Following on from a successful League campaign for Tir Conaill Harps Men's Intermediate side, after winning the Intermediate League, attention turned to the Championship.
First up for the Intermediate team was an away trip to Dunedin Connollys in the Senior/Intermediate Championship, with Harps coming out on top at a notoriously tough venue. Full time score was Dunedin Connollys 3-06 to Tir Conaill Harps 2-15. Harps then followed this up with a home win over Dalriada when a convincing 4-09 to 1-05 win for Tir Conaill Harps booked their place in the Intermediate Championship final where they will meet Dalriada.
The Men's Junior side had reached the Junior League Final losing out in the end to a strong Glasgow Gaels side on the day. The Tir Conaill men were now looking to go one further in the Championship. They kicked off their campaign with an away win in Coatbridge over Sands MacSwineys, winning 2-14 to 2-04. Next up was a dominant derby win in Cambuslang against Glasgow Gaels when Harps won by 7-10 to 0-03. The Juniors then booked their place in the Final with a game to spare, once again beating Sands MacSwineys, 3-11 to 1-05. They finished by beating Glasgow Gaels 2-06 to 0-11. Tir Conaill Harps will now face Glasgow Gaels in the Junior Championship FInal. Both the Junior Championship Final and Intermediate Championship Final take place on Saturday 7th October.
Harps Mens Bainisteoir, Gerard Gavan, is happy with how both Men's teams have performed up to this point. "The season has been a success for us, so far," Gerry said. "One trophy in the cabinet and two finals to come. As a club we have never been in the final of all the competitions we have entered in one season, so there is a real focus and hard work to try and add to our Intermediate League title."
The Ladies ended their season and despite results not being what the ladies would have hoped for, it has been a big learning process for the team which has seen big improvements as each game went by. The ladies have done themselves and the club proud. With additional support and focus being placed on the ladies team this group will undoubtedly continue to progress next season, and success on the scoreboard won’t be far away.
After a summer break, the underage teams have started back in training and what a sight it is to see our Gaelic pitch full of kids learning the game from U7s upwards through the age groups. Tir Conaill Harps have also been sending coaches out to Schools to try and get more children introduced to Gaelic Football, with many of them following that up with sessions with the club and Cambuslang. With the increased number of talented young footballers joining the club the future for Tir Conaill Harps looks bright.