Up in the air
It might be the first time I’ve heard anyone so excited about a trip to Cleveland.
But there they were, a disorderly pile of screaming, red-shirted Young Irelands stacked up at midfield, celebrating a shocking Division 1 football win on Sunday over the previously dominating Donegal St. Patricks. The Young Irelands earned the win by a razor-thin margin, 1-13 to 2-9. At the half, the St. Patricks enjoyed a 2-4 to 0-5 lead and seemed to be coasting, continuing to rack up points in the second half. But the Young Irelands chipped away at that lead, sealing the deal with a goal and a point in the final minutes, to exultant cheers from fans on the sidelines.
The win earned the Young Irelands a trip to the North American GAA Finals over the labor day weekend.
In an earlier Junior B matchup, the St. Pats notched a win over the Kevin Barrys, 4-13 to 1-6.
And in the first game of the afternoon, Philly’s Na Toraidhe hurling club won handily over a hard-working team from Allentown. The guys from the Lehigh Valley fought all the way, and never gave up. But in the end, Na Toraidhe’s Kieran Donahue said, superior conditioning won the day.
“Our fitness level wasn’t where it needed to be (last year),” Donahue said. But this year, he added, conditioning was a priority, and it showed as the game progressed. “In the second half, that’s where our fitness level really paid off.”
We have tons of photos. You can see the Young Irelands-St. Pats photo essay up top.
Here are the two others:
