February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Mike Fitzpatrick
An almost carnival atmosphere at Gaelic Park Sunday witnessed one of the most exciting games in recent New York GAA history. Fourteen-man New York showed courage, attitude and an amazing never-say-die attitude in bringing themselves back from the dead in clinching this tie versus an Army side that included among their ranks several holders of Provincial Championship winners medals, All-Ireland Senior Championship winners, and even the odd All-Star recipient. Indeed, a 1-14-all draw versus an Army side that recently beat New York’s opponents in the All-Ireland next month, Mayo, by a comfortable 7 points, bodes very well for the future of this team.
The games was the second of the weekend for the squads. In the rain on Friday night, New York succumbed, 1-12 to 1-7.
Opening with renditions of Amhran na bhFiann (performed by Paddy Whelan) and The Star Spangled Banner (by Anne Marie Hennessy Levine) and with representatives from all the Irish and Irish American media in attendance the game had a lot of expectations to live up to. Nobody in the crowd went home disappointed. The game opened up with a flurry of activity in the New York side of the field, with the Army’s Kevin Earley shooting wide early on, then Eddie McDonagh and Padraig Brennan forcing themselves through the New York backline to shave the post with a couple of efforts.
Midway through the first half there was a series of scares for New York, with the Army’s Padraig Brennan shooting a couple of points and Mike Smith rebounding home a goal after a fabulous save from Eunan Doherty in the New York goal.
Jimmy Gavin and Brian Walsh shot wide for the Army, until New York finally started to find their feet. After a couple of efforts from Enda Henry and Eddie Murphy, New York finally got on the scoresheet thanks to a fine point from Eddie Murphy and a well-taken free from the boot of Edmund Cleary. Jerry Kelly and Neville Dunne shone in the New York backline preventing Gavin from scoring more points, but Ryan, Eddie McDonagh and Walsh scored points for the Armed Forces and the tie seemed to be slipping from the reaches of Frank Brady’s men. Dermot Earley was carried off injured with a seemingly damaged ankle and this turned out to be one of the game’s major turning points.
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New York delved deep into their resources with a stirring display in the latter stages of the first half and the capacity crowd at the Park were clearly witnessing something of a footballing renaissance. Gary Dowd was denied by Army goalkeeper Noel Finn, but then some great play from John Meehan resulted in Kieran Keaveney hitting a point for New York. Cleary hit one of the scores of the contest with a great point from a seemingly impossible angle, and then hit another that was knocked over by Finn for another point. New York were on fire. Bookings for Keaveney and Jimmy Gavin did little to spoil an exciting climax to the first half and Eddie Murphy of New York and the Army’s Costelloe concluded the scoring in the first half. The Army led New York by a score of 1-6 to 0-7 going into the interval.
Dubliner Gavin continued to perform like a man with a mission and furthered the Army’s lead after the break, and Walsh hit another for his side. A good defensive performance by the Army’s Anthony Rainbow blocked Cleary, until the Donegal man hit a free over the bar to narrow the gap. Enda Henry scored another point from a Keaveney free, and despite Keaveney being sent off for a second bookable offense, New York grabbed an equalizer to a tumultuous response in the stands thanks to Eddie Murphy. The equality of the tie was to be short-lived, however, and the Army’s Walsh scored a free to put the Army ahead once more. The Army continued to attack, with the on-form Anthony Rainbow unluckily hitting a post, and Gavin scoring another point. Enda Henry leveled the tie for a second time, until that man Gavin put his side ahead once more. Gavin hit another effort, which after a discussion with the umpires, referee Seamus Pryor deemed to be wide.
The Army then displayed a move which would not seem out of place at a Croke Park final, a string of hand passes from the halfback line, involving Gavin, subs Caimin Keane and Enda McGuane and Walsh, resulted in a fantastic point for Mark O’Connor. Walsh hit another to give the Army a 5-point lead, and with time running out New York seemed to be losing their grip of the tie. The home side had done some rearranging of their lineup, and with Keith Hennessy and Pierce Coyle coming on, the fresh legs made a huge difference. Hennessy hit a point, and along with an effort from Donal Breslin, the deficit was down to three points.
New York needed a goal — and they got one. Persistence paid off, with substitute Coyle, compensating for an earlier miss by slamming the ball into the back of the "onion bag" (thanks Tommy Smith) for a goal to level the tie at a late stage. Jimmy Gavin gave the Army a late lead with yet another point, but against the odds Eddie Dowd hit one over the bar to level the tie against the hugely impressive Armed Forces. The whistle blew and the crowd roared. These little town blues have melted away. Welcome to New York.
New York: Eunan Doherty, Gerry Kelly, Sean Teague, Neville Dunne, Donal Breslin (0-1), Owen Cummins, Joe Cassidy, John Meehan, Gary Dowd (0-2), Kieran Keaveney (0-1), Enda Henry (0-2), Mike Martin, Edmund Cleary (0-5), Stephen Cassidy, Eddie Murphy (0-2). Subs: Danny O’Sullivan, Keith Hennessy (0-1), Pierce Coyle (1-0).
Armed Forces: Noel Finn, Niall Twomey, Mark O’Connor (0-1), Fergal Costelloe (0-1), Anthony Rainbow, John Finn, Paddy Maher, Dermot Earley, Tom Ryan (0-1), Jimmy Gavin (0-4), Brian Walsh (0-4), Eddie McDonagh (0-1), Padraig Brennan (0-2), Mike Smith (1-0), Karol Boyle. Subs: Conor O’Shea, Nigel Campbell, Enda McGuane, Caimin Keane, Fergal Noone.