GAELIC SPORTS WORLD Issue 2 Sample Test, June 5, 2014 | Page 7

the finals fixed for Gaelic Park
on the Sunday afternoon.

minute point to secure their place
in the history books.

The fifteen hurling group games
saw a few one-sided affairs but also
some epic and close games. The
Montana Grizzlies, a new club at
the University of Montana which
has been generating a lot of local
attention in the area and indeed
the Northwest, emerged as by far
the strongest team with only the
University of Connecticut and St
Thomas Aquinas able to challenge
for supremacy. The Grizzlies have
burst onto the scene in the last
twelve months thanks to some visiting Irish students who began a hurling club at the college.

Given that last year’s competition
was contested by only three hurling
teams and no football teams, this
year’s quadrupling in size is a major
development. Simon Gillespie, the
New York GAA’s Games Development Administrator and Chairman
of the Northeast Collegiate GAA,
hailed the event as the highlight of
his four years of working in his role.
“The collegiate sector is the cutting edge of games development,”
he said. “It is the part of the GAA
in the USA that has the biggest potential.”

By Sunday Cal had already qualified for the semi-finals by guaranteeing a spot in the top four with
a last-minute game winning goal
against Pittsburgh, but had to play
against St Thomas Aquinas to avoid
Montana in the semis.
In a testy and heated encounter,
St Thomas Aquinas prevailed and
the stage was set for a dramatic end
to the competition. Montana swept
away a valiant but outgunned challenge from Cal in their semi-final,
and UConn faced Saint Thomas
Aquinas in a tight and tough game
that had NCGAA officials clarifying
contingency plans for the event of a
tie. UConn got a last minute point
that seemed to seal the deal, but in
the dying seconds conceded a penalty in their own goal mouth that
was converted to a goal putting St
Thomas into the final.
During a spectacular hurling
grand finale at Gaelic Park, the
crowd rallied behind Montana who
had won the respect and the hearts
of everyone throughout the weekend. St Thomas looked dangerously
close to pulling an upset by the interval, trailing by only four points,
but Montana had come too far to
take their foot off the pedal now.
The Grizzlies kept up the pressure
with a skilful game scoring 1-6 to

Cal Berkeley’s, 1st year player and full back Robert Wen, surveys the scene. (Photo: Jerry
Hess Photography)

stretch their lead out to 3-10 to 2-4
by the final whistle. Captain and
club founder Naoise Waldron delivered an eloquent acceptance speech
mostly in Irish after being presented
with the cup donated by San Francisco GAA’s Seamus Canning and
medals donated by the Irish Deputy
Consul General in New York, Peter
Ryan.
The football competition ݅́