Boston GAA Galway, Fr. Toms deadlock in hurling thriller

By Connie Kelly

It was another action-packed weekend of football and hurling at Gaelic Park in Canton, Mass., at the weekend. And once again hurling seemed to be the crowd pleaser, where Galway and Fr. Tom Burkes ended all square at 0-9 to 1-6 after a grueling 60 minutes.

Brendan Morrissey had Galway’s first point five minutes into the game, after an excellent cross by George Jacobs. Fr. Toms were off the mark with their first two tries, but then Seamus Moore found Tracy, who hammered home the only goal of the game with just seven minutes gone.

Johnny Murray, Galway’s sharpshooter, cut the lead to one point. Keith Carr of Fr. Toms, traded points with Galway’s Martin Glynn, and with Galway piling on the pressure, Brendan Morrissey sent James Kinsella attacking only to be brought down for a penalty that was saved by goalie Dermot Fox. It came at the expense of a 65 converted by Johnny Murray. After 23 minutes of play the sides were level.

Declan Donnelly put the Toms ahead with a long-range point from play only to have Vinny Frank tie it up again a minute later. Dan Russell had the Toms next point with just two minutes remaining in the half, but back came Galway with another Murray point to leave the half time score, Galway 0-6, Fr. Toms 1-3.

The second half was much of the same, with some excellent defense by both teams. Galway got two early points by Johnny Murray, one a free. Fr. Toms’ Declan Donnelly came down hard on his ankle and had to be carried off, and with their midfielder gone, they were under a lot of pressure. Both teams remained scoreless for 15 minutes. The Toms missed two scorable frees, hitting the crossbar with one. Owen Bradley knocked one over for the Toms, but back came Galway’s Vinny Franks for a two-point lead with just three minutes remaining in the game. But a late surge by the Toms saw Owen Bradley shave the lead down to one and when Ollie Dowling sent the equalizer over on the second-to-last play of the game, no one could complain with this result.

Connemara 0-11, Shannon 0-6

In the first senior football game of the afternoon, Connemara Gaels outdueled Shannon Blues. At the half, the sides were level at three points apiece. The Blues had most of the play in the half, but with 10 wides it left the Gaels off the hook. John Burke (2) and Cathal Goulding (1) scored for the Blues, while Mike Bryant, Steve Conway and Mark Lukeman had points for the Gaels, with Lukeman’s point the best score of the game, running right through the Blues defense.

In the second half, the Gaels took over and ran out easy winners.

Donegal 0-12, Wolfe Tones 0-8

In the second senior game, Donegal were four points better than the Wolfe Tones, who came into this game badly needing a win after consecutive losses to Mayo and McAnespies. After 30 minutes of play, they were well in the hunt, just down by 1, at 6 to 5, with points by Mick Salmon (2) Ken Daly (2) and Gary Woods (1). Donegal’s scores came from Mickey Ward (3, two frees), Michael McGinty (2) and Paul Friel (1), with some excellent defense by both teams.

The second half started well for The Tones, with points by Ken Daly and Joe Mooney and Mick Salmon hitting the crossbar, and six minutes into the half they were ahead by one. Ricky Rush tied it up for Donegal and it looked like we were in for a game of it. But an ugly brawl broke out 15 minutes into the half, lasting three or four minutes. When the game restarted, Ward and Woods traded points and the sides were level with just seven minutes remaining.

The Tones had two shots on goal only to be denied by goalie Dominick McGlinchey. While at the other end Donegal added four points by McGinty, Gary Gormley, Fergal Hanna and Darren Rock.

Other games

Donegal were to make it a double when their juniors won going away over a short-sided Mayo team on a score of 5-12 to 0-6.

€ In Junior Hurling Galway beat Fr. Tom Burkes 1-15 to 2-9.

€ In women’s football, the league’s new club, Waterford, held Tir na nOg to a 2-3 to 1-6 draw.