Boston Northeast GAA

 

 

Armagh Notre Dame

 

Armagh Notre Dame faced the Shannon Blues on the back of a poor run of defeats to Wolfe Tones and Kerry recently. Their hopes of a place in the senior championship have been put to bed for this year while the Blues in contrast are flying high and battling with the latter two sides for a semi-final spot as the contest heats up.
Both sides began well and hit some good early scores with O’Donoghue off the mark for the Blues and Neil Jordan scoring for Armagh. Jordan was in good form and stroked over some great frees for his side and Darren Gilsenan also hit the target to score from play. The men from the Orchard found themselves behind when a swift attacking move from the Blues ended up with McQuade slotting the ball into the corner to give his side a three point lead. This was immediately cancelled out with a long ball into the box which was finished to the net by Darren Gilsenan who looped the bouncing ball over the on rushing keeper and into the net. The Blues hit two more points to make it 1-7 to 1-4 at half time and both sides still in with a shout.
Armagh looked dogged and determined in the second half and had a lot of possession, but the Blues were in good scoring form and were always able to keep their opponents at bay, particularly from dead balls. The Ulster men defended well but could not find the all important goal that would have given them a lead that might have propelled them to victory. In contrast, when the Blues required a goal they duly obliged and they found the net with only a few minutes remaining to seal the win and remain in contention for senior championship honours this season.

The sides began by trading two quick points early on and gave an indication of how important each were treating the game early on. From here though things started going Kerry’s way and good points after some powerful running from Mike Godley and Johnny Moroney sent the Kingdom to a 0-5 to 0-1 lead midway through the first half. Galway were found guilty of wasting some good scorable chances as their kicks found the keepers hands or sailed wide on a few occasions before Brian Hanlon knocked over their next point from a free, but Croft who scored 2-2 against Armagh last week, did the same at the other end nearly immediately to retrieve the lead. Galway were determined to make a brave fight of it and again Hanlon found range with a point from play and soon after Pauric Howard opened his account, sailing over a lovely point from distance.
The lively half forward continued to emerge throughout the first half and received a short ball from a free before fisting over the next point to equalise for his team. It was nearly a goal straight after as the player again found space and set up Hanlon one on one with the Kerry goalkeeper but the ball somehow squeezed over the crossbar and at last it was the side in maroon who led. This was short lived however as Kerry kicked another free to make it 0-7 each at half time and both teams still in the hunt for the all important points.
Barry Kennedy opened the scoring after the restart from corner forward to again give his side the advantage but the second half remained tit-for-tat and Galway again equalised after a pointed free from Sean Gallagher. The strong midfielder then won a kick out and after being dragged down converted the free to again put his team ahead but missed a good opportunity to double the lead after breaking onto a loose ball a little after and this was punished by Phillip Corrigan who finished smartly after his side worked the ball upfield well. It was Howard’s turn to help his team next, this time fielding a high ball extremely well before helping on a nice ball to sub Tommy Walsh who rushed through and fisted over. His side then opened the gap on Kerry with another free from Gallagher before Croft obliged with another free to keep his team in touch. Hanlon then tapped over to give Galway another two point lead and suddenly it appeared as if Kerry were struggling to keep a grip on their opponents until except for Crofts talents from the placed ball and again the half forward notched the next two for his team from frees to make it level for a fifth time.
Credit were credits due and the industry of the Kerry forward line was helping create chances for Croft and they took the lead after yet another move resulted in a free for the Kerry player to give his side a 0-13 to 0-12 point lead with little time left on the clock but there was still time for some late drama as a free in for Galway was moved forward to a more scorable position and man of the match Sean Gallagher hit his team’s final point to share the spoils at the final whistle.

 

 

 

After a surprise defeat to Fr. Tom Burke’s last Sunday, the Galway hurlers went into the game with Cork ahead of their opponents in the standings but wary of the threat of another upset. Cork have been less than impressive in recent times but must have been buoyed by that result and will have looked to catch the Tribesmen on the hop as it were.
Cork began brightly and immediately scored a free from the stick of Allen. Galway replied instantly by winning the puck out and storming up field to win a free of their own which Moylan scored. O’Dwyer then hit the first from play for Galway as his side moved ahead with some good hurling, before the same player won another for Moylan to slot over. The Tribesmen were three ahead when Linnane won a long ball out and 5 took the sliotar before knocking over from distance. John Moylan hit another easy free to take his side four ahead and already the Galway team were looking to banish the memory of their poor performance a week earlier. A poor clearance led to the team’s next score as Kelly picked it up uncontested and fired over from 65 to increase the lead. Cork found it incredibly difficult to find their way up field and create opportunities but they did add a second soon after, albeit from a free. This was compounded by a point from play by half back O’Brien and the difference was cut to three. Corks resurgence was dealt a heavy blow with the next score coming in the shape of a goal after the rebels goalkeeper was caught well off his line, and he was rounded by the Galway forward who passed into the path of a teammate who tapped a simple finish to the net. Lynch, Lyons and Moylan (2) all added good points thereafter and just to heap misery on their opponents Galway finished off another good team move with a close range finish from Byrne to find goal. Both Goalkeepers were under attack and soon Cork found the net with O’Loughlin controlling a long ball to turn and score, while at the other end Byrne had his shot for his side’s third well saved by the Cork net minder straight after. A few more points rounded off a scoreline of 2-12 to 1-4 at half time.
The second half resumed with the sides trading a point each but again Galway raced ahead with three more, including a lovely score from O’Dwyer, scooping up the sliotar and lobbing it just beyond the reach of Mannix’ hurl. The score became 2-18 to 1-5 after two frees from Moylan and Cork looked despondent. Cork were lucky to escape conceding another goal soon later as the keeper’s short pass out was intercepted by O’Dwyer but the forward could not capitalise on the goal chance and instead earned a point with his effort. Cork then nearly had their second with Roberts making a good save from a quick shot and he was relieved to see the rebound go sailing wide. In the end it would have had very little bearing on the encounter as Galway showed their opponents they were a class apart throughout the entire game and the second half produced one more goal to make it 3-22 to 1-5, a resounding win for the Galway side.

 

 

After last week’s thrilling win over league rivals Donegal, the MacAnespies hit the ground flying against a Connemara side currently on a downward spiral. The Macs have been the most impressive side in the league recently and it was that man McRory who began with his teams first score after onle a couple of minutes from a well taken free. A nightmare start for the Gaels saw them concede the next place ball from the penalty spot and it was Alan Nestor who dispatched a low shot past the keeper to the net to make it 1-1 to no score. One player with the speed to beat the MacAnespies defence was the equally skilful Colin Larkin and the midfielder raced through to give his team their first point of the half.
This was an anomaly in a half completely dominated by the Tyrone side as they nearly found the net again only for a good block on the line by Gales full back Colin Flanagan. Rory Maguire curled a superb point over for his side and soon after Luke Sweetman found the net for his sides second after being set up by McAdam, and the forward drove a powerful effort into the corner of the net. Both Kelly and McRory in the full forward line added points before another reply from Connemara with O’Brien working hard to score his side’s second. McRory again scored with a free to make it 2-5 to 0-2 and the White and Red side could afford to relax as they eclipsed their opponents entirely in the first half. Neil Donaghy and Maguire again hit fine scores to widen the gap but the strong running of McGill paved the way for a free which he himself scored to bring another point back for his team. Another handy point for MacAnespies was the answer and the side continued their relentless scoring spree. A free from Tom Sally gave the Gaels their fourth but the Galway based outfit failed to put two scores together and Luke Sweetman saw out the half, blasting over to make it 2-9 to 0-4 at half time.
The sides traded a point each at the beginning of the second half before Sweetman again had an effort on goal, but this time Gaels goalkeeper O’Malley was equal to it. Then the unbelieveable happened as Connemara replied with not one but two goals to storm back into the game. The first came after McAdam illegally stopped the run of McGill outside the box and from 14 yards the Antrim man cleverly snuck the ball into the net with the Macs defence expecting a tap over. This was then added to by the tenacious Colin Harkin who made space for himself inside the MacAnespies twenty yard line before firing past the keeper for his teams second. An eleven point deficit was immediately cut to five before McRory added another point for his side but a revival was on and the Gaels brought it to within two points with some good scores including a 45 yard free from Michael McGill. The Macs were then unlucky not to regain their superiority after a good run from Colm Donnelly was picked out by McRory and the Tyrone man crashed his shot of the crossbar. McRory added the next from a free but again McGill did the same and a tight finish remained. McRory seemed to be on his own up front and again had the task of scoring the next point, this time from play but McGill at the other end was equally reliable and a margin of three was preserved. With time running out a goal was on the Connemara Gaels agenda and incredibly they produced one in the dying minutes. A superb run by man of the match Colin Harkin was halted just outside the box for a near penalty. As he had done before, McGill again aimed for goal but his effort was blocked. The talismanic forward then picked the loose ball, fisted across goal and it was Harkin at the back post to gladly apply the finish for an unbelievable comeback.
For all their quality in the first half, the Macs could not stop the Gaels in their tracks and they were not finished until McGill grabbed the winner with a massive kick out wide from forty metres to secure the unlikeliest of victories and make the Macs pay for their poor second half display.