Congratulations to Titans in the Men's comp and Na Fianna in the Women's comp for their victories in the Pre-Christmas Cup Finals held last Friday, 7th December.

The night started with the Mna Cup Final in the Women's Football between a very strong Na Fianna outfit against a depleted Irish Blues side. Na Fianna have come so close to playing in or winning finals before in their 9 years and nothing was going to stop them from taking home some silverware for the Club's trophy cabinet. They have worked hard for this for some time and were keen to win a Cup before some notable retirements. They now have their eyes firmly set on the Tom Finn Cup at the end of the current summer season.

The girls from the Irish Blues were valiant in their effort considering their bad run of injury to key players in recent weeks. They will regroup after the break and will be a force to contend with in the second half of the season. Final score: Na Fianna 8.8 (32) def Irish Blues 2.12 (18).

The Jim Farnan Cup Final in the Men's Football was keenly contested by the two premier teams in Adelaide. Western Ireland threw everything they had at the powerful Titans midfielders and forwards and were able to reduce their goal scoring ability. On the rebound though, Western Ireland, whilst accurate, were unable to take the ball into their own forward lines enough to force a shootout and get across the line. Final score: Titans 1.15 (18) def Western Ireland 0.12 (12)

Tonight the Pre Christmas Cup Finals will be held at St Mary's from 7.00pm. The top two League leaders in Men's and Women's football play in a straight out Cup Final. It also marks Round 1 of the Post Christmas competitions for all teams.

In the Mna Cup Final, the Na Fianna women find themselves in an almost unbeatable position having kept the foot down at full throttle this season and look to securing their first Championship after training hard this year and pushing the rest of the comp previously. The Irish Blues, after performing very strongly earlier in the comp and securing a Final berth, have had a horrendous run with injury to many of their best players in recent weeks and will be undermanned. Club pride is on the line and anything can happen in a Final.

At 8.30pm, the Jim Farnan Cup in the Men's Football has last season's triple crown champions, Titans, take on fierce rivals Western Ireland in what will be a very skilful, very fast and feisty encounter not to be missed. In their previous clash, the Goats (WI) went down by a point and might've taken it if the match went longer. The Final is 10 minutes longer than the minor rounds and may be the best opportunity for Western Ireland to claim their first Jim Farnan cup to add to their 2 Hannigan Cups. The Titans though, with winners all over the ground including the unstoppable All-Australasian Gabe Phillips, will be very hard to beat.

Five weeks into the season now and we have very competitive scenarios at the top of the tables in our three competitions.

In the Men's football, Titans are still dominant at the top and Western Ireland have shown vast improvement with several of their players benefiting from their experience in the State team against the best players in the land at the recent Australasian Championships. Titans won the clash between these two teams in Round 4 by a solitary point. Onkas are following very close behind in 3rd position and have been showing good form since their shaky start in Round 1. The final minor round match in the pre-season comp on the 30th Nov between Onkas and Western Ireland will probably determine which of those two teams will meet Titans in the Jim Farnan Cup Final a week later.

A couple of highlights recently included past President of the GFHASA, Sean Dunne, making a cameo appearance at age 44 for the club he created, St Brendans, and scoring a point. Then there was Irish Australians winning their first game for the season after responding to the full time bake a week before from their coach Mick Emmett - magnificent.

The Women's football has Na Fianna at the top but losing last week to the 2nd placed Irish Australians Blues, followed closely by Tom Finn Cup champions, Cougars. Blues star, Anita Bone is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury and will be sorely missed. The race for the top 2 to compete in the Mna Cup Final should be exciting.

The 9-a-Side comp with 12 teams has 4 very strong contenders for the title in February. The top three sides are separated only by score difference. Top team Titans have some good competition this year: second placed Shenanigans have the best defensive record to date and a good draw meeting the other three teams in the top four in the final three rounds; arch-rivals Western Ireland in third place have a very fit, fast and skilful unit and are bringing new players through; in fourth place, a star studded Onkaparinga has drawn on State League players from other clubs. These four teams all believe they'll be in the Final. The next four teams, Laydown Rams, The Band, The Surps and Irish Arks, will be giving them all a run for their money though. This comp runs longer than our others with all teams playing each other only once before the knockout stages.

A few weeks into the comps, teams are starting to show form and ladders are starting to take shape. It's great to see so many new players across all teams this year. There is a new breed coming through which augers well for the future for us. Interestingly, only about 1% of all players are Irish born. That has to be very unique in all Gaelic comps throughout the world.

Na Fianna are dominating the Women's comp; the union of the old UniSA women's side with Western Ireland to form another Mens/Womens Club and Jason Fay coaching has been well received and I'm sure some wins aren't that far away.

In the Men's football, Titans, Na Fianna, Western Ireland, Irish Australians and St Brendans and Onkas, all have a great blend of experience and youth with a huge influx of new and young players coming through. The oldest club in our comp, Flinders O'Neills are practically an entirely new team and are starting to show a lot of promise, and tonight they beat the most successful team in our comp, Na Fianna, for the first time EVER! (Na Fianna came into the comp in 1999). Well done FO'N.

The biggest surprise packet though is in the 9-a-side comp. It's great to see the second Titans team, The Band, comprising many of our Under 18 State team in the comp and pushing their much older counterparts all the way. There are some great new teams and some awesome new players this year. Keep an eye on the Irish Arks, Red Lions, Shenanigans, Surps and Laydown Rams to improve more and push experienced teams like Titans, Western Ireland and Onkas. The Jets, from Unley, and the Angry Leprechauns will improve and push other teams too as the season progresses. The Irwin Allstars has undergone a complete personnel change since last year and are to be commended for sticking with it and introducing many new players.

I would encourage the State League teams to take notice and invite some of these guys to compete in our premier competition, and I would urge many of the talented players in the 9-a-Side comp to play in the State League. You're up to it lads and there are some guys who would surely push for State selection for the Championships here in Adelaide in October 2008.

The new season is under way and kicked off with a huge day of football on Sunday 21st October at St Marys. All 6 State League games were played from 1.00pm through til 10.00pm  and fully tested our resources. Score updates and ladders will be posted soon. Sorry for the delay.

The 9-a-Side season kicked off this week too and we welcome the following new teams: Irish Arks, The Band, The Jets, Laydown Rams and a revamped Irwin Allstars. Some of the other teams that have played before also had many new players. The standard was good for all the first timers although scores didn't reflect it. The skills and finishing will improve as the season progresses.

We welcome also, our canteen staff: Leonie and Gary Siemering and our new first aid/trainer, Graham Mudge (Mudgie).

We started the season without 8 referees from last season. This is putting a huge strain on our few remaining referees. Some of the 8 are due back from injury or holidays and it is encouraging to have a few others express interest in taking up the whistle. We still need more though. A referees course will be held soon, so if you are interested, please contact a referee or a State committee member.

Program Change for Round 2 State League (Women): 2 games have been swapped around to accommodate Kate Watt's wedding. Cougars V Rovers will now be played on Friday at 8.00pm, and Irish Blue V Western Ireland will be played on Sunday at 7.30pm. The program on the website has been changed to reflect this.

Recently, the biggest ever Australasian Championships were held in Sydney at the GAA of NSW home ground at Princes Park, Auburn. The standard of competition was very high in all codes. We sent three teams and all of them made the semi finals. The Men finished 3rd, losing their semi to eventual winners NSW; the Women finished 4th; and the Minors (U18's) finished second, losing the GF to a very good Victorian team.

A special mention must be made about Kosta Mylonas, John Caruana and their Titans team mates for getting a Minor team together with only weeks before the Championships and to make the Grand Final. They also raised a lot of money with their creative fundraising efforts, and many of the players had never seen or played Gaelic Football before.

It was a great trip away with a very heavy match workload, with the Men's and Women's teams having to play every day from Monday through to Saturday. The Grand Finalists had to play an extra day on Sunday.

A hallmark of South Australian Gaelic Football teams travelling is that each of our teams supports our other teams very well and this year was no exception. The team and state bonding was excellent with everybody getting to know each other very well. Some highlights included arriving at the hotel with our U18 Minor team and discovering there was a cheerleading competition (16-20 year old girls) on at the same time; our Women's team adopting a big blow up shark named Bruce as its emblem and mascot, enjoying success on the second pitch and dubbing it Shark Park; the attitude in which all teams approached their games with professionalism and paid particular attention to preparation and recovery; Saturday night dinner and dancing the night away and new friendships made at PJ Gallaghers pub; our bus driver for the week, Julian; SA player and ref Anto Keogh refereeing the Men's Grand Final; and as always a memorable Presentation Dinner with everybody dressing up and letting their hair down, long speeches, good food, NSW President Gerry Roper and, of course, the naming of the Best Player awards and Australasian team selections.

We would like to thank all players and team officials for participating and congratulate the following players for their Australasian team selection: Minors (U18's) - Josh Levi, Sam Tonks, Costa Pantelis, Todd Margitich, Daniel Moio and Ty Deverden; Men - Louka Parry, Wade Saunders and Gabe Phillips; Women - Mitzy Galic, Kate Woodlands, Liz Grosvenor and Caroline Gardner. The Women's team will be travelling to Ireland next year for a world cup tournament and the girls already mentioned will have first priority to travel. In the event there are vacancies in the team, the following SA players will have an option to travel: Naomi Oberscheidt and Zoe Tully.

It was another memorable trip and everybody had a great time. Our local competition will benefit and improve with the experience gained and we look forward to success when we host the next Championships in Adelaide in October 2008.

From Norm Murphy, GFHASA President

Technical glitch has been sorted out and Fixtures for both State League and 9-a-Side at St Marys have been posted. Season kicks off this Sunday.

Here are the first round fixtures for all comps:

State League: Sunday 21st October 2007 - all games at St Marys (WF: Women; MF: Men)        1.00pm   Irish Blue  Vs  Rovers WF                                                                                       2.30       Irish Australians  Vs  Na Fianna  MF                                                                        4.00       Na Fianna  Vs  Cougars  WF                                                                                    5.30       Onkaparinga  Vs  Crusaders  WF                                                                              6.45       Titans  Vs  Onkaparinga  MF                                                                                   8.00       Western Ireland  Vs  Flinders O'Neills  MF                                                                 Bye        St Brendans

9-a-Side: Tuesday 23rd/Wednesday 24th October 2007 - all games at St Marys                    23/10  6.20pm  Laydown Rams  Vs  Shenanigans                                                                   23/10  7.30      Titans U18's  Vs  Jets                                                                                  23/10  8.40      Titans  Vs Irwin Allstars                                                                               24/10  6.20      Angry Leprechauns  Vs  Western Ireland                                                         24/10  7.30      Name TBA  Vs  Onkaparinga                                                                          24/10  8.40      Red Lions  Vs  The Surps

From Norm Murphy, GFHASA President

ALL SET TO GO

Season 07/08 is all set to kick off over the next week or so.

The Men's and Women's State League comp at St Marys will start on Sunday 21st October with all opening round matches being played on the one day. After that, matches will be played, as usual, on Friday and Sunday evenings, with separate Pre Christmas and Post Christmas comps for each code. There are 7 Men's teams and 6 Women's teams.

The Men's 9-a-Side comp at St Marys will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings and will start on Tuesday 23rd October. We have 12 teams competing this year with three games scheduled each night. Each team will play each other once and the top 6 teams will play off in Finals over 3 weeks and finishes in early February 2008.

Programs for State League and 9-a-Side will be posted shortly.

As mentioned previously, there will be no 7-a-side comp this year at Gaza. We will instead be establishing some other programs at St Marys including GoGames Gaelic Football for 8 - 12 year olds on Sunday mornings; Under 15 and Under 18 comps for guys and girls on Monday nights; and some games for intellectually and physically disabled people early next year.

From Norm Murphy, GFHASA President

WELCOME TO THE NEW SEASON AHEAD

After a long break, and our website not being updated since the end of last season, we hope you're all raring to go for the 07/08 Summer season due to begin in Mid October through til March next year.

Our previous Prez and website administrator, BJ Lawlor, has taken a well earned break and has been enjoying himself in Ireland's wet summer and won't be back for a while. Now that we've worked out how to update the website, there will be regular updates from now on.

A lot has happened since our last season, including the State Teams preparation for the Australasian Championships in Sydney in early October, the Women's Winter Comp (won by Na Fianna), some births, deaths, engagements and marriages; and the story of Kosta Mylonas starting up a very good Minor State team from scratch and at short notice. I'll report more on these topics over the next few weeks.

I'm back in the hot seat as President after 6 years and am looking forward to some ambitious plans in setting up football programs for kids from 8 - 12 yrs, and skills clinics and competitions for Under 15 and Under 18 guys and girls. We are also vigorously pursuing some major funding leads and will revisit plans to develop new clubrooms.

We are currently accepting team nominations for the new season at St Mary's for the Men's and Women's State League comps and the Men's 9-a-side comp. We are not planning to hold 7-a-side at Gaza with more emphasis on developing Junior programs and competitions at St Marys.

Watch this space for more info.

Report from Mick Emmett, GFHASA Public Relations Officer

THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD

Despite being only in the elite competition for three and two seasons respectively the Titans and Cougars emphatically walked away with the ultimate spoils from the 2006/2007 season. In the Hannigan Cup match Western Ireland actually started the more confident with Kyle Reeves scoring two points early taking advantage of the Titans over possessing the ball. The band soon drew level as the pleasing crowd settled in for an afternoon longer than the average SA Redback innings. While the talk before the match was about how much pressure would be on the Titans it was the Goats who made the first crucial error with a miscommunication in the defensive box leaving to a Nick Tattoli goal. A poor kick on the subsequent kick out resulting in a bread and butter point for Gabe Phillips leaving the reigning champs against the ropes, down 1:4 to 0:3. While Tatolli had another chance to score a goal cruelly denied by the padding on the goal posts Tom Javor had no such issues from directly in front to extend the lead. A consolation goal from a penalty to Kyle Reeves drew Western Ireland to within four points at the half as they trailed 2-9 to 1-8. Both camps were not happy with their efforts at the half with Western Ireland Captain Adam Read lamenting his team’s sloppy use of the ball and Gabe Phillips the Titans lack of patience. The huddle message was heeded first by the Farnan and 9 a side champs with Daniel Della-Verde drawing a penalty to increase the goal count to 3. Della-Verde was dynamite twice more; the hat trick scoring goal more back passage than text book. Troy Clements delivered a cross just wide of Della who stuck the hand out, reflecting it into the back of the net. The hand of Verde will be talked about in Hannigan folklore for many years to come. With the score out to a 5:10 to 1:10 lead the final stages resembled the Mundine/Soloman fight from a couple of nights before, intriguing to the end but over long before, and making the Titans the first team to bag the Farnan, nine a side and Hannigan all in one year.

Final score: Titans 5:11 (26) def Western Ireland 1:13 (16). Best Titans: Tattoli, Sodestrom, Phillips, Mezzina, Della Verde. Western: Reynolds, Reeves. 

The women’s game brought a massive upset with the Irish Australians who had not lost a game since the corresponding game last year were comfortably defeated by the Cougars 6:9 (27) to 1:14 (17). Like the game before both teams started poorly, struggling to capitalise on possession across half back turning the ball over immediately. With Tiff Lee being well held the Irish risked pushing players forward to create scoreboard pressure. It backfired badly with a chip from Sam Grosvenor clearing not only the half back line of the blues but also keeper Chrissie McKenzie’s head to give the Cougars the first major of the game. As was the case for the bulk of the game a Cougars goal was followed by the Blues big guns winning some ball and controlling the field of play. Points to the last two State League medallists in Anita Bone and Kate Watt drew the Mná Cup champs to within a point, but the momentum shifted again with two quick goals to Kristen Swaffa, who is fast gaining a reputation as the deadliest finisher in the competition, increasing the lead again. The Irish royalty stood up again with Caroline Gardener forcing her way through the score and Kate Woodlands picking up 6 possessions in as many minutes. Yet the Cougar pressure was superb eventually leading to another goal and a 4-7 to 1-7 lead. While the Blues were rattled the breeze picked up at the break giving them hope that they could chip away at the defecit. While a few points were pinched the defensive pressure in particular the smothering efforts of Keylock, Davies and Tattersall and with keeper Steph Matchett playing the game of her life, wore down the Irish resilience. In the end it was all about timing. The Cougars were always going to click, it was just a matter of when, while the Irish couldn’t have timed their form slump worse.

Final Score: Cougars 6:9 (27) Irish 1-14 (17) Best: Cougars Swaffa, Matchett, Grovenor. Irish: Woodlands, Ferris, Attenborough.

Western Ireland and UniSA have won the inaugural Country Carnival Cups at Victor Harbor on Sunday 7th January. The day was an enormous success with almost 100 players traveling down from Adelaide to compete in the carnival. 6 men's teams and 4 women's teams took part with 17 matches played throughout the day. Games were played as 7-a-side with men's and women's games running simultaneously on two fields with matches of 2 x 15 minute halves.

The men's competition saw top State League teams Western Ireland and the Titans dominate, both winning all 3 of their matches to qualify for the grand final. Like the Jim Farnan Cup final in December, the game was an extremely close affair with scores level heading towards the end of the game. However, a free kick to Western Ireland in the final seconds gave them a thrilling 1 point victory.

The women's competition was extremely close and score difference had to be used to determine the finalists with UniSA qualifying to take on Na Fianna. Like the men's final, it was a very close game with the lead changing a number of times. But it was UniSA who snuck ahead before the final whistle and won their first ever women's final.

The social carnival atmosphere was welcomed by all players and the event is sure to become a regular fixture on the Gaelic Football calendar in SA. Although next year, everyone will be sure to put on their sunscreen!!!

Full results for the carnival are below. Click here to read an article from the Victor Harbor Times about the carnival.