The junior football holy battle of saints went down to the wire, with St. Barnabas using four points from Conor and Shane Hogan to grab a very fair result of a draw. Raymond’s dominated the early going in both halves but were pulled back by excellent play from the Woodlawn lads each time.

Ray’s started in as scoring flurry with Shea Furlong the assassin.

He had two points from play before Tomas McGovern replied with a point after a 50 yard run as the crow flies.

Furlong went at it again when he crashed a shot of the crossbar, and within a minute he launched a long ball that evaded the stretched hands of Conor Hogan and hit the back of the net by way of the roof.

When Ciaran Slattery added a point from wide on the right it was 1-3 to 0-1 for Ray’s.

Barnabas were back within one by the time the halftime whistle arrived courtesy of 1-2 with an Adrian Wynne goal and Redigan and Flynn points. Slattery had a point in reply, but it was intense play from Tom McGovern and Terrence Flynn.

The Barnabas recovery was set back immediately on the restart when Frank O’Rourke had a goal when CJ Doherty set him free.

Two points from Flynn and Wynne got a Barnabas revival going. Raymond’s added two further points from Furlong off the left peg and O’Rourke with Furlong the assister, to make it 2-6 to 1-5, but with 13 minutes left it was the last time the lads from Pelham would move the scoreboard.

Next up came four Hogan points, three from Shane who came off the bench and Conor who came out of goal. Both are on the New York panel, and they helped Barnabas get a draw which was a fair result. 

St. Ray’s will try and concentrate to the very end in future, but will still be happy to have a draw. Liam Butler, Denis Kilkenny, Frank O’Rourke and James Huvane all had prominent periods. Ciaran Slattery had two valuable points and was good in open play. Shea Furlong was outstanding particularly in the first half.

St. Barnabas had active displays from Terrence Flynn off the bench, Adrian Wynne, Dermot Hayes, Tomas McGovern and the two Hogans in the last 15 minutes.

St. Raymond’s: 1 Ryan Sullivan, 2 Denis Kilkenny, 4 Thomas Huvane, 5 Shane Tierney, 6 James Huvane, 7 Liam Butler, 8 Frank O’Rourke (1-1), 9 Ciaran Slattery (0-2), 10 Shea Furlong (1-3), 11 CJ Doherty, 12 Patrick Tierney, 13 Noel Blanchfield, 15 Danny Murphy.

St. Barnabas: 1 Conor Hogan (0-1), 2 Tom Brady, 4 Dermot Hayes, 5 Frank McDermott, 6 Michael McVann, 7 Nick Touchia, 8 Brian Dennehy, 9 Adrian Clarke, 10 Nick Moustousis, 11 Thomas McGovern (0-1), 12 James Mullen, 13 Rory Redican (0-1), 15 Brian Whitney. Subs: Terrence Flynn (0-2), Adrian Wynne (1-1), Shane Hogan (0-3).
Referee: Fergal Mulvanny.

Man of the match: Shea Furlong (St. Raymond’s)

 
Goals Are Key for Mayo
Mayo 5-7 Long Island Gaels 2-9

THE intermediate clash between Mayo and LIG was decided by goals and Mayo’s ease in grabbing them. Two in the first eight minutes put them into a lead they never looked like relinquishing.

After a Paddy Tuohy point for Long Island Gaels, it was all Mayo in the opening 20 minutes. They had back to back goals from Tom Niland and Glen Galvin, the second after the short kickout from the first. It was a severe blow to take.

On the heels of it Mayo added a further four points from a variety of angles and distances, with

Robbie Moran and Jimmy Byrne dominating in the middle.
Long Island was trying, but errant passes as they came out from the defensive end hurt them repeatedly.

They did get a lifeline when Gary Moore finished to the net after very good work from Denis Corcoon up the center. After a Tuohy free Mayo again went top shelf.

They had their third goal when a poor kickout was won and fed to Moran. He rattled the back of the net with clinical finishing.

Before the halftime whistle arrived, Corcoon had a glorious chance to narrow the gap considerably. When he went round the keeper when set free, he tried to blast to the empty net and his shot screamed over the bar as he grabbed his head in disappointment. It meant that Mayo was still sitting pretty with a 3-4 to 1-3 half time lead.

Long Island made a spirited comeback attempt to open the second half with 1-2 in the first ten minutes.  Corcoon was coming into the game more, and his ball carrying was causing problems.

Again Mayo rebuffed the challenge with a goal. Colm O’Neill joined the attack and he was first to a rebound when Niland was denied by Donagh O’Grady.

O’Neill followed with an excellent point before Niland added another to again push the lead out to seven, 4-6 to 2-5.

After a Tuohy point, Jimmy Byrne added the final major before both sides swapped points to close the game out with Long Island getting three of four. They needed something under the bar, however, and that never looked like happening.

Mayo has a very nice nucleus, with Thomas Huvane, Colm O’Neill, Robbie Moran, Jimmy Byrne and draft Liam Butler very dependable. Byrne and O’Neill have attack on their mind constantly, and their runs were always threatening.

Long Island were outclassed but battled bravely. They were missing Darren Moore who sat out due to the New York game next week. Denis Corcoon, Paddy Tuohy and Paul McDaid were their most prominent.

Mayo: 1 Kieran Potter, 2 Tomas Huvane, 4 Sean Brady, 5 Colm O’Neill (1-2), 6 Mike Burke, 7 Dave Parlow, 8 Robbie Moran (1-1), 9 Adrian Clarke, 10 Emmitt Cooney, 11 Jimmy Byrne (1-2), 12 Aiden O’Gara, 13 Tom Niland (1-1), 15 Glen Galvin (1-0). Subs: Dave Colleran, Liam Butler (0-1).
Long Island Gaels: 1 Donna O’Grady, 2 Donal McGlynn, 4 Anthony Kelly, 5 Michael O’Boyle, 6 Ronan Carter, 7 Dave Finley, 8 Denis Corcoon (0-2), 9 Denis Carroll, 10 Paddy Tuohy (1-6), 11 Paul McDaid (0-1), 12 Dave Dunican, 13 Brian Brooks, 15 Gary Moore (1-0).

Referee: Brendan Moran.

Man of the match: Colm O’Neill (Mayo).
 
A Breeze for Rangers
Rangers 3-12  Sligo 0-4

RANGERS used scores from nine different players and dominant defensive play to easily come away with the points against Sligo in the last day of the afternoon on Sunday at Gaelic Park.

The intermediate football game opened with a Sligo point in the third minute, but that was to be the lone bright spark in the outing.

A slew of scores for Rangers (2-3) in the next 11 minutes punctuated their dominance.  John Power from Conor Hunter had the first goal, a low drive that gave Danny Cafferey little chance.

They outscored their rivals six to two before the short whistle, with Hunter and Ronan Caffrey not only scoring but also causing numerous problems in open play. Cafferey also made a very good stop on a Power shot to keep the scoreline from becoming even greater in distance.
After a Hunter goal when Caffrey set him up to open the second half, the game continued in the Rangers wheelhouse. Three further points, plus forcing another save from Cafferey again, had Rangers cruising.

The game ended mercifully early for all involved. Although a couple of subs for Rangers did have their time cut short, they were showing that they will be challenging for places as the year progresses.

Mike Sheridan had one superb catch high in traffic, while Malachey McHugh also proved that there is plenty left in his career. Liam Hanley and Derek Courtney dominated at the half back line, while

Hunter and Caffrey were very dangerous in the forward line.
Sligo players Danny Cafferey, who could not be faulted, Denis Kilkenny, who battled hard, and Shea Furlong in his second game of the day tried.

Sligo: 1 Danny Cafferey, 2 Paddy Brennan, 4 Danny Murphy, 5 Keith Lang, 6 Denis Kilkenny (0-1), 7 Peter Kelly, 8 Steve Gomez, 9 Shea Furlong, 10 Dylan O’Neill, 11 Donal Dunnion (0-3), 12 Vincent Brett, 13 Eamonn Duffy, 15 Kevin Heggerty. Sub: Brian Quinn.

Rangers: 1 Mike Sheridan, 2 Malachy McHugh, 4 Pat O’Driscoll (0-1), 5 Derek Courtney (0-1), 6 Liam Hanley, 7 Stephen O’Shea (0-1), 8 John Power (1-1), 9 Kevin Daly (0-2), 10 Shane Toner (1-1), 11 Mike McCarthy, 12 Conor Hunter (1-1), 13 Ronan Caffrey (0-2), 15 Kieran Moran (0-2). Subs: Enda Lowney, Lawrence Kennedy, Bernard Madden, Paul Reynolds, Danny Moriarty.
Referee: Lawrence McGrath

Man of the match: Conor Hunter (Rangers).