10 YEARS AGO

FERMANAGH served notice of their intentions as they hammered Antrim by 13 points in the All-Ireland Qualifiers.

There was no doubting that star of the show as Seán Quigley helped himself to 0-14 at Brewster Park, which was three points more than the entire Antrim team combined in their 1-21 to 0-11 defeat.

It was such a disappointing day for the Saffrons, especially as they had entered the game on the back of a morale-boosting with over Laois in Portlaoise the week before.

Pete McGrath and his side were rewarded with a Qualifier against Roscommon for winning the Ulster derby.

The Rossies were in the draw courtesy of a 3-17 to 1-16 win over Cavan at Kingspan Breffni.

The big talking point of the game came at the start of the second half when Cavan’s Tomas Corr was dismissed with his side just a single point behind.

Breffni boss Terry Hyland was unhappy that the red card was delivered after the interval for an incident in the first half.

Cavan tried to take Corr off at the break but referee David Gough called him down from the stands and flashed the red card.

On the hurling front, Brian Cody won a 39th trophy as Kilkenny manager as the Cats beat Galway in the Leinster final on a 1-25 to 2-15 scoreline.

It was a 15th provincial title in 18 seasons for Kilkenny who were never really troubled throughout.

It was double delight for the Cats as their minors finished with a flourish to edge out Dublin in the Leinster MHC – a couple of late points seeing them past spirited opposition.

20 YEARS AGO

QUALIFIER defeats led to much speculation for some big management names as Páidí Ó Sé stepped down as Westmeath manager after a loss to Clare and while Brian McEniff didn’t announce instantly after Donegal’s loss to Clare, he did so at a county board meeting a few days later.

The Breffni outfit edged that clash 1-11 to 1-10, quite the turnaround having fallen to Tyrone by 21 points in an Ulster semi-final replay the week previous.

They responded perfectly in front of their own fans, and owed a lot to goalkeeper James Reilly who made a brilliant save from Colm McFadden before going on to deny Brendan Devenney from the penalty spot.

“I don’t normally take penalties but there was no rush of volunteers,” Devenney tellingly said afterwards.

Derry put their name in the hat with a 3-8 to 2-9 win over Ulster rivals Down.

Like Cavan, they had their goalkeeper to thank as Barry Gillis pulled off a brilliant stop to deny Ronan Sexton in the final seconds.

At the other end, the Bradley brothers, Paddy and Eoin, and Mark Lynch terrorised the Mourne defence in front of a massive crowd in Newry.

Leitrim came so close to the shock of the championship as they led Meath in the final seconds before Ollie Murphy forced extra-time with the last kick, the Royals eventually winning by four points.

30 YEARS AGO

BRAGGING rights went to Cavan as they defeated Monaghan in their Ulster semi-final at Clones.

Martin McHugh’s side beat the pre-match favourites 1-9 to 0-10 to secure a provincial final date with Tyrone.

Paul O’Dowd’s first-half penalty save from Declan Smyth proved crucial for the Breffni County with Fintan Cahill provided a tour de force performance on the edge of the square.

In the Red Hand County, Killyclogher went back-to-back to claim their fourth – and to now anyway, their last – Tyrone SHC title with a 4-5 to 2-8 win over Dungannon in Carrickmore. Some may argue that it’s title number seven given Knockmoyle-Cappagh have three titles to their name too.

The Benburb Cup looked to be slipping away as they trailed by eight points at the break, but a second-half goal blitz saw them home.

Eoghan McKenna, Gary Burns, Brendan Hegarty and Vinny Owens got the goals for the victors with Tomás Colton and Brian McIntosh striking for Dungannon.