Latest from Tir Chonaill 29th May 2012…
Tir Chonaill Beach Tag Tournament : All hands to beautiful Carrickfin Beach this Saturday 2nd June for the Annual Tir Chonaill Beach Tag Tournament. Four clubs are confirmed so far with Letterkenny returning to defend their trophy against the might of Finn Valley, Inishowen and the hosts Tir Chonaill. Hopefully the weather will hold up for what should be a great days Tag rugby to kick off the Tag season in Donegal. The trophies are sponsored by Donegal Airport, and the prizegiving will be held in the Airport Bar immediately after the final. Run in conjunction with the Annagry Festival, we advise an overnight stay as the craic is only starting on the Beach. Burgers, Snacks and Drinks will be available on the beach, or the Airport has excellent catering available. Hope to see a crowd and good helpers. See you all there for a great days fun…..
Tir Chonaill 10 a Side : The club recently hosted the Tir Chonaill 10s to round off the contact rugby season in Donegal. All county clubs were invited, but for various reasons (clash with Holy Communions the main one !), only last years winners Ballyshannon, Lettekenny and Tir Chonaill fielded teams on the day. The teams all played each other in half hour games, and some great rugby was on view. Holders Ballyshannon won both their games and had a very powerful and fast team skippered by Ray Gallagher. Their years in a higher league being evident. A strong Letterkenny team ran in Runners Up with a good win over Tir Chonaill. T C were unfortunate to lose their captain Martin McGarvey after 10 mins of the first game with an eye cut needing 4 stitches, and were missing some of their strong players. T C did however run in several tries, with Shaun Doogan, Adrian O’Colla, Fergus Sweeney, Martin McGarvey and Robbie O’Donnell. Man of the Match for T C was Caiveen Curran. 10 A Side is a fast game and regular subs were necessary. T C were so short of players at the end that even veteran coach Joe McCann had to tog out and the Hosts ended the tournament with himself and the even older Eugene Doogan in the second row with a combined age of almost 100 years !! Too old for this s**t eh Joe??
Many thanks to Shaun Bloomfield and Darren McGuigan from the Ulster Branch for attending, and to referees Billy O’Gorman and Douglas Tweed for their long journey to officiate. Both refs and the three teams adjourned to Duffys Bar in Annagry for the presentation and some much needed food and beer! The hosts did us proud with excellent food and some additional awards were made to the numpties of the day who shall remain nameless. An excellent session and sing song ensued, and the season was duly ended in some style…with the 2 refs enjoying the craic….this is what this level of rugby is all about……
