Sunday July 13 - Junior A Football: Cork v Shannon Blues

Cork 5-12 Shannon Blues 1-8

Cork continued their unbeaten run in the junior A football championship with a convincing win over Shannon Blues.  By half time Cork had put the game more or less beyond the Blues.  Two goals from Cathal Moriarty, and another from Mark Browne had Cork firmly in the drivers seat.

Conor Fitzgerald and the Shannon Blues could not come to terms with
Eoin Barry and Cork.

Cork put in a comprehensive first 30 minutes and left the Shannon Blues reeling and frustrated.  An early point from Mike Moynihan was followed by a well worked Cathal Moriarty goal.  Colm Caffrey was very involved in affairs, and the center forward set up Cork's second goal for Mark Browne.  The Blues struggled as Cork were on top in most areas of the field.  Having worked hard to put three points on the board, one from Francie O'Neill and two from Vinnie Cadden, Cork canceled it out with one stroke after netting a third time through Moriarty. 

All the while the points tally was climbing for the rebels, Moynihan, Moriarty, Caffrey, Shea Leonard, and Downey Brogan stretched the lead.  Even Mick Lyons in goal pulled off a fine save from Conor Fitzgerald to deny the Blues a goal late in the half.  It was a 3-9 to 0-4 score that saw the teams into the break.

Cork still unbeaten after 5 games.

The Blues pointed about 15 seconds after the restart through Brian Bannon, and in general made a better fist of it.  The effort level was noticeably higher, though Cork's lead was in little danger.  Cork eased their way through the Blues defence on a handful of occasions to keep a safe distance between the teams.  Moynihan netted on one of those occasions.  Brian Bannon worked tremendously hard for the Blues and set up a goal for Conor Fitzgerald with 10 minutes remaining.  There was still eleven points in it at that stage and Cork eased their way through the remainder of the game.

Cork:  M. Lyons, E. Barry, M. Carolan, D. Brogan, D. O'Regan, D. O'Donovan, J. Lynch, N. O'Connor, M. Browne, C. Caffrey, S. Leonard, C. Moriarty, M. Moynihan.  Blues:  M. Moriarty, J. Craig, C. Moriarty, S. Sinnott, F. O'Neill, B. Bannon, P. Murray, V. Cadden, T. Hernon, T. Sears, L. Duffy, J. Moriarty, C. Fitzgerald.

By Rory O'Donnell

Sunday July 6 - Senior Football: Connemara Gaels v Kerry

Connemara Gaels 0-12 Kerry 1-9

It was touch and go all the way through between the Gaels and Kerry, although Kerry may look at the result a point lost and the Gaels a point saved.  The Gaels never led in the game, and apart from the final 10 minutes Kerry looked the side more likely to take both points.  The Gaels made a push in the final stages of the game and salvaged a draw in a very exciting final few minutes.

Kerry had the Gaels guessing for much of the game.

The Gaels made a few changes following last week's defeat at the hands of Donegal, and it made little difference, for the first 30 minutes at least.  Kerry's forward triangle of Croft, Glenn, and Sheehy worked well, while in defence Kerry got numbers behind the ball to deny any space to the Gaels forward line.  A goal from a penalty got Kerry off to a great start.  Glenn was fouled having been played through by Croft, and Croft put the shot away well.  Murt Condron and Glenn followed with points before the Gaels got on the scoreboard through Dave McCormack.  The Gaels did not get many openings, and when they did the effort was often wayward.  Kerry were also guilty of a handful of decent chances going astray, and relied on the shooting of Croft to make their advantage count on the scoreboard.  But for Eoin Connolly the Gaels could have found themselves further behind.  The Leitir Mor man was called upon to pull off two fantastic saves.  Connolly first got down well to save a Croft effort and then a minute later saved from Niall Sheehy as Kerry carved open the Gaels defence on two occasions.  John Egan and Calum McCormack managed points for the Gaels before the break to keep the westerners in touch. 

The westerners almost stole it in the end.

It was a 1-4 to 0-3 Kerry lead to start the second half.  There continued to be plenty of chances wasted at both ends, with the Gaels being slightly the more guilty party.  After the teams traded two points each, the Gaels began to find their feet.  Calum McCormack looked more comfortable with the field in Canton and the spaces began to open up in the Kerry back line.  It looked as if fatigue was setting in to the Kerry side, and midfielder Ian Whelan had to leave the field with an injury to compound matters for the Kingdom.  McCormack and Conal Jones pointed to rein in the Kerry lead to two with 10 minutes left.  Glenn put a fantastic point over the bar as Kerry tried to hold on to their advantage.  The Gaels pressed ahead, and with the introduction of Ian Burke and Noel Graham looked like they might sneak a win.  Burke pointed twice, one being a leveling score as the clock hit time.  Kerry won a free in injury time that Croft pointed in his nonchalent style to put his side to put Kerry on to the good. The Gaels got one more chance, and McCormack converted with the final action of the game to salvage a point for his side.

Kerry:  L. Steacy, M. Godley, A. Fitzgerald, P. Devane, S. Briggs, M. Condron, I. Whelan, D. Foley, E. McGreevy, G. Glenn, J. Fitzpatrick, R. Croft, N. Sheehy.  Gaels:  E. Connolly, M. Shanahan, J. O'Donoghue, S. Conneely, C. Daly, C. Killeen, J. Barrett, C. Jones, G. Leech, C. McCormack, J. Egan, D. McCormack, C. Mulkerrins.

By Rory O'Donnell 

Sunday July 6 - Senior Football: Aidan McAnespies v Shannon Blues

Aidan McAnespies 3-10 Shannon Blues 3-21

Shannon Blues reinforced their championship credentials with a total victory over Aidan McAnespies to finish the day on Sunday.  McAnespies never came to grips with the game and the Blues were in control from beginning to end.  After opening a five point lead to start the game, there was no looking back as the Blues went to the top of the championship table.

Shannon Blues were on top in nearly every facet of the game....

The Blues had the breeze in the first half and took the game to McAnespies from the off.  Sean O'Connor, who was on the Blues championship winning side two years ago, was back on the wing and accounted for four well taken points in the opening 30 minutes.  Corner forwards, Paul O'Connor and Niall Murphy, looked dangerous when the ball went inside the 21 yard line.  The Blues back line worked hard to close down the space and put the man in possession under pressure, denying room to the McAnespies forward line.  The Blues lead continued to grow as the half wore on, Murphy, O'Connor, and David Clifford all added to the tally.  McAnespies came into it towards the end.  Conor Wallace was forced to pull off a fine save as Liam Boland looked like he had fisted the ball into the net, and Caolean O'Boyle and Boland pointed just before the break.  At the half it was a 0-13 to 0-5 Blues lead.

...in spite of the efforts of Liam Boland and Co.

Things did not get much better for McAnespies in the second half.  The Blues struck with the first goal of the game from Paul O'Connor right after the throw in.  After McAnespies pulled two points back, it was a goal and four points unanswered for the Blues.  The second goal came from Niall Murphy who just had to tap the ball in at the far post after some good work created the opening.  Following the sequence of scores, all hope was lost for McAnespies, the rout was complete.  All that was left to play for was pride.  Mattie Campion hit a goal after a rare defence opening move.  The Blues remained steadfast at the back for the remainder of the game, and with the result in hand, held the ball to play for time as the game wound down to a subdued end.  A rousing victory for the Blues, for McAnespies some questions to be answered.

Macs:  P. Coakley, C. McPartland, M. Bogue, N. Gallen, C. McGuirk, P. Meade, J. McGourty, C. Donnelly, P. Mallon, M. Campion, D. McKinless, L. Boland, C. O'Boyle.  Blues:  C. Wallace, S. Kelly, C. Long, D. Clifford, D. McElligott, T. Wallace, S. Moriarty, J. Walsh, G. Caden, D. Wallace, S. O'Connor, P. O'Connor, N. Murphy.

By Rory O'Donnell

Sunday July 6 - Senior Hurling: Galway v Fr. Tom Burke's

Galway 0-13 Fr. Tom Burke's 1-20

Fr. Tom's got good performances from key players to remain unbeaten in the senior hurling championship.  Aside from a period in the second half when Galway threatened to come into the game, Tom's controlled affairs in most areas of the field.  A fortunate second half goal came at precisely the right time for Tom's to stretch their lead and put the dampers on Galway spirits just as the tribesmen had started to make inroads into Tom’s lead.

Try as they might, Galway could not settle against Tom's.

Fr. Tom's had it going all over the field in the first half.  Starting with the goalkeeper, Alan Keating pulled off two great saves to deny Galway goals that would have kept the Brighton side in touch.  Cormac Joyce-Power at center back was winning clean ball off the puckout, and put one back over the bar for good measure.  Zane Keenan in the middle of the field put two sidelines over the bar, one from each side of the field, and Shane Howley at wing forward lasered a handful of points over.  Galway played in fits and starts.  John Moylan and Paul Holden accounted for their first half scores, but the tribesmen were under pressure for most of the half.  The Tom's back line mopped up well to hold the fort, and at the break Tom's held a six point lead, 0-13 to 0-7.

Tom's center back, Cormac Joyce-Power gobbled up
everything sent in his direction.

Galway had a brief glimmer of hope for a period in the second half.  After the tribesmen had strung 4 points together and pulled within 4, it looked as though we might have a game.  Galway had begun to find their way into the game.  Chris Murphy in the half back line won several balls and Galway played with a renewed sense off urgency.  James Regan, Holden and Moylan pointed, and with their lead shrinking, Tom's needed a lift.  It came in the form of a fortunate goal.  Oisín Burke floated a harmless looking ball into the box, and uncharacteristically Skehill misjudged the flight and the ball ended up nestling in the back of the net.  It was onwards to the final conclusion from that point.  Tom's added to the difference as Galway spirits flagged in the run in to the final whistle.  Tom’s on top of the senior hurling table, and still remain unbeaten after their first 3 games.

Galway:  J. Skehill, P. Dowling, P. O'Dwyer, C. Murphy, S. Phelan, JJ Doyle, J. Regan, L. Henderson, P. Holden, G. Malone, C. Nolan, T. O'Hanrahan, J. Moylan.  Tom's:  A. Keating, G. Joyce, P. Heneghan, D. Costello, C. Joyce-Power, S. Higgins, Z. Keenan, C. Healy, S. Howley, I. McDonnell, O. Burke, A. Burke, T. Brickley.

Rory O'Donnell

Sunday July 6 - Junior A Football: Armagh-Notre Dame v Aidan McAnespies

Aidan McAnespies 5-15 Armagh-Notre Dame 1-8

Aidan McAnespies junior team are beginning to motor.  A comprehensive win over Armagh-Notre Dame keeps them right in the mix for the playoff time in August.  McAnespies were on top in almost all areas of the field and  made good use of the ball.  Aaron McKenna in the middle of the field netted a hat trick on the 40th minute as the Brighton side struggled to keep pace.

Aidan McAnespies were on top from the start.

The writing was on the wall from the beginning in the opening game of the day.  Right from the throw in there was almost a goal after a brilliantly worked move ended up with an Oisín McNulty shot shaving the outside of the post.  After another 2 wides McAnespies started to put the ball between the posts.  Gareth O'Neill broke the ice, and was followed by Paul Daly before Gareth McAlinden netted.  McNulty tallied another before Armagh-Notre Dame got off the mark with a Robert Quigley score. 

In the middle of the field for McAnespies, Aaron McKenna covered a lot of ground.  After helping out in the back line, McKenna popped up for a well taken goal at the other end.  The points continued to flow as McAnespies found open routes to goal, at the break

The second half saw McAnespies add 3 more goals before the half was 15 minutes old.  Aaron McKenna grabbed the first and third, the middle one coming from wing back, Enda Hammill.  Quigley expertly finished to put a respectable air on matters towards the end.  McAnespies brought the subs on for a run to finish out the game, and find themselves sitting in position for a run at the playoffs.

Macs:  N. Duffy, B. Smyth, A. Kellett, P. McCusker, P. Daly, R. McCrystal, S. Lynn, A. McKenna, E. Hamill, N. Donaghy, O. McNulty, G. O'Neill, G. McAlinden.  Armagh-ND:  O. Murphy, S. McKenna, C. Horan, S. Kovenich, C. McCartney, J. Taggart, C. Kiernan, A. Johnston, F. Meehan, P. Quigg, E. O'Sullivan, B. Devlin, R. Quigley.

By Rory O'Donnell

Sunday July 6 - Junior A Football: Donegal v Shannon Blues

Donegal 1-20 Shannon Blues 1-5

Donegal made it another sizeable victory in the junior A football competition.  The Blues were never really in it as Donegal had their way for most of the 60 minutes.  The Blues made a fight of it, but could not handle a strong Donegal side that always looked like they had the game under control.

Shannon Blues Cian Moriarty has a shot.

Playing with a slight breeze, Donegal held the edge for most of the first half.  After Francis O'Neill put a superb point over the bar for the Blues, Donegal took hold of matters.  Midfielders Peter McLaughlin and Simon McDonagh were a handful for the Blues to deal with.  Matthew Cutliffe leveled the scores, and Dean Kelly then netted for Donegal. 

With Pauric McLaughlin his usual industrious self in the forward line, Donegal made hay.  The scores flowed from Dean Kelly, Cutliffe, McLaughlin, Michael McGinty and midfielder McDonagh.  The Blues had some flashes of encouragement, Cian Moriarty broke inside the Donegal 21, but his low hard shot hit the crossbar and cannoned over the bar.  At the break Donegal held a 1-11 to 0-3 lead.

Donegal break out of Defence.

The second half played out in similar fashion.  Donegal poured forward and tallied a further points.  Cutliffe, McDonagh, Barney Friel, and McGinty added to the tally.  Conor Fitzgerald broke through to put away a goal for the Blues just before the final whistle and ease the pain.  Donegal, though, looking very strong and a good candidate to return to the junior a final.

Donegal:  B. Friel, H. Devine, D. McBride, P. McLaughlin, D. Green, S. Doherty, S. McDonagh, Peter McLaughlin, Pauric McLaughlin, M. McGinty, C. McDevitt, M. Cutliffe, D. Kelly.  Blues:  T. Sayers, D. O'Brien, M. Moriarty, F. O'Neill, S. Sinnott, M. Keegan, P. Murray, J. Walsh, C. Moriarty, J. Craig, C. Fitzgerald, J. Moriarty, T. Hernon.

By Rory O'Donnell

Sunday June 29 - Senior Football: Christopher's v Shannon Blues

Christopher's 0-10 Shannon Blues 1-9

Christopher's went into their fourth game of the season needed to win to maintain a realistic hope of a playoff spot, but came out wondering what went wrong.  Things seemed to go more or less to plan in the first half, but fell apart in the second.  Mark Delaney's sending off with 15 minutes to go and two points in the game did not help matters, but Christopher's lacked the spark throughout the game to pull off their first win of the season.  The Blues James Walsh in the middle of the field put in a masterful performance of consistent work and intelligent use of the ball to steer his side to the win.

Shannon Blues edged Christopher's in an exciting game.

At the end of the first period Christopher's held a two point lead.  Lining out at corner forward, new signing Luke Connolly accounted for the first three Christopher's points;  two frees and one from play.  Christopher's played with confidence and moved the ball well down the field, though at times overplayed the ball when in the final third of field. 

The Blues pointed through Sean Moriarty, Denis McElligott, Stephen Coogan, and James Walsh.  Although the Blues intensity did not match that of last week's win over Wolfe Tones, they kept in the game.  Playing in midfield, Walsh looked strong and was key to much of the good things happening for the Blues.  As the teams took the field for the second half it was all to play for.

The game changed in the second half.  Shortly after the Blues put a goal away to take the lead mid way through, Delaney was shown the red card.  For the goal Paudie Kenneally made a brilliant initial save from Shane Kavanagh's shot, but Denis McElligott was there to put the rebound away.  Judging from the groans from the Christopher's faithful, it seemed as if they were preparing themselves for another disappointing outing.  The goal put the Blues into a two point lead. 

Paddy Dalton and Christopher's did well over the first 30 minutes,
but could not see out the game.

With the man advantage the Blues controlled the game and kept possession well, not taking unnecessary chances.  Christopher's introduced the subs in a final roll of the dice.  Pat Delaney, Aldo Mattasse, Dan Kenneally, and Ivan Casey were brought into the fray to try and generate a lift for the final 10 minutes.  It almost happened for Christopher's in injury time as after gatherine a breaking ball in the penalty area, Delaney almost netted, but his shot rolled wide of the post in the final minute.  With three games left Christopher's need all six points to have any outside hope of earning a playoff spot while the Blues are well on track.

Christopher's:  P. Kenneally, E. O'Mahoney, J. McGuire, E. Kiely, C. Murphy, P. Dalton, B. Shanahan, M. Delaney, B. Coughlan, D. Culhane, S. Leahy, K. McAllister, L. Connelly.  Blues:  C. Wallace, S. Kelly, C. Long, T. Wallace, D. McElligott, C. Mullen, C. Byrne, J. Walsh, D. Clifford, S. Kavanagh, S. Moriarty, D. Wallace, S. Coogan.

By Rory O'Donnell

Sunday June 29 - Senior Hurling: Fr. Tom Burke's v Tipperary

Tipperary 0-11 Fr. Tom Burke's 5-14

Fr. Tom Burke's came away from their encounter with Tipperary with two points and more than a few cuts and bruises.  Following a first 30 minutes where all the separated the sides was a goal, there were unsavoury scenes of fisticuffs which resulted in 4 players, 2 from each team, sent off.  Tom's had just netted their second goal of the game when the nasty scenes started, and referee John Moylan had no choice but to issue cards to deal with the situation.  After things returned to civility Tom's pulled away to end the game comfortable winners.

Tom's were too much for Tipp to deal with on Sunday.

At the end of the first 30 minutes Tom's held a one goal lead by virtue of a penalty that was put away by Zane Keenan at the end of the half.  Tom's midfield of Laois duo Keenan and Cahir Healy were on top for most of the game.  The sides matched each other for points in the opening half.  Sean Moriarty, Paul Buggy, and Paul Glennon hitting the mark for Tipp.  Tom's pointed through David O'Mahoney, Ian McDonnell, and Keenan.  The penalty came at the end of the half after McDonnell was fouled in the penalty area, and Keenan drilled it home - setting up way outside the 21 to ensure compliance with the new ruling that the ball cannot be struck inside the 21 yard line.  At the half it was a 1-7 to 0-6 Tom's lead.

Tom's forward line tallied five goals in a big win.

The second half saw things heat up dramatically.  There were several episodes of fighting that marred the game and the scenes carried on intermittently for the first 15 minutes of the half.  By the time things had returned to focusing on playing the actual game, four players, two from each side, were sent off in three separate incidents.  After Allan Burke had netted following a lapse in concentration on the part of Michael McGrath, the first episode broke out.  Tom's began to pull away as the points column ticked over with scores from Howley, O'Mahoney, and Allan burke.  Further goals from McDonnell and Burke sealed the fate of Tipperary with 10 minutes to play.  McDonnell rounded off a fine performance with a late goal, and  Fr. Tom's on top of the table with two wins from two.

Tom's:  A. Keating, G. Joyce, P. Heneghan, D. Costello, C. Joyce-Power, S. Higgins, Z. Keenan, C. Healy, O. Burke, I. McDonnell, S. Howley, A. Burke, D. O'Mahoney.  Tipp:  M. McGrath, C. Gillis, S. McKillop, P. Moriarty, P. Flaherty, S. McGarr, C. Dempsey, A. McRedmond, S. Spillane, P. Glennon, M. Kavanagh, R. Sludds, P. Buggy.

By Rory O'Donnell