Shamrocks News

27 August 2007 - The Shamrocks Gaelic football club advanced to the Queensland Championship grand finals in both the mens and womens divisions with thrilling semi final wins at Willawong over the weekend.

Brisbane�s western suburbs mens team now play 2005 champions John Mitchels in the final this Sunday, after disposing of defending champions Souths by two points.

Shamrocks ladies team play three-time defending champions Harps in the final, after beating last year�s finalists Souths by one point.

�You should have been there,� the Shamrocks mens captain and club president, Matt Walsh, summised of the famous weekend. �It was great.�

In the mens game, Shamrocks� best were Steve Halpin, Laurie Bere, Matt Waters, and Luke Devitt.

Michael Mounds led the scoring with 1 goal 1 point, with Wayne Gallagher 1-0, Waters 0-3, and Cameron Carney back from sickness with 0-3, supporting well.

The result gave first year coach John Kelleher his 12th win for the year, and one more this weekend will move him into outright third ahead of 1998 coach Jimmy Walsh for the club record of most wins in a season.

In the ladies semi final, Shamrocks 4-7-19 beat Souths 4-6-18 despite playing two players down for the entire match, led by best players Sally Cooper, full back Emma Beckman, and Kirby Short.

Leading scorers were Cooper 2-3, Trish Brown 1-1, Lyndal Daley 1-1, Renee Moynihan 0-2.

The result was a continuation of the outstanding form of last week when Shamrocks ladies beat Easts Celts 10-16-46 to nil in the quarter final.

The Queensland Championship grand finals at Gaelic Park, Willawong, this Sunday are: Ladies 1:30pm Harps v Shamrocks; Mens 3:00pm John Mitchels v Shamrocks.

West meets South in semis

20 August 2007 - Queensland�s most successful Gaelic football clubs face off when the Shamrocks and Souths clubs clash in both the mens and womens divisions at Willawong this weekend in respective bids to advance to the Queensland Championship grand finals.

Souths are defending Queensland mens champions and have played in three of the last four deciders, while Brisbane�s western suburbs Shamrocks cruelly lost the 2005 final by a solitary point.

In the womens division, Souths played in the grand final last year, and Shamrocks the year before.

Match times as published by the QGFA for the semi finals at Gaelic Park, Bowhill Road, Willawong, this Sunday are: Womens � 12:50pm Shamrocks v Souths; Mens � 3:35pm Shamrocks v Souths.

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Previous title winners

Queensland League remains open

09 July 2007 - The Queensland Gaelic Football League title remains in the sights of Brisbane�s western suburbs Shamrocks club after its come-from-behind win over top contenders Souths at Willawong over the weekend.

Shamrocks trailed by as much as 6 points in the second half before edging home by 2 points 1-9-15 to 0-13-13 in the thrilling senior mens encounter.

All players contributed, with Brad Kennedy and Matt Waters lifting to play particularly well in the decisive second half. Kennedy led the scoring with 1 goal 3 points, supported by Steve Halpin 1 goal, and Cameron Carney 2 points.

Shamrocks remain in a tie for first place with Brisbane Shield winners John Mitchels, which lost to Souths a week earlier, a round in which Shamrocks kicked an all-time team record 24 points against Easts Celts.

Shamrocks play John Mitchels in both the mens and ladies divisions at Gaelic Park, Willawong, this Sunday.

Scores:

Shamrocks 2-9-15 (Brad Kennedy 1-3, Steve Halpin 1-0, Cameron Carney 0-2, Garrett O�Mahong 0-1, Michael Modson 0-1, Shane Gibney 0-1, Justin Mosch 0-1) def Souths 0-13-13

Mitchels take year's first title

10 June 2007 - John Mitchels overpowered an undermanned Shamrocks to become the first team to win three consecutive Brisbane Shield mens titles, in Gaelic football action at Willawong on Friday night.

By winning 3-13 (20) to 0-5 (5), Mitchels also moved into a tie with Shamrocks with six for the most ever Shield titles.

The match was evenly balanced in the early going, but when Shamrocks� giant midfielder Steve Halpin limped off with the scores tied three-all midway through the first half, Mitchels took control.

Flashes of good play by Lochlan Conboy and Laurie Bere, and then a nice point with Justin Mosch late in the game once released from fullback, gave the western suburbs supporters some enjoyment.

Scorers were Lochlan Conboy 0-3, Steve Halpin 0-1, and Justin Mosch 0-1

But the night culminated in Shamrocks� fourth straight Shield final loss, having appeared in nine in the past 10 finals. It was also possibly the most one-sided Shield final score ever.

Coach John Kelleher was pleased to have guided his team to a final in his debut season, but would now be planning to break the dominance of Mitchels which has now won six straight games over Shamrocks over the past two years.

Queensland League matches continue for both the mens and ladies teams at Willawong this Sunday, with both Shamrocks team in third place with a 1-1 win-loss record. Training is Tuesdays at the Western Districts Community & Sporting Club at Chelmer.

Related links:
All-time title winners
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7th straight final this Friday

07 June 2007 - Shamrocks start underdogs in the Brisbane Shield final at Willawong this Friday night against arch rivals John Mitchels, despite it being the team�s seventh consecutive Shield final appearance.

The western districts team has appeared in nine senior mens Brisbane Shield finals in the past 10 years, having last won the trophy in 2003, but have lost the last three finals, and Friday�s opponents John Mitchels are back-to-back winners having beaten Shamrocks in both of the last two years.

John Mitchels confirmed its favouritism to become the first team to win the trophy for three consecutive years, when it convincingly beat Shamrocks 0-13 to 0-6 in the last lead-up game last weekend.

In that game, Conboy 0-4 and Gibney 0-2 were the only scorers for Shamrocks, and coach John Kelleher will want to spread the scoring and tighten up in defence this time if they are to prevent Mitchels from grabbing a piece of history.

Mitchels and Shamrocks are the only clubs to have won back-to-back senior Brisbane Shield finals; Shamrocks hold the all-time record with six Shield titles, while Mitchels are second with five; so both teams have added motivation to win the season�s first trophy this week.

The match is this Friday night at Gaelic Park, Bowhill Road, Willawong, starting 8pm Friday 8th May. The ladies final is played beforehand.

A decade of Brisbane Shield finals appearances:

2006 � lost v Mitchels (by 4 points)
2005 � lost v Mitchels (by 2 points)
2004 � lost v Easts (by 10 points)
2003 � WON v Easts (by 2 points)
2002 � lost v Mitchels (by 5 points)
2001 � WON v Mitchels (by 7 points)
2000 � Souths beat someone
1999 � WON v Easts (by 3 points)
1998 � WON v Mitchels (by 6 points)

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