Boston Senior Championship Final

[duboffaly]

2 Walsh Island lads on the team, pity they are not around for match V Ballyfore tomorrow!

Glory for McAnespies in emphatic win ...
SFC Final Aidan MacAnespies 1- 14 Armagh ND 0- 7

Aidan McAnespies were by far the better team in this disappointing senior football championship final on Sunday as they ran out convincing 9 points winners in a game that had really slipped way from Armagh Notre Dame's grasp from the early going.

McAnespies's last won the championship back in 1998 and had come close since then when runner's up last year and beaten semi- finalists in 2003. As for Armagh they hadn't seen glory since the early 90's and over the past three years managed to come close last year when beaten by winners Donegal in the semi-final.

Armagh were well beaten in that match and it is noteworthy that they only managed 8 points in total then and as things turned out they faired little better if not worse this time when only scoring 7 points and losing out by 9 in the end. It is hard to see any team wining a game especially a final, when only putting those types of numbers on the board which might say something about Armagh's psyche for big games, but more on that later on.

The day had cooled a bit with the occasional few spots of rain describing persistent humidity but in all good playing conditions for this Senior Football Championship final.

McAnespies had a goal chance early on from center forward Mark Little whose effort went just wide of the posts.

Moments later, Mac's went into an early 2 point lead when Alan O'Brien converted a free and lively left corner forward, Colm McCrory shot over to give his side the early advantage. Armagh's John Haran at right half forward replied with a 9th minute point to leave just 1 between the teams.

McAnespies looked eager and really up for the game in the early going with Armagh slightly on the backfoot.

Armagh went into shock a minute later when a high and dangerous ball in from a Gary Comerford free sailed over the heads of all including keeper, Emmet Murphy, to find it's way into the back of the net for a rather unusual goal. Such a score at under age level may be forgiven, but at senior level, not really.

Armagh had a settling point from a nice Paul Carville effort to leave a goal in it after 12 minutes of play. Mac's were winning the midfield battle up to this point with Gary Comerford and Peter Thurley doing well over opponents Ger O'Reilly and Christy Toye.

With McAnespies forwards seeing plenty supply of ball they soon capitalized on opportunities and looked sharp in the process when hitting 5 points on the trot without reply, with right corner forward John O'Brien shooting 2, Ryan McClosky at center back running forward for one, while McCrory and the influential Mark Little grabbing a pair..

This series of scores now left McAnespies with a serious 8 point lead with momentum on their side with Armagh looking flat and rattled in the process. Armagh hit some bad wides meanwhile and the game looked like slipping away from them at this point.

| They brought arrears back to 7 points with a Conor McKeever pointed free but Alan and John O'Brien ( no relations) fired over another two points in the 28 minute and in injury time to leave the scores reading 1-09 to Armagh's 0-03 at the break.

As it stood so far, many in the crowd had already settled on a winner as Armagh retired for the interval break wondering how to haul back this huge 9 point lead in a rather disappointing one-sided final up to now.

Mac's went in well pleased at the break with defense not giving an inch and were winning midfield also while their attack took their scoring opportunities well.

Armagh came out full of gusto but poor shooting saw 4 wides in a row. They began to press more with Haran moving out field with Toye moving up front but wing back Shane Mulligan was the proverbial shepherd as he man marked the Donegal county star for the best part of the remainder.

Armagh attacking in the early going pressured one series of good saves from defense and Mac's keeper, Declan Traynor, with shots coming one after the other from Carville and Haran. Moments later good save from Traynor off Damian Meenan but for all this effort no scores registered when picking off points instead of trying to blast through might have been the better option.

Paul Carville and Meenan took this option when shooting over two points but by then we had reached the last quarter with still a large 7 point deficit for Armagh to make up

Sensing danger McAnespies's midfield pair of Thurley and Comeford responded magnificently with a brace of steadying points. Mark Little whose fleet of foot caused problems all day, opened up the Armagh defense once more to make the space for John O'Brien and McCrory to slot over to increase the lead to 11 points with just 5 minutes left on the clock with about 3-4 minutes of injury time to be added on.

Any sting left in the final had been taken out at this stage as Mac's were on their way to victory. Carville and sub Dominic McGill got in for a late pair of points for Armagh but by that time the McAnespies bench had emptied on to the sideline for a victory invasion.

Moments later as the final whistle sounded Mac's hordes descended triumphantly on their players to give thanks as their hero's had won this final in an emphatic and efficient manner with 9 points separating the sides in the end.

Armagh may have played a lot of football in the last few weeks but on the day they simply were not up to a dominating McAnespies side.

Armagh ND seem to falter when the big occasion comes along, even though this '05 team looked a class act to give then their due, yet the belief in that they can win the big one may not be present in the psyche of the team just yet but that might change soon as they are making progress.

Aidan McAnespies by any measure are one of the best sides in America and now with Sunday's Boston championship brilliant win behind them they have proved once and for all that they too can triumph come the big occasion.

Man of the Match: Would give it to McAnespies center forward, Mark Little for his tireless running at the Armagh defense and opening up scoring opportunities for colleagues. Special mention to midfield pair Gary Comerford and Peter Thurley who had very good games and played pivotal roles in their team's success.

Courtesy of the http://www.bostonirishzine.com website.

[Doon Exile]

would it be possible to get a breakdown of where each player is from on the Boston Championship final.
played with a lot of guys in college and stuff and the names are the same as mentioned in your report so wondering if they might be them.
club/county be too much to ask for???????????

[duboffaly]

sorry - not my report. check out http://www.aidanmcanespiegfcboston.com/ - you might get more info on the lads there...