Damien McAnespie Photography

Clonoe Vs Ardboe – 2013 Tyrone GAA ACL Division 1

21/05/2013 by Damien | Leave a comment

Last Friday evening, the Division 1 league tie between Clonoe O’Rahillys and Ardboe O’Donovan Rossa took place in Clonoe. It was a fine evening for football and a decent crowd turned out for the starred fixture.

Ardboe got off to the better start in the opening 10 minutes when John Mc Conville struck home a penalty following a foul on Shay Mc Guigan inside the square. From that point on Clonoe trailed the game and despite some very good build up play, they failed to convert it into scores. Both sides were guilty of over carrying the ball on numerous occasions and passing the ball to the other side to the frustration of both sets of supporters and unfortunately this affected the overall quality of the game.

Although there was a late rally from Clonoe in the final 10 minutes, Ardboe held on and gave the Rahillys their third defeat of the season which will seriously dent their prospects of winning the Division 1 league again later in the year.

Full time score; Clonoe 0-06 Ardboe 1-06.

club football clonoe ardboe Clonoe Vs Ardboe 2013 Tyrone GAA ACL Division 1

Brian Mc Guigan looks for options for Ardboe.

Shay Mc Guigan runs at pace into the Clonoe square.

Posted in Ardboe, Clonoe, Club Football

2013 Tyrone GAA Senior Team Portraits

20/05/2013 by Damien | Leave a comment

Last week, I was asked to take the Tyrone GAA senior team head shots for the upcoming RTE/BBC coverage of the Ulster football championship campaign which of course begins on Sunday with their highly anticipated tie against Donegal in Ballybofey.

And here they are, all 35 players which make up Mickey Harte’s official 2013 Tyrone senior championship panel…..let’s hope these photos will still be making an appearance in the third Sunday of September!

Posted in Tyrone

Derrylaughan Vs Coalisland – 2013 Tyrone GAA ACL Division 1

13/05/2013 by Damien | Leave a comment

The Tyrone ACL Division 1 tie between Derrylaughan and Coalisland took place on Sunday evening at the Loughshore.

The game, played in very blustery and often wet conditions, was a poor enough contest with Coalisland’s Paddy Mc Niece, Stephen Mc Nally and Brian Toner creating problems for the Kevin Barrys from the start of the game. The Fianna went in at the break 4 points ahead and this lead increased further in the second half to leave it a 11 point win for Coalisland.

Full time score; Derrylaughan 1-09 Coalisland 3-14

derrylaughan coalisland club football Derrylaughan Vs Coalisland 2013 Tyrone GAA ACL Division 1

Stephen Mc Nally keeps the ball away from Derrylaughan’s Mark Robinson.

Brian Toner shoots for Coalisland.

Patrick O’Farrell in action for the Fianna.

Posted in Club Football, Coalisland, Derrylaughan

Eglish Vs Errigal Ciaran – 2013 Tyrone GAA ACL Division 1

06/05/2013 by Damien | Leave a comment

The second round of league games were played across the county at the weekend and on Sunday evening I attended the Eglish and Errigal Ciaran Division 1 tie. Both teams secured wins in their opening league games 2 weeks ago, Eglish with a big win over Carrickmore and Errigal Ciaran defeating Donaghmore so this was always going to be a close encounter.

Playing with a considerable breeze in the first half, Errigal Ciaran built up a 0-07 to 0-04 lead with scores coming from the boot of Ryan Lynch, Ronan McRory and Shane Hackett but in truth there was very little between the sides. The second half was a very entertaining game with both teams giving 100% and it had a Championship feel about it with some hard tackles going in by both sides. Eglish gradually started pulling back the scoreline with points from Pete McCann and Gregory Jordan while Errigal struggled at times to get the ball into the Eglish half. The turning point in the game came when a stray Errigal Ciaran free out went into the Eglish sub Eugene Daly’s arms and he hit the ball into the net to give them a 2 point lead. The Magpies tried hard to hold onto the lead but a big free from Thomas Canavan in the last couple of minutes of the game levelled the scoreboard and each team went home with a point, a fair result.

Full time score; Eglish 1-07 Errigal Ciaran 1-10.

errigal ciaran eglish club football Eglish Vs Errigal Ciaran 2013 Tyrone GAA ACL Division 1

Ryan McKenna clears up the loose ball for Eglish.

Ryan Lynch on the attack for Errigal Ciaran.

County team mates Aidan McCrory and Ryan Mc Kenna were on opposing sides on Sunday.

Posted in Club Football, Eglish, Errigal Ciaran

Tyrone Vs Dublin – 2013 GAA Allianz National League, Division 1 Final

30/04/2013 by Damien | Leave a comment

On Sunday, media underdogs Tyrone faced Dublin in the Allianz NFL Division 1 final in the GAA headquarters of Croke Park. Tyrone experienced huge misfortune minutes before the game when captain Stephen O’Neill injured himself in a warm up activity forcing him to have no part in their first Division 1 final in 10 years, a huge set back for Tyrone especially when they were also without the input of Peter Harte, also out to injury.

Despite these absences however, Tyrone had more than enough high calibre players to call on and although trailing by 0-04 to 0-01 in the opening 10 minutes after points from Bernard Brogan and Diarmuid Connolly, they soon found their flow drawing level with scores from Connor McAliskey, Matthew Donnelly and goalkeeper Niall Morgan. The points continued to come from both ends throughout the half and although Dublin came closest to scoring a goal, both sides went in at the break 0-10 apiece.

Tyrone played with breeze in the second half towards the Canal End and this breeze helped Morgan score further 45′s. Aidan Cassidy, who came on for an injured Dermot Carlin, worked tirelessly around the heart of the field along with Sean Cavanagh, Mark Donnelly and Joe McMahon. The scoreline throughout the second half rarely had no more than one point in it and on the 67th minute, it was advantage Tyrone after a Martin Penrose score. But changes on the Dublin bench saw Dean Rock come on and spoil Tyrone’s chances of picking up a second piece of silverware in 2013 after he scored 2 points to leave Dublin the 2013 Allianz NFL Division 1 champions.

Full time score; Tyrone 0-17 Dublin 0-18

There were a lot of question marks regarding referee Martin Duffy’s decision to only award 1 minute of injury time which was highly suspect but all in all it was an excellent Tyrone performance and one which will send out a clear signal of intent to Donegal who they meet in 4 weeks time in the first round of the Ulster Senior Championship.

tyrone Tyrone Vs Dublin 2013 GAA Allianz National League, Division 1 Final

Dublin’s Stephen Cluxton lifts the Allianz NFL Division 1 cup.

The Tyrone team line out for the team photo minus Stephen O’Neill.

Joe McMahon was captain for the game.

Niall Morgan warms up before the game with some shooting drills.

A final word from Mickey.

Posted in Tyrone

2013 Cookstown Fr Rocks GFC Club Awards

29/04/2013 by Damien | Leave a comment

On Friday night, I was privileged to be asked to attend the Cookstown Fr Rocks GFC club awards in the Greenvale Hotel, Cookstown and photograph the night’s events. It may seem a little late for a club to have their annual awards night (or dinner dance) celebrating their 2012 year at the end of the April 2013 but when you are the All Ireland Intermediate football champions and the fact their 2012 football season didn’t actually finish until mid way through February, then that should explain it all!

There aren’t many, if any, bad football clubs in Tyrone – there are lots of good football clubs, some are very good but a very small percentage are outstanding. Cookstown Fr Rocks is one of these clubs that I would class in the ‘outstanding’ category. I am of the firm believing that although All-Irelands may be won on the football field, it starts in the committee or club rooms many months before a ball is kicked. Fr Rocks have a very committed and hard working committee spear headed by Adrian Gilmore and a very dedicated club sponsor, Dominic Crilly from Steelweld Fabrication Ltd, and as one can imagine, everything was professionally planned and executed on the night.

Friday night concluded their hugely successful year – at the top table they had the Tyrone Intermediate league shield, Tyrone Intermediate championship title, Ulster Intermediate title and the All-Ireland Intermediate title….. no mean achievement at all!

Below is a gallery of photos from the night. Best of luck to them this year in the Senior league.

Posted in Club Football, Cookstown

Rock GFC – 2013 Tyrone Grade 2 Feile Champions

29/04/2013 by Damien | Leave a comment

Rock GFC carried on their successful reign in underage football in the county when they won the Tyrone Grade 2 Feile final in Garvaghey last week.

Here are a couple of pictures of the boys and their managers taken up at their club grounds. Good luck to them in the All-Ireland finals in Derry this summer.

rock club football Rock GFC 2013 Tyrone Grade 2 Feile Champions

The successful U14 Rock team with their Tyrone Grade 2 Feile shield.

The Rock U14 team are joined with their managers Adrian Nugent and Adrian Corrigan.

Posted in Club Football, Rock

Edendork Vs Brackaville – 2013 Tyrone GAA ACL Division 2

22/04/2013 by Damien | Leave a comment

The 2013 Hunky Dorys Tyrone ACL finally got under way on Sunday after a length break over the winter period. For the opening club game of the season, I went to the Division 2 tie between Edendork and Brackaville….. last year’s Tyrone Junior champions Brackaville and relegated 2012 Division 1 side Edendork finally meeting each other after many years.

Edendork got off to the perfect start when their corner forward David Toner struck the back of the net after 5 minutes but Brackaville gradually edged their way in thanks to the boot of Ciaran Gervin and Che O’Donnell to leave Brackaville 1-03 to 0-07 up at HT.

The home side played well in the opening period of the second half but were wasteful in front of the posts with too many shots wide of the target. Scores from Niall Morgan, Toner and Karl McGuckin did however put them into the lead for a short time but they gradually found themselves on the wrong side of referee Martin Sludden’s whistle. This allowed Brackaville to keep a foot in the game and as full time approached, a chipped in free inside the box allowed Brackaville’s Che O’Donnell to scramble the ball into the net and secure a draw….. probably a fair result over the whole game.

Full time score; Edendork 1-08 Brackaville 1-08.

edendork club football brackaville Edendork Vs Brackaville 2013 Tyrone GAA ACL Division 2

Jake Ferguson attacks in the opening minutes for Edendork.

Posted in Brackaville, Club Football, Edendork

Tyrone Vs Kildare – 2013 GAA Allianz Football League, Division 1 Semi Final

15/04/2013 by Damien | Leave a comment

I was back in Croke Park, Dublin on Sunday afternoon to see Tyrone take on Kildare in the Allianz National football league Division 1 semi finals, a repeat of the league round tie just two weeks ago. Mickey Harte made a number of changes to the side that narrowly lost out to Kerry last week while Joe Mc Mahon was ruled out at the last minute after he picked up an injury.

Conditions in Croke Park were quite warm and pleasant, a first this year. And the quality of football on the football field shone too with a slick Tyrone move finishing with a quality finish by Mattie Donnelly. Kildare soon arrived however and, using the full space of the field, edged ahead after points from Johnny Doyle and Eoghan O’Flaherty. Kildare then struck goal themselves when Paddy Brophy blasted in a saved shot from close range after a well worked move and Tyrone went in at the break 1-06 to 1-05 down.

Tyrone responded immediately in the second half with a point from Martin Penrose and after a hefty challenge from Stephen O’Neill, the ball found Mark Donnelly who scored another goal for Tyrone (his goal count is definitely racking up this year!) Further points by Connor McAliskey and Stephen O’Neill gave Tyrone a comfortable lead but a Kildare goal in the 55th minute meant that a draw and extra time was becoming a possibility. But up stepped Tyrone captain Stephen O’Neill who scored 2 wonder points (which were a pleasure to see in real life) and Mark Donnelly finished the scoring with another point.

Full time score; Tyrone 2-15 Kildare 2-11

Sunday’s performance was classic Tyrone in Croke Park and it certainly ranks as one of my favourite Tyrone games since their last All-Ireland victory in 2008. Let’s hope they can finish it off with a Allianz Division 1 league title (their first since 2003) over Dublin in 2 weeks time.

tyrone Tyrone Vs Kildare 2013 GAA Allianz Football League, Division 1 Semi Final

The Kildare team line out in Croke Park.

Tyrone in their red jersey for the Allianz NFL Division 1 semi final.

Darren McCurry practices his shooting before the throw in.

An injured Joe McMahon was on water duties on Sunday following his late injury.

Posted in Tyrone

St Patrick’s Maghera Vs St Patrick’s Navan – 2013 GAA All Ireland Colleges Final

15/04/2013 by Damien | Leave a comment

After the vocational schools final, the two St Patrick’s sides from Maghera and Navan took on each other in the Masita All-Ireland Colleges Final to see who would be taking home the coveted Hogan Cup.

From the beginning of the game, Maghera dominated throughout with scores coming from Gerald Bradley, Neil Mc Nicholl, Danny Tallon and Stephen O’Hara. Excellent work in and around midfield from Peter Cassidy and Conor Glass meant that their five point lead at half time never looked liked slipping and they went onto secure their fifth overall Hogan Cup title on a scoreline of St Pat’s Maghera 1-20 St Pat’s Navan 1-10.

Well done to them and their great supporters who I had a good laugh with at half time.