10 YEARS AGO

THE Fenway Classic – a form of hurling played in front of an American audience with the aim of growing the sport – caused headlines for the wrong reasons as Galway and Dublin got into a brawl.

In the 11-a-side format, the match at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, a number of players engaged in a melee in front of a stunned audience, albeit no punches appeared to be thrown.

Iarla Tannian and Andy Smith were sin-binned for the Tribesmen after the incident, with Dublin goalkeeper Conor Dooley also seeing yellow.

Galway fought back to win the match 50-47 and the match – namely the row – gained a bit of traction in the press in the States.

In the International Rules, Joe Kernan’s Ireland were 56-52 winners over Australia in a match played in a less violent atmosphere than previous years.

Aidan O’Shea was the star man as he contributed a 15-point haul including two goals in front of a crowd of 38,386.

One downside was the injury picked up by Paddy McBreaty as he collided with an upright. The Donegal man had to go to hospital as a result, but was released that night.

All-Ireland champions Corofin saw their reign ended as they were beaten 2-10 to 0-11 by Mayo’s Castlebar in the Connacht final.

It brought an end to Stephen Rochford’s time in charge of the Galway kingpins as he headed off to take charge of the Mayo footballers.

20 YEARS AGO

ELEVEN points was the winning number as Antrim’s St Gall’s and Derry’s Bellaghy booked spots in the Ulster Club final.

In Newry, the Belfast side proved too strong for home side Mayobridge, winning 0-11 to 0-8 in a stormy encounter.

The ‘Bridge finished the match with just 12 players as Kieran O’Hare, Benny Coulter and Declan Rooney were sent to the line with Sean Burns dismissed for the Saffron champions.

Referee Joe McQuillan was approached by a number of people as he tried to walk off at the end following the tense finale.

On the field, Burns (0-3) and Karl Stewart (0-8) matched Mayobridge’s tally between them.

Bellaghy, meanwhile, were 0-11 to 0-9 winners over Cavan Gaels in Omagh.

The Derry side’s foothold belonged to a brilliant showing from their half-back line of Paul Diamond, Ciaran McNally and Kevin Doherty.

Joe Cassidy did the damage in front of the posts with five points, but the side did kick 15 wides over the hour.

GAA President Seán Kelly reacted with doubt to a newspaper suggestion of strange betting patterns in GAA games.

“I simply don’t believe it,” Kelly replied, amidst claims of teams changing free-takers and other irregular decisions.

30 YEARS AGO

BAILIEBOROUGH Shamrocks booked a spot in the Ulster Club final against Mullaghbawn as they defeated Derry’s Ballinderry in their semi-final replay.

It was Ballinderry who started well as they raced into a three-point lead early on, but they were only able to add another two points as the Cavan outfit won 0-9 to 0-5 in a free-ridden contest at Clones.

Aidan Connolly had requested a hearing following his red card in the drawn encounter, but he was unable to have the red card overturned. Roy Brennan and Adrian Lambe scored seven points between them to send the side through.

In the National Hurling League, Down picked up a credible draw with Dublin in Division Two.

Martin Coulter was the hero as his point three minutes into additional time secured a share of the spoils in Ballycran.

Antrim, meanwhile, went down to the league’s only side with a 100 per cent record – Wexford.

The Model County won 2-14 to 1-10 with Seamus McMullen scoring the Antrim goal from a penalty.