Football Championship Results
Saturday June 18th, 2005

Ulster Unstoppable
Mens' Intermediate Football Championship
Ulster 3-8 Sean Treacy's 2-7

Ulster went in with all guns blazing in their opening championship game of the year, with their forwards rattling the net three times and their backs closing down the options for the Sean Treacy's forwards who were forced to the wings from where they had to shoot from angles that were ackward enough to keep their tally of points well below that of the men in yellow and black. Sean Treacy's managed to get only two scores in the first half, one of which was a goal where the ball ended up in the keeper's hands but behind the line, and the other being a point from a free kick. Treacy's faught back to bring the majority of the play into the Ulster half of the field towards the end of the first half by which time Ulster led by nine points.

Treacy's came back with avengance in the second half and narrowed the gap with a goal from Brian Cosgrave salvaged from a stray shot that rebounded high off the right post. Tough defending on both sides led to a few heated tempers and a little bit of pushing and shoving towards the end, but things did not get too out of hand as Ulster were forced to work for this particular victory.

Clan na Gael Outclassed
Ladies' Junior B Football Championship
Fog City Harps 4-21 Clan na Gael 0-0

The scoreline in this challenge game says just about everything really, except that Clan na Gael had a lot of key players missing and that this was this particular team's first time playing together. For what it's worth, most of the simple mistakes ranged from over-use of the hand pass where a kick would have been better, inadequate kickouts from the goal, and an inability to be in the right place at the right time to win the breaking ball. The first five minutes of the match saw no action in the Fog City half of the field, and the majority of the game was no different.

Nevertheless, there were some notable performances from Clan na Gael full back Lisa Connoly without whom the scoreline would undoubtedly have been much worse. It was a similar situation to some of this club's St Patrick's Cup games earlier in the year in which it was a case of trying the team out, making mistakes, and learning from them in time for the more crucial games.

Treacy's Almost Stopped in their Tracks
Mens' Junior Football Championship
Sean Treacy's 1-16 Ulster 1-14

Ulster were very much on the receiving end for the first ten minutes of this dramatic game that rounded off the day at Boxer Stadium. It took Ulster ten minutes to get a score by which time they were trailing by eight points, partly thanks to a Sean Treacy's goal by John Fannon. The backs and mid fielders on both sides were very impressive, but Sean Treacy's had the edge in their forward line with a much higher standard of accurate shooting.

At half time it looked like Ulster were on their way to a defeat as they were trailing by eleven points at 1-10 to 0-2.

Ulster never gave up though, and the second half saw them show enough dogged determination to claw their way back into the game. Tough defending and intense physical play on both sides led to some people losing their tempers, and for a time it looked like things would get a little bit out of hand. But this did not overshadow or detract from some very clean and elegant football from such players as Ulster's Tom English in their half backs. That said, the standard of play was not high on all parts of the field, and there were a lot of fouls and errors leading to a very high number of stoppages and frees.

In a memorable climax to the game, Ulster were trailing by two points with seconds to spare in stoppage time. Ulster's Hugh Breen had a clear run at the Sean Treacy's net, fired a blistering shot at the goal for a potential winning score, but it was saved by the Sean Treacy's goalkeeper who's hands must have been stung by the force of such a high calibre shot. His kick out turned out to be the last kick of the game, and his save turned out to be a match winner.