GAELIC SPORTS WORLD Issue 31 – August 8, 2015 | Page 26

The start of the Queensland GAA Championships took
place on Sunday last and it was one way traffic for the
three schedules games.
In the men’s senior football championship both Harps
and Souths were heavy favourites to advance at the expense of Shamrocks and Gold Coast respectively, however, in the first round of the Camogie Championship
league runners-up Naomh Padraig were the ones that
most people expected to get a result.
TARA TOPS
The Camogie Championship is played on a round robin basis with the top two making it into the final. During the league Naomh Padraig had done nothing wrong
winning all their games but in the decider they were
surprised by Eire Og who kept their best form until it
mattered most. Tara on the other hand though never
that far off filled the third place slot at the end of the
league. So given that scenario Naomh Padraig were favourites to get their championship campaign off to winning ways.
It didn’t work out like that though as Tara took the game
to their opponents from the off. Naomh Padraig were
never allowed to get going as Tara dominated proceedings. Tara kept the scoreboard ticking over throughout
and ended up emphatic winners on a scoreline of 7-14
to 1-5. It is understood that Naomh Padraig were short
players for this match but that doesn’t take away from
the splendid effort from Tara. The Gaels will take confidence from the result in what looks like a keen and open
Camogie championship.
SOUTHS TOO GOOD
In the first senior men’s football championship quarter
final, South’s in the league faced fourth placed Sham-

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rocks. The Souths team had a very good league campaign
and were not those far off champions’ John Mitchels in
the end. Shamrock’s on the other hand largely remained
in fourth place all through the league but still were
competitive in several of their matches. This quarter
final was done and dusted by half time with Souths in
control leading by 2-11 to 0-2. Things didn’t improve
that much for Shamrocks for the remainder with Souths
dominating and running out very easy victors by 4-17
to 1-6. Shamrocks might have lost some players leading
into this one but their biggest issue was an inability to
get scores when needed, while Souths were clinical all
through and could have a big say yet in the championship.
TOO EASY FOR HARPS
Last year’s league winners and championship runnersup, Harps, hadn’t shone as brightly in this year’s league
finishing in third place but could not be ruled out coming into the championship. In the second quarter final,
Harps faced bottom seed Gold Coast in the second
quarter final, the latter had a tough league competition
when failing to get a win and so were heavy underdogs.
The game panned out as expected with an easy victory
for Harps. The half time score in this one was still respectable for Gold Coast as they held Harps goalless 0-3
to 0-13. The second half was a different affair though
with Harps stepping up the pace and their superior
strength in depth came into its own and they pushed on
for a 5-27 to 0-4 win.
HURLERS NEXT
Next Sunday, August 9th, sees the hurlers in action
with Na Fianna playing Cuchulainns in the championship semi-final. These two met in the last round of the
league with Na Fianna coming out best but Cuchulainns
are never that far off and cannot be taken lightly.