February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
New York Ladies GAA will hosts their Shield final and the semifinals of the Sean Flaherty Championship on Sunday at the Rockland Psych field, with the semi winners playing for the title the following Sunday in Gaelic Park.
Monaghan and Rockland will contest the Shield final at 1 p.m. These teams have met twice already this year with Rockland winning both.
Monaghan manager Declan Henry has his sights on a victory and will look for a full team effort with continued solid performances from Norma McCarthy, Trina Wall, Noreen O’Reilly, Frances Brennan, Marie Flood, Mary Nash, and Catherine Donohoe.
Rockland will hope to take the title which they lost to Ciarrai last year. They will pin their hopes on Kerry Ann Galvin, Mags Dineen, Cathy Dunleavy, M’bh Brennan, Shauna Flynn, Coleen McElroy and Kelly Gorman.
In the first semi, at 2:30 p.m., seven-time winner Cavan and Mayo will square off. Although Cavan have notched up a few more victories, Mayo are one of the few teams to taken championship points from Cavan, which they did in 1995. Cavan are famous for turning a game around in the last few minutes, and if Mayo intend to overcome the reigning champions, they cannot let their guard down until the final whistle.
In last year’s Anne Kearney cup final, Cavan emerged victors over Mayo, scoring a point in the dying seconds. Mayo got a consolation prize later in the 7-a-side when they beat Cavan in the final. While all star Ger Mahon is still on the injured list, she may be ready to return.
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Cavan have an all round solid panel and with the skills of Rosie O’Reilly, Gillian Bennett, Catherine Russell, Caroline O’Sullivan, Justine Clifford, Olive Wilson, Karen Shalvey, and Louise Fox.
Mayo Manager Eamonn Duffy has many skilled players to choose from in Ellen and Ann Marie McGrail, Sharon Gallagher, Mary P. Toolan, Eilish Doherty, Teresa O’Malley, Fiona Ward, Joanne and Cathy McKenna .
The other semifinal, which gets under way at 4, features Na Fianna and Leitrim. This should be a close encounter as Na Fianna have shown tremendous improvement in the last couple of championship games, in particular their draw with Mayo last Tuesday evening. This is the same semifinal clash as last year when, to Leitim’s horror, Na Fianna emerged victorious to go on and met Cavan in the final. They also met in this years Anne Kearney Cup semifinal, where Leitrim had a comfortable win and went on the take the title.
Leitrim will look for another all-around team effort with continued great performances from Sadie Bolger, Ann Marie McMunn, Colette McElligot, Eiblish Dineen, Pat Meade, Kathleen Hickey, Debbie Murphy, Clare Tracey and Moira Grogan.
Na Fianna’s manager, Peter Brennan, will be counting on the skills of Alison Lineen, Caroline Conway, Michelle Davis, Marie Curran, Grace Kelly, Mary McEvoy and Ann Ryan.