February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
The New York ladies held their 6th annual seven-a-side tournament on Saturday. The weather conditions were near perfect on the day. With two teams traveling from San Francisco and Boston, the competition was tough and, in the end, it was Cavan vs. Mayo.
The teams were divided into three divisions as follows:
Division 1: Fog City Harps B (SF), Fermanagh (NY), Na Fianna (NY)
Division 2: Boston Shamrocks B, Monaghan (NY), Mayo (NY), Boston Shamrocks A
Division 3: Donegal (NY), Cavan (NY), Leitrim (NY) Fog City Harps A (SF).
Final
Follow us on social media
Keep up to date with the latest news with The Irish Echo
Cavan 2-7, Mayo 2-6
The final was a repeat of last year’s with Mayo hoping to retain their title won last year.
Despite all the games they’d played throughout the day, both teams played their hearts out and those who stayed to watch were not disappointed.
Mayo were first off the scoreboard with a point and a goal shortly afterward from Ellen McGrail who seemed to be everywhere.
Cavan edged back with points from Claire Bennett and Mary Maguire.
Mayo added another one with a point from Joanne McKenna.
Cavan’s Karen Shalvey put a point over and finished the half ahead by a point with a goal from Rosie O’Reilly in the dying minutes.
In the second half, Mayo were again first to score with points from Joanne McKenna and Ellen McGrail.
Cavan were not letting go and worked themselves back with a point from O’Reilly and two points from Shalvey.
Mayo’s McKenna sisters added a point each to level the game.
With Cavan on the attack for the final couple of minutes, a point from O’Reilly and a goal from Shalvey finished Mayo’s hopes.
Cavan: Claire Bennett 0-1, Mary Maguire 0-1, Karen Shalvey 1-3, Rosie O’Reilly 1-2.
Mayo: Ellen McGrail 1-2, Joanne McKenna 1-3, Cathy McKenna 0-1.
Louie O’Hehir Memorial Shield
In the Louie O’Hehir Memorial Shield, Fog City A went through to the final after finishing on 5 points.
Fermanagh and Monaghan finished on 4 points each. A penalty shoot-out decided who took the other place in the final which Monaghan won.
In the final, Fog City Harps meant business with a great all round team effort. Their fitness level was evident as they kept going for the 30 minutes as if it were their first game of the day.
Monaghan tried hard to curtail their opponents but hadn’t enough left but they put up a good fight to the final whistle.
Fog City Harps: Irene Maye, Carmel Conway, Sinéad Morgan, Marie Kavanagh, Linda Woo, Bridget Liston, Laura Wall, Aisling Bryant, Nickie Early, Tish Campbell, Julie McInerney.
Monaghan: Margaret White, Deirdre Gethins, Marie Flood, Breda McCrohan, Kate McEntee, Norma McCarthy, Frances Brennan, Catherine Donohoe, Sandra Swinburne, Varina Carey, Kelly McAnnelly, Ann Dowling.
Barry Fitzgerald Cup
Semifinals
In the semifinals, Na Fianna, Boston Shamrocks A, Cavan finished top in their divisions with Mayo finishing the next highest in points from all the divisions to fill the fourth spot.
Cavan 2-4, Boston Shamrocks A 2-2
This was a close match with Boston Shamrocks A in the lead at half time 1-1 to Cavan’s 0-1.
The second half was tit for tat as Cavan bridged the gap in the scoreline. Shamrocks didn’t give up and fought back to go ahead again, but in the end Cavan prevailed and finished out on top by 2 points.
Mayo 2-9, Na Fianna 3-3
Mayo dominated the first half leaving Na Fianna scoreless to their 1-4.
In the second half, Na Fianna found a second wind and fought back to give a much closer game, but Mayo weren’t letting go of a place in the final and finished ahead by just two points at the final whistle.