SPORT ROUND-UP
Walkovers in Sligo GAA’s Junior ‘B’
Three the eight Connacht Gold Junior ‘B’ Football Championship fixtures weren’t played on Friday last due to clubs being unable to field teams. St John’s conceded their schedule tie with Owenmore Gaels, with walkovers also given by Geevagh and Enniscrone-Kilglass, who were due to play Coolera-Strandhill and Ballymote respectively.
The current section leaders in the Connaht Gold Junior
‘B’ Football Championship are St Patrick’s (Group One), Calry-St Joseph’s (Group Two), Tubbercurry (Group Three) and Eastern Harps (Group Four).
Countdown to Grange 10k in north Sligo
The Grange 10k road race is taking place next month – Sunday, October 2. Organised by North Sligo AC, the event has an 11am start. The 10k walk gets underway at 10.30am. The entry fee (for runners and walkers) is €15. Register online via www.nujo. net/grange10km-2022. Race numbers can be collected on the morning of the race from the North Sligo Sports Centre in Grange.
There are individual and team prizes across an array of categories. Chip timing will be in operation. The Grange 10k has an AAI permit.
Rovers’ POTM winners for four months
Sligo Rovers Football Club have announced the winners of its Player of the Month awards – sponsored by Wehrly
Bros. Jewellers, O’Connell Street, Sligo – for April through to July.
The seven winners, selected from the club’s senior women’s and senior men’s teams, were as follows: Aoife Brennan (April); David Cawley (April); Emma Doherty (May); Aidan Keena (May and July); Amy Mahon (June); Shane Blaney (June); Gemma McGuinness (July).
Easkey’s Sloyan to have a role in Longford GAA
Easkey’s Dessie Sloyan, who guided Sligo to its first-ever Connacht GAA U-20 Football Championship title back in April, is set to have a coaching role with Longford GAA’s senior team.
Sloyan will be part of the backroom team of new Longford boss Paddy Christie, who is due to take over from Billy O’Loughlin. Ex-Leitrim star James Glancy is in this management team as well.
Sloyan and Christie were in the running to be involved in the Mayo GAA senior team management, as part of candidate Declan Shaw’s ticket, but that gig went to pundit Kevin McStay. Former Sligo player Sloyan, previously a Sligo senior selector during Galway man Kevin Walsh’s time as Sligo boss, guided his native Easkey to an All-Ireland Club Junior Football Championship final appearance in 2019.
New date for Rovers’ game away to Derry
Three SSE Airtricty League games, including a fixture involving Sligo Rovers, have been rescheduled by the FAI. Rovers’ Premier Division game away to Derry City, which was originally set for Friday, July 22, has been refixed for Tuesday next,
WINNER: Drumcliffe’s Kyle Conlon who won gold in the Boys U-14 Model Making category at the Aldi Community Games National Arts and Cultural finals that took place in Carlow on the weekend before last.
NATIONAL RUNNERS-UP: The Drumcliffe Community Games area team that won silver in the Mixed U-16 Chess event at the recent Aldi Community Games National Arts and Cultural finals which were held in Carlow on the weekend before last.
September 13, at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium in Derry (7.45pm). Back in July that game was postponed because of Rovers’ commitments in the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying rounds.
Two First Division games have also been rescheduled – Lonford Town’s home clash with Limerick outfit Treaty United moves from September 17 to September 24 and Bray Wanderers’ hosting of Waterford FC is now on September 25, having meant to be played on Friday, September 16, in Bray.
Surf lifesavers compete in major events
Sligo Surf Lifesaving Club’s nipper and junior members were busy in recent weeks competing at regional and national level. The regional event took place in Salthill, Galway, and the national competition was held at Youghal, Co. Cork.
The last regional and national competitions organised Water Safety Ireland took place in 2019, before the pandemic. This year’s events was the first experience of this level of competition for many of the Sligo Surf Lifesaving Club team members.
The nipper age group (ages 8 to 14) and the juniors (aged 14 to 18) have been training weekly since June at the beaches of Rosses Point and Enniscrone. This was the first year that training was held in Enniscrone.
Sligo Surf Lifesaving is the sport element of Water Safety Ireland Sligo. Participants learn many lifesaving skills both in surf/open water during the summer months and the pool (winter months).
This coming Saturday, September 10, the national championships for seniors (ages 16 and upwards) and
masters (ages 30+) take place at Rossnowlagh, Co. Donegal. Members of Sligo Surf Lifesaving Club will be competing in both categories.
Many of these seniors and masters are involved in the coaching of the club’s younger age groups.
Two Masters finals held at Connolly Park
Owenmore GAA Club hosted two national finals last Saturday at their facilities of Connolly Park.
The Gaelic Masters Association’s All-Ireland Challenge Cup final between Leitrim-Longford and London took place at the Collooney venue as did the All-Ireland Shield final involving Donegal and Galway.
London won the Challenge Cup, beating Leitrim-Longford by five points, 0-13 to 0-8, and Donegal were crowned Shield champions thanks to a 1-5 to 0-7 defeat of Galway. Curry’s John Gilmartin was the referee for the meeting of Galway and Donegal, with the latter winning through a late goal from Paddy McNulty.
The victorious London team is managed by David Igoe, whose dad, Sean, is from Castleconnor in west Sligo.
The Gaelic Masters Association organises inter-county games for players aged over
40, with Sligo regular participants.
O’Donnell runs well in Brussels elite meet
Grange’s Christopher O’Donnell was a close second in the men’s 400 metres race at a round of the Diamond League in Brussels last Friday. The 24-year-old clocked 45.78 seconds to take second place behind race winner, Belgium’s
Kevin Borlee, who posted a time of 45.72. In a tight finish, the third-placed Alexander Doom (Belgium) was 45.82. North Sligo AC runner O’Donnell was a semi-finalist in this distance at this year’s World Athletic Championships in Oregon, USA, and also a semi-finalist at the European Athletics Championships in Munich.
Also at this meet in Belgium, County Down’s Ciara Mageean smashed Sonia O’Sullivan’s long-standing Irish record for the women’s 1500 metres (outdoor). Mageean, 30, won the 1500 metres race with a time of 3:56.63, therefore breaking O’Sullivan’s record of 3:58.85 that had remarkably stood since 1995.
First start in Serie B for Kerrigan
Tubbercurry’s Liam Kerrigan started his first Serie B game last Saturday but his club, Como, lost 2-0 away to Frosinone. Como, who are currently 17th in the 20-team table, are at home to Sudtirol this Saturday.
Meanwhile, Kerrigan’s first cousin, Johnny Kenny, was a second-half substitute for Queen’s Park in their Scottish Championship game away to Dundee. Queen’s Park lost 3-0. Riverstown native Kenny, who is on loan at Queen’s Park from Glasgow Celtic,
was a 73rd minute replacement for fellow striker Scott Williamson. Queen’s Park host Greenock Morton this Saturday.
Elsewhere, St Johnstone recorded their first Scottish Premiership win in four games – last Saturday’s 3-0 home defeat of St Mirren – but Collooney’s John Mahon wasn’t in St Johnstone’s matchday squad.
Provincial delight for handball duo
Sligo handballers Travis Gibbons and Colin Finn teamed up to win a Boys U-14 doubles title at provincial level last Sunday. They defeated a duo from Galway at Collooney Handball Club’s court. The Sligo pair progress to an All-Ireland semi-final – their opponents will be from Ulster. Also at the Collooney court, Daniel Slevin, Oxfield, was beaten in the Connacht Handball Boys U-12 Singles final – this was one of several Juvenile provincial finals that took place on Sunday last at a venue that now hosts fundraising bingo every Thursday.
Tough results for Academy teen teams
It was a difficult weekend for the Sligo Rovers Academy teams as just one of its five teams in action collected a positive result. The U-19 men’s fell to a 4-0 defeat away to Waterford.
The U-17 men’s also suffered a comprehensive defeat against Waterford, losing 5-1 at home. Michael Clifford was Rovers’ goalscorer in this game.
The Boys U-14s travelled to Dublin where they were beaten 6-1 by Bohemians. Mark Nolan scored a consolation goal for the Bit O’Red. Breaking this losing misfortune was the club’s U-19 women’s team – they were were 3-0 winners away to Bray Wanderers. Katie Maguire, Rebecca Doddy and Aine Gorman were each on target at the Carlisle Grounds.
The U-17 women’s were also on the road against Wexford Youths. Wexford took all three points with a 1-0 win courtesy of a stoppage-time winner.
All-Stars enjoy a high-profile home friendly
The senior men’s team of Sligo All-Stars Basketball
Club – a team that is sponsored by EJ Menswear – played a thrilling pre-season friendly on Saturday evening last against Super League champions Tralee Warriors. The visitors won by seven points, 80-73, at the Mercy College gym.
Quinn is in the ROI squad that makes history
Lucy Quinn, the Republic of Ireland women’s soccer international who has Ballymote roots, was part of the Vera Pauw-managed squad that has qualified for the play-offs for next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The Republic of Ireland were 1-0 winners against Finland at Dublin’s Tallaght Stadium last Thursday night – a result that put them into the
CONFERENCE CREW: Coaches from St John’s GAA Club were among those that attended the ICOACHKIDS coaching conference that took place at ATU Sligo on Friday last. Hosted by Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership, it was organised by Sports Ireland Coaching.
play-offs – and they completed their UEFA Group ‘A’ schedule with a 1-0 victory away to Slovakia on Tuesday.
Quinn, who plays for Birmingham City, was a second-half substitute against Finland, coming on after 84 minutes for her 12th international cap, and was an unused substitute for the game in Slovakia.
These results have put the Republic of Ireland into the second round of the UEFA Qualifying play-off series, the draw for which take place tomorrow, Friday. The play-off takes place on Tuesday, October 11.
Goal that sunk Rovers gets the August vote
A goal scored against Sligo Rovers has won the SSE Airtricity League’s Buy4Pets Goal of the Month for August. A wonderful goal from a freekick by Cork City’s Eva Mangan was the public’s choice – this goal was the late winner against Rovers in an SSE Airtricity Women’s National League fixture at Turner’s Cross on August 20. This goal made it 3-2 in a fixture that saw Paula McGrory score twice for Rovers.
Rovers host Connacht rivals in WNL fixture
Sligo Rovers resume their SSE Airtricity Women’s National League campaign this coming Saturday, September 10, when they host Galway WFC at The Showgrounds (2pm start).
Steve Feeney’s side are eighth after 21 games, three places below their Connacht rivals who are 14 points better off.
Rovers have already played Galway WFC twice this season, losing both fixtures. Galway WFC won 2-1 at The Showgrounds on May 7 – this was the game that saw Rovers’ American goalkeeper Kristen Sample sustain a season-ending arm injury – and Galway WFC won 5-2 when the teams met at Eamonn Deacy Park in July.
Rovers – in their first season in the Women’s National League – are currently on a
three-game losing streak. They last won a game at the end of July when they toppled leaders Shelbourne 3-2 at The Showgrounds. Saturday’s fixture is one of six games that Rovers have left to play this season.
Tour Ladies register third Senior win
Tourlestrane picked up their third win of this year’s Sligo LGFA Senior Championship last Sunday – they netted 10 times at home in their 10-16 to 2-6 trouncing of Eoghan Rua. With two rounds to play before the knockout stage, the team managed by Neil Egan are on course to top the six-team group and therefore qualify for the county final. The teams that finish second and third in the group will contest the county semi-final – Eastern Harps and St Nathy’s are currently second and third respectively in the standings. St Nathy’s and Eastern Harps drew last Sunday – St Nathy’s tally of 3-14 was matched by Harps, whose total was 4-11. In the other third round fixture played in this Connacht Gold-sponsored competition, Geevagh defeated St Mary’s, 1-11 to 2-5. Meanwhile, in the Sligo LGFA Junior ‘A’ Championship, CT Gaels beat Drumcliffe-Rosses Point, 5-8 to 1-12, and Owenmore Gaels were six-point winners against St Michael’s, 4-8 to 2-8.
The one game played in the Junior ‘B’ Championship saw Calry-St Joseph’s overcome Coolera-Strandhill, 2-13 to 2-5.
Final round of Sligo Cycling League
The 10th and final round of the Sligo Cycling League was scheduled to take place yesterday, Wednesday, evening. The event was the GOAL Hill Climb (its 25th anniversary) at Moreagh. Going into this week’s final round, which is organised by Leitrim Glens Cycling Club, Patrick Murtagh (Bottecchia Racing Club) was leading the overall standings ahead of Seamus McGowan (Leitrim Glens Cycling Club) and Colin Howley (Yeats Country Cycling Club).
Francis wins Calry 5k race for Ray Flynn
Francis Donoghue won the inaugural Ray Flynn Memorial Run that took place in difficult weather conditions at Calry last Saturday.
The teenager, a student at Summerhill College, clocked 16:23 for the 5k road race that used an out and back course, starting from Calry Community Park at Hazelwood. Finishing just five seconds behind the U-16 competitor was international race walker Colin Griffin – the Olympian took second place with a time of 16:28. Griffin was also the first Male 40 runner. Third home was Keenan Deering, whose time was 17:52, with Corran AC’s Ben Clavin taking fourth place. Clavin, an U-18 runner, clocked 17:56.
The first female finisher was Eimear O’Brien, Sligo AC. She was fifth overall with a time of 18:04.
This event, which featured an entry of approximately 200, honoured the memory of the late Ray Flynn, one of Sligo’s sporting legends, who died suddenly in April of this year. The Calry native was known locally, nationally and internationally through his exceptional work in athletics as a
competitor, coach, pundit and administrator. Proceedings from last Saturday’s event went to the Irish Heart Foundation and the Sligo Mental Health Association.
Sympathy is extended to Amanda
Tourlestrane GAA Club has extended sympathy to the club’s pitch co-ordinator, Amanda Lundy, her mother Maureen Walsh and the extended Walsh family on the recent passing of Aclare’s Patsy Walsh, who died on Thursday, August 25. The south Sligo club also congratulated its teenage members on their Leaving Certificate results.
DRP teens reach LGFA county final
Drumcliffe-Rosses Point have qualified for the Sligo LGFA Minor ‘A’ Championship decider following their semi-final defeat of Eoghan Rua, 1-21 to 2-9, at Oxfield. This is Drumcliffe-Rosses Point’s third successive final at the Minor ‘A’ grade. They’ll take on Tourlestrane in the decider.
MEDAL WINNER: Myrtle Bamber, a member of the Sligo Surf Lifesaving Club, was a bronze medallist in the ‘flags’ category at Irish Water Safety’s National Surf Lifesaving Championships that took place at Youghal, Co. Cork, recently.