February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Connie Kelly
McAnespies 1-11 Kerry 0-9
Under brilliant sunshine and record attendance, Boston saw six new champions take their hard-earned prizes over the weekend.
In senior football, Aidan McAnespies overcame a game Kerry side that led by a point at the half, 0-4 to 0-3.
Kerry had the lions share of the opening half, but without their ace, forward Mark O’Brien, were unable to capitalize. Liam Higgins and Sean Geaney set up some nice plays but could only come up with 3 points for their efforts, with Geaney getting 2 and Higgins the other. Darren Lee had Kerry’s last point with five minutes remaining in the half.
Kerry started the second half with three wides before Nigel Regan tied the game at 0-4 with a ball from Martin Harvey after five minutes. Sean Geaney had Kerry in front three minutes later, but the turning point came when Regan was fouled near the square and the resulting penalty was safely in the back of the net. Momentum was all McAnespies after that. Reagan added three points and Peter Canavan three. Pat Fenton tried to keep Kerry’s hopes alive with several good runs. Geaney and Higgins added Kerry’s last scores. Martin Harvey gave his man a bit of a roasting and he got Guinness Man of the Match.
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Tipperary 4-16, Cork 2-14
Tipperary overcame Cork in a high-scoring duel that lasted right to the final whistle. Paul Skelly had Tipp off to a dream start with the first puck of the game ending up in the net. But Cork’s main man, Pat Howard, chipped away with 10 points in the first half. Fitzie had Cork’s other point of the half to make it 0-11 to Tipp 1-7. Five of Tipp’s players would add points in the half — Paul Skelly (2), John Fealy (1), Kenny Laurance (1) Michael Cole (1) Jerry McGuire (1).
In the second half, Skelly waisted no time and had Tipp level after one minute and one up a minute later. Connie Mahoney proved once again to be a hero for Cork, feeding Kieran Fitzsimmons, who buried it in the Tipp net. Howard added another point and back again came Connie Mahoney to beat Clinton Hennessy with a kicked ball to the back of the net. Cork fans were on their feet. But their elation was short-lived. Tipp were awarded a penalty and Kevin Sullivan put it in the net. Right away Sullivan added a point. Paul Skelly followed with one from a free. Fitzie pulled one back and one minute later Gerry McGuire for Tipp sent one over, all this in the space of 13 minutes, making it Tipp 1-4, Cork had 2-2.
St. Pat’s 1-8, Notre Dame 1-7
In intermediate football, St. Pat’s stole one for the late Shane McGettigan. After a very low-scoring first half, Notre Dame began to play much better football. Dermot McElligott had their first and only goal after four minutes. He added a point eight minutes later. St. Pat’s were very much on the defense, and when Adrian Murphy was sent to the line after 10 minutes, it looked all over for St. Pat’s. Sean Casey had Notre Dame’s next three points and Hugh Meehan added another two. The Pat’s went 15 minutes before Mickey Joe Hynes had their first point from a free. Cyril Wallace and Kieran O’Shea tried time and again to rally their teammates. Paul Blessing managed a point from one of these rallies. Sean McLoughlin added one as well, and with five minutes to go it looked bleak for St. Pat’s, down by five points. Then, its as if some kind of a miracle was at work. Ronan Goulding got behind his men and had the ball in the net.
On the next kick out the ball was back over the bar again. Notre Dame were reeling and back came the Pats’ Paul Blessing to tie the game. And in injury time, Mickey Joe Hynes sealed it with a free for St. Pat’s.
Other games
In junior hurling that followed Cork had a very easy win over Galway 2-7 to 1-3. In women’s football, the Shamrocks never gave Tir na nOg a chance. They were relentless, winning by a score of 4-15 to 1-1. In junior football, Shannon Blues beat a very talented Donegal team, 1-14 to 0-9.