Ulster Council GAA

Antrim
Johnny Campbell
Eddie McCloskey
Neill McGarry
Paddy Richmond
Paul Shields
Sean Delargy
Paddy Magill
Aaron Graffin
Karl McKeegan
Ryan McGarry
Cormac Donnelly
Karl Stewart
Mickey Kettle
Ciaran Herron
Michael Magill
Brendan Herron
Neill McAuley
Neill Mc Manus
Michael Herron

Armagh
Paul McCormick
Declan Coulter

Cavan
Paul Sheridan

Derry
Mark Craig
Stephen Henry
Kevin Hinphey
Ruairi McCloskey
Sean Leo McGoldrick
Liam Hinphey

Donegal
James Donnelly

Down
Kieran Courtney
Paul Braniff
Andy Savage
Kieran Coulter
Brendan McGourty
Andy Bell
Benny Ennis
Graham Clarke
Gabriel Clarke
Gareth Johnston

Monaghan
Bernard O’Brien

Tyrone
Paul Hughes
Terry McIntosh

—

Selection/Training Sessions have been organised on 8th, 15th & 22nd October.

Railway Cup Date:
25th October: Railway Cup Semi Final v Munster in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford

This entry was posted on Monday, September 29th, 2008 at 12:44 pm and is filed under Homepage News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Following the extra-time victory in the replay of the All Ireland Minor Football Championship Final, Tyrone have become the first Ulster County to win both the Senior and Minor All Ireland Football Championships in the same year.

This unique honour was sealed courtesy of 2 scintillating, fantastic performances by both the Senior side against Kerry, and the Minors is their replayed Final victory over Mayo.

This is a great tribute to all involved in Tyrone Football and is due reward for the huge input made by so many people that goes to make occasions like this possible.

The only other Ulster County to have reached both the Senior and Minor All Ireland Final in the same year is Cavan, who managed it in 1937 and 1952.  On both occasions, the Breffnimen collected one Cup, namely the Minor Championship in 1937, and the Senior Championship in 1952.

Speaking after the game in Longford today, Ulster President Tom Daly extended heartiest congratulations to Tyrone:
“This double for Tyrone is something that all Gaels of Tyrone and indeed Ulster should be exceptionally proud of.  The fact that this is the first time that this has been done in the history of GAA in Ulster – well over 100 years – speaks volumes of the work done by Tyrone to achieve this fantastic feat.”

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 27th, 2008 at 8:28 pm and is filed under Homepage News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

ESB All-Ireland Minor Football Championship Final Replay
Tyrone 1-20
Mayo 1-15
[After-Extra-time]

A strong extra-time display ensured Tyrone leaped to third spot in the All-Ireland Minor football championship roll of honour after a five-point win over Mayo at Pearse Park, Longford on Saturday.

This was an outstanding battle, as it took 140 minutes of football to separate these two fine minor teams, who have been a credit to their Counties.

Dromore powerhouse Conor O’Neill fired the decisive score – a goal 20 seconds into the second period of extra time to pave the way for a first victory in this grade since 2004.

Both Tyrone manager Ray Munroe and his Mayo counterpart Ray Dempsey had named unchanged sides from the teams that had started the drawn encounter; however, Ruairí Keenan earned a late call-up in place of midfielder Martin Rogers.

Both sides were eager to make a positive start and, in ideal conditions, Tyrone fired themselves into an early two-point lead thanks to scores from Conor O’Neill and defender Ronan Tierney.

The Red Hand men were on top in midfield at this stage, and scores from Coney [2], Ronan McNabb and Niall McKenna, with only a lone Mayo free in reply from full-forward Walsh, ensured Munroe’s charges held a 0-8 to 0-6 interval lead.

The second half offered more of the same fast-paced football witnessed during the opening half, although Tyrone maintained their advantage courtesy of scores from Ciarán Gervin and O’Neill, which cancelled out efforts from James Cafferty and O’Shea.

But Mayo dug deep as three points in as many minutes from Walsh [2] and O’Shea propelled the Westerners in front for the first time since the 24th minute.

Tyrone’s spirit shone through until the end though, and, level on four occasions in the closing 12 minutes, extra-time always looked likely. It was confirmed in the 62nd minute when Aidan Walsh pointed from a free, his sixth of the game.

Tyrone certainly turned on the heat in the opening period as they firmly dominated possession, containing Mayo to just brief spells on the ball – for which the Red Hands defence was firmly on top.

Two wides and two missed scoring opportunities were the sum total of Mayo’s statistics in the first half of extra-time, as a brace of Paddy McNeice frees and a fifth point from play from Kyle Coney gave Tyrone a 0-17 to 0-14 interval lead – the first time a three-point gap had been opened up in this contest.

Just as Tommy McGuigan fired home an early goal on the restart in last weekend’s senior encounter, Conor O’Neill replicated this in second half extra-time in this game, after just 20 seconds.

The goal came after Mayo goalkeeper Robert Hennelly made an error under a high ball from full-forward Paddy McNeice, with O’Neill capitalising on the rebound and firing to the net.

It was O’Neill’s second time to capitalise on a Mayo defensive error in this game, after a 15th minute goal chance in the first half of normal time.

However, unlike his previous effort, which had been stopped by Hennelly – this time he had no hesitation – and brought his match tally to 1-2 to finish joint top-scorer for Tyrone in this game alongside Kyle Coney.
Although Cafferty fisted home a late goal, it was mere consolation as a resilient Tyrone side battled to take their seventh title.

TYRONE: T Harney; F McQuaid, G Teague, R Tierney [0-2]; S MacRory, P Harte [0-1, 1pen], R McNabb [0-1]; N McKenna [0-2], R Keenan; C Gervin [0-1], D McNulty, M Donnelly [0-2]; K Coney [0-5], P McNeice [0-3, 3f], C O’Neill [1-3, 2f].
Subs: S Warnock for Teague [BS 25-29]; M Rogers for Keenan [47]; K Mossey for MacRory [48]; S Warnock for McNulty [49]; R McGarvey for Tierney [78]

MAYO: R Hennelly; D Dolan, K Keane, J Broderick; S McHale, E Reilly [0-1], S Nally [0-2]; J Cafferty [1-1], G McDonagh; C Freeman, A O’Shea [0-3, 2f], R Geraghty [0-1]; C Charlton, A Walsh [0-6, 6f], A Corduff.
Subs: D O’Hara [0-1] for Charlton [30+1]; D Gavin for Geraghty [46]; J Carney for McHale [71]

REFEREE: Cormac Reilly [Meath]

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 27th, 2008 at 7:59 pm and is filed under Homepage News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

The following players have been selected to represent Ulster for the annual Hurling/Shinty challenge against Scotland, which will take place on 01 November in Inverness.

Training for the squad will take place at the Mid Ulster Sports Centre, Cookstown, commencing at 10.00am on Saturday 27 September 2008.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 25th, 2008 at 2:24 pm and is filed under Homepage News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

The first football competition of the new term was held on Wednesday 24^th September 2008 at the fantastic new indoor facility at the University of Ulster Jordanstown.

The competition was organized by Ulster Council Third Level Development Officers Paul Rouse, Gary Mallon and recent All Ireland winner Ryan Mellon, who presented the awards.

The Senior sevens competition is a new event on the calendar, and is aimed towards the elite players, men and ladies at the three universities in Belfast with F.E. College Belfast Met making up the fourth team.  The ladies competition took place first with the three Belfast universities taking part, first up was UUJ taking on and beating St Mary’s, this was followed with UUJ having their second win of the day against Queen’s.  St Mary’s then progressed to the final with a victory over the Queens outfit.  In the final UUJ proved too strong for the St Mary’ team, with their fast moving give and go style of football and clinical finishing more superior.

The ladies panels were as follows:
Queens: Laura Willigham, Emma Mulhurn, Caroline O Hagan, Ciara Higgins, Michelle, Cousins, Fen Connell, Catherine Mc Alinden and  Niamh Hughes.

UUJ: Adele Gallagher, Nina Murphy, Aoife Mc Donnell, Maebh Moriarty, Eimear Teague, Sinead McVeigh, Neamh Woods, Sinead Cooney and  Derbhla Mc Callan.

St Mary’s: Patricia Melanaphy, Anna Nugent, Sinead Mc Hugh, Helen Ward, Ciara Mc Keever, Joanne Donnelly, Grainne Mc Clean, Sarah Rafferty, and Terri Cassidy.

Well done to all the girls for a very entertaining morning’s football.

The men’s competition was fast, competitive and at seven minutes each half showed some great levels of fitness (and exposed some). There were great moments of teamwork and good organization, and individual brilliance. St Mary’s CJ Mc Gourty hammered a low shot to the corner of the net when everyone was expecting him to tap a free over the bar, UUJ had a tenacious leader in Thomas Mc Cann showing great power and speed, Barry Mc Kevitt looked fresh and very fit for the Met, while Luke Horward commanded the back line for Queens.

Team’s and results.

Queens: Luke Howard, Charlie Kielt, Benny Martin, Ruairi O Neill, James Loughrey, Deaghlan O Hagan, Paul Courtney, Cathal Crilly, Joe Ireland, Conall Mc Cullagh.

St Mary’s: Kevin Niblock, Brian Og Maguire, Mark Digney, John Kelly, Michael Pollock, Gareth O Neill, Martin Murray, Conor McGourty, Barry McGoldrick, Paul Carville.

UUJ: Brendan Boggs, Blain Gormley, Thomas Mc Cann, Peter Hughes, Donal Morgan, Ciaran Donnelly, Darren Hughes, Jason McAnulla, Greg McGovern, Colin Harkin.

Belfast Met: Sean O Neill, Conor O’Donnell, Niall Kerr, Barry Mc Kevitt, Darren O’ Hanlon, Ronan O Neill, Paul Tierney, Niall McGinn, Mathew Brady.

Results:
QUB                0-8                   St Mary’s         2-8
UUJ                 0-11                 Belfast MET     1-8
QUB                2-7                   UUJ                 2-9
St Mary’s         1-10                 Belfast MET     2-6
QUB                0-10                 Belfast MET     1-12
UUJ                 1-9                   St Mary’s         1-10

The final was played between the top two teams which were St Mary’s and Belfast Met who beat UUJ on goal difference. Fitness and better organization showed in the final as St Mary’s accounted for the Met. A big thank you to the referees John Conlon and Ray Mathews who both did a great job.

We hope we can build on a very successful day of football and look forward to making this an annual event.  For All CAU competitions check the Ulster Council website www.ulster.gaa.ie, or contact any of the above officers.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 25th, 2008 at 2:21 pm and is filed under Homepage News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

By virtue of Tir Eoghain collecting their third All Ireland Senior Football title, they have considerably increased the list of Ulster men who have now collected 3 All Ireland medals.

Tir Eoghain have 15 men who have collected All Ireland senior medals in 2003, 2005 & 2008.

This is added to the four Down men, who collected their trio in 1960, 1961 and 1968 and six Cavan men.  Tom O’Reilly, brother of John Joe, won his three medals in 1933, 1935 and 1947 while the other five Cavan men won their medals in 1947, 1948 and 1952.

The full list of the 25 Ulster men to have earned this fabulous honour is as follows:

—

Tyrone:
1. Sean Cavanagh – 2003, 2005 & 2008
2. John Devine – 2003, 2005 & 2008
3. Brian Dooher– 2003, 2005 & 2008
4. Conor Gormley – 2003, 2005 & 2008
5. Ciaran Gourley – 2003, 2005 & 2008
6. Colin Holmes – 2003, 2005 & 2008
7. Philip Jordan – 2003, 2005 & 2008
8. Pascal McConnell – 2003, 2005 & 2008
9. Michael McGee – 2003, 2005 & 2008
10. Enda McGinley – 2003, 2005 & 2008
11. Brian McGuigan – 2003, 2005 & 2008
12. Ryan McMenamin – 2003, 2005 & 2008
13. Ryan Mellon – 2003, 2005 & 2008
14. Owen Mulligan – 2003, 2005 & 2008
15. Stephen O’Neill– 2003, 2005 & 2008

Down:
1)    Dan McCartan – 1960, 1961 & 1968
2)    Sean O’Neill – 1960, 1961 & 1968
3)    Joe Lennon – 1960, 1961 & 1968
4)    Paddy Doherty – 1960, 1961 & 1968

Cavan:
1)    Tom O’Reilly – 1933, 1935 & 1947
2)    Mick Higgins – 1947, 1948 & 1952
3)    Phil ’Gunner’ Brady – 1947, 1948 & 1952
4)    Tony Tighe – 1947, 1948 & 1952
5)    JJ Cassidy – 1947, 1948 & 1952
6)    Edwin Carolan – 1947, 1948 & 1952

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008 at 4:11 pm and is filed under Homepage News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

A wonderful GAA All-Ireland football championship season reached a great climax on Sunday when a crowd of 82,204 saw Tyrone win the title at Croke Park.

Their four-point win over Kerry brought them their third crown in the space of six seasons, a great achievement for Mickey Harte and his squad.

Captained by Brian Dooher they won by 1-15 to 0-14 after trailing by a point at half-time. However, Tommy McGuigan’s goal just after the re-start provided Tyrone with a crucial boost.

It was the first time that two teams had reached the final via the qualifiers and they turned in a superbly contested game which remained in doubt right up to the final minute. However, Tyrone finished the stronger to run out winners and wreck Kerry’s three-in-a-row ambitions.

It brought down the curtain on a great championship season which provided

54 games since May 11 last.

The title winners were as follows:

All-Ireland winners: Tyrone

Provincial Champions

Connacht: Galway

Leinster: Dublin

Munster: Cork

Ulster: Armagh

TOP SCORERS 2008

Kildare’s John Doyle finished the season as the top championship scorer on 2-26 from five games.

He held off the challenge of Colm Cooper and Sean Cavanagh who scored 0-6 and 0-5 respectively in last Sunday’s All-Ireland final to finish on 2-25 and 2-24. The top scorers were as follows.

John Doyle (Kildare)……………..2-26 Colm Cooper (Kerry)…………….2-25 Sean Cavanagh (Tyrone)……….2-24 Ian Ryan (Limerick)……………..3-20 Matty Forde (Wexford)………..1-24 Ciaran Lyng (Wexford)………..2-21 Daniel Goulding (Cork)…………3-18 Bryan Sheehan ((Kerry)………..0-26 Aidan Carr (Down)……………….0-24 Tommy McGuigan (Tyrone)….1-21 Colm McCullagh (Tyrone)…….1-21 Steven McDonnell (Armagh)….1-20 Dessie Dolan (Westmeath)……..1-20

ALL-IRELAND ROLL OF HONOUR

Tyrone have moved up the rankings after winning their third All-Ireland title last Sunday. They join Louth, Mayo and Offaly on three titles, pulling ahead of Limerick and Roscommon who both have two titles.

35 – Kerry

(1903-04-09-13-14-24-26-29-30-31-32-37-39-40-41-46-53-55-59-62-69-70-75-78-79-80-81-84-85-86-97-2000-2004-2006-2007)

22 – Dublin

(1891-92-97-98-99-1901-02-06-07-08-21-22-23-42-58-63-74-76-77-83-95)

9 – Galway (1925-34-38-56-64-65-66-98-2001)

7 – Meath (1949-54-67-87-88-96-99)

6 – Cork (1890-1911-45-73-89-90)

5 – Down (1960-61-68-91-94)

5 – Cavan (1933-35-47-48-52)

5 – Wexford (1893-1915-16-17-18)

4 – Kildare (1905-19-27-28)

4- Tipperary (1889-95-1900-1920)

3 – Louth (1910-12-57)

3 – Mayo (1936-50-51)

3 – Offaly (1971-72-82)

3- Tyrone (2003-2005-2008)

2 – Limerick (1887-1896)

2 – Roscommon (1943-44)

1 – Armagh (2002)

1 – Derry (1993)

1 – Donegal (1992)

2008 ALL-IRELAND SFC RESULTS

CONNACHT

May 11: Quarter-final: Leitrim 0-17 New York 0-6, Gaelic Park.

May 18: Quarter-final: Galway 2-16 Roscommon 0-6, Pearse Stadium.

May 25: Quarter-final: Sligo 2-17 London 0-7, Ruislip.

June 15: Semi-final: Galway 2-14 Leitrim 1-13, Pearse Stadium.

June 22: Semi-final: Mayo 3-11 Sligo 0-7, Castlebar.

July 13: Final: Galway 2-12 Mayo 1-14, Castlebar.

LEINSTER

May 11: 1st round: Westmeath 2-10 Longford 1-10, Pearse Park.

May 18: 1st round: Wicklow 0-13 Kildare 0-9; Meath 1-25 Carlow 0-8, Croke Park.

May 31: Quarter-final: Laois 0-15 Wicklow 0-13, Dr.Cullen Park.

June 1: Quarter-final: Wexford 2-14 Meath 2-13, Dr. Cullen Park.

June 7: Quarter-final: Westmeath 2-11 Offaly 1-8, Tullamore.

June 8: Quarter-final: Dublin 1-22 Louth 0-12, Croke Park.

June 22: Semi-final: Wexford 0-18 Laois 0-12, Croke Park.

June 29: Semi-final: Dublin 0-13 Westmeath 1-8, Croke Park.

July 20: Final: Dublin 3-23 Wexford 0-9, Croke Park.

MUNSTER

May 25: Quarter-finals: Clare 0-9 Waterford 0-7, Ennis; Limerick 1-8 Tipperary 1-5, Fermoy.

June 8: Semi-finals: Kerry 1-14 Clare 0-5, Killarney; Cork 2-9 Limerick 0-12, Gaelic Grounds.

July 6: Final: Cork 1-16 Kerry 1-11, Pairc Ui Chaoimh

ULSTER

May 18: 1st round: Cavan 1-19 Antrim 1-14 Casement Park.

May 25: Quarter-final: Fermanagh 2-8 Monaghan 0-10, Enniskillen.

June 1: Quarter-final: Derry 1-14 Donegal 1-12, Ballybofey.

June 8: Quarter-final: Tyrone 2-8, Down 2-8, Omagh.

June 14: Quarter-final replay: Down 1-19 Tyrone 0-21, Newry (After extra-time).

June 15: Quarter-final: Armagh 0-17 Cavan 0-13, Kingspan Breffni Park.

June 21: Semi-final: Fermanagh 1-11 Derry 1-9, Omagh.

June 29: Semi-final: Armagh 1-12 Down 0-11, Clones.

July 20: Final: Armagh 2-8 Fermanagh 1-11, Clones.

July 27: Final (replay): Armagh 1-11 Fermanagh 0-8, Clones.

ALL-IRELAND QUALIFIERS

July 19: Round 1: Limerick 4-12 Meath 4-3, Gaelic Grounds; Laois 1-10 Longford 0-11, Pearse Park; Kildare 1-16 Cavan 1-15, Newbridge; Down 5-19 Offaly 2-10, Tullamore; Tyrone 1-18 Louth 1-10, Drogheda; Westmeath 0-15 Tipperary 0-6, Ardfinnan; Donegal 3-11 Roscommon 1-9, Ballybofey; Monaghan

1-13 Derry 1-12, Clones.

July 27: Round 2: Monaghan 0-16 Donegal 0-15, Ballybofey; Tyrone 0-14 Westmeath 1-7, Omagh; Kildare 1-11 Limerick 0-11, Gaelic Grounds; Down 2-14 Laois 1-15, Portlaoise.

Aug 2: Round 3: Wexford 2-13 Down 0-12; Tyrone 0-13 Mayo 1-9, Croke Park.

Aug 3: Round 3: Kildare 0-11 Fermanagh 0-5; Kerry 1-13 Monaghan 0-13, Croke Park.

ALL-IRELAND CHAMPIONSHIPS

Aug 9: Quarter-finals: Wexford 1-14 Armagh 0-12, Croke Park; Kerry 1-21 Galway 1-16, Croke Park.

Aug 10: Quarter-final: Cork 2-11 Kildare 1-11, Croke Park.

Aug 16: Quarter-final: Tyrone 3-14 Dublin 1-8, Croke Park.

Aug 24: Semi-final: Cork 3-7 Kerry 1-13, Croke Park.

Aug 31 Semi-finals: Kerry 3-14 Cork 2-13 (replay); Tyrone 0-23 Wexford 1-14, Croke Park.

Sept 21: Final: Tyrone 1-15 Kerry 0-14, Croke Park.

TOMMY MURPHY CUP

July 12:  Preliminary Round: London 4-13 Kilkenny 0-8, Freshford.

July 19: Quarter-finals

London 3-14 Sligo 2-12, Ruislip (After extra-time); Antrim 1-10 Carlow 0-11, Casement Park; Leitrim 1-12 Clare 1-8, Ennis; Wicklow 0-18 Waterford 0-12, Aughrim.

July 27: Semi-finals

Antrim 1-19 London 0-13, Casement Park.

Wicklow 0-15 Leitrim 0-12, Aughrim.

Aug 2: Final:

Antrim 3-12 Wicklow 1-15, Croke Park.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008 at 11:58 am and is filed under Homepage News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

All-Ireland SFC Final:
Kerry 0-14 Tyrone 1-15

Sam Maguire will winter in Tyrone again this year after a two-year hiatus down in the Kingdom.

The three-in-row never came to pass and once again it was Mickey Harte’s men who broke Kerry hearts.

It was a truly gripping, blockbuster of a game that will be remembered for its sheer intensity and the physicality adopted by both sides.

Brian Dooher climbed the steps of the Hogan Stand and accepted the Sam Maguire Cup from GAA President Nickey Brennan, his rousing speech reaching a poignant crescendo when he paid tribute to goalkeeper John Devine, who sat the game out after his father passed away on Saturday.

“He as an inspiration to us all, the way he coped over the last 24 hours – this is for you JD,” Dooher said before raising the cup aloft.

Devine’s was just one thread in an amazing Tyrone story. Dooher also remembered Cormac McAnallen, the former Red Hand captain who passed away suddenly when this team was laying the foundations of its dynasty in 2004.

Four points scarcely reflects the gossamer thin gap that existed between these two fine sides. In fact, the game was level as late as the 64th minute, but Tyrone finished with an elemental fury that was both shocking and ruthless.

Sean Cavanagh nudged the Ulster side ahead with his fifth point from play on the day, before Enda McGinley added two more and Colm Cavanagh another to apply a coat of gloss to a performance that had already guaranteed their place in the pantheon of great football sides.

It was Tyrone’s sheer workrate and the manner in which their players have the ability to play almost anywhere on the pitch that won it for them in the end.

The goal that won the game came immediately after the break, when Stephen O’Neill passed to fellow substitute Kevin Hughes who saw his low shot saved by Diarmuid Murphy. The loose ball dribbled free and it was Tommy McGuigan who was quickest to react, his toed effort putting Tyrone into a two-point lead – one they relinquished only briefly in the final 35 minutes.

Kerry had clawed back into the lead in the 57th minute when the brilliant Colm Cooper scored himself and set up another for Darragh O Se. But they failed to score again in the final 13 minutes when Tyrone rediscovered their scoring touch.

Cooper was immense for Kerry when he was fed the right kind of ball, but all too frequently, it was the ineffective Kieran Donaghy and Tommy Walsh who were targeted with the high ball. The McMahon brothers, Justin and Joe, were ready for the aerial bombardment and Justin in particular marked Donaghy cleverly on the edge of the square.

There were brief glimpses of the kind of football Kerry are capable of, while Tyrone rarely deviated from the gameplan that has served them so well this year.

Mickey Harte made three changes to the side he named during the week, with Martin Penrose again coming into the side at centre-forward in place of Brian McGuigan. Ryan Mellon was an unexpected addition at corner forward in place of Ciaran Gourley, while Pascal McConnell started in goal in place of John Devine who tragically lost his father to illness on Saturday.

Tyrone started like they meant business as McGinley won the ball from the throw-in and ran through the entire Kerry defence but panicked when he saw open country in front of him and was fouled as he checked his run. Colm McCullagh took the free and slotted over the opening score of the game.

But Kerry hit back immediately as Darragh O Se won the first kick out and fed Cooper who beat Conor Gormley to the ball and fired over his only point from play of the half.

Tyrone had a chance to sneak ahead again in the fifth minute but Cavanagh, uncharacteristically it must be said, dropped a free into Diarmuid Murphy’s hands after Davy Harte had been fouled.

Cavanagh was then upended by Tom O’Sullivan as their tussle began to develop an edge, and Tommy McGuigan popped over the free.

Darragh O Se was beginning to take control of the skies around the middle of the field and he again won clean ball before releasing Tommy Walsh who was fouled by Joe McMahon and Cooper levelled the game for the second time from the ensuing free.

Kerry should have had a goal a minute later Walsh and Cooper exchanged passes and the Killarney man unselfishly played Declan O’Sullivan in on goal, but last year’s All-Ireland final man of the match blazed his shot wide from a tight angle.

Tyrone were struggling to make headway in attack and they frequently met a brick wall in the shape of the Kerry defence. However, after good work by Tommy McGuigan and Cavanagh, Davy Harte was given the chance to loft over a delightful effort with the outside of his right boot.

Dooher had started poorly, the Red Hand legend betraying nerves on the big day, and when he gave away the ball to Killian Young, the Tyrone defence was forced to pull down the Kerry defender and again it was Cooper who again did the damage from the free.

Kerry then took the lead for the first time in the 13th minute when O’Sullivan made up for his earlier miss with a point from play after Darragh O Se had again won the ball in midfield.

Cavanagh then hit two points in a row as he took advantage of mistakes by Darragh O Se and Killian Young to give the Red Hands the lead. O’Sullivan was everywhere for Kerry in the first half and he kicked a point before making a great block on Cavanagh as the Tyrone centre-forward was about to pull trigger on the edge of the square.

It is normal practise to isolate a turning point in the game, and one duly arrived in the 24th minute as stand-in goalkeeper McConnell made a great save to deny Tommy Walsh a goal before Dooher went up the other end and sent over a glorious point from the righ touchline.

Stephen O’Neill, back in the Tyrone panel for the first time this year, then came on a s a substitute for the injured Colm McCullagh but was clearly lacking match fitness and failed to make any impact outside the part he played in the Tyrone goal.

The indefatigable Ryan McMenamin picked Darragh O’Se’s pocket under the Hogan Stand and set up Penrose, who opted to go for a point when the goal chance presented itself.

But Kerry hit back twice in the next few minutes through Sheehan and Cooper [both frees] to take 0-8 to 0-7 lead into the break.

McGuigan’s goal inside the opening minute of the second half set Tyrone on their way.

Kerry could, and possibly should, have goaled on 39 minutes but Eoin Brosnan was blocked by Justin McMahon and Sheehan sent the resultant ’45 wide.

Darren O’Sullivan was introduced and made a difference briefly, but the stars just seemed to be aligned in Tyrone’s favour. Even a late appearance by substitute Paul Galvin could not save the Kingdom from defeat.

Scorers for Tyrone: R Mellon 0-1, D Harte 0-1, E McGinley 0-1, B Dooher 0-2, M Penrose 0-1, T McGuigan 1-1 [0-1f], S Cavanagh 0-5, C McCullagh 0-1 [0-1f], C Cavanagh 0-1, K Hughes 0-1.

Scorers for Kerry: T O Se 0-1, D O Se 0-1, B Sheehan 0-2 [0-2f] Declan O’Sullivan 0-2, C Cooper 0-6 [0-3f] T Walsh 0-1, Darren O’Sullivan 0-1.

Tyrone: P McConnell; R McMenamin, Justin McMahon, Joe McMahon; D Harte, C Gormley, P Jordan; C Holmes, E McGinley; B Dooher, M Penrose, R Mellon; T McGuigan, S Cavanagh, C McCullagh.

Subs for Tyrone: K Hughes for C Holmes HT, B McGuigan for M Penrose ’51, O Mulligan for R Mellon ’57, C Cavanagh for T McGuigan ’69.

Kerry: D Murphy; M Ó Sé, T O’Sullivan, P Reidy; T Ó Sé, A O’Mahony, K Young; D Ó Sé, S Scanlon; B Sheehan, D O’Sullivan, E Brosnan; C Cooper, K Donaghy, T Walsh.

Subs for Kerry: Darren O’Sullivan for E Brosnan ’42, T Griffin for S Scanlon ’51, P Galvin for T Walsh ’59, D Moran for B Sheehan ’67.

Referee: Maurice Deegan [Laois]

Attendance: 82,204

—

Tomas O Dalaigh, Uachtaran Comhairle Uladh would like to congratulate Tyrone on their magnificent achievement in winning their third All Ireland title in Croke Park. As the Tyrone minors are still involved, this renders the County the prospect of winning Ulster’s first County minor and Senior double. He wishes the Tyrone minors the best of good fortune for their replay in Longfort on Saturday versus Mayo.

He also extended the sympathy of the entire GAA family to the family, friends and GAA in Club Aireagal Ciarain and Tyrone on the death of the late John Devine.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 22nd, 2008 at 9:19 am and is filed under Homepage News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

They have won the last five All-Ireland football titles between them and now Kerry and Tyrone are preparing to go head-to-head to decide the destination of the 2008 championship in Croke Park on Sunday week. Throw-in will be at 3.30pm with Maurice Deegan (Laois) as referee.

It’s the first time since the championship system was changed in 2001 that two qualifiers have made it through to the final. That’s just one of a number of exciting dimensions to what promises to be an intriguing final.

Kerry are bidding to win the three-in-a-row for the first time since 1986.

If they succeed it will be the first time in championship history that the All-Ireland hurling and football treble will have been secured in the same year. Kilkenny have already won the hurling treble and now it’s Kerry’s turn to attempt to emulate them.

This will be the third time in five years that Kerry and Tyrone have met in the championship with victory having twice gone to Tyrone in the 2003 All-Ireland semi-final and the 2005 final.

PATHS TO THE FINAL

Tyrone

Down 2-8 Tyrone 2-8 (Ulster quarter-final) Down 1-19 Tyrone 0-21 (replay – extra-time) Tyrone 1-18 Louth 1-10 (R1 qualifier) Tyrone 0-14 Westmeath 1-7 (R2 qualifier) Tyrone 0-13 Mayo 1-9 (R3 qualifier) Tyrone 3-14 Dublin 1-8 (All-Ireland quarter-final) Tyrone 0-23 Wexford 1-14 (All-Ireland semi-final) Played 7, Won 5, Drew 1, Lost 1 Average For: 1-15; Average Against: 1-11.

Tyrone scorers

S Cavanagh…………..2-19 (0-4 frees) C McCullagh………..1-20 (0-5 frees) T McGuigan…………0-20 (0-11 frees) B Dooher………………0-10 E McGinley………….1-6 M Penrose…………….0-8 D Harte………………..1-4 C Cavanagh………….0-6 (0-5 frees) P Jordan………………0-5 J McMahon…………1-1 R Mellon……………..0-3 B McGuigan…………0-3 R McMenamin……..0-3 K Hughes……………..0-1 D McCaul…………….0-1 C Gormley……………0-1

Kerry

Kerry 1-14 Clare 0-5 (Munster semi-final) Cork 1-16 Kerry 1-11 (Munster final) Kerry 1-13 Monaghan 0-13 (R3 Qualifier) Kerry 1-21 Galway 1-16 (All-Ireland quarter-final) Kerry 1-13 Cork 3-7 (All-Ireland semi-final) Kerry 3-14 Cork 2-13 (replay)

Average For: 1-16; Average Against: 1-12

Kerry scorers

C Cooper…………………..2-19 (0-11f) B Sheehan…………………0-24 (0-17f, 2’45s’) T Walsh……………………1-10 K Donaghy………………2-4 Declan O’ Sullivan……1-5 D Walsh…………………..2-1 T O Se……………………….0-4 A O’Mahony……………..0-4 E Brosnan………………..0-3 S Scanlon…………………0-3 D O Se………………………0-3 Darren O’ Sullivan…..0-3 S O’Sullivan…………….0-2 P Galvin……………………0-1

LAST CHAMPIONSHIP CLASH

Tyrone 1-16 Kerry 2-10 (2005 All-Ireland final)

Tyrone: Pascal McConnell; Michael McGee, Joe McMahon, Ryan McMenamin; Davy Harte, Conor Gormley, Philip Jordan (0-1); Enda McGinley, Sean Cavanagh; Brian Dooher (0-1), Brian McGuigan (0-3), Ryan Mellon (0-2); Peter Canavan (1-1), Stephen O’Neill (0-4), Owen Mulligan (0-4).

Subs: Colin Holmes for Canavan, Chris Lawn for McMahon, Peter Canavan for McGinley.

Kerry: Diarmuid Murphy; Michael McCarthy, Aidan O’Mahony, Tom O’Sullivan; Tomas O Se (1-0), Marc O Se, Seamus Moynihan; Darragh O Se (0-2), William Kirby; Liam Hassett, Eoin Brosnan (0-2), Paul Galvin; Colm Cooper (0-5), Declan O’Sullivan, Dara O Cinneide (1-1).

Subs: Darren O’Sullivan for O Cinneide, Eamonn Fitzmaurice for Moynihan, Bryan Sheehan for Galvin.

LAST COMPETITIVE CLASH

Kerry 0-12 Tyrone 0-9 (NFL: 16 February 2008, Tralee)

Kerry: D Murphy; M O Se, T O’Sullivan, P Reidy; T O Se, A O’Mahony, K Young; S Scanlon, T Griffin; S O’Sullivan (0-2), Declan O’Sullivan (0-2), D Moran; K O’Leary (0-1), K Donaghy (0-1), B Sheehan (0-5).

Subs: Darren O’Sullivan (0-1) for Moran; D Walsh for S O’Sullivan; T Walsh for Sheehan.

Tyrone: P McConnell; PJ Quinn, C McCarron, M Swift; D Hare, D Carlin, P Jordan; K Hughes, E McGinley (0-2); O Mulligan (0-1), C McCullagh (0-4), R Mulgrew (0-1); N Gormley, C Cavanagh, T McGuigan (0-1)

Subs: D McCaul for Carlin; J McMahon for McCarron; S O’Neill for McGuigan, C Holmes for Gormley; S Cavanagh for Mulgrew)

PREVIOUS KERRY v TYRONE CHAMPIONSHIP CLASHES

2005: Tyrone 1-16 Kerry 2-10 (All-Ireland final)

2003: Tyrone 0-13 Kerry 0-6 (All-Ireland semi-final)

1986: Kerry 2-15 Tyrone 1-10 (All-Ireland final)

KERRY v ULSTER TEAMS IN ALL-IRELAND FINALS

2005: Tyrone 1-16 Kerry 2-10

2002: Armagh 1-12 Kerry 0-14

1986: Kerry 2-15 Tyrone 1-10

1968: Down 2-12 Kerry 1-13

1960: Down 2-10 Kerry 0-8

1953: Kerry 0-13 Armagh 1-6

1937: Kerry 4-4 Cavan 1-7 (replay)

1937: Kerry 2-5 Cavan 1-8 (draw)

1930: Kerry 3-11 Monaghan 0-2

Played 9, Won 4, Drew 1, Lost 4

ALL-IRELAND FINAL WINS

Kerry: 35

(1903-04-09-13-14-24-26-29-30-31-32-37-39-40-41-46-53-55-59-62-69-70-75-78-79-80-81-84-85-86-97-2000-2004-2006-2007).

Tyrone: 2 (2003-2005)

ALL-IRELAND FINAL DEFEATS

Kerry: 18 (1892-1905-15-23-27-38-44-47-54-60-64-65-68-72-76-82-2002-2005).

In 1910, Kerry reached the All-Ireland final against Louth but refused to travel to Dublin because the Great Southern Railway Company restricted facilities previously allowed to the team’s supporters. Louth were awarded a walkover.

Tyrone: 2 (1986-95)

ALL-IRELAND ROLL OF HONOUR

Will Kerry clinch their 36th Bank of Ireland senior football title and move fourteen clear of nearest rivals, Dublin? Or will Tyrone win their third title in six seasons?

Nineteen counties have won the All-Ireland senior football title to date, they are:

35 – KERRY

(1903-04-09-13-14-24-26-29-30-31-32-37-39-40-41-46-53-55-59-62-69-70-75-78-79-80-81-84-85-86-97-2000-2004-2006-2007)

22 – Dublin

(1891-92-97-98-99-1901-02-06-07-08-21-22-23-42-58-63-74-76-77-83-95)

9 – Galway (1925-34-38-56-64-65-66-98-2001)

7 – Meath (1949-54-67-87-88-96-99)

6 – Cork (1890-1911-45-73-89-90)

5 – Down (1960-61-68-91-94)

5 – Cavan (1933-35-47-48-52)

5 – Wexford (1893-1915-16-17-18)

4 – Kildare (1905-19-27-28)

4- Tipperary (1889-95-1900-1920)

3 – Louth (1910-12-57)

3 – Mayo (1936-50-51)

3 – Offaly (1971-72-82)

2 – Limerick (1887-1896)

2 – Roscommon (1943-44)

2- TYRONE (2003-2005)

1 – Armagh (2002)

1 – Derry (1993)

1 – Donegal (1992)

PREVIOUS ALL-IRELAND SF THREE-IN-A-ROW WINNERS

4 – Kerry: (1929-30-31*; 1939-40-41; 1978-79-80*; 1984-85-86)

3 – Dublin (1897-1898-1899; 1906-07-08; 1921-22-23)

1 – Galway (1964-65-66)

1 – Wexford (1915-16-17)*

*Completed the four-in-a-row in the following year.

2008 NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Kerry

Donegal 1-8 Kerry 1-7

Kerry 0-12 Tyrone 0-9

Kerry 0-10 Derry 0-9

Mayo 0-16 Kerry 1-12

Kerry 0-16 Laois 0-12

Kerry 0-9 Kildare 0-8

Kerry 0-15 Galway 0-10

Derry 2-13 Kerry 2-9 (Div 1 final)

Played 8, Won 5, Lost 3.

Tyrone

Tyrone 0-7 Kildare 1-4

Kerry 0-12 Tyrone 0-9

Galway 1-14 Tyrone 2-9

Tyrone 0-16 Laois 0-14

Tyrone 0-11 Donegal 0-9

Derry 0-14 Tyrone 0-10

Tyrone 0-15 Mayo 0-13

Played 7, Won 3, Drew 1, Lost 3

ALL-IRELAND FINAL SHORTS

*Kerry are attempting to win the All-Ireland title for the fifth time this decade, having already won in 2000-2004-2006-2007. The last time they won so many titles in a decade was in the 1980s when they won five in 1980-81-84-85-86.

*Tyrone are attempting to bring the All-Ireland championship to Ulster for the 16th time. Previous winners are as follows:

5 – Cavan (1933-35-47-48-52)

5 – Down (1960-61-68-91-94)

2 – Tyrone (2003-2005)

1- Donegal (1992)

1 – Derry (1993)

1 – Armagh (2002)

*Kerry are attempting to win the All-Ireland three-in-a-row for the fifth time having previously achieved it in 1929-30-31; 1939-40-41; 1978-79-80; 1984-85-86).

*Mickey Harte leads Tyrone into the All-Ireland final for the third time

(2003-2005-2008) having been in charge for six seasons.

2008 ALL-IRELAND SFC RESULTS

CONNACHT

May 11: Quarter-final: Leitrim 0-17 New York 0-6, Gaelic Park.

May 18: Quarter-final: Galway 2-16 Roscommon 0-6, Pearse Stadium.

May 25: Quarter-final: Sligo 2-17 London 0-7, Ruislip.

June 15: Semi-final: Galway 2-14 Leitrim 1-13, Pearse Stadium.

June 22: Semi-final: Mayo 3-11 Sligo 0-7, Castlebar.

July 13: Final: Galway 2-12 Mayo 1-14, Castlebar.

LEINSTER

May 11: 1st round: Westmeath 2-10 Longford 1-10, Pearse Park.

May 18: 1st round: Wicklow 0-13 Kildare 0-9; Meath 1-25 Carlow 0-8, Croke Park.

May 31: Quarter-final: Laois 0-15 Wicklow 0-13, Dr.Cullen Park.

June 1: Quarter-final: Wexford 2-14 Meath 2-13, Dr. Cullen Park.

June 7: Quarter-final: Westmeath 2-11 Offaly 1-8, Tullamore.

June 8: Quarter-final: Dublin 1-22 Louth 0-12, Croke Park.

June 22: Semi-final: Wexford 0-18 Laois 0-12, Croke Park.

June 29: Semi-final: Dublin 0-13 Westmeath 1-8, Croke Park.

July 20: Final: Dublin 3-23 Wexford 0-9, Croke Park.

MUNSTER

May 25: Quarter-finals: Clare 0-9 Waterford 0-7, Ennis; Limerick 1-8 Tipperary 1-5, Fermoy.

June 8: Semi-finals: Kerry 1-14 Clare 0-5, Killarney; Cork 2-9 Limerick 0-12, Gaelic Grounds.

July 6: Final: Cork 1-16 Kerry 1-11, Pairc Ui Chaoimh

ULSTER

May 18: 1st round: Cavan 1-19 Antrim 1-14 Casement Park.

May 25: Quarter-final: Fermanagh 2-8 Monaghan 0-10, Enniskillen.

June 1: Quarter-final: Derry 1-14 Donegal 1-12, Ballybofey.

June 8: Quarter-final: Tyrone 2-8, Down 2-8, Omagh.

June 14: Quarter-final replay: Down 1-19 Tyrone 0-21, Newry (After extra-time).

June 15: Quarter-final: Armagh 0-17 Cavan 0-13, Kingspan Breffni Park.

June 21: Semi-final: Fermanagh 1-11 Derry 1-9, Omagh.

June 29: Semi-final: Armagh 1-12 Down 0-11, Clones.

July 20: Final: Armagh 2-8 Fermanagh 1-11, Clones.

July 27: Final (replay): Armagh 1-11 Fermanagh 0-8, Clones.

ALL-IRELAND QUALIFIERS

July 19: Round 1: Limerick 4-12 Meath 4-3, Gaelic Grounds; Laois 1-10 Longford 0-11, Pearse Park; Kildare 1-16 Cavan 1-15, Newbridge; Down 5-19 Offaly 2-10, Tullamore; Tyrone 1-18 Louth 1-10, Drogheda; Westmeath 0-15 Tipperary 0-6, Ardfinnan; Donegal 3-11 Roscommon 1-9, Ballybofey; Monaghan

1-13 Derry 1-12, Clones.

July 27: Round 2: Monaghan 0-16 Donegal 0-15, Ballybofey; Tyrone 0-14 Westmeath 1-7, Omagh; Kildare 1-11 Limerick 0-11, Gaelic Grounds; Down 2-14 Laois 1-15, Portlaoise.

Aug 2: Round 3: Wexford 2-13 Down 0-12; Tyrone 0-13 Mayo 1-9, Croke Park.

Aug 3: Round 3: Kildare 0-11 Fermanagh 0-5; Kerry 1-13 Monaghan 0-13, Croke Park.

ALL-IRELAND CHAMPIONSHIPS

Aug 9: Quarter-finals: Wexford 1-14 Armagh 0-12, Croke Park; Kerry 1-21 Galway 1-16, Croke Park.

Aug 10: Quarter-final: Cork 2-11 Kildare 1-11, Croke Park.

Aug 16: Quarter-final: Tyrone 3-14 Dublin 1-8, Croke Park.

Aug 24: Semi-final: Cork 3-7 Kerry 1-13, Croke Park.

Aug 31 Semi-finals: Kerry 3-14 Cork 2-13 (replay); Tyrone 0-23 Wexford 1-14, Croke Park.

Sept 21: Final: Kerry v Tyrone, Croke Park, 3.30

TOMMY MURPHY CUP

July 12:  Preliminary Round: London 4-13 Kilkenny 0-8, Freshford.

July 19: Quarter-finals

London 3-14 Sligo 2-12, Ruislip (After extra-time); Antrim 1-10 Carlow 0-11, Casement Park; Leitrim 1-12 Clare 1-8, Ennis; Wicklow 0-18 Waterford 0-12, Aughrim.

July 27: Semi-finals

Antrim 1-19 London 0-13, Casement Park.

Wicklow 0-15 Leitrim 0-12, Aughrim.

Aug 2: Final:

Antrim 3-12 Wicklow 1-15, Croke Park.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 17th, 2008 at 10:05 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Last Saturday saw the most skilful U-12 players in the Province assemble in the Mid Ulster Sports Arena for the final of the U-12 Football & Hurling Skills competition.

Under glorious weather conditions five representatives from each county  participated in six different tasks that relate to the basic skills of football and hurling.

This competition was organised by the Ulster GAA Regional Development Officers through the coaching staff in each county.

O’Neills sportswear were the sponsors, with the overall football and hurling winners receiving the fantastic prize of a set of jerseys for their club.

Participants and supporters also received NFL (No Foul Language) wristbands to highlight positive behaviour at our games.

The standard was extremely high in both codes with a lot of participants in with a chance of winning right up until the last event.

The Hurling winners were:
1^st Dean Gaffney, Middletown, Armagh
2^nd Cormac Mc Claffety, Cusendall, Antrim
3^rd David Grant , Killeavy, Armagh

The Football winners were:
1^st Liam Mc Guire, Ederney, Fermanagh
2^nd Lorcan Connors, Downings, Donegal
3^rd Sean Caio Corr, Derrylaughan, Tyrone

Related:

Provincial U12 Skills Final Gallery

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 17th, 2008 at 9:32 am and is filed under Homepage News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

As part of the build-up to next weekend’s All-Ireland Football final, Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich Library and Archive, Armagh, will be commemorating, ‘Michael Cusack: GAA Pioneer & Propagandist’, on Wednesday 17 September. The event, which is part of the Library’s Heritage Lottery Fund supported outreach programme, will begin at 7.30 pm, will feature two short lectures about the GAA founder.

The first lecture, by Dr Paul Rouse (UCD), is entitled, ‘Cusack: Sportsman and Journalist’. It will detail how, as well as his career as a teacher and a wide-ranging sportsman, Cusack spent over 25 years in the newspaper business, as a reporter, columnist, editor, owner and letter-writer.

Dónal  McAnallen’s of the library’ education staff will give the second lecture entitled ‘Michael Cusack and the evangelising of Ulster’, which will begin by outlining Cusack’s Ulster connections, through teaching at St. Colman’s College, Newry, in the 1870s, and marrying Dromore (Co. Down) native, Margaret Woods, and trying to get the GAA established in Ulster.

Dónal’s talk will focus on three visits Cusack made to Belfast as an unofficial GAA ambassador during the last decade of his life – when he no longer held high office – and he helped to stir a revival of the association in the north. The first of these visits, in 1898 was particularly controversial, encountering condemnation from sabbatarian clerics and the unionist press in the city, and resulting in the Irish Football Association beginning to ban the use of its grounds for Sunday games – something which is only now being overturned.

The evening is free of charge and everyone is welcome.
Further information from Roddy or Dónal at the Cardinal Ó Fiaich Library, 15 Moy Road, Armagh, 028 3752 2981.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 at 3:29 pm and is filed under Homepage News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Kilkenny captured their third All-Ireland title in a row with a devastating 3-30 to 1-13 annihilation of Waterford at Croke Park on Sunday.

Devastating. Awesome. Stunning. Kilkenny once again had the hurling world reaching for superlatives after their All-Ireland final destruction of Waterford. The three-in-a-row was achieved with the cold, calculated ruthlessness of a back alley assassin. And once again the Cats saved their very best for the first Sunday in September in Croke Park – which is fast turning into a shrine to their brilliance.

It was the greatest performance of Brian Cody’s reign, the Kilkenny manager admitted after watching his players shred Waterford’s All-Ireland dreams with a performance that brought hurling to a new level.

“It is without a shadow of a doubt [the greatest performance he has presided over],” said the Kilkenny boss. “To come up here on All-Ireland final day against Waterford and to play at that level on that day, a day which by its very nature brings a lot of pressure and a lot of concerns, it’s a big day, it’s the day of days for all hurlers, and to come and hit the pitch running like that was something we would love to have to have been able to visualise beforehand. But it was an outstanding performance without a shadow of a doubt, yeah.”

Where does one start in an assessment of this Kilkenny performance? Their clinical accuracy is as good as any. Kilkenny took 35 shots at goal over the course of the afternoon and 33 found their intended target. They hit just two wides. Remarkable. Their economy in possession was a feature too. There was no profligacy, no panic and no desire to shoot from out the field when team-mates were in better positions.

Martin Comerford, who was taken off in the second half with a leg injury, was their only player with number eight or higher on his back not to score. Henry Shefflin, Eddie Brennan and Eoin Larkin shared the scoring responsibilities, and shouldered the arduous work-rate, like a well-drilled communist-era machine.

Waterford, for their part, finished with just three different names on the scoresheet. Eoin Kelly hit 1-9 but scarcely got a puck of the ball, while John Mullane’s three points from play came only at the death when the game was all but over as a contest.

Mullane got Waterford’s first point from play after 46 minutes, a stat that was put into context when TJ Reid, on the field a matter of minutes, had a point of his own from play for the Cats a minute later. Reid finished with four points, having been introduced in place of Comerford, and it was a cameo that that rammed home the sinking feeling for all those not of a black and amber persuasion, that Kilkenny can go on to dominate the game for years to come. Cody has assembled a squad that has no fault lines, nor a chink in its bullet proof armour.

Perhaps there is a four-in-a-row to come, the first since Cork managed it in the ’40s. There will be no retirements in the Kilkenny camp, just an unquenchable desire for more success from a side that still has youth on its side. Scary.

Waterford’s All-Ireland dreams took a nightmarish turn from the off. Their first big day out in 45 years was supposed to end in a coronation for the nearly men of hurling. Instead, there was just despair and the sinking suspicion that this team will struggle to ever make it to this stage again.

Kilkenny’s dominance was perfectly illustrated by a Derek Lyng point after 16 minutes. Shefflin plucked a high ball from the sky with a sublime piece of stickwork. Surrounded by Waterford players, Shefflin opted to find Lyng, who was in a better position, rather than waste the opportunity.

It is common practise to try and pinpoint a turning point in the game, a seminal moment that swung the game in one team’s favour. There was none, just Kilkenny’s unbendifng well and relentless drive to the finish line. They hit with ferocity and hunted in packs, nullifying Waterford’s decision to play their half-back line close to the full-back line.

The first goal came after 21 minutes. It stemmed, as usual, from Kilkenny winning primary possession from a Waterford puck out. Tommy Walsh was destroying Seamus Prendergast and again he won a high ball before offloading to Eoin Larkin, who negotiated a path through the gossamer-thin Deise defensive lines. Larkin was eventually stopped by Declan Prendergast on the edge of the square, but he managed to flick the ball inside to Brennan, who shortened the stick and placed the ball beyond Clinton Hennessy.

Brennan has a tendency to flit in and out of games, and he was at it again on Sunday. The Graig Ballycallan clubman was on hand again a minute later when Aidan Fogarty had found himself clean through on goal only to be denied by Hennessy. The loose ball, however, fell to ‘Fast’ Eddie, who swept home beyond the Waterford goalkeeper.

Referee Barry Kelly waved away Waterford penalty claims shortly afterwards. Eoin McGrath won the ball deep in the Kilkenny half and flicked inside to Dan Shanahan but he met a black and amber brick wall in the shape of Michael Kavanagh and Noel Hickey when the chance of a goal presented itself. The Kilkenny full-back line was awesome throughout, leaving Shanahan, Mullane and Eoin Kelly feeding on a diet of scraps.

Kilkenny kept landing scoring shots and by the time the half-time whistle went, they were 2-16 to 0-5 ahead, having hit just one wide in the half and restricted Waterford to five points from placed balls.

Fitzgerald introduced Jack Kennedy and Shane O’Sullivan at the break, while Ken McGrath was moved into centre-forward and the two Eoins, Kelly and McGrath, were moved out to the middle of the field in an attempt to win more ball. Eoin Kelly opened the second half scoring with a free, but Shefflin, Lyng and Reid hit back just as quickly for the Cats.

Larkin ended any Waterford hopes of a revival with a devastating third goal after 49 minutes, his stunning run bettered by a comprehensive finish to the back of the net.
Paul Flynn came on for Waterford and Kilkenny promptly responded with five scores without reply. Leading by 22 points with nine minutes remaining, Cody made a remarkable gesture by introducing sub goalkeeper James McGarry, the man who tragically lost his wife in a car accident last year, to massive applause.

Waterford hit three points in the closing minutes to add some respectability to the scoreline, before Eoin Kelly found the back of the net after McGarry had misjudged the flight of a seemingly innocuous effort. As if to reassert their complete dominance, Larkin Brennan and Aidan Fogarty all added late points to wrap up a devastating 23-point Kileknny win.

Scorers for Kilkenny: J Fitzpatrick 0-2, D Lyng 0-3, R Power 0-2, E Larkin 1-4, E Brennan 2-4, H Shefflin 0-8 (0-5f, 0-1 ’65), A Fogarty 0-3, TJ Reid 0-4.

Kilkenny: PJ Ryan; M Kavanagh, N Hickey, J Tyrell; T Walsh, B Hogan, JJ Delaney; J Fitzpatrick, D Lyng; M Comerford, R Power, E Larkin; E Brennan, H Shefflin, A Fogarty.

Subs: TJ Reid for M Comerford ’44, J McGarry for PJ Ryan ’61.

Scorers for Waterford: E Kelly 1-9 (0-9f), J Mullane 0-3, D Bennett 0-1.

Waterford: C Hennessy; E Murphy, K McGrath, D Prendergast; A Kearney, T Browne, K Moran; M Walsh , J Nagle; D Shanahan, S Prendergast, S Molumphy; E McGrath , E Kelly, J Mullane.

Subs: J Kennedy for S Prendergast HT, S O’Sullivan for J Nagle HT, T Feeney for D Prendergast ’63, D Bennett for D Shanahan ’63, P Flynn for E mcGrath ’52.

Referee: Barry Kelly (Westmeath)

Attendance: 82,186

0-2, D Lyng 0-3, R Power 0-2, E Larkin 1-4, E Brennan 2-4, H Shefflin 0-8 (0-5f, 0-1 ’65), A Fogarty 0-3, TJ Reid 0-4.

Kilkenny: PJ Ryan; M Kavanagh, N Hickey, J Tyrell; T Walsh, B Hogan, JJ Delaney; J Fitzpatrick, D Lyng; M Comerford, R Power, E Larkin; E Brennan, H Shefflin, A Fogarty.

Subs: TJ Reid for M Comerford ’44, J McGarry for PJ Ryan ’61.

Scorers for Waterford: E Kelly 1-8 (0-8f), J Mullane 0-3, D Bennett 0-1.

Waterford: C Hennessy; E Murphy, K McGrath, D Prendergast; A Kearney, T Browne, K Moran; M Walsh , J Nagle; D Shanahan, S Prendergast, S Molumphy; E McGrath , E Kelly, J Mullane.

Subs: J Kennedy for S Prendergast HT, S O’Sullivan for J Nagle HT, T Feeney for D Prendergast ’63, D Bennett for D Shanahan ’63.

Referee: Barry Kelly (Westmeath)

Attendance: 82,186

This entry was posted on Monday, September 8th, 2008 at 9:29 am and is filed under Homepage News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

On Saturday 6^th September, an excellent days football was had which resulted in Naomh Mhuire (Tyrone) overcoming Kilrea (Derry) in the Shield Final on a score line of 0-11,  to 0-5.

Both teams came through the group games winning both their games with points to spare.

Kilrea played their best football in their semi final win over Ballyhaise of Cavan.

Naomh Mhuire had to work harder to eliminate Kilcoo of Down in a competitive semi final.

Sean Stinsons of Antrim were worthy winners of the Plate Competition when they defeated Castleblayney  of Monaghan by 3-9 to 0-4 in the final.

In the semi finals, goals proved vital as Sean Stinsons beat Bundoran 2-1 to 0-5, and Castleblayney recorded a 3-5 to 2-4 win over Irvinestown.

Special thanks must go to event organizers Naul McCole and Tony Scullion, as well as the members of the Omagh St Endas club for the use of their superb facilities.

We would also like to thank the 9 referees who took charge of the games.

—
SHIELD  COMPETITION

SEMI FINALS
NAOMH MHUIRE     1-06     V         KILCOO         0-6
KILREA          3-12     V         BALLYHAISE            0-5

FINAL
NAOMH MHUIRE   0-11     V         KILREA         0-5                                          

—
PLATE COMPETITION

KEADY           0-3       V         BUNDORAN  1-2

SEMI FINALS
BUNDORAN  0-5       V         SEAN STINSONS      2-1
IRVINESTOWN         2-4       V         CASTLEBLANEY      3-5

FINAL
SEAN STINSONS     3-9       V         CASTLEBLANEY     0-4           

—                   

ULSTER UNDER 15 ÓG SPORT  Group Games

GROUP 1
CASTLEBLANEY      0-3       V         KILREA          2-11
CASTLEBLANEY      3-3       V         KEADY           0-5
KILREA          2-5       V         KEADY           1-6

GROUP 2
KILCOO         1-5       V         NAOMH MHUIRE     2-7
KILCOO         3-9       V         IRVINESTOWN         0-1
NAOMH MHUIRE     3-5       V         IRVINESTOWN         1-2

GROUP 3
SEAN STINSONS      1-4       V         BALLYHAISE            2-4
SEAN STINSONS      1-4       V         BUNDORAN  2-6
BALLYHAISE            0-9       V         BUNDORAN  0-6

Related:

Ulster U15 Og Sport Gallery

This entry was posted on Monday, September 8th, 2008 at 8:58 am and is filed under Homepage News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Ulster Club Championships 2008:

19^th October:    Club Football Championship – Match (a) SFC, IFC, JFC
2^nd November:  Club Football Championship – Quarter Finals
16^th November: Club Football Championship Semi Finals
30^th November: Club Football Championship Finals

Club Senior Football Championship

(a)    1. Down v 2. Antrim at Down
(b)   4. Armagh v 5. Fermanagh at Armagh
(c)    6. Tyrone v 7. Donegal at Tyrone
(d)   8. Derry v 9. Monaghan at Derry
(e)    3. Cavan v  (a) Down/Antrim
If Cavan v Down at Cavan
If Cavan v Antrim at Antrim

Semi Finals: (b) v (c); (d) v (e):

Club Intermediate Football Championship

(a)    1. Tyrone v 2. Monaghan at Tyrone
(b)   4. Armagh v 5. Derry at Armagh
(c)    6. Down v 7. Donegal at Down
(d)   8. Antrim v 9. Fermanagh at Antrim
(e)    3. Cavan v  (a) Tyrone/Monaghan
If Cavan v Tyrone at Cavan
If Cavan v Monaghan at Monaghan

Semi Finals: (b) v (c); (d) v (e):

Club Junior Football Championship

(a)    1. Fermanagh v 2.Tyrone at Fermanagh
(b)   4. Armagh v 5. Antrim at Armagh
(c)    6. Monaghan v 7. Donegal at Monaghan
(d)   8. Cavan v 9. Derry at Cavan
(e)    3. Down v  (a) Fermanagh/Tyrone
If Down v Fermanagh at Down
If Down v Tyrone at Tyrone

Semi Finals: (b) v (c); (d) v (e):

—

Club Senior Hurling Championship:

12^th October Semi Final:
(1) Derry v Antrim at Casement Park
(2) Down v Armagh (If Keady win Armagh SHC)

26^th October Final:

Club Intermediate Hurling Championship:

 (Antrim, Down, Derry, Armagh, Monaghan and Tyrone)

 5^th October: Quarter Final:
(a)    1. Tyrone v 2. Derry at Tyrone
(b)   3. Antrim v 4. Armagh at Antrim

12^th October: Semi Finals: (5,6,(a) & (b)
(b) v (a)
Monaghan v Down

26^th October: Final

Club Junior Hurling Championship (All Counties)

28^th September: First Round
5^th October: Quarter Finals
12^th October: Semi Finals
26^th October: Final

(a)    1. Down v 2.Tyrone at Down
(b)   4. Fermanagh v 5. Monaghan  at Fermanagh
(c)    6. Derry v 7. Cavan at Derry
(d)   8. Antrim v 9. Donegal at Antrim
(e)    3. Armagh v  (a) Down/Tyrone
If Armagh v Down at Armagh
If Armagh v Tyrone at Tyrone

Semi Finals (b) v (c); (d) v (e):

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 4th, 2008 at 7:40 pm and is filed under Homepage News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

The IFA, Ulster GAA and Ulster Rugby have united in support of the Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland (HPA) campaign to encourage young men, particularly those aged 15 to 24 years, to talk about their problems and seek help.

The three organisations, represented by Armagh’s Oisin McConville, Crusaders’ Colin Coates, and Ulster Rugby’s Justin Fitzpatrick are lending their support to the HPA campaign and raising awareness of mental health issues among players and supporters.

Dr Brian Gaffney, Chief Executive of the HPA, said: “To reduce the number of deaths by suicide in Northern Ireland it is vital to continue to raise awareness about mental health and suicide and help change public attitudes around talking about problems.

“Many young men, particularly in our target age group, respect and identify with sports personalities and are often more likely to take notice of them rather than some health professionals. The support of key sports organisations such as Ulster Rugby, Ulster GAA and IFA can only help to fight the stigma that unfortunately continues to surround mental health here.”

The organisations have been working with the HPA to highlight the issue to participants and supporters, in the sports.  Already this summer the Ulster GAA has promoted the mental health message, ‘Don’t cover up your problems,’ at Championship matches in Hurling and Football.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 4th, 2008 at 12:57 pm and is filed under Homepage News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.