On a night where Tir Conaill Harps had been looking to book their place in the Junior Championship final, they fell at the final hurdle after being defeated by city rivals Glasgow Gaels. The Harps will be bitterly disappointed having reached the league final but failing to get over the line in the championship.  No more could have been asked of the boys though,  having given their all against what was essentially Glasgow Gaels intermediate team after they pulled out of the Senior/Intermediate championship to concentrate all their efforts on senior and junior level.

 

The game started at a frantic pace with Gaels racing into a two point lead after the first 5 minutes. However after the initial setback Harps managed to find a foothold in the game and came back with four unanswered points to go ahead at the water break. After the restart Gaels began with a very strong 5 minutes scoring 3 points to edge themselves back in front. Dara Cahill sent over a 45 on the 24th minute mark to bring the scores level once again but less than two minutes later Gaels had stepped in front again with a well taken goal. The Gaels went in at half time in the lead with a score of Tir Conaill Harps 0-05 Glasgow Gaels 1-05.

 

Tir Conaill Harps started brightly in the second half with 2 points from Daniel Gallagher to bring Harps to within 1 point of the visitors, but just as it seemed Tir Conaill where finding their way back into the game Gaels dealt a sucker punch with a point and a goal within the space of a minute. In the 49th minute of the match Gaels effectively killed the game with a third goal just before the second water break of the game. Harps now down by eight points had pride to play for in the final quarter and as has been on show in this Junior side all season they put everything on the line to try and claw back the difference. Scoring 5 points in the last 15 minutes they emptied the tanks and left everything on the field in a valiant effort. However sadly it wasn’t enough to get the much needed victory. The game ended Tir Conaill Harps 0-13 Glasgow Gaels 3-09.

 

Goals at crucial times in the game where the difference on the night, and although Tir Conaill Harps will be disappointed not to make it to the championship final they can be enormously proud of the effort they put in on the night and throughout the season. A special mention must go to players like Rory McIntyre and Matthew McGinn who have put in excellent performances throughout the year, Daniel Gallagher who year in year out keeps coming back and popping scores over and to all the homegrown players who have put in an immense effort during the season, especially Craig Taylor who has trained so hard and improved immensely and has become a real asset to the team.