Football Championship Results
Sunday 10th July, 2005

Handy Start to the Day for Ulster
Mens' Junior Football Championship
Ulster 1-12 St Joseph's 1-4

Chris Knightly spurned a golden opportunity to get a San Jose goal in the first thirty seconds of this junior game on Sunday at Boxer Stadium by kicking it wide, and in an uncanny resemblance to the start of the Ulster final that same morning, it set the tone for the match. It didn't take long for Ulster to take control and impose their own plan for the game. However, the St Joseph's full back line was putting up such a fierce resistance to anyone who intruded on it, that Ulster had to start taking their shots from the half back and mid field to stand a chance of getting a clear shot. Ulster were making good use of their physical fitness and showing incredible bursts of speed to take a five point lead by half time.

There was no let up in the Ulster bombardment in the second half, and as the lead stretched, San Jose began to make use of their rare forays into the Ulster half of the field to create goal-scoring opportunities. Fergal Finnan took a penalty that resulted from one of these, and as it bounced off the bar to return back down the field, it was not looking good for the south bay side. Ross Brunton managed to get a goal for St Joseph's later on, but this effort was cancelled out by Damian Madden who rattled the back of the St Joseph's net for Ulster to take them to an eight point win.

Referee - Liam Moloney, Sean Treacy's

Young Irelander's Push Through
Mens' Junior Football Championship
Young Irelanders 0-10 St. Brendan's 0-7

Young Irelanders were on top for most of this junior game in which fiesty defending by St. Brendan's made them work hard for every score. Although YI had most posession, St. Brendan's were blocking them at every turn and forcing them to get creative and pass the ball out to whoever had more space. The last ten minutes of the first half was a difficult time for a St. Brendan's team that lost Tom Carroll who went over on his ankle. A missed penalty that could have equalised the score left things in YI's favour, although by half time the Young Irelanders led by a single point in this low-scoring game.

Tom Carroll returned to the field in the second half, but it was as low-scoring as the first with a lot of stoppages, and St. Brendan's looking tired and struggling to keep up. It was a frustrating game for the young Oakland team who were outclassed.

Referee, Kieran Keenan, Ulster

Celts Kept in Check
Mens' Junior Football Championship
Celts 0-8 Sean Treacys 1-11

The Celts put it up to the Treacy's by stealing three points into the lead right from the word gowith scores by Jimmy Flynn and Brendan Power in this fantastic display of football that pitted the experience, strength, and size of Sean Treacy's against the youth, fitness and craftsmanship of the Celts.

Sean Treacy's, like many adult teams, took some time to warm up and settle down, having to fight hard for every score by overcoming the quick-handed youngsters who could relieve an unsuspecting player of the ball as quick as look at him. After the first ten minutes the Celts slightly lost their way, almost as if rattled by the intensity of the Sean Treacy's onslaught, and went in at half time trailing by six points to three.

In the second half Sean Treacy's breifly became sloppy with their passing and started to give posession away, allowing the Celts to get back into the game. However a Sean Treacy's goal from a free kick by Michael Glennon turned the tide of the game permantly in their favour. Treacy's kept outwitting the Celts by getting their hands to the ball that crucial split second sooner and winning possession. A fifteen minute period followed without a single Celts score, and Treacy's were given the freedom of the mid field by slack marking.

The all-American team never gave up though, and clearly had plenty of fitness on the tank which they duely used to sprint right to the last. A few goal-scoring opportunities were squandered over the bar that could otherwise have made for a very tight finish. Nevertheless, the parents who came to see their talented kids in action certainly got their money's worth.

Referee - James O'Brien, St Brendan's

Too Little Too Late for Sarsfield's
Mens' Intermediate Football Championship
Ulster 3-16 Sarsfields 3-11

Sarsfield's were not getting many ball contacts in the first ten minutes of the only intermediate football game of the day, and the few balls that they did get invariably went wide. The headwind didn't help, but neither did the solid wall that was the Ulster half and full back line. Ulster, by contreast, only shot two wides in the whole first half to Sarsfield's five.

It was more of the same from Ulster in the second half. Seamus McCorry offered a few glimmers of hope by hurtling down the pitch at high speed, but he and his other team mates in the mid field were not getting much of a chance to shine.

Ulster were very difficult to dispossess, once they got their hands on the ball it would typically remain so until Lurgan man Gary Seeley put in the finishing touch and dispatched it over the bar with surgical precision. Sarsfield's were getting very few scores from play, with a little bit of patchy marking letting Ulster through in wave after wave. It helped Ulster that they were very fit and able to break away from their men.

Two Sarsfield's goals against the run of play in the last three minutes brought the possibility of a comeback very much to the fore as they came to within two points of taking the game back. Everyone on the field played with all the intensity as if one more kick could be a match winner, and Ulster rose to the challenge by keeping their heads, staying composed, and retaliating with a goal of their own by Jody Ogel to stretch the margin back to a relatively safe distance.

There were no holds barred right up to the last few seconds of injury time that seemed to tick away agonisingly slowly, or quickly depending on who you were supporting. the outcome of this high standard game was in doubt right up to the end.

Referee - Darragh O'Connor, Michael Cusack's