2003 North American Playoffs - Boston

More than 10,000 Gaelic football and hurling fans thronged to Boston's Irish Cultural Center in south suburban Canton over the Labor Day weekend for the 2003 North American County Board national playoffs.

It was a marvelous success for the host city in both organization and achievements on the playing field. After taking only two titles from the 2002 finals in Chicago last year, the quest to improve that record was fulfilled in no uncertain terms as the home city took seven of thirteen championships that were on the program. Boston teams captured the following titles: senior football (Cork), junior "B" football (Kerry), junior "C" football (New England Celtics), senior hurling (Galway), junior hurling (Fr. Tom Burke's), ladies junior football (Tir na Nog), senior camogie (Eire Og). Only four other cities, Atlanta, Chicago, Milwaukee and Philadelphia shared the spoils.

St. Brendan's junior footballers and St. Brigid's senior ladies footballers were the Chicago winners while Philadelphia minor footballers and intermediate football winners, Donegal, brought titles back to the city of brotherly love. For the first time in several years San Francisco failed to capture a national adult title but only one or two points separated them from victories in the intermediate football final and the junior hurling championship.

History was created as a result of Atlanta winning the first junior "C" hurling championship and Milwaukee capturing the newly created junior camogie competition, the first ever NACB trophy for the city.

With 54 teams from 16 cities competing for 13 titles the 2003 games, 62 in total (inc. youth games), were the biggest play-offs ever staged in North America and they were an outstanding success. The smooth running of this huge tournament over the three day holiday weekend is a tribute to the play-off committee headed by Northeast GAA board chairman, James Grealish. While the play-offs were an organizational success, there was disappointment at the actions of the Chicago Wolfe Tones football club who staged a protest on the main field on Saturday evening. Their senior and junior footballers and several club members occupied the field for such a long period of time that it prevented the playing of the senior football semi-final between Boston Cork and Chicago St. Brendan's. The Wolfe Tones were protesting a decision of the NACB who ordered a rematch of their Chicago final with St. Brendan's on Saturday morning, which the Wolfe Tones refused to play. This decision was a result of an appeal lodged by St. Brendan's following the Chicago final. Both Wolfe Tones teams were eliminated from the tournament and St. Brendan's withdrew from the senior championship leaving the final to be played between the two Boston teams, Cork and Donegal. Other than the dilution of the senior football championship the incident had little impact on the successful running of the play-offs.

While Cork had a free entry into the senior football final, Donegal had only two points to spare over San Francisco's Ulster club in a thrilling semi-final game. The all Boston final was also a great contest with Cork and Donegal on level terms at the end of regulation time. The approach of darkness prevented extra time and since neither team could agree on a replay date the North American Board scheduled the replay for Labor Day at the same venue. It also turned out to be a thrilling game with Cork defeating Donegal by two points, 1-10 to 1-8 and win the new Sean Gannon memorial trophy.

In senior hurling, Boston Galway captured their seventh title with a one point win over local rivals Fr. Tom Burke's in a thrilling all Boston final that went into overtime to decide a winner. Fr. Tom's defeated the strongly fancied Chicago Cuchulainn's by four points in the semi-final which set up a repeat of the Northeast divisional final match with Galway who had an easy win over San Francisco Naomh Padraig in the other semi-final. It was a most memorable final with a classic finish as Fr. Tom's, reduced to ten players, overcame a three point deficit to force extra time. After a thrilling 20 minutes of extra time Galway squeaked through by one point, 0-17 to 1-13 and capture the new Geoff Butler memorial trophy. Equally thrilling was the junior hurling final between the only two teams in the competition, Fr. Tom's and San Francisco Naomh Padraig with the Boston team winning by just two points, 2-14 to 2-12.

For the first time ever an all American born hurling team from Milwaukee competed in the NACB playoffs. They put up a gallant effort against the newly formed Atlanta team in the final of the recently created junior "C" hurling championship. In a hugely exciting and tough encounter Milwaukee kept close to their experienced opponents for three quarters of the game. It was only in the final quarter that Atlanta took control and went on to win by 10 point and capture their first title.

The Intermediate football final produced one of the best finals of the weekend between San Francisco Son's Of Boru and Philadelphia Donegal. Like the senior final, it also required overtime to name a winner. In the end the Philadelphia Donegal squad captured the title with a one point victory over their Western division rivals. The minor football championship also went to Philadelphia with the city's under 18 team defeating Boston in the final.

The men's junior "A" football championship was not as competitive as in previous years. While the four quarter-finals games were one sided affairs the semi-final between Chicago St. Brendan's and Boston Cork was a most entertaining contest with the Chicago team prevailing in the end. With the elimination of the Chicago Wolfe Tones their semi-final game with Boston Donegal was not played. The final between Donegal and St. Brendan's was an excellent match with the Chicago team winning by the narrowest of margins.

As expected, the junior "B" football championship generated the most excitement for the out-of-town football fans since eight different cities were represented in the tournament. After a mixed bag of quarter-final games Cleveland St. Jarlath's and Boston Kerry qualified for one semi-final while Detroit Wolfe Tones and San Diego Setanta made it through to the second semi-final. The Kerry/St. Jarlath's game was one of the most exciting battles of the weekend with Kerry squeezing through by one point to meet Setanta, who defeated Wolfe Tones, in the final. Kerry had an easier time in the final, defeating the San Diego team by eight points.
The new junior "C" football competition, created to cater to new clubs and the promotion of Gaelic football among American born players, made a successful debut. Four teams from Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte and Phoenix participated in the tournament with the Boston team, New England Celtics, taking the title.

As anticipated, ladies football produced several exciting and great games with the highlight being the junior final between Boston Tir na Nog and San Francisco Saoirse. Five goals and twenty five points were scored in the enthralling contest in which the Boston team were the eventual winners by a single point.

Fielding one of the strongest ladies senior football teams in recent years, Chicago St. Brigid's encountered little challenge in their quest for this years championship. They had 10 points to spare in their semi-final win over Boston champions Roscommon and defeated Boston runner-up, Shamrocks, by a similar margin in the final.

It was an all-Boston senior camogie final in which Eire Og repeated their divisional final win over Emerald Isle, this time with an eight point margin, 1-9 to 1-1. Eire Og defeated 2002 winners, San Francisco Shamrock, by nine points to reach the final. The other semi-final between Emerald Isle and Chicago St. Mary's was a thrilling contest with the Boston team winning by one point.

For the first time a junior camogie championship was staged with Milwaukee and Washington DC the two contestants. Milwaukee were the victors and captured the city's first NACB title.

The future of football in Philadelphia and Boston looks very promising following a wonderful minor final between both cities which was won by Philadelphia, 1-10 to 1-4.

The weekend activities came to an end with traditional awards banquet on Sunday night at the Irish Cultural Center. Guest speaker from Ireland was Gene Duffy, Chairman of the GAA International Dimension Committee. Besides praising the Irish Cultural Center facilities, he congratulated the Northeast Divisional Board and the North American County Board for their contribution to the success of a most wonderful weekend. Also out from Ireland were referees Ger Harrington (hurling), Mick McGrath (football), Aine Derham (camogie) and Eileen Jones (ladies football).

Next year's playoffs are scheduled to be played in Denver.

2003 NACB PLAYOFF RESULTS:
SENIOR HURLING:
Semi-finals:
Boston Fr. Tom's 0-13 Chicago Cuchulainn 1-6
Boston Galway 2-16 San Francisco Naomh Padraig 0-8

Final:
Boston Galway 0-17 Boston Fr. Tom's 1-13

JUNIOR HURLING:
Final: Boston Fr. Tom's 2-14 San Francisco Naomh Padraig 2-12

JUNIOR "B" HURLING:
Final:
Atlanta Clan Na Gael 2-13 Milwaukee 1-6

MEN'S SENIOR FOOTBALL:
Semi-finals:
Boston Donegal 0-11 San Francisco Ulster 0-9
Boston Cork Chicago Wolfe Tones forfeited
Final: Boston Cork 1-13 Boston Donegal 1-13
Replay: Boston Cork 1-10 Boston Donegal 1-8

MEN'S INTERMEDIATE FOOTBALL:
Semi-finals:
Philadelphia Donegal 0-12 Boston Galway 1-7
San Francisco Son's of Boru 4-14 Boston St. Christopher's 1-10
Final: Philadelphia Donegal defeated San Francisco Son's of Boru by one point

MEN'S JUNIOR "A" FOOTBALL:
Quarter Finals:
Boston Cork 2-18 San Francisco Cusacks 2-10
Chicago St. Brendan's 2-10 San Francisco Ulster 0-7
Chicago Wolfe Tones 2-12 Philadelphia Young Irelanders 0-6
Boston Donegal 2-16 Florida St. Pat's 1-8

Semi-finals:
Chicago St. Brendan's 0-9 Boston Cork 1-4
Boston Donegal Vs Chicago Wolfe Tones (forfeited)
Final: Chicago St. Brendan's 1-11 Boston Donegal 2-7

MEN'S JUNIOR "B" FOOTBALL:
Quarter-finals:
Cleveland St. Jarlaths 3-11 San Francisco Son's of Boru 1-11
Boston Kerry 2-14 Denver Gaels 0-5
Detroit Wolfe Tone's 1-13 Washington DC Gaels 1-7
San Diego Setanta 1-13 Atlanta Clan na Gael 0-11

Semi-Finals:
Boston Kerry 2-12 Cleveland St. Jarlath's 2-11
San Diego Setanta defeated Detroit Wolfe Tones

Final:
Boston Kerry 2-11 San Diego Setanta 1-6

MEN'S JUNIOR "C" FOOTBALL:
Semi-finals:
New England Celtics 7-14 Buffalo Cuchulainn 1-1
Charlotte James Connolly 6-7 Phoenix Gaels 2-8

Final:
New England Celtics 1-13 Charlotte James Connolly 0-2

LADIES SENIOR FOOTBALL:
Semi-finals:
Chicago St. Brigid's 4-15 Boston Roscommon 1-14
Boston Shamrocks 2-9 San Francisco Fog City Harps 1-7

Final:
Chicago St. Brigid's 0-13 Boston Shamrock's 0-3

LADIES JUNIOR FOOTBALL:
Quarter-finals:
Florida St. Pat's 4-17 Detroit St. Ann's 4-7
Boston Tir na Nog 5-19 Philadelphia Notre Dames 1-5
San Francisco Saoirse 4-17 Atlanta Clan na Gael 0-0
San Diego Na Fianna 6-17 Seattle Gaels 3-7

Semi-finals:
Boston Tir na Nog defeated Florida St. Pat's

Final:
Boston Tir na Nog 3-12 San Francisco Saoirse 2-13

SENIOR CAMOGIE:
Semi-finals:
Boston Eire Og 2-9 San Francisco Shamrocks 1-3
Boston Emerald Isle 4-4 Chicago St. Mary's 3-6
Final: Boston Eire Og 1-9 Boston Emerald isle 1-1

JUNIOR CAMOGIE:
Final: Milwaukee 7-8 Washington DC Gaels 1-2

Youth Championship Finals:
Under 10: Boston 0-4 Chicago 0-4
Under 12: San Francisco 1-14 Boston 1-7
Under 14: San Francisco 5-11 Boston 3-3
Under 16: San Francisco 5-16 Chicago 2-7
Under 18 (minor): Philadelphia 1-10 Boston 1-4