NY GAA: Leitrim display determination in upset

Cavan were first on the board when Garreth Smith drove over a mighty free out near the sideline after seven minutes had elapsed. Leitrim responded with a well taken free by Alan McFadden after a short delay while McFadden requested a new football to replace the soft ball that had been in play.
The early exchanges favored both sets of backs as tight marking left the forwards little room to operate and scores were at premium.
Leitrim’s defense had a different look to it with the Power’s brothers in unusual roles. Kieran played in goal and Aiden was in a new position at full back. Cavan also switched up a bit with David Rooney starting at fullback and Thomas Pierce starting at center back. That lasted almost until half time, before the two reverted to their more accustomed roles.
By then Cavan trailed 0-5 to 0-2, a poor showing for a side with as much firepower as Cavan possesses.
The credit goes to the rearranged Leitrim defense with Power’s and all the backs particularly corner back Kevin Fitzgerald and Fergal Griffin to the fore. Fitzgerald and Griffin kept Paddy Smith and John Paul Smith under wraps with the two dangermen registering a lone Paddy Smith point between them on this afternoon.
Harte, who along with Aiden Power and Cavan’s Dennis McCarthy, were playing back-to-back matches after hurling in the previous game, and McFadden accounted for all of Cavan’s points in a 0-5 to 0-2 first half.
Cavan were more lively on the restart with super-sub Shane Russell starting things off with a point in the opening seconds. Michael Griffin’s hard work set up Paddy Smith for his point as Cavan closed to within a goal.
Harte pointed a free and Garreth Smith replied with a Cavan point from over 50 yards. Leitrim regained the initiative with a point from wingback Neil McGuire after hard work from Alan McFadden, Then Leitrim’s veteran corner forward Kieran Keaveney put a little space between the sides with an unlikely goal. Keaveney lofted a high left-footed shot toward the Cavan goal that looked to be drifting wide. But Keaveney never gave up on the ball and his fisted effort found the net.
Leitrim had almost no time to enjoy their cushion as full forward Ryan McCormack earned a penalty that Garreth Smith blasted to the twines. Cavan kept up the pressure with points from Cormac Kelly and another from a Garreth Kelly free to tie it all up with eight minutes remaining.
Billy Harte pointed a free and that set the stage for his late game heroics. A long Alan McFadden pass was cleverly flicked on by Keaveney, bouncing into Harte’s path. Harte coolly waited for the ball to settle, and then as Tommy Smyth says on ESPN, he put in “the old onion bag.”
Man of the Match: Billy Harte.
Leitrim: Kieran Power, Seamus Ivers, Aiden Power, Kevin Fitzgerald, Michael Griffin, Fergal Griffin, Neil McGuire (0-1), Danny O’Sullivan, Noel O’Donovan, Conor Brosnan, Alan McFadden (0-2, 2 fr), Paul Murray, James McFadden, Billy Harte (1-5, 2 fr), Kieran Keaveney (1-0) Sub: Andy O’Connor.
Cavan: Kieran Traynor, Steve Maloney, David Rooney, Paul Crossan, James McIntyre, Thomas Pierce, Dennis McCarthy, Sean Lordan, Cormac Kelly (0-1), Alan Carrollan, JP Smith, Garreth Smith, (1-4, 1 peno, 3 fr), Fergal Shannon, Ryan McCormack, Paddy Smith (0-1), Subs: Paul Brogan, Shane Russell (0-1), Colm Shannon.
Referee: Mike Fitzpatrick.

NJ/Kilkenny hurl to win

Senior Hurling
New Jersey/Kilkenny 0-16 Connecticut State 0-14

New Jersey/Kilkenny came into this Senior Hurling match against the undefeated defending champions Connecticut State, badly in need of a win to keep their playoff hopes alive and impressively got the job done.
The Combo side imported weekenders Joe Ganty from Galway and Ken McGrath from Waterford and it was the Waterford county star that was the difference on this hot summer Sunday in the Bronx.
The defending champions were always playing from behind after briefly leading from Aiden Power’s opening point. That lead was short lived as the Jersey Cats struck back with two frees from ace free-taker David Greene sandwiched around McGrath’s opening entry into the score sheet.
Connecticut answered with a Bonny Kennedy point after he had been fouled but although the Connecticut scoring machine notched 0-9 he never really took over this match in the way New York Hurling fans, and his Connecticut team have come to expect.
Partial credit for Bonny’s relatively quiet match goes to Matthew Fitzgerald, NJK’s energetic corner back, but it also may be that Bonny was uncomfortable playing in the corner rather than his more accustomed position on the wing.
Connecticut had good reason to play Kennedy closer to goal, hoping that he would get on the end of weekend goalkeeper Aiden Ryan’s massive puck outs. The Galway import consistently drove the sliothar to the opposition’s 21-yard line. If Ryan plays many more matches in Gaelic Park it will be interesting to see if this goalkeeper can point from a long-range free.
With Bonny somewhat subdued, Connecticut’s attack was less then dynamic and McGrath sparked NJK to a 0-8 to 0-5 lead in a low scoring first half.
Connecitcut stormed out after the intermission with three points in the first three minutes after referee John Hennessey’s throw in. Connecticut’s flurry tied the match and it stayed level as Greene and Bonny Kennedy exchanged points.
The Combo edged two points ahead on a free from McGrath and a point from Dennis McCarthy but the champions came right back with a Cyril Donnellan point from a difficult angle and another free from Bonny.
McGrath then pointed after being fouled hard by Phil Wickham, who earned a yellow card for his transgression.
NJK pushed out to a three-point lead with the game turning angry as NJK’s Cathal McKeever and Connecticut’s Ollie O’Neill mixing it up and going into the referee’s book. Bonny went for a goal with five minutes left but corner back Tom Guillane was up to the task, parrying the shot for a 70, which Kennedy converted.
Connecticut were only down by two points when Bonny’s blast was deflected over the lathe by emergency keeper Ronan Sheedy for Bonny’s only point from play on the day.
Fittingly McGrath had the last word with the final point of the match in a man-of-the-match performance.
Man of the Match: Ken McGrath.
NJ/Kilkenny: Ronan Sheedy, Tom Guillane, Matthew Fitzgerald, Tadgh Healy, Joe Ganty, Robert Conlon, Declan Hogan, Cathal McKeever, Eammon Collins, Ken McGrath (0-10, 5 fr), Denis McCarthy (0-1), Nicky Kenny (0-1), David Greene (0-4, 2 fr).
Connecticut: Aiden Ryan, Conor Crotty, Billy Dwyer, Eammon Walsh, Fergus Flynn, Brendan Dooley, Niall Cullinane (0-1), Mike Broderick, Aiden Power (0-2), Cyril Donnnellan (0-2), Keith Hennessey, Phil Wickham, Bonny Kennedy (0-9, 6 fr, 2 70)
Referee: John Hennessey.

Monaghan’s heart broken in loss

Senior Football Div. B
Sligo 1-11 Monaghan 0-13

With the clock ticking down the final seconds of this sea-saw match and a draw looking likely, tenacious defense from Sligo wingback Dean O’Connor won the ball from a Monaghan defender. Mike Creegan scooped up the loose ball and fired over the winning point from a tough angle to break Monaghan’s heart.
Monaghan will be kicking themselves after giving a performance worthy of a draw in Sunday’s unusual Senior Football B opener.
With the B’s more accustomed to the 5 p.m. starts both teams started slowly with the scoreboard remaining blank until Nestor Allen’s 9th minute point for Monaghan.
Mike Creegan equalized two minutes later with a touch of foreshadowing when the Sligo corner forward pointed from a difficult angle. Monaghan were a bit short handed and had to turn to veteran Tony McKenna between the posts. McKenna didn’t let the side down and his save in the 13th minute robbed John Cribben and kept Monaghan out of an early hole.
Both sides got contributions from U-21 county men out on sanctions. Sligo had Down’s Paddy Feeney and John McAreavey at center back and center forward while Monaghan countered with home county U-21’s wing forward Peter Dooley and full forward Andrew Cullen. The two Monaghan players are nephews of New York Chairman Seamus Dooley and they represented the family name well.
The Yeats County side tallied the last two scores of the half on a free from McAreavey and a fine point from their classy veteran Enda Henry to break open a 0-4 to 0-4 tie and lead by two points at the half.
That lead was quickly erased on the restart when Cullen fired over three straight points and then fed midfielder Paul McGlynn whose point put the Farney men in front 0-8 to 0-6.
After another good point from Henry, Cullen added his fourth point in the opening eight minutes of the second half and then after McGlynn fielded well at midfield, Cullen fed his cousin Dooley as Monaghan went a goal clear.
It was beginning to look as though Monaghan had found the recipe for their first win of the season but one big Sligo move and suddenly the match was level. Creegan made a fine sliding catch and quickly shuffled the ball to Tomas Maher. Maher fed McAreavey in full flight and the Sligo center forward blasted a drop kick that was never going to be stopped.
With 18 minutes still to play it was suddenly Sligo that were on the rise. Maher was doing a lot of useful running from his midfield spot and McAreavey and Cribben were dangerous. Points from those two, nosed Sligo in front with Maher pointing off a good break from O’Connor with ten minutes to play.
It looked like the fates might be smiling on Monaghan when a long Damien Ward pass overshot its intended target, Cullen, and bounced over the bar. Cullen equalized with eight minutes to play when he pointed after drawing the foul.
Then Allen was dragged down and Cullen tapped over the free for his seventh point of the afternoon and Monaghan were back on top with just seven minutes remaining.
Sligo leveled through a McAreavey free after he had misfired on several doable frees. A draw looked to be a fair result but the last minute heroics by O’Connor and Creegan were Sligo’s way of saying fairness be damned.
Man of the Match: Andrew Cullen, Monaghan.
Sligo
Dermot Fleming, Damien Drake, James Walsh, Paddy Brennan, Hughie Garrett, Paddy Feeney, Dean O’Connor, Enda Henry (0-2), Tomas Maher (0-1), Eammon Duffy, John McAreavey (1-5, 3 fr), Conor Healy, John Cribben, Robbie O’Neill, Mike Creegan (0-3) Sub Gavin Carr.
Monaghan
Tony McKenna, Willie Dempsey, Pat Lyons, Ronan Gogarty, Damien Ward (0-1), Lonan Maguire, Paddy Skeath, Ron Scott, Paul McGlynn (0-1), Peter Dooley (0-1), Declan McAleer, Nestor Allen (0-2), Willie Dempsey (0-1), Andrew Cullen (0-7, 3 fr), Keith Daly.
Referee: Donie O’Sullivan.

Tyrone’s loss hard to take

Senior Football Div. B
Cork 5-6 Tyrone 1-14

Tyrone, well into their second season in a row without a win fell to their fourth loss of the 2005 season to a superior Cork team in Sunday’s night cap at Gaelic Park.
For Tyrone and their supporters in New York so accustomed to success throughout the years, this must be tough to take. But they may find some small consolation in how their side scrambled back into this match after trailing 5-5 to 0-7 ten minutes into the second half.
Cork led 3-2 to a point in the opening stages of the second half, and Tyrone looked well beaten. Cork’s second goal, from Eioin Coveney, left Tyrone standing and watching and Tyrone looked dead and buried.
But Tyrone had more pride than that and slowly began to play their way back into the match. Undoubtedly, Cork became sloppy as they played with the big lead, but with Ward, Martin McCreesh, and Barry McElduff, sprung from goal after half time, leading the way Tyrone outscored Cork 1-7 to 0-1 over the final 20 minutes.
Cork’s 13-point lead shrunk to a too close for comfort 0-4 and although Cork came away with two valuable points, Tyrone, despite yet another loss, did not emerge empty handed.
Man of the Match: Eammom Collins.
Cork: Brian McGonigle, Tom Gilvenane, Enda Lally, Con Breen, Sean Healy, Sean Hanley, Robert Conlon, Tadgh Healy, Tadgh Foley (0-1), Barry Hannahan, Tadgh Collins (0-1), Mike McCarthy (1-0), Ed Cleary, Eoin Coveney (2-2, 1 fr), Eammon Collins (2-2), Subs: Stephen O’Shea, Colm Murphy, Paul O’Connor, Tim O’Sullivan.
Tyrone: Barry McElduff (0-1), Mark O’Neill, Steven Mullan, Declan Campbell, Mick McQuade, Liam Briody (0-1), Conor Skeffington, Paul Scannell (1-0), Pat Maguire, Peter McNamee, Martin McCreesh (0-2), Conor Meenan, Gary Donnelly, PJ Ward (0-10, 5 fr), Barry McNamee.