10 YEARS AGO

WARRENPOINT’S dream of a Croke Park date came up just short as they lost by a single point to Ardfert in the All-Ireland Intermediate semi-final.

With Ross McGarry to the fore, the Down side started well but they found their opponents hard to shake off – and so it proved as they trailed 1-5 to 0-5 at the break.

McGarry as well as the Boyle brothers, John and Ryan, blasted over scores in the second half but they couldn’t find an equaliser as they lost 1-8 to 0-10.

Tyrone’s dominance of the McKenna Cup continued as they defeated Cavan 1-13 to 0-10 in Armagh.

Terry Hyland’s side started ferociously with Killian Clarke dominating in midfield and Martin Dunne and Niall McDermott causing headaches up front as they led 0-10 to 0-6 at the break and looked on course for a first McKenna Cup title since 2000.

Tyrone were a different animal in the second half though and they managed to keep Cavan scoreless with Niall McKenna’s goal securing the turnaround.

Antrim conceded a massive 0-28 to Dublin in the Walsh Cup.

The Saffrons were competitive without threatening but they finished with 13 men following reds for Eoghan Campbell and Neil McManus in the 10-point defeat.

Red cards were also an issue for Castleblayney in their All-Ireland JHC loss to British side Fullen Gaels.

In the end, the Oriel side had just 12 players on the field in the 2-18 to 1-7 loss.

20 YEARS AGO

BRIAN McGuigan reminded Tyrone fans of what they would be missing as he delivered a brilliant display as the 2003 All-Stars defeated the 2004 All-Stars in Hong Kong.

In a low-key encounter, McGuigan was the standout player – but he would not be heading back to Ireland after, instead flying onto Australia for the year. In the end, the Red Hands would survive as they claimed the Sam Maguire for a second time ever a few months later.

Only six frees were blown by referee Pat McEnaney, giving an insight into how competitive the game was though.

A massive crowd of over 10,000 showed up in Mullingar as Mick O’Dwyer’s Laois and Páidí Ó Sé’s Westmeath met in the O’Byrne Cup final.

The previous year, Ó Sé’s side had come out on top in the Leinster final but ‘Micko’ got a small bit of early-season revenge as the O’Moore County claimed a 0-17 to 0-12 win.

In the Kehoe Cup, Monaghan suffered a heavy 3-19 to 0-7 loss to Carlow.

30 YEARS AGO

A POTENTIAL row was averted in Munster when it was promised by Semple Stadium bosses that the 1995 Munster SHC final would take precedence over a Bon Jovi concert.

The American band had been booked in for a date a week before the final, but it was revealed at the Tipperary convention that if the show proceeded, the final would take place at a different venue.

In the end, the concert was held in the RDS in Dublin and Clare beat Limerick to lift the provincial title.

Meanwhile, Tyrone GAA fans were left disappointed as GAA President Jack Boothman had to shelve plans to attend the annual presentation dinner due to illness.

Elsewhere in the Red Hand County, four of their players – Finbar McConnell, Fay Devlin, Pascal Canavan and Peter Canavan – took part in Ulster trials as manager Brian McEniff tried to finalise his panel for the Railway Cup clash with Connacht the following weekend.