Charlotte Gaelic Football Club

Charlotte hosted the 7^th annual Connolly’s Cup on Sat, June 19^th, with teams from the Mid Atlantic and Southeast competing for the three trophies on offer. Traditionally, this tournament has enjoyed warm weather conditions, and this year was no different with the mercury topping 90 degrees on the Fahrenheit scale. Certainly, from a spectator’s point of view, the day was ideal, and a large crowd was on hand to witness the first game kick off at 11am.  

 

Four teams competed in the tournament this year, Washington Gaels, Atlanta Clan na nGael, Charlotte Men’s JC A and Charlotte Men’s JC B and Charlotte Ladies.

 

Men’s Football and Hurling

The tournament began with the Men’s Charlotte B taking the field first against Atlanta, and this proved to be a very entertaining game of football. Atlanta came out of the blocks strong and had the upper hand in the first half going into the break 4 pts ahead.  Charlotte got back into it in the second half, and with a little more composure in front of goal, could have caused a shock. In the end, the more experienced Atlanta team ran out deserving winners by 5pts.

 

Charlotte A and Washington were up next, with both teams fancying their chances to win this year’s tournament. DC were on the back of a successful North American campaign last year and started brightly, but early attacks were snuffed out by the Charlotte back line. Gradually Charlotte began to assert themselves and played some fluid attacking football to go in at half time up by 12pts. Washington tightened things up in the second half and began to enjoy a lot more possession, reducing the deficit to 8 pts before Charlotte tacked on 3 scores at the end, to run out worthy winners by a score line of 1-12 to 1-1.

 

In previous years, the tournament has hosted hurling exhibition games but this year, the sport took pride of place with a Cup on offer for the first time. Both Atlanta and Washington fielded strong teams, and contested an enthralling final with a very high standard of hurling on display. Washington had enough in the tank to hold off a spirited Atlanta performance to capture the first ever Connolly’s Cup hurling title.  

 

It was then back to the football, and Charlotte A took to the field against Atlanta to decide the destination of this year’s Cup. Charlotte looked the sharper team throughout, and ran out comfortable winners at the final whistle to reclaim the title for a 4^th successive year.

 

In the last match of the day, Charlotte B played Washington , and both teams showed from the outset that they were up for this one. Washington had the better of the play early on, but squandered some chances to put the game away. You could sense the Charlotte lads growing in confidence the longer the game went on, and they worked their way back into, but ran out of time in the end to lose by 6pts.

 

Ladies Football

The Charlotte Ladies battled Atlanta for the first round of the Connolly’s Cup.  Both teams looking extremely strong with the Charlotte team providing a few players to the Atlanta squad to allow for even play.  Even with high heat and humidity, the two teams – both National tournament champions – battled endlessly.  Although a tough fight by the Charlotte ladies, the result was a win for Atlanta by only one point.

 

Next round matched Atlanta and DC.  For this match as well, Charlotte provided the DC team with a few players.  The match proved difficult for the warn Atlanta team, having already played an earlier game.  The majority of the match dominated by DC and resulting in a win for the Gaels.

 

The final round matched the DC Gaels against the Charlotte James Connolly’s Ladies.  Again, 3 players from Charlotte were added to the DC squad allowing for fair play during the high temperature game.  Both teams looking extremely strong in the first half.  But the heat of a full day of play, wore down the two teams with the Charlotte team struggling at the end. The Gaels won the final match and the tournament. 

 

It was 5 o’clock when the trophy presentations were made, and the car park was still full. It proved to be  a great day out for players and spectators alike, and we would like to offer our appreciation for all those who attended  and contributed to another successful Connolly’s cup. Our thanks too, to all the volunteers who helped with merchandising and food, we could not have done it without your help.

 

As is tradition, Connolly’s hosted the after party, providing food and refreshments. There was plenty to discuss from the day’s events, and it was good to renew friendships with all the visiting teams.  Vertigo rounded off the evening, playing to a massive crowd on the main outdoor stage and Charlotte rocked to the wee hours of the morning.

 

Looking forward to next year already….

 

Charlotte James Connollys Men’s A:

Brycen Smith/ Dan Nadel, Brett Smith, Ricky Madden, Adrian Harkin, Ronan Cleary, Stevie McStravick, Shane Carew, Lee McShane, Greg Yelverton, I Jones, Enda Crehan, Otis Peterson, Kevin Devin. Subs; Brian o’Brien, Kris Witt, Timm Hamp, Tim West, Fergal o’Shea, Erik Shaw, Ronan Ryan, Jeremy Hall, John Phelan.

 

Charlotte James Connollys Men’s B:

Brycen Smith/ Dan Nadel, John Phelan, Jermey Hall, Erik Shaw, Billy Carroll, Ronan Ryan, Brain O’Brien, Kris Witt, Brian Dineen, Tim Hamp, Patrick Quinlivan, Chris Muryn, Chris Bradey. Subs Fergal o’Kane, John Nickerson, Sean Salemme, Emilio Tapia, Morgan Connelly, Ronan Connor, Albert Forde.

 

Charlotte James Connollys Ladies:

Brittany Adams, Erin Bertagnolli, Jamie Crevier, Meghan Dawson Sam Fox, Amanda Fuller,Angie Harvey, Jan Henry, Aoife Kavanagh, Shannon Lechner, Joan McGirr, Carolyn Minnock, Stephanie Moser, Susie Rhoads, Nessa Ryan, Merry Smith, Amanda Stokes, Amanda Taylor.  Coach:  Lee McShane