Gaelic Sports World Issue 29 July 4 2015

INSIDE THIS ISSUEALL GERMAN HURLING CLUB BORNPLUS: NEWS FROM: USA - AUSTRALIA - EUROPE - BRITAIN - ASIA• COPA FUTBAL GALICIA• ST. LOUIS CHAMPIONSHIP• SYDNEY LEAGUE FINALSISSUE 29 - July 4, 2015

FOREWORD FROM THE EDITOR GAELIC SPORTS WORLD When a seed is planted in fertile ground PUBLISHER: Denis O’Brien and gets plenty of nourishment and EDITOR: Denis O’Brien ART DIRECTION: Cathaoir Sóna attention thereafter, the resulting plant usually has a bright future. CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Catherine Fleming, Rory O’Donnell, Tommy Moran,Like anything new, great care and attention Cyril Iordanidis, Ronan Deane, Eamon Gormley, to detail is needed if there are to be Jamie Fitzsimons, Joe Trolan, Brian Clerkin, John Simcoe. positive results in the long-term and in this issue of the magazine we feature a new CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: entity, a hurling entity in the country of Germany that possesses all of the early Rory O’Donnell, Marie Walsh, Jerry Hess, Peter Marney traits for success. Legal info. Darmstadt GAA, a new hurling club at the German college, Technische Universität in Gaelic Sports World does not warrant or assume any legal liability or respon- sibility for the quality, accuracy, completeness, legality, reliability or useful- Darmstadt, was formed last year but one ness of any information, product or service represented within our magazine of the things that separate this club from or associated websites and other delivery platforms. The information pro-more Irish diaspora orientated hurling clubs vided is for educational or entertainment purposes only. across Europe is that this one is all native, Disclaimer Notice: all German. The opinion expressed in each article is the opinion of its author and does The young German club played in its very not necessarily reflect the opinion of Gaelic Sports World Magazine. There- first hurling tournament last weekend and fore, Gaelic Sport World carries no responsibility for the opinion expressed did well. Its future looks good as this new thereon. Gaelic Sport World accepts no responsibility for the consequences sport on campus is attracting attention in of error or for any loss or damage suffered by users of any of the information and material contained in this Digital Magazine, associated website or any this rich environment of fit young adults other delivery platform you may access through this site. Gaelic Sports World eager to learn new things. Magazine is not responsible for the content or availability of any external or 3rd party sites and does not warrant or guarantee the products, services, or Editor, information found on these sites. Denis O’Brien Copyright Notice: No part of this magazine may be reproduced in whole or in part without writ- ten permission of the publisher. The information in this Digital Magazine is for information purposes only. Materials contained in this magazine are subject to copyright and other proprietary rights. Copyright ©2014 Gaelic Sports World. All rights reserved. COVER: Jacob Feldmann CONTACT: [email protected]

FEATURE CONTENTFrom small beginnings can come very big things and in 6 - 13our feature story this issue we tell the story of a brandnew hurling side at a German university, the first ever All 14 - 27German university hurling entity in the country. 28 - 35 36 - 39USA 40 - 45 46 - 49Despite poor weather the Boston NE GAA Championship 50 - 51ploughs on, Playoff Time in Indy and Championship 52 - 53Game report from St. Louis. 3AUSTRALIA Report on the New South Wales GAA League Finals andnews from Queensland GAA.EUROPE Marcos Gañete reports on the Copa Futbal Galicia ofGaélico and an exhibition of Gaelic Football in a veryspecial place.BRITAIN Herts GAA review to date, Robert Emmets on thecomeback trail in London, and ABC YouthChampionship preview.ASIA Full report on the 2015 All China Games.IRELAND HURLING Big Hurling Weekend Review.COACHING In lieu of his regular coaching piece, Joe Trolan pausesto reflect on the recent loss of life of GAA membersabroad and the meaning of the sports body for thoseliving overseas.

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ALL GERMAN HURLING TEAM IN DARMSTADTThe All German Darmstadt GAA hurling side at their first tournament last weekend in Dresden, Germany. Photo courtesy of JacobFeldmann.6

JULY 3, 2015BY DENIS O’BRIENLife can be complicated at times but of-ten it can be quite simple. Similarly, thesport of Hurling is sometimes viewedby those familiar as too complicated forothers, while those very others think‘heck it looks fun, it’s a sport, let’s play’.In Darmstadt, Germany, local studentsrecently found the sport, thought it ap-pealing and are now playing Hurling.Stick and ball games have been with ussince ancient times. Some 6000 yearsBC in the Mesopotamian region ofSumer (modern Iraq), where westerncivilisation is said to have begun, schol-ars inform that stick and ball gameswere played. Later in 1500 BC during Photo courtesy of Jacob Feldmann.the time of the Egyptian Pharaohs, a relief shows some- ing something raw, something basic. It’s a stick and ballone with a stick in one hand and a ball in the other. The game that looks somehow instinctive, somehow natu-sport of Hurling is a stick and ball game of ancient ori- ral, somehow fitting for human beings to play.gin and no doubt evolved over time into what is foundtoday in Ireland as the national pastime. For many Irish In the TG4 TV’s series this spring on the GAA in Amer-people the game itself represents Ireland, is Ireland. For ica ‘GAA USA’, student founder of the Stanford Univer-many, the game is sacred. sity Hurling Club, American John Mulrow put it this way - “If you give people a stick and a ball to play a sport,SIMILARITIES they would invent hurling first.”And, when those ‘other’s outside of Irish cultural bound- Having lived in America for almost 20 years, this scribearies see hurling for the first time they are amazed by has found Americans to be very practical people withthe general nature of the sport and immediately drawn an uncanny ability to be able to look at something thatin by its look, speed, skill levels, intensity, physicality appears complicated and break it down to its nuts andand scoring feats. The experience is akin to witness- bolts. They love to reverse engineer things and take 7

Photo courtesy of Jacob Feldmann. DISCOVERY OF ‘BEAUTIFUL’ GAMEcomplexity out of the equation. Though not by any It all began back in 2008 when Jacob Feldmann, to-means replicas, Germans are similar people. They re- day the founder and chairperson of the Darmstadtduce everything to understandable forms – the ultimate GAA Club at the Technische Universität in Darm-engineers. stadt, went to Ireland as an exchange student.German university student, Jacob Feldmann, says of the “I went for a student exchange in 2008/2009 to Carlowstick and ball game of hurling – “I made the experience in Ireland when I was 16 years old. This is where I firstthat people like the game a lot if they once got in contact got in contact with the game of hurling which I playedwith it … Locals in Germany don’t know yet that hurling in the garden and the neighbouring field with the chil-is the sport they want to play.” dren of my host family,” Feldmann told Gaelic Sports World this week. He began to get hooked even at thisMulrow and Feldmann understand instinctively what early age.they are looking at when they see and play hurling assomething that is natural for people to do – hit a small “I also followed the ‘All Ireland Championship’ on tel-ball with a stick out of your hand and off the ground as evision and watched the games as much as I could.hard and as accurate and efficiently as you can. When When I came back to Germany I had a hurl and apeople do that – say puck a ball 100 meters down a field sliotar in my luggage and told my friends about this– something clicks naturally within. It feels good. It beautiful game.”feels right. It feels natural, and enjoyable. Little wonderthen that a group of German university students upon Having grown up knowing ‘football’ or soccer as thediscovering the sport have taken to hurling in a big way. beautiful game in the land of the current world foot-And so, Darmstadt GAA is born.8

ball champions, Feldmann wanted to tell everyone CHANGEthat there is another beautiful game called Hurling. Things went like this until 2011 but then, as happensHe wasn’t put off by any perceived complexities, he in the world of education, students graduate or go onjust liked what he saw, and more, he liked playing. to other educational institutions and so the whole ef-He told others. fort, “fell apart when the members of the “Bad Homburg Club” started studying in different cities and moved away“Back then I was in an athletics club in Bad Homburg, from Bad Homburg.”my hometown [central Ger- But all was not lost as Jacobmany, just north of Frank- Feldmann had fallen forfurt] and convinced some of this new sport and wouldn’tmy team mates to get hurls let it slip from his graspthemselves and we always that easily. He next wentused the pitch after training to the city of Darmstadtfor some ‘pucking’ around,” to study at the Technischethe student explained. Universität Darmstadt but brought hurls and sliotarsGermany is renowned for with him.athletics and track andfield pursuits and indeed “I myself moved to Darm-all sports, but now a new stadt and started studyingsport was tugging at the mechanical engineering atheart strings of a young the TU Darmstadt. I alwaysGerman and pulling him still had hurling on my mindaway from maybe standing and still had many hurlson the athletics podium at and sliotars from the groupan Olympic Games to fol- of Bad Homburg.lowing something new and‘beautiful’.Back home in Germany, “With just a handful of play-he had searched for infor- ers from Bad Homburg -mation on options in Ger- who had started to study inmany to attend hurling Photo courtesy of Jacob Feldmann. Darmstadt as well- we start-matches or play it himself ed again at the very bottom and met up unregularly onand found out about the parent body for hurling and the field in front of the university,” stated Feldmann.the GAA in Europe, the GAA European County Board(ECB). Contact was made with the ECB and hurls were Then the magic started to happen with one thing lead-procured and so for the next two years, Feldmann and ing to another as more and more players started to tryhis friends pucked around at their athletics field, train- out hurling. It was time to talk to university officialsing was developed and the process of learning began. about maybe starting a ‘hurling’ club. 9

“We became more and more players and we started to The GAA scene in Germany in comparison to the Hol-talk to the ‘sports bureau’ or ‘Sports Council’ of our uni- land, Belgium, France and Spain has been rather sub-versity. The Sports Council ‘UniSport’ liked our idea and dued in that GAA clubs, mostly Gaelic football, like Mu-wanted to support the ‘exotic’ sport of hurling and made nich Colmcilles formed in 2001 and Frankfurt Sarsfieldsus part of their sports program in the summer of 2014,” in 2008 have led the way. One would have expected aexplained Feldmann. greater degree of GAA club spread with Irish immi- grants to the European economic powerhouse that isCLUB STATUS Germany. However, just in the past 3-4 years new GAAThis was a very important development for the young clubs have sprung up in Dusseldorf GFC (2012), Dres-club as they now could get access to the sports facilities den GAA (2012),Cologne Celtics (2013), Augsburgat the university, but above all they could recruit more GAA, Bavaria, with Berlin Hurling and Darmstadt GAAand more players because now they were an official uni- taking root in 2014.versity sports club and published on the list of UniSport Now with 8 GAA clubs, Germany has already surpassedand open to all on the 25,000 student campus. the likes of Holland and Belgium in terms of numbers and the future could be very bright.At the beginning of 2015, the club became an officialGAA club of the European County Board, known as HISTORY AND FIRST TOURNAMENTDarmstadt GAA with Jacob Feldmann as chairperson. On Saturday in Dresden 10, the 3rd round of the Euro- pean Hurling Championship saw 6 teams in action fromToday the club trains twice a week at the TU Darmstadt 7 clubs. Reigning champions Belgium and Sweden’s Vi-university sports fields with more than 20 players at ses- king Gaels were the visiting teams alongside hosts Dres-sions and everyone, German.A local Irish pub became the Darmstadt (blue & white) in action against Berlin/Cologne in their first ever match at thesponsor of the fledging club to Dresden Tournament and came away with a victory. Photo courtesy of Jacob Feldmann.help with extra expenses andbuying jerseys. And so last Sat-urday, June 27th in Dresden,the Darmstadt GAA UniversityHurling Club took to the field ateam to play their first ever hurl-ing match. The occasion a truebaptism of fire for the first timersin that it was the third and pe-nultimate round of the Europe-an Hurling Championship andplaying against mostly Irish bornplayer teams and newer oneswith a mix of Irish and local.10

den, who themselves recently intro-duced hurling to the city, a Berlin/Cologne combo team, another newentity Bavaria and the all Germannewcomers, Darmstadt GAA.It was an historic moment as Darm-stadt side is the first entirely non-Irish team to play in the EuropeanHurling championships.Ahead of the tournament, the ex-citement of the players was evidentFeldmann told Gaelic Sports World.“We are definitely excited! For all of Photo courtesy of Jacob Feldmann.us this is the first hurling tournament The team was eager to learn from each game at the tour-EVER! Most never even attended one as a visitor,” he said. nament and make improvements where they could.“Yet, we don’t know what to expect and if the level of ourperformance will match with the other teams, we put all “Immediately after each game we talked about the wayconcerns aside and try to make the best of it. After all to the other team played. We analysed how our opponentsbe there and play is the best experience and exercise we played, how much we had to offer against them and whatcould get.” we could change,” enthused Feldmann.Most of the players had experience of training at the Others at the tournament were impressed at the newcom-university but with some only having actually started ers play and Feldmann was taken aback at the reaction.playing just this semester with three months of playingpractice. “We were surprised by the interest we got as an All-Ger- man team. The feedback was throughout positive and con-REACTION AND FUTURE structive. I remember the sentence - “we didn’t even knowDarmstadt did very well as an all German team coming you guys existed or where Darmstadt is but now you comein fourth place in the event behind, Dresden in third, Vi- here and play proper Hurling. And none of you is Irish”.king Gaels in second and winners Belgium. The Darm- ‘Proper’ or not, as others might like to call it, Darmstadtstadt side made the semi-finals where they lost heavily were playing Hurling, and putting on a good show.to Belgium and then lost 3/4TH playoff game to Dres-den. However, they did win their very first game against “To be honest we were also surprised by our own per-Berlin/Cologne by 4-1 to 2-2, a great achievement for formance, the challenge really helped us to overcomethe all German hurling team. our limitations,” noted the club’s chairperson. Feldmann thinks the tournament was an important step for the 11

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Photo courtesy of Jacob Feldmann. After the tournament Darmstadt discussed future pro- jects such as having a Camogie team and how to gainclub not only as a college sporting club but also a city more interest in Darmstadt and find more players.sporting entity. “The goal of the university club is to promote hurl-“The tournament will help us for the future. It was the first ing and Gaelic Sports among the students and intime we played together as a team against other teams. the area of Darmstadt and“We were able to present our- give especially beginners andselves, which raised a lot of at- people to whom the GAAtention here in Darmstadt and was yet unknown the oppor-might bring us some new players. tunity to play and practiceAlso we finally know now how it the sport.”is to play a real Hurling matchand we learned a lot from that,” The Darmstadt GAA univer-Feldmann stated. sity club could thrive in an en- vironment of young fit adultsThey also began the process of eager to learn new things andbuilding team or ‘mannshaft’ take sports like hurling to newthrough the tournament. audiences eager to go out there and just play the game. And,“Last but not least, we were able like all sports, and Hurlingto spend a whole weekend togeth- is no different, the more oneer as a team and play as a team. plays the less complicated itThere is no better way to generate becomes.a team spirit than in that way!” 13

INDIANAPOLISJUNE 30, 2015CONNOR’S TOP TEAMFOR PLAYOFFS It’s been a busy time over the pasttwo weekends for the IndianapolisGaelic Athletic club as last weekendwe had the final round of the HurlingLeague to determine the playoff pic-ture and the prior week the biggestever gathering of teams for the an-nual Indy Invitational Tournament.The Indy Invitational attracted arecord number of teams from acrosssix states and featured the codes ofHurling, Gaelic Football and Camo-gie. We review how things went in Connor’s Pub Team went unbeaten through the regular season - can they do the samethis event a little later but first it’s to through the Playoffs? Photo: Indy GAA.the home-grown action of last Sun-day at Eugene Burns Field with all 9 league teams battling it In the opening game 2 Gingers Whiskey had an impressiveout in the last round for playoff seeding’s. win over third seed Triton Brewing and seal 6th place. Con- nor’s in the first of their two games defeated Pogue’s Run Gro-Going into the final week Connors Pub, the only unbeaten cer and later accounted for Renner’s & Nixon and so took theside in the competition, looked a lock for the No. 1 seed with No.1 spot and kept intact their unbeaten run. Healthsourcea record of 10 wins from 10 games and a double-header await- with victory over Nine Irish locked up the second seed whileing them last Sunday. The only thing was to see if they could Renner’s overturned Smoking Iron and these two meet againmaintain their fantastic winning streak through the regular before the Playoffs begin to determine the 8th and final team.season. The team with the second best record Healthsource This weekend Indy GAA take a break but will be back in ac-- 1 loss and 8 wins and 1 tie – had the No. 2 seed wrapped up tion for the Playoffs on July 12. The draw pits the all-conquer-even though they faced tricky opponents in Upland. ing Connor’s against Renner’s or Smoking Iron, with the No.14

1 seed heavy favourites to advance to the semis.Healthsource will be fancied to take care of 7th seedNine Irish but the No.3 side Triton face a tough as-signment in Two Gingers. The game of the Playoffscould be No. 4 Upland against No. 5 Pogues withthis one very hard to call.2015 INDY INVITATIONALSaturday, June 20th saw the return of the Indy In-vitational to the city’s brand new World Sports Parkwhere a magnificent 24 teams from 13 cities assem-bled for the annual tournament. Round-robin playwas the format with teams playing 11 a-side. This Indy League action. Photo: Indy GAA.new sports complex in Indianapolis has the bestinterests of Indy GAA and Gaelic Sports in mind as pristine JUNIOR A HURLINGgrass playing fields allowed for 4 full sized GAA pitches. Four teams took to the field in the topflight Junior HurlingGAELIC FOOTBALL event and they were Michael Cusacks from Chicago, St. Louis, Washington DC, and Indy. The Chicago side were the favour-Seven teams were in action in Men’s Gaelic Football – Cin- ites ahead of this event and they made it through to the finalcinnati, Chicago Parnells 1 & 2, St. Louis MO, Columbus where they met host’s Indy who had also impressed going un-OH, Louisville KY, Madison WI and host’s Indianapolis. The defeated. The decider was a back and forth affair with littletournament in general is for junior teams, but unfortunately, between the teams all through. Indy came from behind late onParnells arrived with many of the senior players and so it was to tie the game but Cusacks showed their strength when takingno surprise that both of their teams filled the last sides in the the lead in the final minutes and took the win.competition with no final played. JUNIOR C HURLING The second hurling competition was a com- petitive event featuring 8 teams with two teams from Indy and St. Louis, Madison, Ak- ron OH and young clubs Naperville IL, and Kalamazoo from Michigan.Indy player Chris Ludlow aiming for the posts he built. Photo: Indy GAA. Teams to shine here were Indy 2, St. Louis 2 and Hurling club of Madison. The Wisconsin side were the standout team in this competi- tion and they went on to beat St. Louis in the decider. 15

Camogie Champions Indianapolis. Photo Indy GAA. and Indy GAA secretary Brian Mathes, said that this year’s event was one of the most successful to date played on state ofCAMOGIE the art pitches. We had four teams in action in Camogie - St. Mary’s from “This tournament was terrific from top to bottom. The fieldsChicago, St. Louis, Indy and a selection from Naperville, were absolutely gorgeous and all the teams commented thatTennessee, and Atlanta. This event brought a victory for this was amongst the best fields that they had played in thethe home side Indy. They got their toughest match early on United States and perhaps even in Ireland. The setup was ter-against St. Louis but after that it was cruise control for the rific with 44 games on 5 different fields,” said Mathes.hosts as they went through the competition unbeaten. Theiropponent in the final was the combo side of Nashville, Ten-nessee and Atlanta with the home team coming out best.This annual tournament has been taking place since 2007,16

2015 INDY INVIATIONAL VIDEOBy JEREMY PUGH 17

BOSTON NORTHEASTJUNE 20 - 28, 2015RAINED OUT BUT NOTKNOCKED OUT Bad weather hindered Boston GAA on Sunday BY RORY O’DONNELLlast at Canton with games rained-out, still thefolk in Beantown did manage to get games in on Thankfully, last Saturday’s June 27th games went ahead.the Saturday and Rory O’Donnell reports on hap- In Junior A football Wolfe Tones and Donegal ended up allpenings and the prior week’s action. square at 3-6 to 1-12. At the break Donegal were ahead by a Another weekend of rain resulted in postpone- score of 1-7 to 1-3 and looked like the better team. The Tonesments of games, this time around the entire Sun- banged in an early second half goal and brought in some ex-day schedule. perienced horses in Edmund Carr and Kevin Gorham. Don- egal looked to Christy McLaughlin for the scores to maintainBoston Donegal in action. Photo: Rory O’Donnell. parity, and after the Tones kicked a third goal it took an injury18 time equalizer from McLaughlin to rescue the point for Donegal. Aidan McAnespies continue to do well in the Junior A competition with an eight point win over Gal- way on Field B. The Junior hurlers of Boston Tipperary and Fr. Tom Burke’s met with Tom’s coming out with a 2-12 to 1-12 win. Tipp had the better of it early on as Tom’s were slow to get out of the gates. Once they got going however, Tom’s did well all over the field. Terry Doran, Larry Guinan, and James Dooley did well in the back line to hold Tipp out and keep the play headed in the other direction. Two Tom’s goals in the final 15 minutes put some distance be- tween the teams in what was an otherwise close game. Tipp’s John Roche and Mark Jordan tried to life the side late in game, and a goal from a Roche free brought Tipp within a score Tom’s, but time was up at that stage.

Fr. Tom Burkes. Photo: Rory O’Donnell.SUNDAY JUNE 21, 2015 responded with a penalty conversion by Trevor Wallace and was followed by Darrage Roche with a second Blues goal.SENIOR FOOTBALL Kerry countered with added points, the pick of which was a Maurice Fitzgeraldesque effort from Croft from the sideline.SHANNON BLUES 2-15 O’Sullivan’s goal, Kerry’s third, restored the Kerry advantageBOSTON KERRY 4-09 to see them into half time on top. Kerry finally came away with reward for their efforts after The Blues picked it up in the second half with Greg Horana tremendously exciting game of senior football. Conditions key in the middle of the field. Kerry were unable to copewere poor following a night and morning of heavy rain, how- with the Austin Stacks man and the Blues enjoyed the vastever the teams coped well and there was some great football majority of possession. The Blues forwards made hay andand scores, with the lead changing hands and momentum outscored Kerry by 10 points to one over the first 17 min-swinging from one side to the other over the course of the utes of the second period. Roche put a couple of beautiful60 minutes. Kerry could have won it with some chances for efforts over the bar, Denis McElligott two from the wing,an insurance score in injury time, however the Blues took and Padraig O’Shea from wing back also got his name on theadvantage of the opportunity and Denis McElligott put the scoresheet.levelling point over the bar with the final kick of the game. Kerry were struggling to move the ball and resorted to short By the end of the first half, Kerry led by five points. Three kick-outs to try and find a way past what was like a solidgoals, one each from Robbie Croft, Shane O’Callaghan, and Blues wall. The Kingdom eventually had some success; aPhil O’Sullivan, put Kerry in the driver’s seat after the Blues Croft free and a point from play following a botched shorthad rattled off two quick points to open the game. The Blues kick-out brought Boston Kerry within two points. A fourth 19

goal for Kerry from O’Callaghan thema one point advantage heading into thelast 5 minutes. The sides traded points,Dwyer levelled for the Blues before Croftgot Kerry back up by one. Again theBlues levelled and Kerry got back aheadagain, this time it was Sean O’Driscoll.After Kerry failed to take advantage oftwo great chances for an insurance pointthe Blues salvaged the point with a DenisMcElligott score to finish the game andon the balance of things, a fair result.SENIOR HURLINGFR. TOM BURKE’S 0-14TIPPERARY 1-13 Boston Tipperary stole the points at Dennis McElligott in possession for the Blues, had the final say with the equalizing pointthe very end of this closely contested on Sunday. Photo: Rory O’Donnell.senior hurling match with a point ininjury time from none other than, Colm Galvin. Tom’s Tom’s had drawn level with the second half 15 minutes old.had overturned a half time deficit and turned it into a Determined play from corner backs Sean Og Lyons andlead in the final minutes only to see Tipp, who had been Conor Burgin cancelled out an attacking option for Tipp,largely out of the game in the run up to the final whistle, while Winters continued to hit the mark from the frees. Af-steal the show with late points from Andy McRedmond ter the sides traded 3 points apiece, Galvin missed his firstand Galvin. free of the day which looked like it was a bad omen. Tom’s hit three unanswered points afterwards to level the scores.A late flurry of scores for Tom’s meant that they wouldenter the second half just a goal in arrears after Tipper- With the game in the balance Tipp made a change, intro-ary had at one time a seven point lead. Colm Galvin was ducing Andy McRedmond into the full forward line foron the mark from the dead ball, and a goal from Michael Oisin Hickey in the hopes of getting some change in thatRyan at corner forward had Tipp in the driver’s seat af- department. Tom’s took Ronan O’Driscoll and Kevin Riceter 15 minutes. Tom’s struggled to find the target, the off the bench and onto the field. Rice won a free on theabsence of David O’Mahoney to a hamstring injury no 21 that Winters duly converted to provide Tom’s with thedoubt did not help. Paul Winters took the free taking lead, however, after missing two more frees Galvin levelledduties and as the half wore on started to find his range the scores with a fantastic effort from 50 yards out on theputting three on the trot over. Rob O’Sullivan and Ryan wing. Soon afterwards McRedmond found himself in acresalso got on the scoreboard for each side, and at the half it of space to put the leading point over the bar with 3 minuteswas a 1-7 to 0-7 Tipperary advantage. left on the clock. Galvin added an insurance in injury time.20

SENIOR FOOTBALL The Tones found belief in the second half and played with much more urgency and purpose. Marty Farrell provided theWOLFE TONES 1-11 finishing touch after the Tones capitalized on a turnover inAIDAN MCANESPIES 4-11 McAnespies own half. Four points on the trot followed and the Tones play had some spark to it throughout the field. Ci- A minutes silence was observed before the throw-in in aran Hurley and Farrell converted and although a comebackmemory of the victims of the Berkeley tragedy. was still a long shot, the turn in fortunes had some observers concerned. Chris Healy eventually broke the duck and point- By the end of the opening period McAnespies had built ed, the Kildare man found some room after an early ball intoup a healthy eleven point lead thanks to three goals and his corner to make it a clean 2 goal lead with 15 minutes left.some solid defending. Wolfe Tones struggled throughout,and the goals had an obvious dispiriting effect on the side. The sides traded scores to enter the final stretch and a goalHaving had a chance to regroup at the break the Tones was badly needed if the Tones were going to set up an excitingput in a far better performance in the second half, and finale. In spite of some slick passing moves out of defence,had McAnespies supporters shifting uncomfortably in the Tones could not find a route to goal as McAnespies backtheir seats for a bit. However, with the large lead and the line played it tight. Healy pointed with 5 minutes to go toability to spring a score when the Tones crept too close, make it a three score game, and the points now looked safeMcAnespies came out with a third win from three games. for McAnespies. An injury time goal embellished the result, and McAnespies must be feeling good with a 3 for 3 start to A blistering first half performance saw McAnespies into the championship.an 11 point lead at the break. Michael Day was the leaderin the middle of the field this week, andup front Chris Healy was in good formnetting a fine goal on the stroke of halftime having just missed an easier op-portunity a minute beforehand. Day opened the scoring with a point,and the Headford man was in for agoal 15 minutes later. McAnespiesfirst goal had an air of good fortuneabout it. Healy’s free from the 21 hitthe post and Danny Tallon was first onit to fire home from close range. TheTones labored to make any inroads,there were two fine scores from NeilFlynn and Dan McCabe, however,when faced with a McAnespies attackthe Tones had the look of a side thatwas resigned to its fate. Cronin Dempsey keeps things going Tipp’s way. Photo Rory O’ Donnell. 21

BOSTON NORTHEAST TABLESMENS SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPTEAM PLAYED WON DRAWN LOST POINTSAIDAN MCANESPIES 3 3 0 0 6DONEGAL 3 2 1 0 5SHANNON BLUES 3 2 1 0 5CHRISTOPHERS 2 1 1 0 3WOLFE TONES 4 1 1 2 3GALWAY 4 0 1 3 1KERRY 3 0 1 2 1CONNEMARA GAELS 2 0 0 2 0MENS JUNIOR A FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPTEAM PLAYED WON DRAWN LOST POINTSAIDAN MCANESPIES 2 2 0 0 4CONNEMARA GAELS 2 2 0 0 4DONEGAL 3 1 1 1 3WOLFE TONES 3 1 1 1 3CORK 2 1 0 1 2GALWAY 2 0 0 2 0SHANNON BLUES 2 0 0 2 0MENS JUNIOR B FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPTEAM PLAYED WON DRAWN LOST POINTSAIDAN MCANESPIES 2 2 0 0 4CORK 2 1 0 1 2DONEGAL 2 1 0 1 2HARTFORD 1 0 0 1 0SHANNON BLUES 1 0 0 1 0MENS SENIOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIPTEAM PLAYED WON DRAWN LOST POINTSFR. TOM BURKES 2 1 0 1 2GALWAY 1 1 0 0 2TIPPERARY 1 1 0 0 2WEXFORD 2 0 0 2 0MENS JUNIOR A HURLING CHAMPIONSHIPTEAM PLAYED WON DRAWN LOST POINTSBARLEY HOUSE WOLVES 1 1 0 0 2FR. TOM BURKES 1 1 0 0 2TIPPERARY 1 0 0 1 0WEXFORD 1 0 0 1 0WORCESTER 0 0 0 0 022

Wolfe Tones Mike O’Brien and keeper Pauric Miskell couldn’t prevent the out of picture Michael Day from fisting home McAnespies’ secondgoal. Photo: Rory O’Donnell.MENS JUNIOR C HURLING CHAMPIONSHIPTEAM PLAYED WON DRAWN LOST POINTSPORTLAND 3 3 0 0 6BARLEY HOUSE WOLVES 3 2 0 1 4WORCESTER 2 1 0 1 2HARTFORD 4 0 0 4 0LADIES SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPTEAM PLAYED WON DRAWN LOST POINTSBOSTON SHAMROCKS 0 0 0 0 0TIR NA NOG 0 0 0 0 0CONNACHT LADIES 0 0 0 0 0LADIES JUNIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPTEAM PLAYED WON DRAWN LOST POINTSBOSTON SHAMROCKS 0 0 0 0 0TIR NA NOG 0 0 0 0 0CONNACHT LADIES 0 0 0 0 0 23

ST. LOUISJULY 1, 2015MCGURKS TAKECHAMPIONSHIPThis year’s League Champs McGurk’s pictured here after their season opening win back in March. They were a happy bunch then and are evenhappier now after their St. Louis Championship victory last Saturday at St. Vincent park, St. Louis MO. Photo: St. Louis GAC. The McGurks Team were crowned St. Louis Summer Both teams were among the strongest in the league all season,Hurling League champions last weekend when they and their make-up included the majority of Americans with sev-proved too strong for O’Shay’s in a battling championship eral resident Irish-born players (not summer sanction players)game on Sunday at St. Vincent Park, St. Louis Missouri. who had proven to be valuable assets to their teams thoughtout.24

In getting to the decider,O’Shay’s the No. 4 seed pulledoff something of a surprisewhen defeating the No. 1 seedand league-leaders CowinConstruction in convincingfashion with a 7 point vic-tory in the first semi-final.McGurk’s finished as the No.2 side but they had to fightall the way and just edged outAmsterdam Tavern by onepoint in a tense second semi-final. The final was highly antici-pated and a fine crowd bothfrom other league teams aswell as team families andfriends were on hand on at St.Vincent Park, Saturday 27thJune.GOOD STARTThe No. 2 seed McGurk’smade their intentions known Photo: Carla Scuzzofrom the get-go. Inside the CAME OUT SWINGING ANEWfirst quarter they hit the net and added four points and McGurks intent on finishing what they started came outwere looking in the groove. O’Shay’s started sluggish- swinging for the second half as they added another couple and a brace of points and suddenly O’Shay’s were in a hole,ly with only 0-2 on the board during that early period. a 10 point hole to be precise with time not on their side. To give them credit O’Shay’s recovered from this latest blowO’Shay’s upped their game when adding a goal of their and landed 1-1 to almost half the deficit now down to six.own and three points but McGurk’s stayed consistent O’Shay’s had periods of dominance during the half but they still could not stop McGurk’s from scoring. Though the No. 4with 1-3 themselves to take a 2-7 to 1-5 lead at the half. seed finished strongly McGurk’s were able to maintain that six point margin and ran winners on a scoreline of 4-12 to 3-9. McGurks in that first half used possession well and tooktheir scores but in contrast O’Shay’s, who saw plenty ofthe ball could not get it done in front of the posts andshot far too many wides for the amount of possessionthey had won. 25

McGurks had been competitive in all their games during “It was a great season. I think it was one of the most com-the season and in the final always led the way and were petitive leagues especially in terms of the top four teams. Ideserved Hurling Champions of 2015. would have liked to see the bottom four sides being more competitive but any one of those top teams could have St. Louis GAC PRO, Mike Hertfelder thought this year’s won and McGurks were ecstatic as it’s always nice to win aleague was very good. championship,” Hertfelder said.Photo: Carla Scuzzo26

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QUEENSLANDJUNE 20 - 28, 2015LEADERS MAINTAIN PACE Week 6 of the Queensland GAA Gaelic Football League took place on the weekend of June 21st while it was the fourth week of action in Hurling with no games down for decision in Camogie. In Men’s Division 1, John Mitchels led the standings in this 10 week competition and look the team to beat with five rounds left to play. The first game in Week 6 took place on the Saturday June 20th in the ocean-side city of Gold Coast. The hosts have been having a tough campaign to date suf- fering five losses from five games and so were desperately looking for something in the clash with mid-table Souths. By half time this match looked as if it was heading for a whitewash in the name of the visitors as Souths led by 2-8 to Coasts 0-4. But to give the hosts credit they did make a better fist of things in the second half in putting more scores on the board however it wasn’t enough with Souths taking a comfortable 3-17 to 0-10 victory in the end. Souths had good performers in Colin Farrelly, Ian Kelleher, Colin Da- vidson as well as Sean Sullivan, while best for Gold Coast were Mark McBride, Trevor Lenihan, and Ryan McAleer QUICK GOALS On Sunday then the first game was a much more competi- tive affair. This saw defending champions Harps who lying joint second, haven’t been as dominant as last season taking on Easts Celts, the other second placed side. The first half as expected was tight with nothing separating the two andPhoto: Gold Coast Gaels.28

Willawong Gaelic Park. Queensland GAA. EASTS SHOW CLASSboth on level pegging at the break Easts 0-9 Harps 1-6. The same two clubs Harps and Easts were in action in theThis game swung Easts way early on in the second period first game in Ladies Football. Easts were reigning champi-when they shot two quick goals. The majors courtesy of ons and though leading the standings were finding teamsEamon Bowie put a dent in Harps ambitions, nevertheless like second placed Souths and Harps tougher opponents tothe champions fought and never gave up hope. Harps lim- date. The battling qualities of the Harps side showed in theited any further leakage but they were unable to bridge the opening period as they stuck with the favourites throughoutgap and Easts ran 2-14 to 1-12 victors. The win sees Easts and there was nothing in it at the break with Easts edgingnow take sole command on second place. Best for Easts it by 0-8 to Harps 1-4. Easts picked their game up in thewere Alan Murphy, Eamon Bowe, Rory Bowe and Paudi second half with a brace of goals setting them up. The con-Dineen, while Harps looked to Pat Marnane, Stephen Gar- tinued to pick off points and limited any further threat frombutt and Paddy O Connor. Harps. It ended with a comfortable 2-22 to 2-6 victory for Easts. Best for Easts were Linda Barrett, Emma Heneghan,MITCHELS STAY TOP Marie O Halloran and Roisin McEvoy, while Mena Tuohey, Jayne Lyons, Michelle McSorley and Joanne Martinaglia did The third match saw the undefeated league leaders John well for Harps.Mitchels in action and facing them was the team second frombottom, Shamrocks. This was by no means a one sided game The other ladies game between second in the table Southsas the opening half saw just 4 points between the sides with against bottom of the standings Shamrocks was always go-the underdogs Shamrocks holding their own though trailing ing to be difficult for the underdogs. Shamrocks have putby 1-6 to 1-2. But Mitchels showed why they are unbeaten and up some gallant showings to date but this game wasn’t oneCarpenter Cup champs as they pushed on with scores in the of their best as they trailed by 0-1 to 3-10 at the break be-second period while at the same time their defense tightened fore a welcome final whistle saw a resounding defeat of 0-3up considerably. Mitchels added two further goals in that pe- to 8-25. Souths Grainne Heduan, Pamela Fitzpatrick, Nikkiriod and coasted home for a 3-13 to 1-8 win. Conor McElroy, Newman and Claire Peters showed well with Deirdre NicA-Paudi Crilly, Tony Whelan and Marty Tennyson played well odhain, Louise Gallagher and Fiona Fox doing their best forfor John Mitchels, while Peter Rafferty, Trevor Molloy and Ki- Shamrocks.eran O Neill did their best for Shamrocks. 29

In Men’s Division there was one match and it pitted league year’s championship winners Harps. These two had met atleaders Easts Celts against bottom placed Shamrocks. Easts the end of May with Emeralds coming out best by a narrowhave been the form team in this competition to date and 4 points back then. This time around we had the same win-look to be on their way as they outscored Shamrocks 2-13 ner but with a slightly more pronounced result. However, atto 1-4 in this match. Easts built up an 8 point advantage the end of the first half Na Fianna had the upper hand whenby the break and were never in danger thereafter. Best for ahead by two on a scoreline of 1-7 to 1-5. Things changedEasts were Jason Murrin, James Canty and Keelan O Reilly, in the second period though when a pair of goals from Em-while Stephen Coleman, Mark Larkin and Eoin Loughlin erald’s Brendan Long turned the game in the league leaders’did well for Shamrocks. favour. Emeralds were also able to add a further two majors and in the end it was the ability to get goals that won themGOALS THE DIFFERENCE this game. It ended Emeralds 5-10 Na Fianna 2-13. Best for Emeralds were Thomas Lynch, Mick Farrell and Brendan The sole hurling match pitted the two teams against each Long, while Rory Conroy, Pat Marnane and James Shana-other with leaders and undefeated Emeralds facing last han did well for Na Fianna.QUEENSLANDJUNE 28, 2015CRUCIAL ROUNDS REMAININ LEAGUE RACE Results went along expected lines in Week 7 of the Queens- were in total control leading by 2-9 to 0-2. It was all Harps forland GAA League at Willawong, Brisbane on Sunday, June the second period as well as they piled on the misery with a28, with all fancied teams doing well in football, hurling and further 1-6 with Shamrocks only able to add 0-3 in that period.camogie. It ended Harps 3-15 Shamrocks 0-5. Best for Harps were Mark Murphy, Liam Murchan, and Stephen Garbutt, while Sham- Heading into Week 7 of Men’s Division 1 Football, John rocks had good performers in David O Connor, Trevor MolloyMitchels led the way followed closely by Easts Celts and de- and Australian keeper, Andrew Wood.fending champs Harps not that far behind. Two more gamestook place on Sunday with the first one between Harps and MITCHELS REMAIN UNBEATENShamrocks. The latter on just 2 points from six games neededsomething but against an improving Harps they would have The second game offered what looked on paper to be a moretheir work cut out for them. By the end of the half Harps promising affair though it didn’t feature as such. Mitchels made30

their intentions known from the off in this onescoring early and often while Souths had justone score, a goal, to their name in a poor firsthalf that saw them trailing by 0-8. However,Souths put up a much better showing in thesecond period when adding a brace of goalsbut Mitchels ability to pick off points kept theirlead firmly intact and went on for a comfort-able 0-23 to 3-4 victory. John Mitchel’s ConorMcElroy, Tony Whelan and Paul Doherty hadgood games while best for Souths were ColinFarrelly, Ian Kelleher and Cillian Fitzpatrick.Third match did not take place as Gold Coastconceded to Easts.As things stand Mitchels on 12 points leadEasts by a single point with Harps in third on 8.It’s between these three with three rounds left Photo: Sinead Fahey.to play and crucial games coming up on Sun-day when John Mitchels play Harps, and Easts face Souths. Shamrocks took on Harps in the Ladies Football opener with the latter the heavy favourites against the winless bottom ofEASTS SECURE LEAGUE the table dwellers. This was one was never in doubt as Harps cruised home. By the end of the half they had bagged fourIn Division 2 of the men’s league there was just the one game goals and eight points to Shamrocks three and were on theirwith undefeated league leaders Easts against second placed way. Harps continued to dominate through the remainder andJohn Mitchels. This was a lively affair in the opening period ran out easy winners 6-16 to 1-4. Best for Harps were Jayne Ly-with neither side dominating and it remained anyone’s game ons, Michelle McSorley, Orla Conroy, and Kayleigh Gartland,as Easts led by just two points 1-5 to 1-3. Things changed in while Caroline Kelly, Aisling Rehill and Christine McKillionthe second period as the opening 10 minutes saw Easts grab did their bit for Shamrocks.a pair of goals which laid the foundation for overall success.Mitchels did keep things interesting with scores of their The second game saw leaders Easts solidify their positionown but they could not bridge the deficit and it ended Easts with a commanding victory over second placed Souths. At5-10 John Mitchels 1-4. Best for Easts were Shane McKenna, half time in this one the defending champions were well inEnda Brady and Cathal Hayes while from John Mitchels Neil control leading by 2-10 to Souths no score. Souths disap-Fallon Paul Lipsitt and Peadar Scanlon did well. pointed in the opening half and offered little in the remainder as they were only able to score 0-3 while Easts stode on forThe victory for Easts Celts put them on 12 points with next the win on a final score of 3-16. Linda Barrett, Brid Guy, Ai-best Mitchels on 4, and with just two rounds left in this di- leen O Loughlin and Charlene Reynolds were on song for thevision Easts cannot be caught and can be declared league winners while Souths had good performers in Emily Fitzpat-champions. rick, Claire Peters, and Australian native, Louise Nolan. 31

Undefeated Emeralds in driving seat. Photo: Emeralds HC Brisbane. Victory saw Easts Celts increase their lead over Souths in best Na Fianna with a game in hand on 2. The two meet onthe standings by three points and with just two rounds left Sunday week in another crucial clash in the hurling league.Easts look poised to defend their title. NAOMH PADRAIG IN CONTROLEMERALDS REMAIN UNBEATEN Meanwhile in the three team Camogie League, leaders The hurling action entered its 5th round with an enter- Naomh Padraig did enough to outgun Tara in another en-taining match between league leaders Emeralds and Cu- tertaining and high goal-scoring game. These two openedchullains. This one was close all through the opening half the league at the end of May with ‘Padraig back then comingwith Emeralds leading by just two points at the break on a out best by two goals in a hard fought game. This time thescoreline of 1-7 to 1-5. The game changer came in the sec- match was equally competitive but it was Naomh Padraigond period when Emerald’s Brendan Long, as he did the who had the better of the first half when leading by eightprevious week, found the net and put space between his points on a scoreline of 4-10 to 3-5, with goals once more aside and Cuchullains. Emeralds proceeded to take control feature. Tara kept up the pressure in the second half and re-of the game getting the last three scores for an important mained in striking distance but they were not able to breachvictory of 3-17 to 2-11. Best for Emeralds were Paudie O the gap and it was Naomh Padraig once again who took vic-Dwyer, John Cody, Brendan Long and Paul O Leary, while tory by 6-11 to 5-9. Theresa Kennedy, Sinead Kelly and Bre-for Cuchullains, Alan Murphy, Michael Fogarty, Rob Kelly da Wickham did well for the victors, while Roisin Brouder,and Pat Lannigan played well. Sinead Kenny and Helen Frewin tried their best for Tara Gaels. With two rounds to go in the Camogie league last With four weeks left, Emeralds on 8 points are now in year’s runners-up Naomh Padraig have done enough to se-pole position to drive on for outright honours with next cure this year’s crown.32

SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALESNEW SOUTH WALES GAA LEAGUE FINALSJULY 2, 2015COAST AND CUSACK DOUBLEPhoto: Dee Prendergast. MAGNIFICENT SEVEN FOR COASTHELEN WARD REPORTING CENTRAL COAST 1-08 MICHAEL CUSACKS 2-02 On Sunday last at Monarch Fields, Sydneywe saw the climax of this year’s New South The opening game of the 2015 NSW GAA League FinalsWales GAA League with four finals in men’s kicked off between reigning champions Central Coast andand ladies football, hurling and camogie. Af- Michael Cusack in the Camogie final. The game started offter a very competitive league, the final match- on a high tempo with both teams trying to shake off ear-es were highly anticipated and the fare on offer ly nerves. Central Coast powered into a comfortable leadlast weekend did not disappoint. 33

in the opening minutes of the first half andthough Michael Cusacks had great momentsof play, they just could not take their scoringchances. The second half began with Central Coastscoring points with ease. However the gamewas not over just yet and Michael Cusacksrallied to net two goals in the dying minutes.Despite the late comeback it was not enoughfor Cusacks and Central Coast held on to winby three points to seal an incredible seventhNSW GAA League title in a row.CUSACKS DOWN RIVALS ANEW Photo: Dee Prendergast.SYDNEY SHAMROCKS 1-13 COAST BACK ON TOPMICHAEL CUSACKS 1-23 The Hurling Final was a highly anticipated game with CENTRAL COAST 2-15reigning champions Michaels Cusacks and long-time rivals MICHAEL CUSACKS 1-08Sydney Shamrocks, last year’s championship runners-up, inaction in yet another city final. This Ladies League Final kicked off with Michael Cusacks taking on the veteran team of Central Coast who had been This one was very competitive from the throw in with a dominant force in previous years. Having met each otherseveral heated exchanges throughout the game. Both teams earlier in the day in Camogie, it was always going to be a hightraded some excellently taken points with Michael Cusacks paced, high intensity game.edging things by the interval. Michael Cusacks controlled the opening 10 minutes of the The second half needed no introduction with both teams match with a number of scores initiating from a strong run-starting exactly how the first half had ended, with intensity. ning half back line, converted by super accurate half forwardsSydney Shamrocks left nothing in the tank and fought for Cusacks had at their discretion. However nothing could rat-every ‘sliotar’. They bagged a goal in the opening minutes tle the Central Coast ladies and they didn’t stay subdued forwhich gave them a much needed boost and were now tak- long. A few positional tactics later and Coast found their forming the game to Cusacks. The goal however, didn’t disheart- and dominated the latter part of the first half and went intoen Michael Cusacks who powered with numerous scores half time with the lead.from the midfield and forward lines. In the closing minutesof the game Cusacks added a goal to secure the title with a On the restart, Michael Cusacks swung into action againvery convincing 10 points difference between the sides at taking control of the first five minutes, but alas a very experi-the final whistle. enced Central Coast raised their game and stepped into 5th34

gear, giving Michael Cusacks no chanceto respond. Central Coast secured theirwin by 1.07 to win the double on theday, leaving the Michael Cusacks girlshoping for Championship revenge.CUSACKS IN THRILLERMICHAEL CUSACKS 2-06PENRITH GAELS 1-08 The concluding final of the NSW Photo: Dee Prendergast.GAA League 2015 was between Mi-chael Cusacks and Penrith Gaels, andthe supporters were definitely reward-ed with a tremendously exciting gameof football. The men’s competition in Sydney had been on a knife edge Michael Cusacks opened with the first score but that wouldall season and this game lived up to grand finale expecta- not deter a strong Penrith Gaels side hitting back hard with ations. Players from both sides fought tooth and nail from the few of their own. Wides also became part of the Penrith Gaelsonset and this was the basis for the entire 60 minutes. shooting pattern, which they would rue at full time. The sides continued to trade scores as they began the second half but as they en- tered the final stretch Penrith Gaels found themselves in need. A tough final 10 min- utes ensued with both teams reaching boiling point. Digging deep both sides had left themselves in a position to win the match. Penrith had a final chance but the effort went wide of the posts and it was Cusacks day to take home the title winning by the smallest of margins. A truly wonderful end to a fantastic day of Gaelic Games. Helen Ward is NSW GAA PRO.Photo: Dee Prendergast. 35

GALICIA, SPAINJULY 2, 2015COPA AND FÚTBOL EXHIBITIN SPECIAL PLACE Marcos Gañete reports Action from the 2015 Copa Galega de Fútbol. Photo courtesy of Marcos Gañete.in Galician on the June20thand 2nd Copa Galegade Fútbol of Galicia where15 teams were in action –9 in men’s and 6 in ladies– and there were victoriesin Ladies Football for Ir-mandinhas A Estrada andin Men’s for Estrela Vermel-ha. Marcos later tells us inEnglish about an exhibitiongame held at a very specialplace last weekend.CRÓNICA/REPORT MARCOS GAÑETE melha enfrontouse contra un combinado de xogadoras de Mecas e Auriense (“Aurimecas”), que case deu a sorpresa, Tras un intenso día e baixo un sol case asfixiante, a II Copa pero a equipa compostelana conseguiu remontar e clasific-Galega de fútbol gaélico volveu coronar ás equipas que xa arse para a final.conseguiran o triunfo o ano pasado: Estrela Vermelha nocadro masculino e Irmandinhas no feminino. No cadro masculino, a fase de grupos clasificaba para semi- finales a Estrela Vermelha, Irmandinhos e Fillos de Breogán Tras disputar a fase de grupos no campo do Praiña, as como primeiros de grupo. Completaríase tras un triangularsemifinales femininas emparellarían por un lado a Fillas de para decidir o mellor segundo de grupo: Pontevedra. Nun-Breogán contra as favoritas, Irmandinhas, que superaron ha disputadísima primeira semifinal impúxose a equipa es-ás coruñesas comodamente. Polo outro lado, Estrela Ver- tradense ós coruñeses, que só conseguiron despegarse un36

Ladies football at the Copa. Photo courtesy of Marcos Gañete. A final feminina estivo altamente disputada, estando a falta de uns minutos para o final empatadas ambas equipas a 20 puntos.pouco no marcador nos derradeiros 5 minutos. Na Sen embargo, Irmandinhas logrou impoñerse finalmente por unsegunda semifinal, Pontevedra competiu de tu a tu á 29-20.equipa compostelana durante a primeira metade, peroacabou por sucumbir na segunda. Desta forma, a final Na final masculina, o Estrela Vermelha foi por diante gran parteda II Copa Galega sería un dobre enfrentamento entre do encontro e finalmente logrou impoñerse por un enganoso 20-8.Estrela Vermelha e Irmadinho/as. Desta forma, ambas equipas repiten o exito acadado o ano pasa- Previa á final, Aurimecas e Pontevedra acadan o 3º do: doblete de liga e copa. ¡Noraboa a ambas!posto ó vencer a Fillas e Fillos de Breogán, respec-tivamente.Men’s champions Estrela Vermelha. Photo courtesy of Marcos Gañete. 37

ESTRELA VERMELHA(CHAMPIONS) CLASIFICACIÓN FINAL MASCULINA:COPA RESULTADOS 1. ESTRELA VERMELHARAPACES 2. IRMANDINHOS 3. PONTEVEDRAGRUPO 1 4. FILLOS DE BREOGÁN 5. ÁRTABROSESTRELA V. 5-10 0-04 BRAITHREACHAS 6. AURIENSEESTRELA V. 4-00 0-02 ÁRTABROS 7. BRAITHREACHASBRAITHERACHAS 1-05 1-05 ÁRTABROS 8. DORNA 9. MECOSGRUPO 2 RAPAZASPONTEVEDRA 2-05 2-06 DORNA GRUPO 1FILLOS 1-04 1-09 PONTEVEDRAFILLOS 3-11 0-06 DORNA IRMANDINHAS 4-30 1-05 BRAITHREACHAS IRMANDINHAS 8-12 2-06 AURIMECASGRUPO 3 BRAITHREACHAS 0-04 2-05 AURIMECASIRMANDINHOS 2-12 0-06 MECOS GRUPO 2MECOS 1-05 1-07 AURIENSEIRMANDINHOS 4-10 1-01 AURIENSE ESTRELA V. 6-07 3-04 PONTEVEDRA ESTRELA V. 5-11 2-03 FILLASBATALLA 7/8/9 FILLAS 2-07 3-03 PONTEVEDRABRAITHREACHAS 1-03 2-03 DORNA 5/6MECOS 1-02 0-02 DORNAMECOS 0-01 5-01 BRAITHREACHAS BRAITHREACHAS 1-04 2-05 PONTEVEDRA4 SEMIFINALISTA E 5/6 SEMIFINAISPONTEVEDRA 3-02 0-02 ÁRTABROS IRMANDINHAS 6-14 0-03 FILLASPONTEVEDRA 4-03 1-02 AURIENSE ESTRELA V. 4-08 3-07 AURIMECASÁRTABROS 2-02 2-01 AURIENSE 3/4SEMIFINAIS FILLAS 0-04 4-04 AURIMECASFILLOS 2-02 1-11 IRMANDINHOS FINALESTRELA V. 3-09 1-02 PONTEVEDRA3/4 IRMANDINHAS 7-08 5-05 ESTRELA V.FILLOS 0-04 1-02 PONTEVEDRA CLASIFICACIÓN FINAL FEMININA:FINAL 1. IRMANDINHAS 2. ESTRELA VERMELHAESTRELA V. 4-08 0-08 IRMANDINHOS 3. MECAS / AURIENSE 4. FILLAS DE BREOGÁN 5. PONTEVEDRA 6. BRAITHREACHAS38

GALICIA, SPAINJUNE 27, 2015EXHIBTION GAELIC FOOTBALLIN SPECIAL CELTIC PLACE(TRANSLATED FROM GALICIAN)The exhibition takes place at the Castro of Barreiras. (Photo courtesy of Marcos Gañete). The Castro of Barreiras was the setting for a Gael- structure with a mound in excess of 8 meters high. Theseic football exhibition in the framework of the famous defenses rise in the middle of a valley.ASALTO O CASTELO DE VIMIANZO. The event was recorded on video, even with a drone and This year’s 20th anniversary of the Assault to the Castle overseen by director Galician, Xacio Baño . It seems thatin Vimianzo hosted a day of Gaelic football on Saturday the Galician teams exhibition game will be part of a pro-June 27 an exhibition in which Irmandinhos A Estrada motional video.participated with colleagues from Estrela Vermelha. Irmandinhos Estrada and Estrela Vermelha gave The setting for the event was the spectacular Celtic fort thanks to AX Cherinkas, municipality of Vimianzo and(castros) Barriers. It is located in the heart of the val- AXVALSO, organizers ASSAULT and their interest inley of Vimianzo and shows a spectacular architectural Gaelic. 39

HERTFORDSHIREJUNE 25, 2015 In our first look at happenings in Hertfordshire GAA circles in Britain we review the season to date at club level.IAN CAULFIELD REPORTINGSt. Dympnas of Luton presented with Fr O’Hanlon Cup by Chairman John Gormley at Football Blitz in March. Photo courtesy of Ian Caulfield.BLITZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE The annual football blitz which opened the season on 29th This year’s Hertfordshire GAA League has beenMarch was won by Saint Dympnas of Luton. The Blitz was run exceptionally competitive with some fantasticallyoff in a day with all regional teams involved - Saint Dympnas tight games throughout this 6 team competition.of Luton, Glen Rovers from Watford, Cambridge Parnells, Ox- Saint Dympnas have continued their good earlyford’s Eire Og, Saint Joseph’s from Waltham Cross, and Saint season form and head the table on scoring differ-Colmcilles of Saint Albans. The event took place in Saint Albans ence from Saint Colmcilles of St. Albans with bothCotlandswick pitch with Saint Dympnas beating Glen Rovers of sides on 8 points and sharing records of 4 wins andWatford in the final of what was a long and tough day in the rain 1 loss. These two play in the final this weekendon a boggy pitch. The winners took home the Fr. O’Hanlon Cup. July 5th.40

CAHILL & HURLEY CUP CUL CAMP DATES: The Cahil & Hurley senior football competition involves six clubs and in ST. DYMPNAS GFC, LUTONthe early stages all games have been tight and nobody is standing out. The - 22ND, 23RD & 24TH OF JULYbig story to come out of it is St. Josephs of Waltham Cross won their firstcompetitive game as a senior club beating St.Colmcilles 0-14 to 1-8. This was ST JOSEPHS GAA CLUB WALTHAM CROSSa great achievement for all club members and the effort being put in there. - 22ND, 23RD & 24TH OF JULYCUL CAMPS GLEN ROVERS GAA WATFORD - 27TH, 28TH & 29TH OF JULY The Hertfordshire GAA Summer Cul Camps get under way in July. Therewill be no less than seven Cul Camps this year within the county. In 2015 all LUTON GAA ST VINCENTS GFC,camps have been expanded in numbers and duration and so it promises to - 3RD, 4TH OF AUGUSTbe exciting month of underage activity. Each camp will incorporate a com-munity event. EIRE OG, OXFORD - 6TH & 7TH OF AUGUST The Herts GAA Camps provide for boys and girls – between the ages of 6and 13 – with action-packed and fun-filled days of activity during the sum- CAMBRIDGE PARNELLSmer holidays which revolves around maximising enjoyment and sustaining - 12TH, 13TH & 14TH OF AUGUSTparticipant involvement in Gaelic Games. ST COLMCILLES GAC, ST ALBANS - 19TH, 20TH & 21ST OF AUGUSTCul Camps 41

FEILE Hertfordshire GAA had two teams represent-ing the county at Féile competition in Ireland atthe end of June. Both sides did very well over theweekend in South Leinster. The Division 10 teamlost out in the cup quarter final to a very strongKilkenny team from Danesfort who made the fi-nal. The Division 9 side also had a great tourna-ment as they made it through to the semi-final ofthe cup competition but were defeated by Killucanfrom Westmeath who went on to take the title.LADIES ON THE MOVE A brand new Ladies Gaelic Football county board Feile imagehas formed in Britain bringing together clubs inHertfordshire and Gloucestershire which will be known The new county board coincides with a few changes in theas Glo-Herts County. The board formed at their AGM on Britain Ladies Provincial plans for the 2015 season. Entry25th January 2015 with all roles appointed with officers. into the Provincial Championship will only be granted toThis fresh new county board is made up of five relatively those who win their county championship, matching thenew clubs in Britain with the longest reigning team being format of Ireland’s club championships. It will also be theCladdagh Gaels in their sixth season and the youngest be- first year Britain has presented an inter-county champion-ing Western Gaels Bristol who debut this season. The oth- ship with there now being 4 counties to contest – Warwick-er teams involved include St.Colmcilles from St.Albans, shire, Lancashire, Scotland and new county Glo-Herts.Eire Og from Oxford and St.Colmcilles from Cardiff. Deirdre Hiney, Chairperson of the new Glo-Herts Coun-The clubs are leaving their respective county leagues and try Board said that everyone was behind the new setup.championships in Warwickshire and London to pursuean exciting new venture which hopes to make for a more “The six clubs involved in this fantastic new endeavourcompetitive and level playing field for the clubs involved. are all very much on board to making this county setup aThe main objective in the county board’s plan is to make huge success. We have a strong presence across the varioussure ladies playing the sport are guaranteed competitive roles on the board, all with the same vision and determina-games throughout the season, as well as a focus on devel- tion to keep the sport alive within the clubs already signedoping the game in new regions and helping any new clubs up as well as look into other regions that could potentiallyget started. set up a new club with our help and encouragement.” Logistics about travel for the further apart teams have Tommy Donohue, President of Britain Ladies Provin-been agreed on a neutral, mid-way venue for certain cial Board said it was a positive development going for-games. ward for Ladies Football.42

The Glo-Herts county team who made their debut against Warwickshire on the 14th of June 2015. After a fine first performance with many play-ers only meeting that morning, the team had a narrow defeat. Photo: Glo-Herts LGFA. “I am delighted this new county board has formed in Britain. The club is made up of a selection of the 6 club teamsIt is a very brave move for the clubs involved and all credit goes within the county and other players in the area. The coreto those who have made it happen. The provincial council will is made up of Eire Og, St. Dympnas, Glen Rovers playersbe right behind the new county to drive it forward. It’s a bril- but this season more players from St. Josephs and pos-liant new adventure and great for ladies Gaelic football in Brit- sibly Cambridge Parnells are being welcomed into theain and as Provincial Ladies President I wish the new board all fold.the luck in the world.” DEVELOPMENT Ladies and girls close to Oxford, St.Albans, Luton, Cardiff andBristol are encouraged to get in the game and contact their local Stephen Lavery has developed Underage structures inclub for details. Cambridge and Oxford and organizes the nursery pro- gramme which is being rolled out across the county.HURLING The idea originated in the Glen Rovers club and has After last year’s success Saint Declans have got stronger and been adopted by county and possibly provincial in the fu-even more competitive looking to have an even bigger year than ture. Glen Rovers are the first club in Britain to introducethey did last year. So far this year they are undefeated in the All such a programme.Britain Shield and have been promoted to compete in All Brit-ain Championship based on their success last year. Some of the In London meanwhile, Robert Emmett’s hurlers afterplayers went on to represent Warwickshire and won the Divi- a good early season franked their upbeat spirit this yearsion 3B League against Longford a great achievement. when winning the Collins Cup in senior hurling on June 43

23rd at Irish TV Grounds, Ruislip. In the final Emmett’s ert Emmetts continued to show good form when beatingsaw off Brothers Pearse by 0-13 to 0-8. Sean Traceys 1-8 to 1-14. In a Round 2 game on June 24th, Cú Chulainns recorded a good victory over Treacy’s In the intermediate hurling grade in the Ronan Cup de- on 2-19 to 1-14. In Hurling Division 2 last weekend therecider on June 20th, Fulham Irish had two points to spare were Round 2 wins for Fr. Murphy’s and St. Gabriels B,over Fr. Murphy’s. while Fulham Irish and Thomas Curtains played out a 2-9 draw. In the latest rounds of the Hurling Division 1, St. Ga-briels got back on track from an early season slump to In football meanwhile, the Conway Cup reached theimpressively topple London champions Kilburn Gaels semi-finals and saw victories for St. Kiernans over Parnellsby 4-15 to 1-7 in a Round 3 clash on Tuesday last, June by 0-12 to 0-10 and Kingdom Kerry Gaels surprised coun-30th. In the same round over the weekend, Brothers ty champions Tir Chonaill Gaels with an emphatic doublePearse defeated Cú Chulainns 3-12 to 2-8 while Rob- scores 10 point win 2-14 to 1-7.Herts GAA Youth.44

LONDON2015 ALL BRITAIN GAACHAMPIONSHIPS (ABC) The 2015 All Britain GAA Championships (ABC) for have a full team of players selected from non- Irish bornunderage GAA takes place next weekend in London and talent. At the event there will also be coaching sessionswill attract over 2000 participants to the UK capital. by ESB’s Ciaran McManus, Offaly inter-county football- er, and also referee coaching for starters. The event will see young GAA players from both schoolsand GAA clubs from England, Scotland and Wales de- GAA President Aogán Ó Fearghail will be in attend-scend on the Tir Chonaill Gaels Club Grounds in Green- ance as will Martin McAviney, President of the Councilford where competition will be held over three days from of Ulster and Vice President of GAA, Helen O Roarke,July 10-12. There will also be an invitation cross- com- CEO Ladies Games, Pat Daly, Director of Games, andmunity Ulster team, Cuchulainns participating. Frank Burke, Head of Coaching and Games. The three day event features players from U8 to U18 Supported by sponsors ESB, The Irish Post and O’Neillslevels playing in Gaelic Football, Hurling and Camo- Sport, the ABC tournament also features music andgie. The scale of the tournament is enormous as some dance included in this year’s festival.10 pitches will be laid out on the Friday so that 4 x U8Football games can take place on a standard full-sizepitch at one time. U8 & U10 Football will be played in line with GoGames regulations on Friday with Ladies Football of allages and U12 & U16 Boys Football on Saturday 11thwhile U14 & 18 Boys Football and all Hurling & Camo-gie gams will be played on Sunday 13th, and played toa conclusion. There will be many players in action with no Irish con-nection such as the host Club, Tír Chonaill Gaels who 45

HONG KONG, CHINAJULY 1, 2015ALL CHINA GAELICGAMES REVIEW Shanghai players at All China Games in Hong Kong. Photo: Shanghai GAA.46

JOE TROLAN REPORTING On the weekend of June 19/20 teams from around Chi- set up as a pool system with everyone playing each other oncena, Japan, and Seoul took part in the Annual All-China and the top two going to the finals. There was also a hurl-Gaelic Games. This year they were held in the beautiful ing and Camogie competition that highlighted the growth ofcity/state of Hong Kong and it was without doubt one of both sports in the region.the largest games yet with 13 men’s teams, 12 women’steams and 3 kids teams with a total number of over 300 TIGHT GAMESplayers. No matter the sport or the level of play the games were tight Teams traveling to this annual event came from all and competitive. The games started at 8am and even at thatacross China from cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Su- time, the heat was well over 30C and the players all knew itzhou, and Shenzen with others coming in from Japan and was going to be a hot and humid day of GAA.Seoul, and of course with home sides Hong Kong. Thehosting club Hong Kong put on an excellent tournament In the Men’s Bowl event – the Hong Kong legends teamthat showcased the best of China and beyond. played a highly entertaining game against a travelling Seoul B and Hong Kong C mix. The Hong Kong legends with someFORMAT starring former AGG winners in their squad, came out on top to take the Bowl 3-4 to 0-6. The tournament itself was split into 3 competitions withthe cup competition for A men’s and women’s, Plate for the B In the Mens Plate game, it was a tale of two sports with theteams and the Bowl for the social teams. The competition was Hong Kong AFL Dragons playing against a dark horse Shenz- 47

Seoul teams celebrate victories at All China Games. Photo: Seoul Gaels.hen team. This match was a battle, as the Australians didn’t given and eventually Shanghai and Seoul made it throughlet the Shenzhen team settle at all throughout but despite to the decider. Earlier, Shanghai and Seoul had played thea valiant effort and some great play from the Dragons - first match of the day with Shanghai coming out victors bythe stronger Shenzhen team won by a score of 1-2 to 0-3. a narrow margin.Shenzhen if they can keep the team together will surely be acompetitive side at this year’s FEXCO Asian Gaelic Games In the final, we had an excellent display of football fromin Shanghai. both sides. Seoul took control of the game in the first half and stubbornly would not relinquish the lea for the remain-SEOUL IN CONTROL der. In the end, Seoul won on a scoreline of 3-4 to 2-4. The topflight Men’s Cup was a very strong competition The Ladies Bowl event was a Hong Kong versus Seoul af-between the A teams of Shanghai, Seoul, Hong Kong, and fair with the Seoul Gaels B team coming out victorious byBeijing. Throughout the group games, no quarter was 1-3 to 0-1. In the Ladies Plate competition, a tough game48

between Hong Kong and Beijing took place and it was nament it was even harder. The MVP for Camogie washighly entertaining with excellent skills shown. Beijing Seoul Gaels player Natalia Hyland; for Ladies Football itwere that little bit stronger than the Hong Kong side and was Hong Kong’s Caitriona Treanor. In Men’s Football thetook victory by 1-6 to 0-2. honour went to Seoul Gaels player Mark McKeever and for Hurling it was Hong Kong’s Domhnall McKeogh.HONG KONG ON SONG HUGE CREDIT In the Ladies Cup competition after an excellent poolround that included Japan and Shanghai – Seoul and The organizing committee from the Hong Kong GAAHong Kong reached the final. In a very entertaining and club did a fantastic job putting on this event and deservefast paced game, and some might say the best game of the huge credit. It is always a tough task to host such a largeday, Hong Kong were victorious over the Seoul Gaels by tournament but once again Hong Kong showed that thea score line of 4-6 to 3-3. The fans on the sideline thor- club and its members are more than up for the task.oughly enjoyed this high scoring Ladies Cup final. A final note of thanks and praise goes to the ShanghaiDESERVING and Beijing clubs, who have been working all year to pro- mote GAA in their cities and their efforts are paying off. In Hurling, a strong and well-trained Hong Kong crew Shanghai brought their first ever youth team to this year’stook on a mixed Asia team in the final of the competition event. Throughout the year, the Shanghai club has putand came out convincing winners and thoroughly de- enormous effort into promoting the game at the youthserved their victory. In the Camogie match, Hong Kong level and should be commended on their efforts. Addi-again played against a mixed Asia team and this time it tionally, the Beijing club has worked with BDIC (Beijing-was the Mixed Asian team that came out as victors. Both Dublin International College) to send a team that featuredthese games and competitions showed that Hurling and only native Chinese players and the players really enjoyedCamogie is very much on the upswing within Asia. the competition.ENJOYMENT The future of the GAA is safe in Asia with the hard work of all the teams at youth and school levels. Congratula- The whole weekend showed us how young and old play- tions to all involved in another wonderful All China Gaelicers enjoyed playing and competing in the tournament. Games in 2015.There were many outstanding players over the weekendand it is always hard to choose an MVP but at this tour- Joe Trolan is Asia GAA Chairperson. 49

BIG HURLING WEEKEND BY DENIS O’BRIEN DUBLIN V LAOISJULY 3, 2015 Dublin will be looking to banish thoughts of their disastrous replayed Leinster quarter final loss to Galway when playing More big hurling action on offer this weekend with a pro- Laois on Saturday evening at Moore Park in County Laois. Thevincial final and Round 1 of the All Ireland Qualifiers to be home side have had a good Leinster run in the qualifiers anddecided. then beat neighbours Offaly in the recent Leinster quarter fi- nal. They then fell heavily to a charged up Galway attack on The premier event is the meeting of All Ireland and Leinster June 20th but Laois should not be discounted as they will put itchampions Kilkenny and Galway in the Leinster Hurling de- up to a Dublin outfit that has lost its way bigtime. Under newcide on Sunday at Croke Park, but before we look to that let’s manager Ger Cunningham, Dublin have not addressed issueslook at the four Qualifiers on the schedule. of being unable to finish out games as in their drawn match with Galway, plus movement changes on the field to key per-LIMERICK V WESTMEATH sonnel as in Liam Rushe switched to attack must be reviewed. Dublin if they hit form though can dispose of Laois. A novel pairing at Mullingar, County Westmeath on Sun-day at 2pm in that it’s the first time ever the two have met OFFALY V CLAREin the senior hurling championship. Limerick, last year’s AllIreland semi-finalists and beaten at the same stage in Munster This is a very big game for both Offaly and Clare. Offaly aftertwo weeks ago, will be the raging hot favourites when tak- a decent league campaign were shocked by Laois and so needing on hurling minnows Westmeath. The Limerick team, as to make amends. The team has improved over recent years andstated last time, have question-marks over them after a hit will view a game against Clare as the perfect opportunity toand miss win against an unbalanced Clare with late goals con- stage an ambush – something they are capable of doing evenceded. Ditto against Tipperary last time when their defense though the game is in Clare on Saturday evening. Clare endedgot taken to shreds and if you don’t have a defense you will as a better team in their loss to Limerick and will be buoyednot win a championship. They have enough in attack though by the recent return of midfielder Colm Galvin from the US.to put away a developing side. Westmeath had good wins Conor McGrath and Brendan Bulger are also expected to beagainst Antrim in the Leinster qualifiers before succumbingto Wexford. The Westmeath side should not be taken lightlybut Limerick should take this one.50