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Minor Board Roundup: N.Y. U-14s fall in semis

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

All New York GAA followers can be very proud of their under 14 team. These boys succeeded in reaching the semifinal of this All-Ireland Under-14 tournament, held July 4 weekend in Donegal.

The festivities began with a parade through Ballybofey when112 teams consisting of nearly 3,000 players made their way to McCumhaill Park, where GAA President Joe McDonagh welcomed all the teams. The teams participating were the club champions of all 32 Irish counties, the host Donegal clubs, teams from San Francisco, London, Leeds, Warwickshire and Glasgow.

New York’s first-round opponents were their host Glenswilly. The visitors overwhelmed their younger opponents, 6-11 to 0-1. The tournament games were played with two 15-minute halves and each group consisted of four teams. Teams advanced on win-loss records, and in the event of similar records, aggregate scores determined who advanced to the next round.

New York faced Robert Emmetts of Donegal next and again had a resounding victory by a score of 8-10 to nil.

Although New York’s first two games were relatively easy, all involved knew that a tougher series of games lay ahead. In the quarterfinal, they met Waterford county champions Ardmore. This was a titanic battle with the New York boys winning by 1-7 to 1-3. This game tested the New York boys and brought out the best in them. Their character and poise helped them to withstand all attempts by the Waterford lads to snatch a last gasp victory. Spurred on by this gallant win, we traveled to Burt, Co. Donegal, for a semi-final match. There they faced a fine team from Rhodes, Co. Offaly. New York were defeated 1-11 to 0-4.

In the semifinal, New York were outclassed by their Leinster rivals, but on three occasions New York forwards hit the crossbar. The Offaly boys then went on to win the final on Sunday.

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Other games on the tour included friendly matches in Birmingham, England, Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim and Leixlip, Co. Kildare.

The New York players were Craig Gambardella, Andrew Donoghue, James Donahue, Brian Meaney, Edward Sheeran, Declan Neville, Shane Hogan, Chris Mangan, Sean Farrelly, Mark Capezuti, Dave Ryan, Dave Hannon, John McArdle, Greg Loftus, Shaun Dunne, Eamon Duffy, Luke Fitzpatrick, James Huvane, Matt Brady, Mike Sullivan, Sean Murphy, Anthony Goodwin and Doug Brady.

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