NY GAA Report: St. Barnabas wins two minor finals

Despite turbulent weather, the New York Minor Board was able to sandwich in a few finals at Gaelic Park over the weekend.

Indeed it doesn’t seem that long ago that many of the parents of these skillful youngsters were strutting their stuff at the same venue. 

Then a generation earlier, grandfathers of these players were doing likewise, and among such notable names were Connaughtons, O’Sullivans, Taylors, and Traynors, to name just a few. Great to see the great Gaelic games being handed down to succeeding Irish generations. 

However, a quick perusal of the team sheets will show that some of the names are not associated with any of the traditional Gaelic strongholds in the old country.

One really stood out, namely, a Louis Katsihtis, a name I had difficulty pronouncing and spelling, but this number six for the Celtics under-13s had absolutely no difficulty fielding high, soloing stylishly, and scoring plenty. He’s of Greek and Spanish ancestors. 

The New York Minor Board is continuing to do phenomenal work at developing the game at grassroots level, and testimony to that is the fact that St. Barnabas are senior champions for the second year in a row. 

Also great to see the large crowd that came out to support these young players. After all, the Big Apple GAA landscape is changing rapidly and these young players are a critical part of its future. 

St. Barnabas 3-8, Rockland 0-4

Rockland had the better of the exchanges in the opening minutes of this under-11 final as Sean Dempsey pointed while Aidan Comerford and Declan O’Reilly continued to launch attacks, but they were resolutely repelled by Orlaith Murray. 

Then on a counterattack, Brendan McCormack goaled to capitalize on a great defense-splitting run by Emmett Smith. Barnabas now had the momentum and they went on a scoring spree, orchestrated mainly by Sean O’Donnell. The talented midfielder displayed a great repertoire of skills as he soloed half the field and dodged and dummied several defenders to plant the ball in the net. 

Smith soon followed with another major after a timely pass from Fintan Cullen. Smith increased the lead with a pointed free before Rockland enjoyed a short purple patch before the intermission. 

Alex Wren got the scoreboard moving and Aidan Comerford and O’Reilly added points to leave the scoreboard 3-2 to 0-4 in favor of the Bronx Boys at the short whistle. Upon resumption, St. Barnabas continued to dominate as O’Donnell quickly floated over two points. 

Rockland kept trying to bounce back, but great defensive work by Orlaith Murray, Jodi O’Donnell, Jack Mitchell, and company ensured there was no easy way to score. Barnabas coasted to the finish line with further scores from Jude Condron, Grace Gleason, who switched from net minder to score getter, and of course man of the match, midfielder Sean O’Donnell.    

St. Barnabas: Grace Gleason, Darragh Quirke, Orlaith Murray, John Carlson, Jodi O’Donnell, Liam McNally, Jack Mitchell, Sean O’Donnell, Conor Brogan, Emmett Smith, Darragh Lynch, Fintan Cullen, Ryan McPhelim, Brendan McCormack, Grace Dwyer. Subs: Jude Condron, Ryan Carlson.

Rockland: Dylan Sansone, Conor McNamee, Thomas O’Flynn, Dermot McKeon, Fintan Murphy, Andy Cullen, Cian Robinson, Declan O’Reilly, Daniel Byrne, Daniel Proctor Dooley, Aidan Comerford, Henry Siravosky, Sean Dempsey, Alex Wren, Sean McNaughton. Subs: Tommy Moughty, Shane Prendergast, Chase Short, Luke McGowan. 

Player of the Match: Sean O’Donnell.

Referee: Martin O’Connell.

Celtics 4-20, Shannon Gaels 1-5 

Celtics captured the under-13 league title with relative ease as they had away too much firepower for Shannon Gaels. 

Cian Gaughan scored on the first attack and the ensuing kick-out was quickly returned for a point by Niall Cronin. The same player displayed a lovely vignette of individual skills to get their third point. 

Now it was nearly all one way traffic.  Ken Delahunty swallowed up a kick-out to plant it in the net. Two more majors followed from Cronin and Brendan Lakes before Shannon Gaels got a reprieve and they enjoyed a short purple patch. 

Kyle Brennan opened their account. Gabriel Duffy slammed in a goal and Brennan followed up with a point. 

However then it seemed to be back to the Celtics playbook as Louis Katsihtis, not exactly a name you associated with GAA strongholds in Kerry, Cork or Mayo, soloed most of the field to fist over a point. The center-back would go on to give a man of the match performance.

Celtics were on cruise control to the break as scores rained over from Cronin, Gaughan, Delahunt, Taylor, Hamill, Doyle and company.  Celtics led by 3-10 to 1-3 at the short whistle with keeper Aidan Connelly, definitely the busiest player on the field. Sure the score line didn’t look well, but it could have been a lot worse but for Connelly’s shot-stopping exploits. 

Nothing changed in the second half as points rained over and Caitlin Cronin came up to score a goal, just like her brother. Shannon Gaels added a few late points per Gabriel Duffy, James Hamill and Rory Smith, but the issue was never in doubt.

Celtics: Cormack Connaughton, Conor Sheehan, Caitlin Cronin, Sean Drew, James Donahue, Louis Katsihtis, J.F. Kennedy, Cian Doyle, Keelyn Connaughton, Kevin Taylor, Michael Lyden, Cian Gaughan, Ken Delahunty, Brendan Lakes, Niall Cronin. Subs: Emmett Linden, Michael Fitzgibbons, Liam Flanagan, Megan Donahue, Aidan Cassidy, Conor Carty, Aaron Fernandez, Charles Silouski. 

Shannon Gaels: Aidan Connolly, Sean Dobey, Thomas Mathers, Lenny Brosnan, Shane Kenny, Luke Corbett, Kevin Hegerty, Rory Smith, Cathy O’Reilly, Brendan Sugrue, Gabriel Duffy, Ryan, James Hamill, Kyle Brennan, Brendan O’Reilly. Subs: Kevin Nugent, Tadhg Kelly, Max McConnell. 

Player of the Match: Louis Katsihtis.

Referee: Simon Gillespie.

St. Barnabas 3-14, Rangers 2-6

In the under-15 semifinal, St. Barnabas got off to a great start as their opponents were a player short after a few minutes due to a black card. 

The Bronx boys exploited their advantage to the full as Aaron Bogue and Eoin Kennedy landed points before Cormack Murphy goaled. Midway in the quarter it was 1-5 to zero as Niall Rogers (two) and Kennedy landed further points before Rangers got their opening score. That was a goal from a penalty scored by Daithi O’Connor after Jack McElligiot was floored in the square. Barnabas continued to dominate as Kennedy was popping points from play and frees while Conor McClafferty, Noel Livery, and Cian Flynn were also on the mark before Bogue struck their second goal. 

Rangers rallied back a bit before the break as good work by O’Connor, Shane Byrne, and Ronan Melly landed a few points, but they trailed by 2-11 to 1-3 at the short whistle. Play was a bit better balanced after the intermission as both sides scored a brace. Kennedy and Bogue raised flags for Barnabas while Melly had the brace for his team. 

Then Rangers looked to have got a lifeline after a late hit on Pranchiu Burat set the scene for Melly to release Cody Murphy for a goal. 

However, any chance of a comeback was quickly put to bed as a rather fortuitous shot from Jack Gleason ended up in the back of the net. The game then petered to its foregone conclusion with a few late points from Melly putting a veneer of respectability on the scoreboard as St. Barnabas was in top gear for most of the match.

St. Barnabas: Jack Baldwin, Conor McClafferty, Davitt Barrett, Andrew Coughlan, Cian O’Flynn, Cormack Murphy, Adam Smith, Jack Gleason, Conor McEllhatton, Liam Spillane, Eoin Kennedy, Niall Rodgers, Daniel Cummins, Aaron Bogue, Eoin Henry. Subs: Andrew Coughlan, Ryan Harvey, Noel Livery.

Rangers: James Lyons, Fintan McGourty, Jack Doyle, Michael Diaz, Jack Pennachio, Shane Byrne, Liam Egan, Conor Gilsenan, Daithi 0’Connor, Jimmy Carmody, Michael Reynolds, Jack McElligiot, Aidan Carroll, Ronan Melly, Cody Murphy.  Subs: Liam Egan, Andrew Roddy, Aaron Blanchfield, Cian Barry, Pranchiu Burat, Pierce Coffey. 

Player of the Match: Eoin Kennedy.

Referee: Peter McCormack. 

*This report first appeared in the November 3 edition of the weekly Irish Voice newspaper, sister publication to IrishCentral.