), S. O’Donnell, Brian Downes (0-2), Martin McStravog (0-4), Brendan Quinn (1-0), Dominic McGill (0-1). Wolfe Tones: W. O’Dowd, N. McKenna, D. Scullane, E. Hickson, T. Meagan, Jamie Murphy (1-3), J. Farrell, J. Nolan, Gary Collins (0-1), Dara Joyce (0-2), Billy O’Loughlin (0-1), Marty Farrell (1-5), Sean Kelly (0-4). Sub: Willy Milner (0-1).

Playoffs Set

Last weekend saw the playoff situation fall into place. The Shannon Blues defeated Galway by five points in the football, and in doing so claimed the fourth place in the senior football championship playoffs. The Blues will play McAnespies in the semis next Sunday, and Donegal and the Wolfe Tones will meet in the second semi-final.

Saturday saw the senior hurlers of Tipp beat Wexford by seven points in spite of losing John Coughlin to a sending off early in the second half with the scores level at eight points each. Tipp went on the outscore their opponents by 1-6 to 0-2 and bypass the semi-final stage. Galway and Wexford will meet in the semi final and the winners will play Tipp in the final Sunday week.

More on the playoffs to come.......

By the way, I'm not a golfing fan in the least but it was truly a great sporting moment for the Irish when Padraig Harrington sunk the putt on the 18th hole Sunday evening. Not bad for a Dub (even if the roots are from Cork)!

Tir na nOg Make Ladies Final

Tir na nOg made the Ladies Senior Football final with a one point victory over the Boston Shamrocks and a toss of a coin. The win put the Brighton based side level on points with the Shamrocks at the top of the table. The coin toss decided which side would advance to the final, and Tir na nOg dealt a double loss to the Shamrocks on the day - the coin landed in favour of the game winners. The Shamrocks will meet Roscommon in the semi-final in two weeks time, with Tir na nOg awaiting the winners on the final the following weekend.

I was involved in a junior game with the Connemara Gaels myself which was played at the same time, and unfortunately did not witness what sounded like a very exciting game between the ladies teams.

Also, the Senior Hurling match between Tipperary and Wexford was postponed until Saturday next at 2:30 since early in the first half, a severe thunderstorm hit and there was no way the game could continue.

Incidentally, some of the things going on with the Gaels bode well for the future of the club and in a wider sense for the GAA in the Boston area. More about that later once the season is done after the first weekend in September, when the North American Finals are held in Canton.

Connemara Gaels v Donegal - Aug 3

Donegal 2-8 Connemara Gaels 1-5

The Connemara Gaels could not overcome Donegal to keep them in with a chance of the senior playoffs, so it will be the Intermediate playoffs for the westerners. Donegal were that bit stronger in the middle of the field, quicker to the ball, and passed the ball well. By half time the chances of the Gaels pulling off a win were slim. Donegal had a nine-point lead and the Gaels had to work very hard for the three scores that were converted, though truth be told there could have, and some may argue should have, been two in the goal column for the Gaels.

Donegal’s quickness and speed had the Gaels under pressure for most of the first 30 minutes. Kevin Curran opened the scoring with a free and Eamonn Murphy followed with another. Kieran Cox snatched a goal chance in the opening exchanges and sent the ball narrowly wide from close range, however, Donegal made the most of their own goal chance shortly afterwards when Declan Murphy sold a dummy to Pat McNicholas and buried the ball with just the keeper to beat. Donegal five points to the good with the Gaels yet to score. James Carlin got the Gaels off the mark with a free, but the Gaels struggled to add to their tally for much of the period.

Declan Murphy tries to elude the attention of Michael Geoghan.

After Kevin Curran put another over for Donegal, Donal McNulty finished a fine move with a point. Eamonn Murphy added another and with Donegal holding a seven point lead , the Gaels enjoyed a brief period of pressure the yielded points from Tom McDonagh and Coleman Conroy. The Gaels could have had a goal, Niall O’Connell pulled off a brave save from McDonagh as the Leitir Mor man was bearing down on goal, and Carlin rocketed the ball off the crossbar in a sequence of play shortly afterwards. Donegal, however, finished the half well having weathered the storm. Curran and Murphy pointed, and Gareth Concar scored a second goal just before half time to put Donegal in the drivers seat for the next period.

The scores were few and far between in the second half and the game slowed considerably. The first 20 minutes saw McNulty put another fine point over the bar for Donegal and Carlin point from a free for the Gaels. The Gaels battled on and tried to whittle down the deficit, but the Donegal defence proved tough to break down. Carlin put another free over the bar, and Frank Niblock goaled from a 21-yard free to pull the Gaels within five points with five minutes to go. It was too little, too late however, as the Gaels could not complete the late rally, and Donegal march on to the senior championship playoffs.
Gaels: J. Flaherty, B. McLoughlin, P. McNicholas, Coleman Conroy (0-1), M. Geoghan, D. Burns, R. Hughes, G. O’Malley, K. Cox, Frank Niblock (1-0), V. O’Malley, Tommy McDonagh (0-1), James Carlin (0-3). Donegal: N. O’Connell, T. Maguire, S. Lee, N. Hegarty, K. Cunningham, P. Witherow, R. McNeilis, Donal McNulty (0-2), E. Wade, Eamonn Murphy (0-3), Kevin Curran (0-3), Gareth Concar (1-0), Declan Murphy (1-0).

By Rory O'Donnell

Kerry v Shannon Blues - Aug 3

Shannon Blues 1-15 Kerry 1-4

The Shannon Blues proved to be stronger than Kerry, who, unlike the Kerrymen at home, could not bring their game to the next level. The Blues raised the tempo a notch or two in the second half and ran away with it in the end. With one game left against Galway, the Blues have it in their control to make it to the semi-finals. Just two points separated the sides at the break, and Kerry had every chance, but the Blues limited the Kingdom to a single point in the second half, and put up a goal and seven points themselves.

Johnny Moroney shoots for Goal as Kerry try to get back into the game.

Kerry got off to great start. Colin McDonnell was first to score for Kerry, the Naomh Barrog (Dublin – Coolock to be precise) man pointed and followed up shortly afterwards with a goal. The Blues had pointed twice through Philip Lydon at corner forward. The Blues gradually took over the game and went on to register six points, while Kerry managed just two in the same time period. Shannon Blues stalwart, Gary Henry, pointed twice and Lydon twice to pull the Blues in front. Gary Gaughan proved to be a handful for the Kerry men, the Sligo county player was full of running on the wing and created numerous scoring opportunities for the Blues. Darren Wallace pointed for the Blues and Mark Evans for Kerry before the half to make it Kerry 1-3 and the Shannon Blues 0-8.

Gary Gaughan goes down on the ball, the Sligo man was in top form for the Blues.

The game was gone from Kerry by the time they registered a second half score. The Blues had established a ten- point lead, and were very much in control of proceedings. Kerry missed an easy free early in the half, which did not help their cause, and did have a couple of missed chances at goal, converting one of those would certainly have helped their cause. The Blues defence gave no room to the Kerry forwards and it proved to be a frustrating half hour for the Kingdom. Stephen Henry, Sean Ruane, and Philip Lydon each pointed before Gaughan goaled with 10 minutes to go, a just reward for the hard working wing forward. After Neil Ewing pointed for the Blues, Kerry registered their first point of the second half with less than 10 minutes to go. Dave Cunningham and Lydon finished it off for the Blues to complete what surely was a satisfying win and gives them all to play for when they meet Galway next week.
Blues: D. Hawes, K. Cryan, S. Kelly, S. Ruane, C. O’Grady, Neil Ewing (0-1), Stephen Henry (0-1), R. Hennessy, Gary Henry (0-2), Thomas Cryan (0-1), Gary Gaughan (1-1), Philip Lydon (0-6), Darren Wallace (0-2). Sub: Dave Cunningham (0-1). Kerry: D. Diggins, D. Forde, G. Barry, M. Godley, J. Moroney, S. Moriarty, R. O’Sullivan, D. Waters, P. Devane, Colin McDonnell (1-1), C. Hurley, Mark Evans (0-1), Mark O’Sullivan (0-1). Sub (0-1).

By Rory O'Donnell