Toronto Championship Quarter-Final 2002
Denis Leyne 9-a-side Tournament 2002
Powerscreen 7-a-side Tournament 2002
7 July 2002
Cuchullain 7-9 Setanta 4-3
The first match of the 2002 Montreal Gaelic Football Championship was won by Cuchullain by a score of 7-9 to 4-3 over a gallant Setanta team. It was a very closely contested game during the first half and the early part of the second half. The fact that Cuchullain had an extra man allowed them to make key substitutions, and with Setanta tiring noticeably in the second half, they ran out fairly easy winners. Cuchullain now leads 1-0 in the best of three series.
Special thanks go to John O'Shea for an excellent job as referee.
Scorers:
Cuchullain - Murdoch Fitzgerald 2-2, Ed Stokes 2-2, Joey Fitzmorris 2-2, Nigel Harney 1-1,
Conor Brogan 0-2
Setanta - Stephen Bourke 2-2, Neil McGrath 2-1
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21 July 2002
Setanta 5-2 Cuchullain 4-0
The Montreal Gaelic Football Championship series is tied at one game apiece and will go to a decider on Sunday 28 July!
In this exciting game, Setanta beat Cuchullain by a score of 5-2 to 4-0. This result looked unlikely early on as Cuchullain powered to a 3-goal advantage, Murdoch Fitzgerald (2) and Damien Marlow the scorers. Overall though, Setanta had plenty of the play in the first half and following several missed chances managed to pull a goal back through Tim Currie just before half-time.
The second half started with Cuchullain on the attack again and in a goalmouth scramble Ed Stokes drove the ball home to restore his team's 3-goal cushion. However, that was to be Cuchullain's last score of the game. Setanta fought back gallantly and with goals from Paddy Mahon, Neil McGrath and Brendan O'Connor tied the game at 4-0 apiece. Points from Brendan O'Connor and Stephen Bourke put Setanta ahead for the first time and they finished in style with another superb goal from Paul Cantwell.
Both teams deserve credit for producing such a sporting game in the extremely hot and humid weather conditions. Special thanks also to Cathal Marlow for refereeing the game.
Scorers:
Setanta - Brendan O'Connor 1-1, Neil McGrath 1-0, Paddy Mahon 1-0, Paul Cantwell 1-0,
Tim Currie 1-0, Stephen Bourke 0-1
Cuchullain - Murdoch Fitzgerald 2-0, Ed Stokes 1-0, Damian Marlow 1-0
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28 July 2002
Setanta 5-4 Cuchullain 1-6
The deciding game of the 2002 Montreal Championship series was played in atrocious conditions. Heavy rain persisted throughout the contest, but in spite of this both teams put up spirited performances.
The first half was a low scoring affair with both teams playing somewhat tentatively. Cuchullain had points from James Sclater, Nigel Harney and Conor Brogan. Setanta countered with points from Neil McGrath and Stephen Bourke and a goal from Paul Cantwell.
The second half saw Setanta take command and with goals from Vincent Perez (2), Paul Cantwell and Brendan O'Connor, they ran out fairly easy winners. Damien Marlow grabbed a consolation goal for Cuchullain but despite some good chances they couldn't close the gap.
Without doubt Cuchullain missed the influence of their captain Sean Heavens and their top scorer from the first two games Murdoch Fitzgerald. They battled gamely, but the superior teamwork of a hardly changed Setanta team proved to be the difference.
Scorers:
Setanta - Vincent Perez 2-0, Paul Cantwell 2-0, Brendan O'Connor 1-1, Stephen Bourke 0-2,
Neil McGrath 0-1
Cuchullain - Damien Marlow 1-1, Conor Brogan 0-2, James Sclater 0-1, Nigel Harney 0-1,
Joey Fitzmorris 0-1
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Interestingly the aggregate score for the three games was exactly equal - 14 goals and 9 points for Setanta, 12 goals and 15 points for Cuchullain, giving both teams a total of 51 points. You can't get much closer than that!
At the end of the final game Cathal Marlow presented the beautiful new trophy, donated by the Marlow Family, to the victorious captain Stephen Bourke
Congratulations and thanks to all those who participated in making the series a great success. This is the first time in about 30 years that such a Championship has been played in Montreal and therefore a little bit of Montreal GAA history has been made this year. Hopefully the Championship will grow from this initial success and go from strength to strength in the future.