The Fall League finals will take place on Saturday December 7th at Northwood Elementary School in Roswell as part of a packed schedule of events. The day kicks off at 12 pm with a kids coaching session organized by Adrian O’Sullivan followed by the hurling final at 1 pm with the Gaelic Football decider commencing at 3 pm. The post-game party will take place in Mac McGee’s in Roswell at 5 pm with complimentary finger food to be provided by the club to players and supporters. Irish Traditions Atlanta will kindly provide musical entertainment and the end of year player awards will also be presented at this event.
Ahead of the finals this weekend it is a good opportunity to review play from the second half of the Fall League (full schedule and rosters are also available online).
Gaelic Football
In a very tight finish Mac McGee’s overcame Ri Ra by 40 points to 39 in spite of a tremendous late surge inspired by stellar play by Micheal Smith. Brian Boland again starred for Mac McGee’s by getting key scores from midfield.
Fado’s defeated Ri Ra by 37 points to 18 as the prolific scoring of their inside forward line of Carrie Frick, Jen & Zoe Beato made a significant impact on the game. Chris Kendrick and Micheal Smith led a spirited second half come back for Ri Ra but the gap could not be closed.
As both teams had already qualified for the final, the remaining scheduled game between Fado’s and Mac McGee’s was cancelled with a tie result assumed for the purposes of the league standings.
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Hurling
Ri Ra defeated Mac McGee’s on a scoreline of 34 points to 18 as their back line led by Dan Kuemmerle dominated while Niklas Karlsson made some excellent defensive stops for Mac McGee’s in this game.
The meeting of Ri Ra and Fado’s turned out to be the best hurling game of the competition as Ri Ra narrowly defeated Fado’s by a score line of 34 points to 33 to qualify for the final. This victory was all the more impressive due to the loss of Paul Bradley through injury in the early stages of the first half. Fado’s built up a 10 point lead in the first half with Cormac McCormack and Josh Crabtree very prominent in their back line and Kieran Cronin getting the key scores in the forward line. Ri Ra mounted a comeback in the second half as Chris Kendrick, in his hurling debut in Atlanta, and Dan Kuemmerle showed great heart up the middle. Annie Greenwood, who has shown the most improvement of any player in the hurling league, defended tenaciously while newcomer Patrick Shower won a lot of possession in the forward line. The score of the half came from Malcolm Harris who struck a beautiful shot on the run from the right hand side line. A very tight finish resulted in both teams exchanging the lead in the final few minutes however Ri Ra won a free with only seconds remaining. Ger Doorley remained calm to point the last minute free to close out a great turnaround for Ri Ra after their 0-2 start to the league.
In spite of open play being relatively even, Fado’s comprehensively defeated Mac McGee’s on a score line of 48 points to 27 to qualify for the final with Evan Lebois having a great game for Mac McGee’s at midfield. Well taken goals at opportune moments however would prove to be the difference between the sides with Jen and Zoe Beato being particularly prominent for Fado’s in this game.
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