The 2014 Connolly’s Cup took place on Saturday, July 19 in its new home at the Rugby Athletic Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Atlanta entered a men’s hurling team and a ladies Gaelic football team into the tournament. Connolly’s Cup also acted as the Southeast hurling championship for the 2014 season following earlier tournaments in Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, Atlanta & Raleigh.
In the opening game Atlanta took on Charleston, winners of earlier tournaments in their home town & Greenville, in a compelling match up. Atlanta started this game brightly with a series of early points followed by a ground stroke goal from Gavin McKee. Atlanta’s dominated the middle of the field as Andrew Kender & Brian Canavan continued their excellent partnership this season. The half back line of Dan Kuemmerle & Kyle Hosmer dominated and constantly fed clean ball to the Atlanta midfield duo. Paul Bradley & Bill Hayward got a goal apiece as they continuously won clean possession in the full forward line. Bill Hayward got the score of the tournament as he struck a point after shipping a heavy shoulder from the right sideline 40 yards out from goal. Charleston showed great heart to take the game to Atlanta in the second half but in the end Atlanta won on a scoreline of 3-13 to 2-2.
Atlanta faced an uphill task as they took on a combined Raleigh/Orlando/Tampa team in the championship final. Inspired by the heart shown by the Atlanta ladies in the preceding game & incredible speeches in the huddle by Paul Bradley & Brian Canavan, Atlanta dominated the early exchanges. The inside forward line of Paul Bradley & Bill Hayward terrorized the opposition as they combined for a goal and a couple points in the opening minutes. Further points from Brian Canavan & Gavin McKee stretched Atlanta’s lead to 1-4 to 0-1 after ten minutes of play. Fantastic work in defense, especially by Ciaran Boland & Kyle Hosmer, shut out numerous attacks. A change of tactics by the opposition however to play long balls into their full forward line resulted in a couple of goals in quick succession to see Raleigh/Orlando/Tampa retake the lead. Three outstanding saves by Rob Kiely in goals kept Atlanta in the game as only two points separated the sides at half time.
Atlanta had the better of the opening exchanges but a succession of wides followed by the concession of a series of opportunistic goals shifted momentum in favor of Raleigh/Orlando/Tampa. Brian Canavan & Andrew Kender in midfield drove the Atlanta side into all out attack mode but some excellent defending prevented what would have been a heroic comeback. In spite of this, Atlanta never gave up and points from Paul Bradley & Bill Hayward narrowed the gap. In the last play of the game Paul Bradley gathered possession 30 yards from goal dropped his shoulder and hit the goal of tournament with a bullet of a shot into the top corner of net on the goalkeeper’s near side. The game ended with a scoreline of 2-12 to 7-9 in favor of Raleigh/Orlando/Tampa. This progress made by this group of Atlanta hurlers in the last six months bodes well for the future of hurling in the Peach State.
Thanks to Mike Flanagan who travelling from Chicago to referee all the hurling games at this tournament with the support of the NACB. Special thanks to our biggest supporters Janan Awad, Carol Walker & Lauren Lebois who have been there for every tournament cheering us on. Finally, well done to Gavin McKee who was outstanding in his debut tournament for Atlanta having learnt his skills in the hurling nursery of the Lámh Dhearg Hurling Club in Keady, County Armagh.
Atlanta squad: Rob Kiely, Ciaran Boland, Phillip Groover, Kyle Hosmer, Dan Kuemmerle, Brian Canavan, Andrew Kender, Gavin McKee, Evan Lebois, Paul Bradley, Bill Hayward, Stuart Kelly, Brian Laughlin, Josh Lyons, Peter Molloy & David O’Donoghue
The Atlanta ladies football squad participated in their second tournament of the season along with teams from Charlotte, Pittsburgh & Washington DC. In the tournament semi-final, Atlanta defeated Washington DC to advance to the final against hosts and defending champions Charlotte. In the championship game, Atlanta faced a powerful Charlotte team who benefited from the experience of playing senior ladies football at the NACB Playoffs in Cleveland in 2013. In spite of overwhelming odds, the Atlanta ladies battled for every ball and put their bodies on the line to stymie wave after wave of attacks from their stronger opponents. Stout defending was evident throughout the team from Ashley Harmon & Carly Harrington in the full back line to the incredible commitment shown by Annie Greenwood who in one instance blocked a ball with her face from point blank range to prevent a Charlotte attack. Kristin Hennek and Laoise O’Driscoll never stopped running through the middle of the team while Jen & Zoe Beato won an amount of possession to support the full forward line. In spite of great effort Charlotte pulled away to win comfortably in the end. Congrats to Charlotte on retaining the Connolly’s Cup and best of luck to them at the NACB Playoffs in Boston over Labor Day weekend.
Atlanta squad: Laoise O’Driscoll, Becky Brown, Kristen Hennek, Carly Harrington, Megan Sliver, Sandra Hurtado, Linda Abbaray, Amelia Sevier, Annie Greenwood, Carrie Frick, Jen Beato, Zoe Beato, Karina Clarke & Ashley Harmon
After the tournament ended, both Atlanta squads gathered in Ri Ra’s Irish Pub in Charlotte to bond and digest the events of the day. As per usual later that night Connolly’s bar hosted an excellent tournament party which was enjoyed by all in attendance. Thanks to the Charlotte James Connolly’s club for hosting an excellent tournament. More photos from the day are included in our gallery.