GAA in Britain

[the colonel]

Only the A championship will be played. It has been changed to manchester. Other competition dates to be decided asap.

[inisceithleann]

Anyone know what games are where in Manchester?

[Rav67]

Only the A championship will be played. It has been changed to manchester. Other competition dates to be decided asap.

B and C next weekend in Birmingham I hear.  I doubt New York and Rennes will be there though.

[the colonel]

jmu beat napier by 5/6 points was good tough game

quarters
jmu beat dundee
hope beat northumbria (just)
marys beat aberdeen
napier beat rgu

semi's
jmu beat hope by 10
napier beat rgu by 12

jum 2 won the second division. they beat preston in the final

plate to be next weekend, hopefully,

new york have rearranged their flights and cost them an extra 200 dollars a man, but are determined to make it, not sure about rennes

tournament ran off well considering the late change

[Plastic Paddy]

Where are they thinking of for next weekend. Birmingham looks bad still .Snow falling again tonight and the pitches are flooded.

[inisceithleann]

Where are they thinking of for next weekend. Birmingham looks bad still .Snow falling again tonight and the pitches are flooded.

Don't be surprised if it's moved back to Manchester again. The weather is extremely unfortunate, teams must have lost a lot of money having to change accomodation etc at the last minute last week.

[SuperHans]

some excellent players on show

mccarron of tryton and hope
leenon of monaghan and moores
mccumiskey of armagh and dundee ( scored a peach of a sideline in qf game)

disapointing to get knocked out so early but some weekends craic and madness

[oakleaf93]

Anyone see any of the division 2 games? How handy did JM 2nds win it? Disappointed not to get down from scotland with the late cancellations etc and give that division a shot

[Plastic Paddy]

Is the plate on this weekend and if so where?

[the colonel]

plate is going ahead in birmingham this weekend

jmu beat preston by a point in the final after being 0-5 to 0-0 up at half time. they were pushed hard at the game and preston could have nicked it.missed a late minute easy free to take it to extra time.  Liverpool uni gave them a good run in the groups but were dissapointing in the semi against preston.

overall JMU deserved it.

[FermPundit]

Fermanagh trio chase All-Ireland glory

By Katrina McManus (The Impartial Reporter)

This Saturday three Fermanagh men hope to make a piece of history when they journey to Croke Park for the All Ireland Junior final. The achievement of the John Mitchels club from Liverpool in reaching the penultimate stage of the competition is in no small part due to the great effort of Enniskillen man and Mitchels Manager Barry Morris, team captain John McDermott from Brookeboro and Killesher's Paul Melanaphy.

Three years ago, John Mitchels had actually gone out of existence but the club have shown steady progress and after suffering a quarter final exit to eventual All Ireland champions Canovee from Co. Cork last year, this team knew they had the potential to go that extra step this season, says Morris: "Last year we were beaten by Canovee and we were missing a few key players. There was only seven points in it that day, so it gave us great encouragement and a good incentive."

Now with All Ireland honours within their grasp the former Enniskillen Gaels clubman knows that with a top drawer performance they could seal a memorable victory against Skellig Rangers of Kerry: "The two wins over in Ireland against Meath champions Moynalvey in the quarter final and the semi-final victory over Killala, Co Mayo have given us great confidence. We know we're only one hour away from winning the ultimate prize now. This will be the biggest task we've faced all year but I'm hoping that on the day things will go right for us. So long as we don't freeze and put in the performance we're capable of we shouldn't be too far away," states Barry.

Leading his charges will be Brookeboro man John McDermott who Barry entrusted the role of captaincy to this year. And he is in an envious position says Barry: "I wish I was in his shoes" he laughs, "he's been a good captain all year and I would be absolutely delighted to see a fellow Fermanagh man lifting the trophy."

John who had only just returned from Croke Park, when I spoke to him on Monday night, following a press day at headquarters was feeling somewhat excited about the Valentines Day showdown: "I can't wait! We were out on the pitch and you really see the magnitude of it. Everyone is really looking forward to it but we have to treat it like another game of football because we don't want the boys getting too nervous."

John has played with the Mitchels for the past two years and to be honoured with the captain's armband will make Saturday's final all the sweeter: "When Morris named me as captain at the start of the year I was delighted. I always thought we had a good chance of getting this far after last year. It is great to get running out at Croke Park at any time but to be running out as captain is fantastic and if I was to lift the trophy that feeling would be ten-fold" enthused John.

The Brookeboro man is also very mindful that this might be the last chance for this crop of players to make the breakthrough and win at the highest level. A point that he'll be stressing in the changing room before the game: "It's been a long year and I'll be letting the lads know I'm very proud of them. This is a good bunch of lads and it's unlikely we'll be playing with the same group again what with people heading home because of no work. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity" he stresses.

As the weekend draws closer John admits the small issue of a speech has run through his mind on a few occasions. Before Saturday the Industrial Chemist intends to set aside a little time to pen something, should it be needed: "I need to get the speech organised, I don't like thinking about it too much but it has to be done."

With family and friends travelling down in support on Saturday evening, one other player who hopes to play some part is Paul Melanaphy. The former Kinawley Brian Boru's player acknowledges that he'll start the evening on the bench but says "hopefully I'll get on; it would be brilliant to play in Croke Park."

With the buzz intensifying around the club in Liverpool, Paul says the reality of running out onto the hallowed turf of Croke Park is something that he never thought he would get the opportunity to do: "You never really think about it until the possibility gets closer. It doesn't matter in what capacity you get there though, you just have to enjoy it when you do. To be playing there is a dream but to get a winners medal would top of that dream".

With the work nearing completion the final preparations are being put in place by Barry and his backroom team as they prepare to fly over to Dublin on Friday afternoon. With players from Cavan, Kilkenny, Armagh, Cork, Donegal, Tyrone, Antrim and Fermanagh in their ranks John Mitchels will be hoping that they can make a triumphant return to Merseyside on Sunday afternoon after they stave off the threat of the men from the Kingdom.

[carnaross]

Good article, here's hoping the Mitchel's lads can finish the job tonight. Best of luck to them.

[Plastic Paddy]

Best of Luck to Mitchel's from Mitchel's Hurlers Birmingham

[carnaross]

Game on Kerry Radio now.

[carnaross]

John Mitchel's just scored their first point to leave it 4 - 1