Ulster Council GAA

This summer in Ballinascreen, County Derry, the ideals of a Tyrone man were at the centre of a ground-breaking initiative. Inhale sharply, and then read on.

Campa Chormaic is a summer camp founded in the wake of the tragic death of Cormac McAnallen. In honour of Cormac, the camp was set up a year after his death in 2005 in his hometown of Eglish, County Tyrone. In 2009 the camp spread its wings and landed on the edge of the Mournes in Castlewellan, County Down on the grounds of St Malachy’s High School. This year, history was once again made when the camp rolled into Ballinascreen and through the gates of St Colm’s High School.

Incorporated into the camp are the ideals that Cormac adhered to so strongly throughout his life, the Irish language, the GAA, local history and folklore. As captain of the Tyrone football team he was an inspiration to so many people and the McAnallen family wanted to commemorate Cormac’s life with something that would give something to so many.

The camp carries a motto; “SULT”, meaning “enjoyment”. This acts as a mnemonic, each letter standing for an aspect that is central to Cormac’s life and to the camp. S is for Spórt (sport), U for Uchtach (Courage), L for Laochas (Heroism) and T for Teanga (language). All these aspects were on show from the moment the week began in Ballinascreen.

The classes kicked off early on the Monday morning following a quick welcome from Lorcan Ó Máirtín, the camp leader. The enthusiastic children were put into their classes and began to both enjoy and learn from the teachers. Throughout the first two classes there was plenty of Irish to be heard and learnt and in the third class, the whole camp gathered in the assembly hall for a taste of Irish music. The Ardrang (advanced class) led the rest of the camp in a rendition of “An Fathach Fir/The Giant of a Man” that they composed in honour of Cormac and of the camp.

One thing that was outstanding throughout the week was the attitude of the children. They were well-mannered, pleasant, helpful and ready to participate in all the activities. They took part willingly in all the sports and of course in their spoken Irish. It was fantastic to see the children on the field speaking and in some cases screaming for the ball in Irish. Every one of them put in a huge effort and after all the thanks were extended, Brendan McAnallen, father of the late Cormac, presented a prize to the girl and boy who made the most effort during the week, Paul Gunning and Bronagh Nic Giolúin.

It was clear that everyone enjoyed themselves during Campa Chormaic in Derry and the Camp hopes to return next year bigger and better. Cormac McAnallen would be immensely proud of everyone involved. Comhghairdeas le cách!

This entry was posted on Friday, July 30th, 2010 at 3:57 pm and is filed under Blog. 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 total of 83 videos from the last few months of the Ulster Championships are now available to watch on the Ulster GAA YouTube channel.

They include a mixture of action, features and interviews with the likes of Sean O’Neill, Pat McEneaney, Paraic Duffy, Brian Dooher, Marty Clarke, Jamie Clarke and Peter McGrath.

The action videos from the SFC shows close-up angles of dramatic goals by the likes of Owen Mulligan and Benny Coulter, while an interview with Monaghan goalkeeper Darren Hughes right on the final whistle in Casement Park is the second most-viewed video in the Top Ten.

Tyrone’s Ulster Football Finals success is reflected in the latest entries, though the single most popular video from the entire collection is a music promo showing dramatic scenes from previous Tyrone and Monaghan games.

Finals day itself can be enjoyed again as the National Anthem sung by Aine Brolly and Brian Dooher’s speech are both available to view, in full. Furthermore, Ulster Council Secretary Danny Murphy’s reviews the 2010 Championships after the Finals.

The MFC has four entries in the Top Ten list of videos, with three of those involving Armagh. Youth is also the key theme for videos showing supporters enjoying Ulster Championship games free of charge. In particular, the focus falls on kids groups from Castlewellan, Downpatrick, various parts of Donegal, and Summer Camps in Omagh and Killyclogher.

The Youtube channel also contains videos from the Hurling Finals, Ladies Football, half-time exhibition games and the All Ireland Football Feile in Derry.

TOP TEN ULSTER CHAMPIONSHIP VIDEOS

1 – Music Promo for Football Final

2 – Darren Hughes, Monaghan goalkeeper

3 – Minor Goal – Armagh v Monaghan

4 – Clones Awaits

5 – Caolan Mooney, Down Minor

6 – Minor Report – Armagh v Monaghan

7 – Marty Clarke, Donegal v Down

8 – Nicholas Walsh, Cavan v Fermanagh

9 – Minor Goal – Armagh v Cavan

10 – Owen Mulligan goal, Antrim v Tyrone

This entry was posted on Friday, July 30th, 2010 at 12:47 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.

Ulster has become the first Province in the GAA to have all of its Counties complete a five year Strategic Plan. The Ulster Council’s second strategic plan “Beir Bua Nua” launched in 2006 set a strategic target to have all nine counties complete and implement a five year strategic plan. The process took four years to complete and has been such a success that County Strategic planning has become a National policy for the entire GAA as part of the roll out of the National GAA Strategic Action Plan and vision which was launched in 2008.

Ulster GAA is now in the second year of its third strategy “Family and Community the Fabric of the GAA” and will shortly start the process of developing a second series of strategies with Derry, Cavan and Antrim which will be complete in 2011.

Danny Murphy Provincial Secretary highlighted the success of the process “Strategic Planning is a vitally important part of the GAA and in Ulster it’s not new, we have had over 12 years of successful planning that has resulted in strong and cooperative model of development with our County Committees and Clubs, there is clear and measurable success in all of this work.  I am grateful to Ryan Feeney (Ulster GAA Provincial Strategic Coordinator) and Mark Conway, the Council Honorary Strategic Advisor who continue to implement this process at both Provincial and County level on behalf of the Developments Committee of Ulster GAA”.

There will be further information on the launch of the Monaghan GAA plan in the August edition of the UIster GAA Newsletter.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 1:25 pm and is filed under Blog. 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 Antrim Year 8 Hurling and Football presentations were held on Mon 28th June at St Louis GS Ballymena. The players who had been selected at the trials were presented with their jerseys by Paul Doherty (Antrim county footballer) and Gregory O Kane (Antrim Hurling assistant manager).

This year is the first year the bursary awards were introduced.
They were open to students from year 12 to year 14 and the criteria included sporting ability, commitment to their school and club.
The three recipients were Conor Laverty, CPC Ballycastle (St Brigid’s, Cloughmills) Matthew Donnelly, CPC (Mc Quillan’s GAC) and John Mc Goldrick, St Patrick’s College Bearnageeha (St Endas GAC)

Thanks to Mr Cassidy and St Louis GS for hosting the awards, to the players, teachers and selectors who took part and to the Antrim County Board for their sponsorship.

Pictured here Paul Doherty presented the Antrim jerseys to the Antrim Year 8 Football All Stars.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 1:13 pm and is filed under Blog. 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.

During the summer term, Fermanagh Coaches Teresa McNabb, Owen Mooney and Catrina Rodgers have been running Alternate Sports days throughout their schools. The focus of these special days are on fun and maximum participation for all pupils of the school.

One of the Sports Days took place in St Josephs Donagh on Wednesday 23^rd June.  The older pupils were the Captains and they were the mini coaches/referees and teachers rolled into one. Before P1-P5 pupils came to the field Owen and Teresa had the P6 and P7 pupils out to explain and demonstrate each game and activity so that they could explain it to their group when they got to that particular game. There are 69 pupils in the school that the whole school took part in. After the 14 Alternate Sports day activities in the morning there were Fun races, Penalty Shoot Outs and Shooting for Points.

Mr Cormac Jordan, principal of St Joseph’s Donagh said “This day is a fantastic way to finish the school year for all the children, parents and staff from the school. The effort and preparation Owen and Teresa have put into today has been excellent. It was lovely to see the younger children willing to learn and listen to the older pupils about what each game entailed. Some of the teachers mentioned that it was an excellent way of using the older pupils by giving them responsibility. It also links in well with the Revised Curriculum in that it encourages pupils to self asses and to improve social skills between Foundation and Key Stage 1 & 2”

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 1:08 pm and is filed under Blog. 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.

Biddy Phillips, national camogie referee and administrator, passed away on Wednesday July 6th.

Biddy was manager of the 1999 Tipperary Camogie Team that brought the O’Duffy Cup to Tipperary for the first time.  Biddy was the referee for the All Ireland Senior Camogie Final in 1997 as well as intermediate, junior and senior club all Irelands between 1993 and 1999. Biddy also gave long service to the Camogie Association’s National Referees Committee which she chaired for a term and also acted as treasurer of the Tipperary County Camogie Board from 1988 to 2000.

Speaking about Biddy’s contribution to Camogie, President of the Camogie Association Joan O’Flynn said: “Biddy’s commitment to camogie on and off the field was exceptional.  A particular highlight was her involvement in managing Tipperary Camogie team to win their first senior All Ireland Camogie title in 1999.  This stands alongside her wonderful service to her club, Tipperary Camogie Board, Munster Camogie Council and at national level.  On behalf of the Camogie Association I would like to extend our sympathies to her husband Jimmy and family Leonard, Barry, Carol and Sinéad.   I  know that Biddy’s loss will be deeply felt by her family and in Tipperary but also throughout Camogie nationally. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dílís.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 1:05 pm and is filed under Blog. 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 GAA has negotiated a new text message price for Clubs through the online Registration and Club Membership Management system.

Messages will be available in bundles at a cost of 2 cent per message for clubs in the 26 counties and 3.5 cent for clubs in the six counties.

To purchase and to use, go to the communication section of the site and click on the ‘buy SMS’ label. The messages will be available for purchase from the end of July. The functionality of this section is being upgraded to include a facility to reply to messages and to send messages remotely from a mobile phone. These upgrades will be available in the coming months.

To access this system, go to www.people.gaa.ie/admin Each Club already has a username and password.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 1:00 pm and is filed under Blog. 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 issuing of personalised membership cards has now been completed. All County Boards have received their cards and have been asked to dispatch them to their Clubs.

The card contains the member’s name, County, Club, membership type and the member’s ID number. The card also contains the GAA crest, the County Crest as well as an image of the Ballyhale Shamrocks Captain (Hurling), Eamonn Walsh and the St. Galls captain (Football), Colin Brady lifting the 2010 AIB GAA All Ireland Club championship trophies.

The cards will be issued to Clubs much earlier in 2011 to facilitate the ease of distribution to Club members.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 12:43 pm and is filed under Blog. 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.

Féile Cluiche Corr is an annual GAA Rounders event for our juvenile players. The event usually takes played over the August bank holiday weekend, with matches being placed for the entire weekend. Féile Cluiche Corr provides an opportunity our juvenile players to participate in competitive matches at u13 and u15 boys and girls and u14 and u16 mixed and show their excellent talent in playing GAA Rounders.

2009 Féile was held in Clara GAA Club, County Offaly and saw over 160 juveniles from counties, Laois, Westmeath, Dublin and Cavan participating. A very enjoyable weekend was help by all and National Council is very thankful to Clara GAA Club for the use of their facilities.

The 2010 Féile Cluiche Corr takes place the Bank Holiday August weekend in Clara GAA Pitches, Kinnegad Road, Clara, County Offaly and runs from Saturday to Monday.

The timetable of events is as follows:

Date: Saturday 31st of July 2010 (August Bank Holiday Weekend)
Time: Registration: 13:00. Games Commence: 13:30 sharp.
Event: Féile Cluiche Corr (Juvenile Event) – Under 13 Boys & Under 13 Girls Tournaments.

Date: Sunday 1st of August 2010 (August Bank Holiday Weekend)
Time: Registration: 11:30. Games Commence: 12:00 sharp.
Event: Féile Cluiche Corr (Juvenile Event) – Under 15 Boys & Under 15 Girls Tournaments.

Date: Monday 2nd of August 2010 (August Bank Holiday Weekend)
Time: Registration: 11:30. Games Commence: 12:00 sharp.
Event: Féile Cluiche Corr (Juvenile Event) – Under 14 Mixed & Under 16 Mixed Tournaments.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 12:39 pm and is filed under Blog. 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 mums of the Shane O’Neills Gaelic4Mothers team in Camloch, Co Armagh were delighted when McDonalds agreed to support them by giving them a full strip to play their games in.  The mums have been playing together since last year have taken part in a few Gaelic4Mothers blitzes so far and this weekend will travel to Saval to take part.

Pictured is Stephen OHara from McDonalds presenting the strip to Irene O’Neill from the Shane O’Neills team along with some of the other mums and their trainer Peter Lynch.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 12:36 pm and is filed under Blog. 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.

Monaghan lifted their fifth O’Harte Cup with a convincing victory over Armagh on Sunday, July 11 in St Tiernach’s Park, Clones. The Oriel girls dominated from start to finish with a very good all round team performance.

Both finalists already met in this years round robin format championship, Monaghan coming out top in all of their games, and have gone through the 2010 provincial competition undefeated. Armagh could have beaten them when they played each other last month, but this time round, Monaghan always looked in control, and once they built up a lead right from the start, they never relinquished it.

All six Monaghan forwards scored yesterday, while their defence were on top throughout. Manager Barry McLoughlin was forced to rejig is team for the final and as expected Sharon Courtney stepped up into the middle of the park alongside Nicola Fahy to replace Amanda Casey, while he moved Aoife McAnespie, who had been played most of this year at wing-half back, to corner forward, where she hit 0-1. Indeed it was the McAnespie sisters, Ciara and Aoife, along with Ellen McCarron and teenager Laura McEnaney, daughter of Monaghan county manager Seamus Banty McEnaney, and full-forward Catriona McConnell who did most of the damage in the first half. However, Caroline OHanlons goal right on the half-time hooter gave Armagh some hope as she reduced the deficit to five at the break instead of the eight it had looked like.

Monaghan raced into a 0-3 to 0-0 lead in the first five minutes, with McEnaney pointing either side of one from Ciara McAnespie. Mags McAlinden opened Armaghs scoring with a point, but Monaghans lead was extended once again with a point apiece from the boot of Catriona McConnell and McEnaney again. Two points for the Orchard county, one from centre-half forward Shauna OHagan and the other from McAlinden with a point from Catriona McConnell in between left three between the sides.

All three half-forwards made it onto the scoreboard when Ellen McCarron raised the white flag before her team-mate McConnell put the ball past goalkeeper Catherine McAlinden for the games first goal

after 27 minutes and the Oriel girls went 1-7 to 0-3 ahead. The scoreboard soon read 1-8 to 0-3. However, when Armagh needed that lift right on the stroke of half-time, midfielder Caroline OHanlon, who was one of the Orchard countys outstanding performers, had the umpire raise the green flag as the ball found the back of the net and Monaghans lead had been cut 1-8 to 1-3.

The second half saw both teams score five points each. Three points in a row in the space of six minutes in the games final quarter saw Armagh reduce the deficit to four points from seven, but that was as close as they came.

McConnell and McAlinden exchanged a couple of scores at the start of the second half before a brace from Monaghan through substitute Rachel McKenna and Ciara McAnespie  put them 1-11 to 1-4 ahead with 15 minutes gone. Then came the three on the trot from Armagh – two from McAlinden and one from OHanlon and with seven minutes remaining Armagh trailed 1-11 to 1-7. However, they could not dent the gap any more as Therese McNally added a further Monaghan point and player-of- the-final Ciara McAnespie wrapped up yet another Ulster title.

MONAGHAN: L Martin, M Treanor, Y Connell, C Reilly, A Newell, I Kieran, L Connolly, N Fahy, S Courtney, L McEnaney (0-3), E McCarron (0-1) C McAnespie (0-3), T McNally (0-1), C McConnell (1-3), A McAnespie (0-1)

Subs: R McKenna (0-1) for M Treanor, H Bowe for N Fahy, S McCooey for E McCarron

ARMAGH: C McAlinden, C Marley, D Mallon, R OReilly, M Moriarty, L  Brown, G McAlinden, C OHanlon (1-1), S Marley, M ODonnell (0-1), S OHagan (0-1), M McGuinness, M McAlinden (0-5), K Mallon, S Reel

Subs: A McKenna for R ORiley, L McArdle for C Marley, A Matthews for S Reel

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 12:08 pm and is filed under Blog. 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 annual Ulster Council 3 day Elite camp took place on the 5^th – 7^th July in the Sports Science facilities of the University of Ulster, Jordanstown.

The camp brought together 90 (Under 16) players in total, forty five from each code of Football and Hurling, which were made up of the most promising players from each of the 9 counties in Ulster.

Throughout the duration of the camp, the players benefited from the knowledge and expertise of the Ulster Council staff while simultaneously gaining access to the world class facilities that are in the University.

The players are afforded the opportunity to improve their own knowledge in different areas which will ultimately enable them to improve their own game, such as:

• Functional Movement Analysis
• Nutrition/Hydration
• Fitness Testing
• Lifestyle issues
• Dynamic Warm-Ups
• Skills Testing
• Personal Development Planning

In addition, the players were videoed performing a few key skills based tasks such as tackling and frontal blocking. They immediately got video feedback and then went and performed the skill again to improve in the areas required.

On top of that, there were field based sessions which was focused on Skill Development and areas covered were Kicking for possession/scores, Tackling/Blocking, Ball retention/support play, Long striking/striking on the run and High catching. Some players had Heart Rate Monitors attached for these sessions as well as for the Full Sided games which were played to a very high standard and later they got feedback on how hard they worked during the sessions.

Each year, we also invite a leading figure within the world of Gaelic Games to come and give a talk to the players. Past camps have seen Kieran Mc Geeney, Terence Mc Naughton, Sean Cavanagh, Peter Canavan, Neil McManus and this year we had the honour of having Michael Murphy who indeed was on the camp himself in 2005, and like our past speakers he gave the players some food for thought by describing what he feels it takes to get you to the top.

Indicative of the effect that these camps have on our youth of today is provided when a lot of the past players of the camp have gone on to represent their county at minor, U21 and even at Senior levels. Indeed, one of them, Conan Grugan who is a current Tyrone minor footballer, was reflecting recently on his own experiences at the camp in 2008.

“In the summer of 2008, I was selected, with 44 other footballers from across Ulster, to attend the Ulster U16 Elite 3 day training camp. The camp was based in the Jordanstown campus, allowing us to avail of the state of the art facilities which included a 3G pitch and high level fitness testing equipment. On the first day of the camp we were put through rigorous fitness tests followed by feedback on how we could improve each aspect of fitness if we wanted to compete at the highest level.

This was followed by seminars, delivered by various specialists, on how to improve our nutrition and lifestyle; invaluable advice which I still use today. On the second day we received expert coaching from the likes of Diarmuid Marsden and Ryan Mellon, followed by a session on how to prevent injury from physiotherapist Chris McNicholl. Throughout the camp much emphasis was placed on leadership, both on and off the field, and on the third day the players participated in a number of team building exercises.

The camp enabled me to meet and bond with players from other counties and allowed me the challenge to compete against many highly talented players. This experience allowed us, at a young age, the unique opportunity to live like professional athletes for three days and, if anything, the camp was worth going to, just to hear Tony Scullion’s inspirational speech at the end of the three days!”

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 12:01 pm and is filed under Blog. 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 Irish News Ulster GAA Club and Volunteer Conference is now sold out.

If you still wish to attend conference please phone Sharon Haughey on (028) 3751 7180 who will add you to our reserve list, in case any places become available.

The fourth Irish News Ulster GAA Club & Volunteer Conference will be held on Saturday 6th November 2010 in the Armagh City Hotel. This is Ulster GAA’s flagship non-games event which is focused at supporting club, volunteer and community development right across Ulster’s nine Counties. The Ulster Council supports over 250,000 volunteers working in 580 constituent GAA clubs and approximately 600 constituent educational units across the Province. The theme of this year’s conference is ““Developing the Self Sufficient GAA Club”

The conference will include a range of workshops, keynotes and discussion forums facilitated by leading GAA officials. The focus of which will be sustaining the recent marked development of Ulster clubs in recent years. GAA clubs boast facilities, governance structures, coaching practices, playing standards, and more, which are envied by sporting organisations across the world. Clubs should be congratulated on the standard of operations that they provide for their members and communities. It is important to consolidate the excellent progress that has been made so that the GAA can flourish for the next 126 years and beyond! This may also involve bringing things back to basics, a gentle reminder of what the GAA stands for, and how this fits with the current climate.

Workshops and plenary sessions will inform delegates on developing the volunteer base, fundraising for the next decade, marketing your club, putting the Gaelic into the GAA, and much more. As always a number of high profile GAA figureheads will be in attendance, and other household names. Delegates will have the opportunity to avail of support from local businesses in the stall-area, and generally to mix with gaels from other clubs.

Laura Treanor, Runai of Emyvale GAA Club attended last year and was very impressed with the event, “the Ulster Club and Volunteer Conference is a great opportunity for Gaels from all over the Province to meet and exchange views to benefit Club and Community. The many interactive workshop sessions are a great opportunity to seek help and advice on many aspects of the Association… a great GAA day to catch up with old friends and make some new ones too!”

The Irish News Ulster GAA Club and Volunteer Conference is now sold out.

If you still wish to attend conference please phone Sharon Haughey on (028) 3751 7180 who will add you to our reserve list, in case any places become available.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 11:54 am and is filed under Blog. 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.

Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling Under-21 Ulster Final:
Antrim 0-21 Armagh 0-16

Antrim retained the Ulster Under-21 Hurling Championship trophy at Casement Park on Wednesday evening, but it was far from plain sailing against a highly motivated and determined Armagh side.
Five points separated the teams in the end but in truth the scoreline somewhat flattered Antrim as Armagh were unlucky on a few occasions, most notably in the first half when Conor Coulter’s shot for goal rocketed back off the Antrim crossbar with the goalkeeper well beaten.
The Armagh boys were right in the game until the final minutes and it took a late scoring burst from man of the match Darren Hamill and team captain Cormac Donnelly to see the Saffrons home.

In an entertaining game Armagh held the upper hand for most of the opening half and with midfielder Kieran McKernan in fine form they led on seven occasions, and it wasn’t until the final minute of the first-half that Antrim got their noses in front when they edged 0-9 to 0-8 ahead from a Darren Hamill free.

Armagh regained the lead in the early stages of the second-half as some woeful Antrim defending created chance after chance for the Orchard boys, but as the game progressed Hamill, Donnelly, PJ O’Connell and Michael Armstrong slowly began to make their influence felt.
Donnelly, who was captaining the side for the second year in succession, hit some great long range points while Hamill picked off some fines scores from both frees and play to seal a very hard fought win.

Antrim now go forward to face Tipperary in the All Ireland semi-final but they will be well aware that their performance would have to improve dramatically if they are to trouble the Munster champions.

ANTRIM – Eoin Gillan, Kevin Molly, Stephen Shannon, Liam McAuley, Conor  Carson, Cormac Donnelly, James Campbell, PJ O’Connell, Conor Rocks, Michael Devlin, Thomas McCann, Eamond Laverty, Michael Armstrong, Darren Hamill, Christopher Quinn.
Subs – Terry McAllister for McAuley; Gerard Laverty for Devlin; Shane Woulahan for Rocks.

ARMAGH – Patrick Kelly, Ryan Comiskey, Paul Gaffney, JJ Hughes, Stephen McNaughton, Nathan Curry, Donal Carville, Kieran McKernan, Martin Maguire, James King, Michael Lennon, David Carville, Conor Corvan, Conor Coulter, Martin Moan

REFEREE – Declan Magee (Down)

Report: antrim.gaa.ie

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 9:33 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.

The captains of both Armagh and Antrim were in attendance yesterday in Casement Park ahead of their Bord Gáis Energy Ulster GAA Hurling U-21 Final clash on Wednesday evening. Cormac Donnelly of Antrim and Nathan Curry of Armagh met at Casement Park to publicise the upcoming final.

Armagh have so far been the story of the Ulster hurling year – their seniors won the Nicky Rackard Cup and their minors and now their U-21s have reached Ulster finals. Having dispatched of Fermanagh and Derry already this year, there will be no lack of confidence amongst the men from the Orchard County as they go in search of a first ever win at U-21 level.

The Saffron County on the other hand won their first Ulster U-21 Hurling title way back in 1964 and haven’t stopped winning since then, amassing a very impressive 25 titles to date, including last year’s title when they beat Derry. This year has also seen Antrim progress at all levels and their senior win against Dublin earlier this month stands out as a particular highlight. But [despite this weekend’s senior loss to Cork], another U-21 provincial title would finish the month off perfectly for Cahill & Co.

Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael Criostóir Ó Cuana said, “It’s heartening to see Armagh’s progress up the ladder of Ulster hurling and their involvement in this fixture is a fitting tribute to the excellent work being undertaken in the County at all grades to promote the game.  On Wednesday they meet the kingpins of Ulster hurling when they clash with Antrim in the Bord Gáis Energy U21 Ulster championship final and the novel feel to this pairing should provide the competition with a fitting finale.”

Stiofain MacDhaibhéad of Bord Gáis Energy, was equally effusive ahead of Wednesday’s game, “the progress being made at all levels in Ulster hurling has been fantastic and Bord Gáis Energy are delighted to once again be here in Casement Park supporting that progress and of course, the upcoming U-21 Ulster Hurling Final. It is an intriguing match up and if Armagh prevail, it promises to be a historic night for all concerned.”

Wednesday night also sees the Bord Gáis Energy Munster GAA Hurling U-21 Final taking place between Tipperary and Clare at Semple Stadium and throw in is at 7.30pm.

At Casement Park, the throw in for the Bord Gáis Energy Ulster GAA Hurling U-21 Final is also at 7.30pm.

ENDS

Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling

U-21 All-Ireland Championship 2010 Fixtures

Bord Gáis Energy Leinster GAA Hurling U-21 Championship

9th June:             Kilkenny (2-31) v Offaly (0-8)

Laois (0-9) v Carlow (1-14)

23^rd June:            Kilkenny (0-12) v Dublin (0-17)

Wexford (2-17) v Carlow (2-13)

14^th July:               Dublin (2-15) v Wexford (0-15)

Bord Gáis Energy Munster GAA Hurling U-21 Championship

2^nd June:              Cork (1-16) v Waterford (1-3)

14^th July:               Limerick (1-12) v Clare (1-15)

Tipperary (2-17) v Cork (0-21)

28^th July:               Munster Final

Bord Gáis Energy Ulster GAA Hurling U-21 Championship

14^th July:               Armagh (2-19) v Fermanagh (2-8)

21^st July:               Antrim (0-19) v Down (1-12)

Derry (0-10) v Armagh (2-12)

28^th July:               Ulster Final

Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling U-21 All-Ireland Championship

21^st August:                        All-Ireland Semi Finals

11/12^th September:         All-Ireland Final

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 at 10:19 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.