New York Ladies 7 a side Preview
May 22, 2012
2011 Mattie Farrelly 7 a Side Champions Ballymacarbery of County Waterford
Last year's tournament was won out by Waterford Ladies Football Kingpins Ballymacarbery after they dispatched of Cavan in the 7's final last year whilst Na Fianna claimed the Barry Fitzgerald cup. Ballymac then took on the New York ladies on the following Sunday and after a pulsating game New York pulled out a memorable victory in front of a packed Gaelic Park. The tournament has only been won on 3 occasions by teams from outside of NY, Fog City Harps of San Francisco won the inaugural tournament in 2001 while Railyard of Kilkenny took the honors in 2007. Cavan NY have won the trophy on 7 occasions while the now defunct Mayo team are the only other New York team to win the competition having done so in 2003.
Lurgan the 2010 and 2011 Cavan Senior Ladies Champions will start out as tournament favorites and have several members of the Cavan Ladies panel that lost out by a point to Westmeath in last year's epic intermediate All Ireland Final replay. They will look to such players as Claragh O'Reilly, Vanessa Brady and Julie Cahill to get their scores. The Virginia girls are managed by John Mulvaney who is no stranger to Gaels in New York and even took on the New York Ladies last year in a challenge game in Cavan in the run up to the All Ireland Junior Final.
Na Fianna, this year's Annie Kearney Champions will present the best challenge of the New York teams and have had an outstanding start to the season dispatching of Kerry/Donegal , Cavan and Fermanagh with comfortable margins. The cup final win will give a real boost to their players who despite missing some key regulars have shown the talent and depth of their squad. Kathryn O'Sullivan has proved to be a huge addition to Tony Mc Tigue and Dean O'Connor's charges with tremendous displays from Midfield while the team is backboned by 11 of last years New York Ladies Panel that came so close to glory last year in Croke Park. The loss of Molly O'Rourke to a knee injury may prove crucial later in the season but with home based players of the caliber of Aine Dwyer, Imelda Mullarkey and Joanne Monaghan the girls are well placed to challenge any club team from Ireland. Na Fianna who also have a large contingent of home grown players including Mary O'Rourke, Shannon Spillane, Jesse Garcia, Kelly Mc Cormack and the Tierney's will be right in the mix come the latter stages of the tournament.
Cavan, last years Championship winners, by their usual standards have had a poor start but will look to this competition to kick start their season. Last weekends loss to Na Fianna however, showed the tide has turning back in their favor and they will be disappointed having led throughout the game only to run out steam in the last ten minutes. The recent return of their College contingent as well as the addition of Hazel Kingham from 2009 All Ireland Senior Club Champions Donaghmoyne and the likes of Linda McKeon, Alisha Jordan and Emma Clarke means the Breffni girls can not be discounted.
Fermanagh have been the surprise package of the early stages of the season and recorded a memorable win over Cavan in Rockland to recover after a great performance against Kerry/Donegal . Managed by this year's New York Football Captain Ronan Mc Ginley the girls have put in a lot of preseason work and seem determined to bridge the gap between themselves and the other clubs after a disappointing season last year. The team contain a mix of Home grown and Irish girls and are gelling together well as a unit. The addition of Tyrone midfield dynamo Sarah Donnelly will give them an extra creative spark around the middle and don't be surprised to see them cause an upset in a big game.
Kerry/Donegal has had a mixed start to the season beating Fermanagh and Rockland but performing only in patches against Na Fianna. With a lot of new additions to the squad as well as the welcome integration of some talent from the Gaelic 4 Girls program Paddy and Donal's girls will be looking to show some real challenge at the 7's and prove they can be in contention for Championship Honors come late July. With 6 of last years NY ladies panel as well as forwards like Anita Mc Kenna and Denise Dunnion to hand they could prove to be dark horses for the Tournament and the Championship Season.
Tyrone will once again take the field and with players like Tracy Ann Mc Cullagh, Claire Mc Elroy and other dispersed Red Hands, they are sure to cause problems to any team they come up against. Tir Na nOg Boston and the Washington DC Gaels represent the North American Board and are sure to be in the mix for the semi finals stage of the competition. Tir Na nOg are last years NACB Senior Ladies Runners Up having lost out agonizingly to Mairead Farrells of Philly by two points and will be sure to present a challenge. St Brigids will showcase the striving underage program in New York and with a mix of former Feile All Stars and CYC winners may cause an upset to any team foolish enough to take them lightly. A novel addition this year will be the addition of a European All Star with players from Barcelona, Brussels , Munich and Zurich! Surely a first for Gaelic Park! The team is managed by Shane Mc Donnell from the Den Haag club the Hague from the Netherlands. Last year Europe reached the All Ireland Junior 7's Final in Portmarnock last September losing out to Banteer. The Europeans bring an unknown quantity containing a mix of Irish Girls and Belgian, Dutch and Spanish players to the competition but judging by Europe's win last October in the Young Ireland Camogie competition in Rockland the girls have shown they are no pushovers when it comes to Gaelic Sport!
The competition is being run this year by the Na Fianna Club and great credit must go to all involved for what is sure to be a great weekend for the New York Ladies GAA. Registration Starts on the day at 10 o'clock with the first games to kick off at 11 and finals to take place at approximately 430. Tweet
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