Hatzer goal clinches win

Dublin 4-9  Astoria Gaels 3-10
 
The intermediate semifinal was a game where Dublin seemed to have enough done, but Astoria clawed back and went into the lead late in the second half.

Dublin, though, clinched the contest with a Peter Hatzer goal with time running down. They now move on to meet the winners of the other semifinal between Donegal and Kerry.

Dublin opened the game in storming form. They had a point after one minute from Hatzer, and then followed it with a volleyed goal from Shane Carty when Paul McDaid flicked the ball into his path.

Alarmingly it was to be Dublin’s last score for some 23 minutes. Astoria made a brilliant push and it got them into the lead. Sam Yore did a lot of positive work at center back which served as a platform.

Their first chance was a Pakie Downey shot that Alan Reilly stopped, but it was followed by a Robbie Moran free over the bar for a foul on Liam Farrell.

A Yore catch in the middle of the field started the next move. The ball was moved into the corner to Downey. The big man soloed in on goal and attempted a fist point. The ball came back of the upright and Downey reacted quickest to volley the ball to the net and a draw at 1-1 each.

Moran followed with three points from frees over the next 12 minutes to create an Astoria advantage.

The game was stopped with 10 minutes left for a skirmish that developed with a Dublin player very lucky to be still on the field for a kick to Moran. Striking or attempting to strike has the same punishment. On this day, however, he didn’t even receive a yellow.

Dublin finally had their third score when Hatzer slotted over after 27 minutes, but Mark Dobbins cancelled that out with a long range score.

The sides swapped scores as the game wound down to its break with Astoria still sitting on a three point lead, 1-6 to 1-3.

It was all Dublin in the opening 12 minutes of the second half. They reclaimed the lead by scoring 2-3 in that period.

The first goal arrived after two points from Carty. Hatzer was the finisher as he was at the end of a seven player move taking the last pass from Niall Coughlin and firing to the net.

After Mulvanny and Loughnane scores, Coughlin had the second Dublin goal and third of the game. The ball arrived into the Gaels defensive end; they had two opportunities to clear but failed and Coughlin punished them by finding the net. It left his side in a 3-7 to 1-6 lead with 18 minutes remaining.

Astoria started their comeback almost immediately. Shane Sweeney, was fouled for a penalty, and Sean Kelly (the Gaelic Park specialist for the job), made no mistake.
Moran followed with a pointed free after Downey was fouled.  Downey then had their third goal, a brilliant effort when Dobbins set him free.

When Nester Allen and Downey again added points, Astoria were sitting on a 3-9 to 3-8 lead with time winding down.

The one two punch of Coughlin and Hatzer had one last miracle left for the Dubs on a weekend when their under-21s in Ireland lost to Galway in the All-Ireland final.  The full forward set Hatzer free and he fired to the net to again put his side in front with time elapsing.

Astoria had two last chances to force a result. The first was a Moran close range free that was pushed over by a wall of defenders.

Astoria won the resulting kickout, and the Dublin keeper Alan Reilly drove the ball out over the sideline with the final buzzer sounding.

Sweeney took the final kick which landed far from the target, but in fairness it would have been a wondrous effort to have had any chance of going over.

Dublin hung on for the win, and they can be very thankful to a number of players. Alan Reilly made a couple of very important stops at critical times. He takes the man of the match award on their strengths.

Donal McGlynn and Barry McKiernan impressed at the back, while Andy Gray and Keith Moran both had good contributions in the middle.

Peter Hatzer and Niall Coughlin were excellent up front, with Conor Hunter also having some valuable contributions off the bench. Look for him to start in the final. Fergal Mulvanny also did well as a substitute.

For Astoria, back to the drawing board. Sean Kelly, who came on after 10 minutes, Sean Munnelly and Sam Yore, who had an excellent first half, were the best of the backs. Midfield came second but Robbie Moran kicked well from frees. Pakie Downey was the only consistently dangerous forward.

Astoria Gaels: 1 Pa Ryan, 2 Alan Foley, 3 Eugene O’Hagan, 4 James O’Brien, 5 Eoghan Kyne, 6 Sam Yore, 7 Sean Munnelly, 8 Robbie Moran (0-6), 9 Brian Geraghty (0-1), 10 Derek McKenna, 11 Mark Dobbin (0-1), 12 Liam Farrell, 13 Shane Sweeney, 14 Pakie Downey (2-1), 15 Nester Allen (0-1).  Subs: Sean Kelly (1-0).

Dublin: 1 Alan Reilly, 2 Sean McGrath, 3 Adam Keaney, 4 Colm Larkin, 5 Barry McKiernan, 6 Donal McGlynn, 7 Robbie Carter, 8 Andy Gray, 9 Keith Moran (0-1), 10 Paul McDaid, 11 Shane Stenson, 12 Shane Carty (1-2), 13 Peter Hatzer (2-2), 14 Niall Coughlin (1-0), 15 Eoin Loughnane (0-1).  Subs: Conor Hunter (0-1) Fergal Mulvanney (0-2).

Man of the match: Alan Reilly (Dublin).
Referee: Martin O’Connor.
 
 
 
Kerry shock Orchard
 
Kerry 2-7 Armagh 0-8
 
Kerry turned the form book on its head with a brilliant and convincing victory over Armagh in this senior football contest on Sunday.

The Kingdom played the first half with just 13 players and still went into the break ahead by one. They filled the two empty slots at the break and pulled away to eventually win by five.

The defensive play in the second half was outstanding. They held their opponents to a pair of points, with the half back line of Donavan, Ryan and Foley outstanding. Dermie Foley did tremendous work, with the backtracking Kevin Walsh and Mike Jim Fitzgerald also have major contributions. Kerry are still alive in the playoff hunt with a last game against Leitrim ahead.

The first half was a complete surprise. Kerry, despite a numerical disadvantage of two, were ahead at the break 1-4 to 0-6.

Armagh did have four of the first five points of the game, but dogged defense by the Kerry backline stopped them from getting a major score. This kept the Kingdom in the contest, and they were able to add points from Paddy Smith and Ross Donavan to edge ever closer.

James Moynagh had a huge Armagh score from over 40 yards out in the 18th minute to make it a two point advantage again, 0-5 to 0-3.

Kerry responded in dramatic fashion. Smith was fouled for a free that Walsh converted; this was followed by a penalty when CJ Molloy was pulled to ground after he pulled down a long ball to the square.

Walsh stepped up and drilled the ball low to the right corner of the net. Despite a Caolan Short score before the break, Kerry was still sitting in front by one as the sides took a 10 minute recess.

Kerry continued their dominance with a further three point burst to open the second half. Kevin Walsh had the first two scores from a free and then play while sub Maurice Crowley fired over the third. Crowley had joined the fray at the break and was delighted with his score and quite rightly so.

It took Armagh 19 minutes to get their first score of the half, a Moynagh score. It was followed by a Short long range effort but that was the extent of the Orchard scoring as resolute defensive play by Foley, Ryan, Darren Courtney and Fitzgerald nullified a number of attacks. Add to the mix five Armagh wides and Kerry was in control.

Just in case there were any thoughts of a comeback Fitzgerald soloed down the left wing with five minutes on the clock. His long ball to the square was flicked on by Molloy, and Smith finished the dropping ball to the net. The unexpected win was complete.

Finbarr Flood will be delighted with the win. Perhaps he should have played himself all year! He had very little trouble in goal due to the superb play of James Huvane, Donovan and inspirational Ryan. Dermie Foley was always available as a passing option and tackled brilliantly.

Mike Jim Fitzgerald had a great outing, while Kevin Walsh was all over the field. An all round team performance.

Armagh will scratch the heads. Karl McVerry, Caolan Short and James Moynagh were the few who kept reputations intact.

Armagh: 1 Alan Hearty, 2 Stewart Stokes, 3 Patsy Martin, 4 Raymie Kane, 5 Aiden Morton, 6 Eddie Greenan, 7 Carl McVerry, 8 Brian Murphy, 9 Steve Sheridan, 10 Caolan Short (0-2), 11 Kevin McGeeney (0-1), 12 Allen McFerran, 13 Ciaran Conlon (0-1), 14 James Moynagh (0-4), 15 Chris Morton. Subs: Collie Fearan.

Kerry: 1 Finbarr Flood, 2 James Huvane, 3 Darren Courtney, 4 Niall Corbett, 5 Ross Donovan (0-1), 6 Conor Ryan, 7 Dermie Foley, 8 Mike Fitzgerald, 9 CJ Molloy, 10 Kevin Walsh (1-4), 11 Shane Clifford, 12 Paddy Smith (0-1), 13 Bingo Driscoll.

Man of the match: Dermie Foley (Kerry).
Referee: Conor Healy.
 
Hard work pays for Leitrim
 
Leitrim 1-10  Tyrone 1-8
 
The midday game at Gaelic Park on Sunday was preceded by a minute of silence and a beautiful rendition of “Amazing Grace” by a lone piper in remembrance of those who lost their lives in the horrible events of 9-11.

The spectators and teams stood in silence in prayer as we remembered all who were lost. They will always be remembered. May they rest in peace.

Leitrim took the points in this senior football contest, but they were chased all the way by Tyrone. The winners always looked as if they had enough in reserve but they were made to work hard.

Indeed but for a penalty that nearly took the head of the umpire at the Foley end, the game would have been level pegging as the game entered its final quarter. The miss allowed Leitrim to ease to the finish line and a place in the playoffs.
The sides swapped points to open the game, with Donal Hartnett and Dan Doona the scorers.

Leitrim then had a huge break when Pat Madden set of on a solo run and he found Tom Nolan, who did some nifty side stepping before he finally got a foot to the ball and hit the net. A little unorthodox.

Tyrone shook off the heavy shot and rebounded with a goal of their own. A long ball from Conor McNabb was not cleared up by the Leitrim defense, and Paul Cahill reacted quickest to drive the ball to the net.

Leitrim had their best period of the half in the aftermath of the score with the next four points of the contest. In a game of waves, however, Tyrone came back with three points of their own to draw level as the half time whistle approached.
When Leitrim were awarded a free 55 yards from goal the odds of something substantial looked slim. Doona had other thoughts, however, as he launched the ball over the bar with a tremendous drive.

While Tyrone had the first point of the second half (Hartnett had a score from play) it was all Leitrim in the next 12 minutes. They added three points to their total with frees from Kieran Tavey and Doona preceding a point from play by Tavey. Mike Creegan created that score with a great burst out of the back before feeding the ball of intelligently.

Tyrone did have a chance to completely cancel out the three point deficit in the 15th minute. A long ball into Hartnett set the corner forward free at the 40 yard line. He soloed forward with a defender in chase and wasn’t stopped until he reached the large parallelogram.

He was fouled there for a penalty. Seamus Skeffington stepped up but riffled his shot wide to the right. You need to get it on goal.

Leitrim responded with a Paul O’Hara point which gave them a four point advantage which they were able to sustain.

Tyrone did pull two points back from a Niall Farrell score from play and a Hartnett free when the Leitrim defender was adjudged to have fouled, although it looked like a text book shoulder.

On another day it would have been a costly free. That was as close as the losers could get as Leitrim crossed the finish line in control.

Leitrim will be delighted to be safely into the semis as they go for two in a row. Lonan Maguire, Mike Creegan, who had an excellent hour, and Johnny Goldrick all were inspired at the back.

Madden and O’Connor won the middle, with Madden coming back to form which will impress New York manager Seamus Sweeney who was on hand.

Rory Woods did a lot of good work but he gets involved with refs for no apparent reason. He was booked in this one and needs to rein in his emotions.

Kieran Tavey and Dan Doona were the scorers-in-chief, but Kenny O’Connor won a lot of ball in front of the square as the target man.

Tyrone was missing a number of players and has one game left on their schedule against Cavan. Mike Gallagher and Ryan Canavan were prominent at the back. Declan Garvey battled throughout in the center, while Darren Doherty also had his best outing of the year.

Donal Hartnett still has the scorer’s touch, with Niall Farrell a live wire. They will still have a major say in the championship as the final weeks unfold.
Leitrim: 1 Pa Ryan, 2 John Goldrick, 3 Ciaran Scannell, 4 Lonan Maguire, 5 Mike Creegan, 6 Dermot Keane 7 Jeff Farrell, 8 Pat Madden, 9 Adrian O’Connor (0-1), 10 Tom Nolan, 11 Rory Woods, 12 Ciaran Tavey (0-3), 13 Dan Doona (0-4), 14 Kenny O’Connor, 15 Shane Sweeney (0-1). Subs: Paul O’Hara (0-1), Danny O’Sullivan, Paddy Daly.

Tyrone: 1 Damien Corrigan, 2 Mike Gallagher, 3 Joe Bell, 4 Ciaran Campbell, 5 Ryan Canavan, 6 Steve Keating, 7 Seamus Skeffington, 8 Conor McNabb, 9 Declan Garvey, 10 Darren Doherty, 11 Mickey Sloan, 12 Adam Fitzgerald, 13 Donal Hartnett (0-5), 14 Niall Farrell (0-2), 15 Paul Cahill (1-1). Subs: Paddy Maguire, Paul Mulhearne.

Man of the match: Mike Creegan (Leitrim)
Referee: Lawrence McGrath.
 
 
Rebels in playoff heaven
 
Cork 3-11 Cavan 0-7
 
Cork used superb performances from Mark Cronin and Aiden O’Mahoney, who combined to score 2-9 to easily take the points and the senior football playoff spot from a Cavan side that never got going.  Cork’s goal in the first half put them into a commanding lead, one they never looked like surrendering.

Mark Cronin opened the game with a brace of scores in the first two minutes before Thomas Fahy had Cavan’s first 10 minutes in.

The marker was already laid, however, by the Rebels as they used the former Cork panelist as the foundation for offensive chances.

Aiden O’Mahoney was also having a superb game as he was left open time and time again. He followed a Shea Furlong point with one of his own, and then punished a defensive mix-up with a slow rolling shot to the net 15 minutes in.

O’Mahoney and Ian Davies swapped scores as the half wound down, with the Cavan full forwards sideline effort sublime from beside the Foley Wall.

Cork were dropping their half forwards deep for the ball and that was helping them to move it forward at pace and find men in open spaces. They sat at the half holding a 1-5 to 0-3 lead.

While Cronin again had a point to open the half after the short break, Cavan then had their best period of the game. They put three points back to back, with Tommy Warburton coming forward for the first and Gerald McCarthy firing two over in the seventh and eighth minutes. It left one score between the sides – granted, a goal -- but gave the side hope.

Cork quickly dissipated it with points from that man Cronin again before Francie Cleary was at the end of a flowing move that ended with the ball tucked in the back of the net.

Cronin added a further 1-1 while Cavan’s only reply was a blast into the side netting by Michael Boyle.

Gary Lowney finished the scoring for Cork with a lively chip, while Cavan had a volleyed point be Kevin Cardin that screamed over when they needed it under twice.
Cork’s best performers were Liam Hanley, John Fitzpatrick and John McLoughlin in the half back line. They stopped a flow of ball and also shut down their direct opponents.

Gary Lowney won a good amount of possession in the middle, while Jason Kelly went far and wide in search of ball and always did something constructive with it. Aiden O’Mahoney had a career day, while Mark Cronin was a constant thorn. Francie Cleary and Derek Courtney also did some very good work out of the back.

Cavan will wonder what the heck happened. Paul Lamb battled throughout, while Thomas Fahy showed some flashes of his inter county talent.

Gerald McCarthy also had some moments, with Ian McKiernan battling off the bench.

Cork: 1 Darren O’Mahoney, 2 Sean McNamee, 3 Gary Hanley, 4 Paddy Harrington 5 Liam Hanley, 6 John McLoughlin, 7 John Fitzpatrick, 8 Gary Lowney (0-1), 9 Jason Kelly, 10 Aiden O’Mahoney (1-3), 11 Derek Courtney, 12 Francie Cleary (1-0), 13 Mark Cronin (1-6), 14 Tadgh Foley, 15 Shea Furlong (0-1). Subs: Pat Mahoney.

Cavan: 1 Joe McKeown, 2 Paul Lamb, 3 Kevin Cardin (0-1), 4 Ciaran Martin, 5 Tommy Warburton (0-1), 6 Thomas Fahy (0-1), 7 Ronan McGinley, 8 Alan Carolan, 9 Steven Harold, 10 Michael Boyle, 11 Keith Cardin, 12 Brendan Reilly, 13 Barry McGinn, 14 Ian Davies (0-2), 15 Gearoid McCarthy (0-2). Subs: Justin O’Halloran, Ronan Fitzsimons, Ian McKiernan.

Man of the match: Mark Cronin (Cork).
Referee: John Fitzpatrick.

 
Good Shepherd reunion

The Good Shepherd football club is having their very first reunion dance on Saturday, October 8. It will be an opportunity for all former players, coaches, managers and families to come together and share their memories.

The reunion will take place from 4-8 p.m. at the Riverdale Steakhouse, 5700 Riverdale Avenue, the Bronx.

Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door with a buffet, coffee tea and non-alcoholic beverages included. There will be a cash bar for drinks. To contact the organizers email GoodShepherdReunion@yahoo.com or call 917-438-0977.