Rockland 4-14  Shannon Gaels 1-8

St. Barnabas 5-18  St. Raymond’s 1-9

In the opening double header at Gaelic Park on Sunday, the under-18 players of New York were on show as they battled for the right to get into the minor final. 

Two of the founding clubs of the Minor Board, St Barnabas and St Raymond’s, faced off against two of the growing clubs, Rockland and Shannon Gaels.  When the dust settled, Rockland and St. Barnabas qualified with convincing wins over their rivals. 

Rockland built an early lead against the Gaels of Queens going into the break, ahead 1-9 to 0-3. Aiden Weir had grabbed 1-4 despite the best efforts of Danny Corridan and Tiernan Mathers at the back. The play of Brian Cornyn and Jim Linnane was also pivotal in forging the lead. 

Shannon did make a spirited comeback in the second half with a goal from Colin Mathers, but the hill was too high at this stage and despite their best efforts they could not get any closer to Rockland. Indeed Brian Maher off the bench for the winners added 2-1 to their total to keep the advantage at a safe one. 

In the second semi St. Barnabas were always in control against a depleted Ray’s side. 

An early goal from Gerry O’Sullivan set the pace, with Cian Bennett scoring at will throughout. Shane Slattery did get a number of good scores for Raymond’s, but goal chances were snuffed on three occasions by the brilliant play of Brendan Cole. 

Onward then to the final which will take place next Sunday at 11:30 a.m. On the form of the semis Rockland will start favorites but it promises to be a thriller. 

Shannon Gaels: 1 Fintan McDonagh, 2 Simon Motherway, 3 John Gargan, 4 Jason Connaughton, 5 Justin Cantray, 6 Danny Corridan, 7 Tiernan Mathers, 8 Conor Mathers, 9 Kevin Neville, 10 Eamon Doran, 11 Shane Reid, 12 Ruairi Kelly, 13 Michael Vizard, 14 Kevin Ward, 15 Seamus Finneran. 

Rockland: 1 Patrick Guerin, 2 Jack Rowley, 3 Brendan Healy, 4 Ronan James, 5 Anton Noonan, 6 Chris Coughlin, 7 Logan McIntire, 8 Brian Cornyn, 9 Jim Linnane, 10 Eoghan O’Brien, 11 Brian Meagher, 12 Aiden Weir, 13 Conor Riggs, 14 Ronan Curry, 15 Ryan Traynor.

St. Barnabas: 1 Brendan Cole, 2 Brian Moran, 3 Frank Cole, 4 Joe Coff, 5 Ryan Turley, 6 Conor Raftery, 7 Shane Smith, 8 Alan Wynne, 9 Cian Bennett, 10 Sean Lawler, 11 Gerry O’Sullivan. 

St. Raymond’s: 1 John Kilkenny, 2 Jack Purce, 3 Declan Byrne, 4 Keelan Walsh, 5 Niall Kelly, 6 Shane Slattery, 7 Michael Murphy, 8 Derek Conlon, 9 Conor Kelly, 10 Matt Conlon, 11 Dale Augetta.

Referee: Peter McCormack.