Action from the St Mikes (back & white) and St Vincents game. (Photo courtesy of Toronto GAA).
Last Sunday in Toronto turned out to be a great day for the St Mikes GAA club as they scored success in all three of this year’s league finals at Centennial Park.
There was never any doubt about the result in the mens football league final where ‘Mikes ran out comfortable 10 point winners. The result meant that the winners put paid to rivals St Vincents ambitions of overturning the recent championship final loss to the same opposition.
A well prepared and very fit ‘Mikes hit the ground running and never let up all through. They lead by 1-7 to 0-3 at half time with the goal coming from corner forward Karl Foley.
St Mikes maintained their intensity throughout the second period and well on top they ran out easy winners [15] 1-12 to [5] 0-5.
‘Vincents never really looked like they could turn things around only managing a brace of points in the second half.
So St Mikes seniors add the league title to their recent championship success to crown off a great season.
Toronto GAA PRO, Ross McElhone said, “St Mikes fully deserved the win and are the best team here in the city and set the marker for others to aim.”
St Mikes captain, Barry Connolly who won an All Ireland junior club medal (2008) with Moycullen, Co Galway, and who has played with the Toronto side on and off over the last 5 years, spoke of his delight to be part of the squad.
“St Mikes are a great club and it is a huge honor to play for them. There is some great people in the club and great history. It’s different from a club at home as there is always new people coming into it and so is vibrant with new challenges from year to year.”
In the Intermediate League Final, it was the case of another championship final rematch this time between, St Mikes and Brampton.
In the recent championship decider, Brampton got the better of the Toronto side but it was no such luck on Sunday as ‘Mikes turned the tables with a [21] 2-15 to [16] 2-10 victory.
This one was intense from the off with each side going point for point in the early stages. St Mikes lead at the break and managed to maintain that edge in the second period before going on to win by five points.
Unfortunately there was no Ladies League Final as championship winners Durham, being depleted numbers wise, were unable to field
a team and this meant that victory was awarded to St Mikes and another trophy for the club – their fourth out of a total of six.
Looking back on the year, the Toronto PRO noted that it was a good season with many positives.
“It has been a successful season. You had Toronto Gaels there who were on the brink of extinction last year but were able to turn it around this year. They were very prominent in the championship and indeed in the intermediate as well where they kept things going throughout the whole season. As well as that, it was great to see Brampton picking up the Intermediate championship. They have been working very hard over the last couple of years.
“And, it was fantastic that we had the second league (intermediate) this year. The numbers were there for that and this is a great boost for GAA here in Toronto,” stated McElhone.
(Feedback in podcast interview with Ross and Barry, affected sound quality and so unfortunately no podcast with this post. Apologies.).
