The Ulster Poc Fada was hosted by Shane O’Neill’s GAC, Glenarm on Thursday 13th June with 25 participants taking part across four categories.

It was Gareth Johnson of Down who took the Senior Men’s crown for 2019 completing the course in 22 pocs. Johnson held off the challenge of Tyrone’s Paddy McKillion who needed 23 pocs to complete the course and Paul Burns of Donegal who took 24 pocs.

The Senior Ladies title went to Louise Dougan of Derry who made her way around the course in 30 pocs. She got the better of Aisling Reilly from Antrim and Louise Toner from Armagh.

In the Under 16 boys competition Oisin Marley from Donegal just held off Tyrone’s Conrad McKeown, winning by 23 yards after both completed their course in 23 pocs.

The Under 16 girls saw Antrim’s Orlagh Laverty take the title by one poc from Katie Doyle from Armagh.

All participants in the competition were awarded match tickets on behalf of the National Poc Fada Committee for the All Ireland Camogie Final or an All Ireland Hurling semi-final. Each winner was awarded an Ulster Medal and an O’Neills £50 Gift Voucher provided by Ulster GAA.

Thanks to the Shane O’Neills Club for their hospitality, the St Johns Ambulance for their medical cover and to John McIlwaine for the photography

The Ulster Champions now go forward to the All-Ireland Finals on Saturday 3rd August on the Cooley Mountain. Annavern, Ravensdale, Co. Louth.

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/gaa/down/kerr-excels-as-mourne-county-do-legend-murphy-proud-in-decider-38224272.html

It was perhaps entirely appropriate that Down should have emerged victors when they met Cavan in the Leo Murphy Cup U20 league final at the Athletic Grounds, Armagh on Saturday.

The trophy is named after the late iconic defender who played a big part in helping the Mourne county to dominate the All-Ireland series in the '60s when they claimed football's biggest prize in 1960, '61 and '68.

The Down U20 side showed that they meant business from the outset and by half-time they had built up a healthy 1-8 to 0-4 lead.

It was their ace marksman Liam Kerr who was chiefly responsible for their dominance by sweeping home a goal to which he added a fistful of points in a stunning show.

Philip Lynch and Cian Madden did their best to stoke Cavan's resistance but Down were always tantalisingly out of reach.

The Mourne side finished strongly to win by 1-14 to 0-11 with Cavan left floundering in their slipstream.

The trophy was presented to Down skipper Shane Annett by Leo Murphy's widow Sodilva.

By Neil Loughran, Irish News

Eoghan Sands is an established force in the Down full-forward line, and Meath will be well aware of the threat he poses next week. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin

EVEN on the days when Down didn’t quite come up to the mark in Croke Park, Noel Sands was never found wanting – and next Saturday his two sons will trot out onto the same turf, ready to wreak havoc too.

Neither Eoghan (24) nor Daithi (21) was even born when their father captained the Ardsmen to the 1992 Ulster title, at a time when the provincial championship was a prize worth winning.

Lifting the Liam Harvey Cup not only secured bragging rights for the year ahead, it also guaranteed a share of the Liam MacCarthy stage with hurling’s traditional heavyweights.

Down never managed to bridge that gap at Jones’s Road, yet Sands was still able to shine on the hallowed turf, with Allstar nominations following typically whole-hearted displays in All-Ireland semi-final defeats to Cork (1992) and Offaly (1995), as well as the last eight exit to Tipperary in 1997.

The tenacity and craft that were Sands’s hallmark have been passed down to his boys, both of whom will line out in Down’s Christy Ring Cup final clash with Meath next week.

Younger sibling Daithi has only fleeting memories of the latter stages of his father’s playing days in the red and black but, to him, bearing the Sands name has always been a source of pride rather than a millstone around the neck.

“My brother would probably say different from me,” he smiles.

“I was always happy enough - it’s a good thing to be Noel Sands’s son in my eyes. Eoghan probably heard it a lot more than I would have because he was the first, and he would probably prefer to be his own man, but it’s always going to be there. I just take it in my stride.

“I was only born in ’98 but I remember going to Casement to see him… I was just running about really, not actually paying any attention to what was going on in the match or anything.”

When Sands senior eventually hung up his hurl, he soon got involved at underage level in the club, keeping a close watch on the progress of Eoghan, Daithi and sister Saoirse, who plays for the successful Down camogie side.

That involvement eventually transferred to the senior stage until recently, as Portaferry went in search of the Down championship title that has eluded them since 2014.

For Daithi, who only came onto the senior panel in 2015, the wait for that first championship medal goes on after coming within the puck of the ball of victory in successive finals.

There was frustration, anger even at decisions that went against them, but once back between the four walls of home, the hurling talk was parked.

“The past two years were disappointing because it was so close,” says Daithi.

“Last year [against Ballycran], we feel, was definitely one that got away. I’m still chasing my first one because 2014 was the last time, the year we went on and won Ulster… when I came onto the panel the next year I thought ‘this is great, I’m going to get a load of medals’ - and then nothing since!

“There wouldn’t really have been too much talk about it. I’m living at home, but I always kept things separate; I never brought it up. My brother would be more similar to him and that could spill over into the house sometimes; he wouldn’t be afraid to say what he thought.”

Such spirited discussions don’t take place as often nowadays though, with Eoghan currently living in Carrick-on-Shannon after work commitments took him to Killeshandra in county Cavan.

Making the journey back to the Ards for games involves a six hour round trip as a result, yet only hell or high-water would stop him turning out in the colours of club or county. When it’s in the blood, it’s in the blood.

And it will be a proud moment for the entire Sands clan when the brothers run out at Croke Park next Saturday, following in the footsteps of their father as Down set about rumbling the Royals.

“Growing up, we practically lived out here,” he says, nodding towards the field in Portaferry that has been their playground for as both can remember.

“I only played just one year at juvenile and it was Eoghan’s last year at that grade, so we never really got to play together properly until minors and then with the seniors I was starting to play with him more regularly.

“But getting to Croke Park is what you always wanted to do... I’ve actually played there before. Well, sort of - it was at half-time of an All-Ireland semi-final, I can’t remember which one, in the year of the GAA’s 125 year anniversary [2009].

“I got hit in the hand and had to go the medical room and I remember thinking that was class - getting to go to the medical room in Croke Park. It’s a bit surreal now that we’re actually going to be playing a competitive match there, a Christy Ring final.

“When you’re growing up and you hear about your dad playing, that’s your goal then – ‘I want to do that too’. If I’d been told three or four years ago that we’d end up playing together at Croke Park, I don’t think I’d have believed it.

“Now we have to make the most of the chance when we’re there.”

View photos from Downs U20 Leo Murphy Cup win

http://www.downgaa.net/gallery/leo-murphy-cup-final-2019/leo-murphy-cup-final-2019

Sean Rooney: Dual commitments make late Down v Mayo throw-in time essential

​

Diarmuid Pepper - IRISH NEWS

14 June, 2019 01:00

DOWN County Board yesterday reacted firmly to Mayo concerns over the timing of next weekend’s All-Ireland SFC Qualifier in Newry.

The counties are set to battle it out at Páirc Esler at 7pm next Saturday, but the Mayo County Board had asked for the game to be played at 3pm in order that their fans and players could return home at a reasonable hour. 

“We want to put on record our disappointment over this decision,” said Mayo PRO, Paul Cunnane.

“A lot of our fans will be facing a four to five-hour journey home. They won’t be getting into their cars until 9pm, and that’s only if the game doesn’t go to extra-time, so they won’t be back home until one or two o’clock in the morning.

“It will be later for the players – they’ll have to have a bite to eat and a cooldown after the match so they won’t be getting on the bus until ten, half ten at night.”

The PSNI asked for the game to be played at 7pm due to concerns over traffic congestion in Newry, but Cunnane took umbrage with this.

“One of the reasons given was that the PSNI requested a later start,” said Cunnane.

“But the game could have gone ahead at 3pm on Saturday in Castlebar no problem.

“Donegal-Tyrone was in Cavan last Saturday at 5pm. Both are busy towns so what’s the difference?”

Down GAA chairperson Sean Rooney was asked about Mayo’s “disappointment” by The Irish News.

“The CCC (Competitions Control Committee) in Croke Park made the fixtures; that’s the way it is,” he said.

Rooney also knocked back claims that the game could have been played in Castlebar.

“Our senior hurlers are playing in Croke Park in the final of the Christy Ring at 2pm; it’s impossible to be in two places at once, for our senior officers or anyone else.

“It was never fixed for Castlebar so the Castlebar question shouldn’t come into it at all.”

Connacht Council secretary John Prenty is a member of the CCCC and he defended the decision in an interview with the Mayo News.

“We sat down yesterday as the CCCC and looked at all the permutations,” said Prenty yesterday.

“Sligo and Armagh are both in the football Qualifiers and they are also playing each other in the Nicky Rackard Cup final on the same day. Down are also competing in the Christy Ring Cup final.

“Normally the Christy Ring final would be at a later time, but we decided to put that for 2pm so that their supporters will make it to Newry and likewise with the Nicky Rackard final, and that’s basically the reason [why the game is fixed for 7pm].”

Prenty also revealed that even if there wasn’t a fixture clash, the PSNI would still have called for a later throw-in time for the game.

“If there was no involvement from Down in the hurling, it still wouldn’t have been on at 5pm or 6pm because of the PSNI,” he said.

“Newry on a Saturday evening is a very busy place and the PSNI would not want a match at the earlier time because they want the shoppers to be gone before the influx of supporters starting to arrive.”

Prenty also ruled out the possibility of the game being played on Sunday, June 23 due to the Ulster football final in Clones, as well as Down’s U20 side taking on Antrim in the curtain-raiser that day.

Down boss Paddy Tally says his team are showing “greater hunger and desire” and is optimistic over getting a run in the All-Ireland SFC qualifier this summer.

The Mourne men overcame Tipperary at the weekend and will now welcome Mayo to Newry on Saturday week for a place in Round 3 of the backdoor.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph this week, Tally branded the National League champions as “a massive challenge” challenge for his charges.

"I think the team is currently showing a greater hunger and desire. Everyone is playing their part and the substitutes we have been introducing have certainly been doing their bit," he stated.

"Mayo will be a massive challenge for us but we will be ready for them. They won the league title and fair play to them but we see them as a major scalp to be captured. We want to make further progress."

He added: "I honestly feel this Down side can go somewhere in the qualifiers. Maybe getting a win over Tipperary is nothing special to write home about but it has fuelled self-belief and that's important.

"I think the team will bring commitment and fire to the table on Saturday week. The boys know that if they were to win this one it would go some distance towards the restoration of real credibility. Let's just say that we will be up for the challenge."

Ulster GAA hosted Féile Uladh at Woodlands Playing Fields in Belfast on Saturday for Under 14 teams from across Ulster to showcase their hurling skills.

There were 13 teams in attendance from six counties with an exceptional level of commitment and skill shown.

The Cup Final was contested by Erin’s Own, Lavey from Derry and the Cavan team Cootehill. Eventually the Derry boys would emerging 4-5 to 1-3 victors.

The Shield Final saw Antrim’s Brid Óg get the better of Donegal team Buncrana on a 3-5 to 1-1 scoreline.

Bredagh from county Down celebrated Plate Final victory as they saw off Down rivals, Carryduff 4-5 to 2-4, while in the Bowl Final, Donegal teams Burt and Letterkenny Gaels, had a terrific game, the Letterkenny boys claiming a 3-3 to 1-3 winners.

Joe Edwards, the Vice-Chairperson of Ulster Hurling Committee was on hand to make the presentations to teams.