Rockland 3-4  Shannon Gaels 1-6

The first annual New York junior seven a side hurling championship was played last weekend at the beautiful Rockland home field. It consisted of six teams, with Rockland, Shannon Gaels from Queens, Hoboken from New Jersey, two teams from Allentown in Pennsylvania and a side from the Bronx.

A full day’s hurling ensued, with all sides guaranteed four games. With New York development officerSimon Gillespie helping to emcee the competition with huge help from a host of home officers in Rockland, including Joe McGirl, Sean Roche, Joe O’Connor and Chris Dalton, the tournament was a huge success.

Hoboken had a huge panel on hand in their quest for honors, and their new distinctive strip was a huge talking point. It actually takes it design from some of the earliest hurling teams in Hoboken in the last century.

The two visiting sides from Allentown had a very high skill level for predominantly American born squads.

They had a huge influence on the proceedings, with Allentown A pushing eventual finalists Shannon Gaels all the way before succumbing in a group game 1-05 to 2-0.

Hoboken and the Gaels also had a very close contest that eventually was decided by a John Kennedy goal for the Gaels, 1-5 to 0-5.

When the dust of the excellent group games had settled their was one game left between the visiting Shannon Gaels and Rockland. In what was a preview for the final, it was a nail biter.

The Gaels had the lead at the break 1-1 to 0-2 courtesy of a Paudie Kyne goal. In the second half of the 16 minute contest, a goal by Robbie Jackson helped Rockland get back on top to eventually run out 1-4 to 1-2 winners.

The final was a repeat with both sides well rested. With the halves now at 10 minutes each, the first one was a proverbial scoring frenzy.
While Shannon Gaels held the upper hand in amount of scores, it was goals from Robbie Jackson and

Stephen Maroney that helped the winners into a 2-2 to 1-4 advantage.
John Kennedy had the Gaels’ major, while Sean Brennan also had points from play. The sides split four points in the second half, but a Brendan Blackwell goal wrapped up the first seven’s title for the home side. 

The Junior Championship proper commences this weekend, with Hoboken taking on the Bronx and Rockland resuming their acquaintance with Shannon Gaels. The panels of players for the sevens final were as follows:

Shannon Gaels: Shane Quinn, Eoghan Kyne, Gary Gilsenan, Sean Brennan, John Kennedy, Joe Monaghan, John Cantwell, Padraig Kyne, Graham McGuire, Caoimhan O’Callaghan, David Giles, Ronan Fitzsimons, Stephen Collins.

Rockland: John White, Robbie Jackson, Kevin McKay, Brendan Flynn, John Power, Pete McKenna, Dean Murphy, Jim Flynn, Niall O’Connor, John Gernon, Mike O’Brian, Stephen Maroney, Brendan Blackwell, Tony Maunsell, Shane McIntire.