Search Results for 'goalkeeper'

Lisdowney 0-17

Roscommon’s championship campaign came to an end on Saturday evening at the hands of Meath on a score line of 2-12 to 0-11. In the end, Meath’s experience, physical strength, belief, and greater scoring power were the main differences between the sides.

Thirteen years on from a bounce of a ball hopping over the bar and a one for all brawl in front of the Hill, Mayo will renew acquaintance with Meath in the championship looking for their first win over the Royal County since the heady summer of 1951. When the final whistle is blown on Sunday, the initial headlines will probably go to the forward who puts the ball over the bar for the winning score or kicks a handful of points over the 70 minutes. But no matter how good the front six are all victories have their foundation on those whose primary job is to stop the other side from putting the size five over the black spot or into the back of the net.

Last season’s defeated Maher Shield finalists St Pat’s Boys caused a major upset as they knocked out Freebooters 1-0 in Graiguecullen last Sunday.

This first round encounter of the minor hurling championship match in Bennttsbridge between Thomastown and James Stephens began on an unsavoury note with James Stephens’ full-back Diarmuid Kelly getting sent off by referee Maurice Flynn after a dangerous tackle on Thomastown corner forward Thomas O’Hanrahan.

Galway senior county champions Corofin will be favourites to see off Castlerea in the Connacht club championship semi-final in Hyde Park on Sunday at 2.30pm.

Suddenly Galway United matter again and planes, trains, and automobiles will be filled with expectant travellers for next Friday’s defining trip to Belfield. It is always fascinating to watch a sporting tale unfold, but this story has been particularly charming.

The draw was made last Monday night for the quarter finals of the championship. Our boys, Crossmolina, have been drawn to play Ballaghaderreen. It is a match that will definitely focus the minds of both outfits and I would anticipate a close exciting match on September 27. It has been a frustrating time for club teams throughout the summer months as a result of the start-stop nature of the championship. It seems like an eternity since we played the opening round of the championship against Knockmore and it is really difficult to try to keep a team fresh and focused throughout the summer. Two of our players from Crossmolina, Ian Rowland and Sean Kelly, went out to Boston to work and play football for the summer. There was no work here at home and they received a call with the offer of paid work along with the opportunity to play in the local championship. They did well on the football scene and both were very much to the fore in winning the Boston final last Sunday for a small club called St Christopher’s. They arrived back in Ireland on Tuesday morning and I was looking forward to having them both back at training this week and available for our league match against Ballina this Saturday evening in Crossmolina (6.30). At the time of writing I have just received a telephone call from the boys en route to Shannon for a Friday afternoon flight back out to Boston for the All-American finals this weekend! Sure it’s hard to blame them as they are both young and carefree and they don’t go back to college for another week. I assume when they saw the floods of water around these parts upon arrival here on Tuesday it wouldn’t have taken too much convincing to get them to travel back out!

The closure of the local championship season always concludes with a mixture of feelings. There is an obvious disappointment that another year has passed and for some of the contenders opportunities have been squandered. Still, though, deep down hope hasn't left the hearts.

Last weekend was a busy one on the playing fields of Westmeath and Roscommon with a number of quarter final matches down for decision. Tyrrellspass secured a semi-final spot thanks to their 1-13 to 0-10 win over a gallant Maryland. Most pundits expected the Pass to breeze through against surprise quarter-finalists Maryland. In the end they did, even if they were outplayed in the opening half and it looked as though a shock was on the cards. Finbar Egan’s men deserve credit for the way they took the game to Tyrrellspass in the opening half, leading by five points at one stage and 0-6 to 0-3 at the break.