Boston Northeast GAA

A place in next Saturday’s intermediate final against Connemara Geals was at stake in this much anticipated semi final. Both teams were quietly confident going into the game having enjoyed a strong finish to the league stages of the season. It was clear from the first few balls that this was going to be an open affair, with both teams looking to isolate their full forward line early on and get the ball in early to their danger men. It was with this strategy that Armagh enjoyed the best of the early exchanges with Jordan and Gilsenan looking lively and dangerous. It was Gilsenan that gave Armagh the early lead with a free after good work from Jordan, and it was Jordan again a few minutes later who continued to terrorise the Tones defence with two quick fire score, one from the right foot followed by an excellent score from the outside of the left. It wasn’t all Armagh though Tones were winning some good ball around the midfield but they the dangerous looking Hegarty was being frustrated by full back’s Burke and Lennon reading and beating them to every ball, where as everytime Armagh pressed they looked like scoring Gilsenan hit his second stoking it over on the turn from 30 metres. Armaghs discipline and organisation in defence was key, with Lennon and Meehan driving out with the ball at every opertunity, and it was Lennon’s burst that created the score of the game so far as he found McKeever who’s ball inside fell to McLoughlin who slotted over to make it 0-5 to no score. It took until the 20 minute for Tones to register, with McCabe floating over a free from distance, but it was back to normal service minutes later as McKeever hit his first from the right side after a lovely dummy inside. It was this score that seemed to fire the Wolfe Tones up but despite 8 minutes of constant pressure, all they had to show for it was four wides in a row as there shooting threatened to be their undoing. Armagh finished the half with another score after Tiffney turned over a ball in the Tones defence and found McKeever with his pass who made it 0-7 to 0-1 at the 30 minute mark.
The second half began in a completely different manner, with the Wolfe Tones turning up like a different team. They doubled their tally for the day within the minute mark after a good ball into McVeigh was converted on the turn. This was followed up by two more quick fire scores from Farrell and McVeigh again as Armagh looked overwhelmed by the surge  of pressure that the Tones were applying within the first few minutes.  However, once Armagh did settle, they continued to have great joy with the early ball to the inside forwards with Gilsenan now operating with McKeever in there, but this success could not be converted into scores as they were guilty of missing three scorable chances to extend their lead. This seemed to give the Wolfe Tones more motivation as they closed the lead to two after Farrell added another from almost an identical position to his first. They continued to press on and got the big chance they were craving with Farrell minutes remaining when Donaghy broke free for the first time and fired past the onrushing keeper but Doyle somehow made it back to clear off the line to keep Armagh’s lead intact.  Armagh then had their first goal chance of the game as Meehan found Gilsenan, who not for the first time showed his wonderful ariel ability to take the ball and turned to fire into the top corner despite the pressure of the full back to give them their first score of the half and a huge boost to their lead.  Jordan added another from a free to leave the score 1-8 to 0-6. Despite this, it was the Tones who were enjoying the most of the ball and were looking dangerous going forward. Two frees from Brilly and McCabe cut the lead as they continued to press for the goal they needed. With just five minutes remaining, it looked the full back partnership of Lennon and Burke had been undone for the first time in the game as Farrell got around the back but his effort produced a fabulous save from makeshift keeper Meehan. It wasn’t long until Tones got another chance as McCabe found some space on the 13 and looked for the net but again it was the onrushing Meehan who came out on top as he emerged as Armagh’s late hero.  McKeever added another for Armagh and there was time for McVeigh to have another go at beating Meehan but a combination of the keeper and full back Lennon restricted Tones to a point. As the final whistle blew, it was clear that Armagh have been revitalised by their  late surge in form and their heart and desire to win at all costs will Connemara knowing they are in for a battle in next week’s Intermediate Final.

 

Fresh off their mid week victory over Fr. Toms, Galway meant business from the off in this semi final affair with Wexford getting out of the blocks with an early goal from the boot of Creaven following a goal line scramble. Wexford settled quickly though and hit back with a trio of scores after White and Mahony converted close frees and another from the hurl of Murphy to level the game early on. Galway went ahead again though with a lovely score from Lyons from the right wing. Galway were enjoying the best of the early spells and took advantage of this on the ten minute mark after a powerful drive forward from Moylan drew in the last defender and his flick to Byrne was turned into the net by the wing forward to put Galway up by four. White replied with his second of the day for Wexford but O’Dywer stroked over for Galway followed by a great score from distance from Creaven to extend the lead further.  Wexford though refused to panic and were rewarded for their patient build up on the 15 minute mark when Merlihy broke free on the 45 and drove forward to the 21 metre line and his shot flew high into the top corner of the Galway goal. Wexford kept up this momentum and added another two scores through White and a free from his own 65 converted by centre back Walsh to leave it 1-6 to 2-4 at the halfway mark.
Wexford carried this pressure into the second half as they started like a steam train as they hit three early scores though Merhily, Kehoe and the very impressive White to give them the lead by two points. White added another free as he continued to look deadly and the lead was bolstered more after Murphy produced the score of the game after seemingly being pushed out a scoring position, turned on the side line and fired over off his bad hand. White added another free as Galway looked like losing touch but they found the score they were looking for after Kelly fired over followed closely by another from Mahony to leave just three between them. Wexford though showed their resilience under pressure as they again pulled away with scores from substitute Kehoe and a brace from almost identical positions from Merhily. Galway tried to fight back into the game and Kelly rallied his troops after a score from midfiled, but Wexford continued to show their class as White added another two to leave the score 1-16 to 2-7. White added another two frees to bring his tally for the day to 8 and the game was put to dead minutes later after Murphy broke free and when through on goal, his dummy fooled both full back and keeper to leave him with the easy task of firing it into the empty net. Wexford added one more and booked their place in next week’s final where they will defend their title against a strong Tipp team which promises to be a thrilling encounter.

 

These two teams met for the second time in two weeks on this, the semi final play off of the Ladies Senior Football Championship. The reward for a winner was a place in next Sundays final where they would meet Tir na nOg. Roscommon held the edge having won the previous encounter comfortably and would’ve been feeling confident going into the game. This confidence was evident within the first few minutes as they were looking dangerous every time they were in possession. It took only a few minutes for them to register their first score of the game and it was a blow to Shamrocks as Rochford carried the ball from the 45 before firing into the roof of the net to give them the lead. Shamrocks hit back though with a hard earned score from O’Connor followed by a free from Harris. Rochford was proving a handful though for the Shamrocks backline as she again showed her eye for goal, but this time her effort was turned over by Mayward in the goal. Harris converted another free for Shamrock to leave the difference at one but again it was Rochford who broke free following a mistake in the Shamrocks defence and hit her second goal of the game. The resulting kick again fell her way but this time her effort was turned wide with a great save from Mayward in what was turning into a personal battle between the two. Rochford added another free followed by a tremendous score involving Ott and Hannon again finished by the boot of Rochford to her tally and Roscommon’s tally to 2-3 to Shamrocks 0-4 at half time. The Shamrocks were struggling to cope with the intensity of Roscommon and the ball winning of midfielders Hannon and McGirr and this trend continued in the second half. Rochford, who was having a field day, added three more to her tally and Hannon and McGirr chipped in one a piece as the Shamrocks failed to put a point on the board in the second half leaving the final score at 2-8 to 0-4. Following this very impressive performance, Roscommon will be feeling quietly confident going into next week’s final, that they can turn around the early season defeats to Tir na nOg and reclaim their senior title.

 

This semi final served up a very unfamiliar sitatation, as current senior champions McAnespies went into the game as underdogs against a table topping Christophers team who were making their first appearance in a senior semi final. Christophers have been impressive all year, in particular in their forward line where their ability to shoot on sight has been leathel, and this was again the case as they got off to a flier when Kelly’s looping shot from the right seemed to take an eternity to drop  over the bar and give them an early lead. Macs were playing some lovely football of their own when in possession and a quick exchange of passes from Nestor and McCrudden gave McRory the space to hit their first point. This was soon added to by Donnelly after some good work in the middle by McAdam but it was Christophers forwards who were again causing damage as O’Drisscol won a free converted by Rowland, and then added a wonderful individual score himself to regain the lead. The Macs defence was looking shook and they had keeper Wright to thank that the damage wasn’t worse as he pulled off a great stop after Kelly’s pace had opened up the defence. And it was Kelly again shortly after who looked to have beat the defence again but out of nowhere McPhillip produced a miraculous block to prevent the goal. Rowland weighed in with two more scores from dead balls to leave the score at 5-3. Kelly got his first for Macs to cut the lead to one and the teams were soon level when McCrory spilt the Christophers defence to find Maguire who flicked  over for the score. Maguire then turned provider to find McCrudden in the forward line and his effort was good to put Macs ahead again. With the Tyrone team just starting to get on top, they were dealt a massive blow on the 20 minute mark when Donaghy was shown a straight red card for an off the ball incident with Kennedy to leave them down to 12 men. Christophers took advantage of this and scores from O’Drisscol and a great effort from Rowland put them ahead. Moore replied with a wonderful individual score of his own but with just a few minutes remaining in the half Macs were dealt another blow when O’Drisscol hit the net for Christophers. Donnelly and Kelly exchanged scores to leave the difference at 5 at the break.
The Macs knew they needed 12 huge performances in the second half if they were to come back from this and they started the second half very brightly as McAdam, for the second week running, draqgged his team up, stroking over two frees from the 45, followed by another free from the left by corner back Moore to cut the difference to two. McAdam continued to impress after he drew another free on the 45 which McRory hammered over to bring it back to one point. Just at the point when Macs were getting on top, they were again shot back by a determined Christophers team, after a mix up between Donnelly and Moore in defence, the ball was played into substitute O’Sullivan, who not for the first time this season, popped up with a vital goal to knock the stuffing out of Macs. Rowland curled over another 45 under pressure to put them in the driving seat. Macs were given a glimmer of hope though with 10 minutes remaining after Kelly produced a good stop from the keeper but Donnelly was on hand to turn home the rebound, but unfortunately for the Macs, this was to be their last score of the game. Super sub O’Sullivan, again proved to be clinical to put the game to bed with 5 remaining after a wonderful run from O’Drisscol, he found the unmarked O’Sullivan and he again found the net.  Danger man O’Drisscol added one more to leave the score at 3-10 to 1-10 and put Christophers into their first ever Senior Championship final where there will meet Shannon Blues  next Sunday in Canton.

 

Shannon Blues got over their usual semi final woe to score a very impressive victory over Donegal to book their place in the Senior Championship final. In a thrilling encounter the game was tip for tap for 60 minutes with the teams scoring level on 9 ocasions. It took until injury time for something to be put between the teams and it was Gilmartin who was the hero, hitting two late points to leave the final score 14-12 and give the Blues a shot at the final next Sunday.

 

In the Intermediate competition, it was goals that were the key for Connemara after Magill weighed in with a hat rick to give them victory over Kerry by 6-6 to 3-6.

In the Junior scene this week, there were mixed fortunes for the McAnespies as they enjoyed a hard earned victory in the Junior A competition, beating Wolfe Tones by 1-14 to 0-11 to book a place in the final, but had to settle for second best in the Junior B’s where they were beaten by the Blues in a very entertaining game. The Blues will now face Galway in next week’s final, after Galway won a dogged battle with rivals Mayo by a single point, 5-4.