Donegal's Na Rossa win Ceist GAA
December 22, 2011Na Rossa ensured that the title stayed in Ulster, following last year's win by Tyrone club Eglish. Captained by TG4 GAA Beo Presenter Mícheál Ó Domhnaill, Na Rossa secured victory with the second-biggest winning margin of the competition - a comfortable six-point win.
Na Rossa receive the 'Ceist GAA le Hector' Cup, a replica of the famous Sam Maguire trophy, and also a Training weekend at the renowned Carton House in Maynooth, Co. Kildare under the watchful eye of former Meath and International Rules manager Sean Boylan.
Na Rossa were represented by club members Odhrán Ó Gallachoir and Padraig Ó Baoill; along with team captain Mícheál Ó Domhnaill.
Ódhrán Ó Gallachóir is delighted to be bringing All-Ireland silverware to Donegal.
"We are delighted with the win. It's fantastic for the area, the county and for the province as well, as Eglish won it last year," he said.
"It's fantastic. We put a lot of research into it and done a lot of work behind the scenes. We are delighted to have any sort of silverware at all in the local club.
"For such a small parish of 900 people this is great. We haven't had much success on the field, since we won the Intermediate Championship in 1999.
"A win like this brings everyone together and brings everyone out to celebrate. We are really, really happy and the people in Leitir Mhic an Bhaird are very, very happy with it."
With just a point separating the sides entering the final round, Ó Gallachóir says it was a tough battle until the end.
"Donegal hasn't had much luck recently, and I especially think back to Michael Murphy's penalty miss in the All-Ireland Under 21 final against Dublin," he said.
"It's great to win something like that, but this is no different. A lot of hard work must go in before a final. You don't just get there with a slice of luck.
"You have to have your wits about you and you have to do a lot of preparation before hand."
Kiltane's Sean Gaughan was disappointed his side didn't pull through to take honours.
"Unfortunately there are no prizes for second place," he said.
"Just on the day we weren't good enough for it. We knew we were up against a tough team. We just happened to meet Mícheál Ó Domhnaill in sparking form..
"Congratulations to Na Rossa, they were the stronger team. It's just tough getting to the final and falling at the final hurdle, it's never an easy thing."
Reflecting back on Kiltane's involvement in the competition, which saw wins over Cratloe, Geevagh and Finuge; Gaughan was happy with his sides performances throughout.
"The final was extremely tight, there was only a point in it before the final round. Na Rossa just pulled away, we can have no excuses. We had a great run and we done very, very well to get to the final, but it was just hard to remember the positives after losing a final.
"It's the negatives that are always in the back of your mind. We are just thinking that we missed out on the chance of getting the weekend away.
"It would have been great for us, especially the silverware also. It's difficult to take, but with a bit of hindsight it was great to get that far, and I think we performed pretty well in all of the shows."
If you missed it a repeat of the 2011 'Ceist GAA le Hector' final between Na Rossa and Kiltane will be broadcast on TG4 on Christmas Day at 4pm.
Hector Ó hEochagáin is the referee for this fast-paced programme, which is a battle of skill and wit to see who will ultimately be crowned champions.
16 clubs set out on the road to Ceist GAA honours in 2011, with Mayo, Clare, Sligo, Galway, Tipperary, Kerry, Dublin, Armagh, Wicklow, Galway, Down, Waterford, Donegal and Cork represented.
The show is officially endorsed by the GAA and is in its second series. Tweet
