Club, county and schools teams which excelled for Sligo in 2020
Throughout the year just gone, various teams made an impression in Sligo sport. We look at a selection of these sides that delivered both silverware and a feelgood factor for their respective communities
Sligo Grammar School
THEY got to complete their 2019-2020 season and it almost delivered a double but for a 14-12 loss to Ballinasloe’s Garbally College in a thrilling Connacht Schools Senior ‘A’ Cup final
– a game that saw Sligo Grammar respond to a 14-0 deficit.
Earlier in the campaign Sligo Grammar won the Connacht Schools Senior ‘A’ League title, superbly beating Garbally in the final at Creggs RFC. Hubert Gilvarry was among the team’s stars during two competitions that saw them win nine of their 11 fixtures.
Sligo RFC
THEIR Energia All-Ireland League Division 2B campaign was cut short when the IRFU called a halt to domestic matters due to Covid-19. Although frustrated by seven losses, Sligo were still within reach of making the promotion play-offs. It was in the province that the 2019-2020 will go down in history – Sligo won both the Connacht Senior League and the Connacht Senior Cup, a first such double for the club.
Part of the 2020-2021 season has been played and Sligo are unbeaten after three games.
Sligo GAA
THEIR Allianz Hurling League Division 3B season was halted but when the season resumed in October they secured promotion by beating dogged Leitrim in a ding-dong final, 3-17 to 2-16. In the group stage Sligo won all four of their games.
Forced to concede their Christy Ring Cup opener to Derry due to Covid-19, Sligo, who had two managers in 2020, Daithí Hand followed by Padraig Mannion, made their debut in this competition, narrowly losing to Roscommon. Naomh Eoin’s Niall Feehily was Sligo’s team captain.
Sligo RFC
THE only Sligo RFC underage team to win a provincial trophy in the 2019
Tourlestrane GAA Club
THE spotlight was on the club’s Senior team for much of 2020, which was understandable given their five-ina-row bid, but Tourlestrane’s second XV also proved themselves. Featuring a team packed with canny veterans, who boasted experienced of winning Senior campaigns, Tourlestrane won the Sligo Junior
‘A’ Football Championship, beating Owenmore Gaels in the final (this was Tourlestrane’s fourth Junior ‘A’ decider in five years).
One of their long-serving stalwarts, John Marren, was named Player of the Match. Tourlestrane were also runners-up in the Abbott Cup.
Geevagh LGFA Club
THIS year was another example of Geevagh’s resilience. Not having St Nathy’s as rivals in the Sligo
LGFA Premier Championship still left Geevagh with hurdles to overcome, the toughest of them being Tourlestrane in the final.
Geevagh forced a draw with a late 1-1, both scores coming from Elaine O’Reilly. In the replay, another tight contest, Geevagh won by a point, 1-18 to 2-14. This time Stephanie O’Reilly struck the decisive score. Geevagh then progressed to the Connacht LGFA Club Senior Championship final, winning their semi-final.
Easkey GAA Club
IN WHAT was their third season since reforming, the Sea Blues hurlers, fielding players from neighbours St Farnan’s, claimed the Sligo Senior Hurling Championship for the first time since 1963.
Easkey defeated holders Naomh Eoin in the decider, winning by a point, in what was a repeat of the 2019 decider (that Naomh Eoin won, incidentally this was their first success at this level). Easkey were captained by Finnian Cawley and his younger brother, Thomas, struck the winning point in stoppage time at Markievicz Park.
Carbury FC
WORLDWIDE pandemic or not, Carbury FC continue to be the team to beat in the top tier of the Sligo-Leitrim & District Soccer League. The holders retained their Sligo
Southern Hotel Super League crown by winning 16 of their 20 games.
They also drew twice and lost on two occasions. Their fourth consecutive Super League success saw them having to fend off Manorhamilton Rangers and Cartron United, who finished second and third respectively. Carbury began the 2020-2021 season by emphatically winning the Frank Kennedy Cup.
Sligo Rovers FC
THIS proved the only trophy-winning side at The Showgrounds for 2020. The prize for the Brian Dorrian-managed Rovers Boys U-19 team was the SSE Airtricity Under-19 National Shield.
Rovers were 5-3 winners over UCD in the final which was played at Athlone Town Stadium. Riverstown’s Johnny Kenny, son of the Rovers legend of the same name, scored four times for Rovers, while his first cousin, Sean Kerrigan of Tubbercurry, also netted.
Rovers qualified for the Shield final courtesy of a semi-final win over Bray Wanderers.
Drumcliffe-R Pt GAA Club
OKAY, so they didn’t win anything in 2020 but for the ABT (Anyone
But Tourlestrane) brigade, Fergal O’Flaherty’s well-organised charges emerged as the unlikely contenders to end formidable Tourlestrane’s Drive For Five.
A draw with Tubbercurry in the group stage, along with a hammering of St Mary’s, announced their credentials and they reached the club’s first county final with a slender defeat of Coolera-Strandhill. They seriously tested Tourlestrane in the decider. The Sligo SFC runners-up were also beaten finalists in the Benson Cup.
Sligo-Leitrim Youth Soccer
THIS teenage team dominated the regional qualifier of the FAI Women’s Gaynor Cup U-15 section, defeating Mayo (5-0), Roscommon (8-0), Donegal (3-0) and Longford (8-0). The remained unbeaten, drawing 1-1 with Inishowen.
In the All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin’s Metropolitan Girls League North, which was played at Ballisodare United facilities, the Brian Chambers-managed Sligo-Leitrim lost 2-1 after extra-time. The Dublin side went a goal up but Sligo-Leitrim levelled matters through Rebecca Doddy’s eighth goal of the season. Katie McGuire of Yeats United captained Sligo-Leitrim.
Tourlestrane GAA Club 2020 was the year when the south Sligo club set the bar even higher. The team, managed by Eamonn O’Hara and Gerry McGowan, captained by James Leonard, won the Sligo Senior Football Championship for the fifth consecutive season.
This was not only Tourlestrane’s first five-in-a-row but also the first such series of titles in Sligo GAA’s primary club competition. Tourlestrane, who were unbeaten during their impressive title sequence from 2016-2020 (28 wins, two draws), overcame first time finalists Drumcliffe-Rosses Point in a closefought county final.