New York GAA: All Stars handle New York selection

By Mike Fitzpatrick

All Stars 2-9, N.Y. Selection 1-7

Despite possessing the considerable talents of Ger Mahon, Catherine McAteer from Philadelphia and the likes of Karen Shalvey and Ger Finn, the New York selection were often outclassed and eventually soundly beaten by an All Star panel Sunday at Gaelic Park.

Mahon herself opened the scoring in the opening minutes of the first half with a fine solo effort that whistled over the bar from a seemingly awkward angle. Seconds later, the All Stars found themselves another point behind thanks to the midfield artistry of Lisa McGirr, who jinxed through the All Stars defense to register her only point of the game. The All Stars, however, soon got to grips with this early onslaught and began to rack up a score themselves. A clever move involving Kathy McKenna, found Tracey Rice on route to goal with a score at her mercy. She did not disappoint and her effort cruised over the bar to register a point for the All Stars.

This produced a flurry of action on behalf of the All Star forwards. Receiving the ball from a combination of moves involving Sharon Levins and Kathy McKenna, Rice found herself in front of goal with only New York’s goalkeeper, Ann Murray, to beat. She did not hesitate and rifled the ball home from close range for the first goal of the game. The ball had hardly left the New York penalty area after this when Rice took advantage of a defensive mix up among the New York back line, to slot the ball past the helpless Murray for her second goal only a minute after scoring her first.

As if that flurry of excitement were not enough, the All Stars introduced the skillful Rosie O’Reilly at half time, much to the chagrin of the New York backs. O’Reilly immediately got in on the scoring with two points in rapid succession, before being involved in the final pass that resulted in the determined effort of Joanne McKenna going over the bar to give the All Stars a 2-4 to 0-2 lead.

Ciara Holland snatched a point back for New York against the run of play, and the All Stars replied in force. A series of brave challenges from Ellen McGrail and Alison Lineen in midfield resulted in the ball spending far more time in the New York side of the pitch. Kathy McKenna and the lightening quick O’Reilly took full advantage of this and proceeded to score three points between them without reply. Eileen McElroy came on for the New York ladies and added some bite up front scoring a point and having a hand in the move which saw herself and Ger Mahon attacking the All Stars goal with a series of efforts. One Mahon point resulted from this activity, and the ball was scrambled over the line after a Mahon shot was fumbled and sent over as an own goal, which unfortunately proved to be too little too late for the New York side.

The second half finished in much the same way as it had started. Rosie O’Reilly continued to run amok and scored a final point for herself after having been involved in the build up that resulted in her teammate Rice scoring her second and her team’s ninth point. Despite a dogged display from the New York selection, the day belonged to the All Stars.

All Stars: Mary McEvoy, Fiona Ward, Olive Wilson, Joanne Hoeninger, Sharon Gallagher, Mary Tolin, Kerri Ann Galvin, Ellen McGrail, Alison Lineen, Siobhan Neville, Justine Clifford, Joanne McKenna, Sharon Levins, Tracey Rice, Kathy McKenna. Sub, Rosie O’Reilly.

All Stars scorers: Rice 2-2, O’Reilly 0-5, J. McKenna 0-1, K. McKenna 0-1.

New York: Ann Murray, Celia Ruane, Theresa O’Malley, Sadie Bolger, Ger Mahon, Monique Slevin, Marie Flood, Deirdre Feeney, Catherine McAteer, Lisa McGirr, Ciara Holland, Pat Meade, Ger Finn, Karen Shalvey, Theresa O’Malley. Sub, Eileen McElroy.

New York scorers: Mahon 0-2, McGirr 0-1, Holland 0-2, McElroy 0-1, McAteer 0-1, OG 1-0.