Anne’s reach semis
Five teams feature in national Féile
ST. ANNE’S were the best performing Wexford side in the recent Féile Peil na nÓg tournament, ending a memorable campaign with a heartbreaking 3-10 to 1-6 semi-final defeat to the eventual Division 6 winners, Tyrone outfit Cookstown Fr. Rocks.
After coming through with a perfect record against Rostrevor of Down (5-9 to 2-8), Donegal’s Carndonagh (3-12 to 0-5) and hosts An Riocht from Down (5-9 to 2-8), the Rathangan boys edged past Arklow Geraldines-Ballymoney (2-7 to 1-6) after an epic quarter-final battle.
However, they found Cookstown a little too hot to handle.
The Tyrone kingpins went on to defeat Patrick Sarsfields of Belfast in the final, but the St. Anne’s lads came away from the experience with great memories.
Both of the other boys’ sides made their respective cup quarter-finals.
In Division 3, Ballinastragh Gaels defeated Ballyholland from Down (5-7 to 0-4) in their opener, were edged out by Tipperary’s Durlas Óg (3-4 to 1-8) in match two, but bounced back to defeat Armagh hosts Killeavy St. Moninna’s by 5-9 to 0-3 to make the quarters.
Finishing in second place in the group was always going to make it more difficult in the last eight. Despite giving it a big effort, Coralstown-Kinnegad proved too strong, winning by 3-7 to 0-3.
The Westmeath side went on to lose the final to Durlas Óg, showing how little there was between the sides.
In Division 10, St. Mary’s (Rosslare) won a high-scoring opener against Wolfe Tones from Meath (5-10 to 4-7).
The Wexford boys lost to Foreglen from Derry (4-9 to 2-0) in their second outing but bounced back to defeat hosts St. Patrick’s of Louth by 4-8 to 0-3.
St. Manchan’s Gaels from Offaly were the opponents in the quarter-finals.
They proved a little too talented for the Rosslare side, winning by 5-8 to 2-2, and they went on to lose the final to Ballyshannon from Donegal.
In Division 3 of the girls’ competition, Adamstown made it to the quarter-finals too.
They eased past Geraldines (Louth) by 4-3 to nil in their opening contest but lost a cracker to Naomh Ciarán from Offaly in their second outing (4-5 to 4-4).
They bested hosts St. Kevin’s (Louth) by 7-5 to 2-0 in their final group game to make the last eight, but Ballymacarbry proved too strong on Saturday afternoon, winning by 2-4 to nil.
The Waterford club went out in the next round.
Finally, Taghmon-Camross were allotted a spot in Group A of Division 6 in the girls’ competition and started their campaign with a quality victory over Ballymartin from Down (5-6 to 2-1).
They then beat London by 5-5 to 3-1 to end day one in style.
Their hosts, Cumann Pheadair Naofa from Warrenpoint in Down, were no match for the Wexford girls (3-9 to 2-2) as they advanced at top of the table.
Unfortunately, their tournament was ended by Wicklow’s Baltinglass, proving that goals do win games in a 3-2 to 0-6 contest.