On Tuesday night, Shenanigans, after 5 years in the 9-a-side comp, won its first Gaelic Football Grand Final. They called on their entire squad used throughout the season and had a full bench, whilst their opponents, Western Ireland, did not have the same luxury.

It was a very fast running game from both sides with Shenanigans able to get closer to the goalmouth and sink some valuable goals. Western Ireland, on the other hand had difficulty breaking through Shenanigans last line of defence and countered it with accurate long range kicking over the bar and kept in touch with their points.

In the final stages of the game, Western Ireland clawed their way back and were unlucky not to take the lead, due to some fantastic saves from the Shenanigans goalkeeper.

Final scores: Shenanigans 7.10 (31) def Western Ireland 4.17 (29).

In the post-match medal presentations, Shenanigans were asked to consider taking a step up next season and compete in the State League.

Congratulations to Ken Fay for Refereeing his first Grand Final; and to Western Ireland Full Back, Jon Floreani and his wife Kia on the birth of their daughter earlier in the day.

Most of our members would be aware that the Titans GFC was expelled from the Association recently in very controversial circumstances. Without going into too much detail, some misconceptions and misinformation needs to be cleared up for the benefit of all teams and members of the Association, the media, and especially for Titans GFC players.

At the centre of the controversy was a Titans MySpace website which contained no less than 40 offensive, derogatory and defamatory comments directed at the Association, players, officials, teams, deceased members, and the game of Gaelic Football itself. There was also a Titans PowerPoint presentation which was aired at a function, used Association documents, and was stored on Association equipment. It too, contained extremely offensive and distasteful material.

Many of the Titans club members and leadership group were aware of these items.

The Association recognises that many Titans players played no part in the development of these items and may wish to continue to play Gaelic Football. Individual Titans players are able to apply to the Association for membership with another club in order to play in State teams and to play next season. They are also able to re-form new teams and apply to the Association for membership to play in next year's competitions.

Readmission for players and teams is not automatic, and may be conditional upon players and teams being committed to the positive values and ethos of the association

Norm Murphy, President GFHA SA

Firstly, we must apologise for not posting any match reviews for the 9-a-Side finals over the past couple of weeks. We've had some computer problems and some controversy which has seen one of the League's leading clubs dumped from all competition - but more about that later.

The quality of the finals matches has been excellent with each of them settled by a solitary kick.

In the First Qualifying Final, the Angry Leprechauns took it up to Western Ireland and scores were level at full time. In extra time Western Ireland forwards managed to pull away by three points, while the backs dug deep to stop the Leprechauns from kicking an equalising goal.

The Second Qualifying Final saw two very evenly matched teams and perennial rivals, The Surps and Shenanigans, play a high scoring match in very tricky conditions with the gully winds picking up and creating havoc with the ball in the air. Shenanigans pulled away towards the end to win by a goal.

Last week in the Semi Finals, Western Ireland and 2nd placed Onkaparinga played a great match symbolic of the standard of this year's 9-a-side comp. Onkas had a very strong lineup, but were without Heubs and Mojo, which opened the door for the Western Ireland backs, led by one of the games best defenders in Jon Floreani, to launch some very quick counter attacks. The Goats scraped in by a point for a place in the GF.

Shenanigans have been in the 9-a-side comp for 5 years now and have come close to playing in the GF, falling short at the last hurdle for the past three years. They have had a very good team this year with some strong, fit and fast players all over the ground and held second spot for most of the season. Last year, they lost to the Titans in the Semi. This year Shenanigans have walked into the GF due to the unfortunate disqualification of The Titans.

Tonight's Grand Final at 8.00pm between Western Ireland and Shenanigans should again prove to be a very quick, competitive match. Shenanigans will be relying on their fitness and speed, while Western Ireland has the skill and experience. Both goalkeepers will be under pressure, and even more pressure will be on the coaches to come up with the right tactics and game plan in what should be a very tight match that could go either way.

The 2007/08 9-a-Side minor round games are now complete. The final minor round games last week saw some exciting games that would decide final placings for the top 6 teams to play off in the finals over the next 3 weeks.

The Red Lions finished off the season with a 4 point win over finals hopefuls, The Band. That put The Band out of contention to finish 6th, paving the way for a playoff for the 6th spot between new team the Irish Arks and the Angry Leprechauns. The Angries won after a spirited performance from their opponents.

The last game to shape the final two places in the top 6 for 2nd and 3rd was between two teams with plenty of skill and experience in Onkaparinga and Western Ireland. The prize for victory was a rest week. With the return of Anto Keogh adding strength and skill in the middle of the park for Onkas, they easily accounted for the Goats.

The top two teams, Titans and Onkaparinga, have the week off.

At 7.00pm tonight, 3rd placed Western Ireland will play 6th placed Angry Leprechauns, the winner to play Onkas in the Semi Final next week. Also tonight at 8.30pm, 4th placed Shenanigans will play 5th placed Surps, a grand finalist last year and running into form at the business end of the season, for the remaining semi final spot against the Titans.

We've had a great 9-a-side season with some exciting new teams and games played in the right spirit. It promises to be a hotly contested finals series.

Coaches and Managers for South Australia State teams to compete at the 2008 Australasian Gaelic Football Championships have been announced:

Men's Football: Coach - Jason Fay; Team Manager - Damian Emery

Women's Football: Coach - Mick Lawlor; Team Manager - Maureen Lawlor

Minor (U18) Football: Coach - Kosta Mylonas; Assistant Coaches - Darren Kitschke & Arthur Konstad; Team Manager - John Caruana

We congratulate all Coaches and Team Managers on their appointments and wish them all the best for the games.

The Championships will be held at home, in Adelaide, from Mon 29th Sept until Sunday 5th October 2008. The venue will be confirmed soon. The venue for the gala Presentation Ball for more than 500 people will also be confirmed soon.

After Round 3 of the post Christmas comps we have had some great games of Gaelic Football in the Hannigan Cup comp (men) and Tom Finn Cup comp (women). Some highlights so far...

In the Men's comp we have seen the emergence of Irish Australians, winning 3 games in a row for the first time ever and sitting in an unfamiliar position at the top of the ladder. The next few weeks will be a test though as they have a bye and face competition heavyweights, The Titans and Western Ireland who have both had their byes. By then the comp will be settled and the Irish Aussies should fend off Flinders O'Neills in the final round to secure a Top 4 finals position.

We saw one of the best displays of Gaelic Football late on Friday night in Round 3 between Irish Australians (4.13) and St Brendans (4.10).

The Titans are without their 'skip' Kosta Mylonas (doing his best to spread the Titans word in Vegas), and the irrepressible Gabe Philips is being restricted as he is virtually playing with one hand after injuring the other in the Jim Farnan Cup Final in December. Titans young guns have filled the gaps with Nick 'Chachi' Tattoli and speedy Daniel 'Decca' DeCorso stepping up.

Onkaparinga, without the solid and reliable leadership of Anto Keogh in the middle of the park, suffered an embarrassing drubbing in Round 2, and bounced back with an emphatic win against Flinders O'Neills in Round 3. Anto's back after visiting family in Ireland and Onkas should settle now to cement a place in the top four before the finals.

The Women's comp sees Na Fianna continuing their dominant form and on target for a Tom Finn Cup Final berth, but not without some formidable competition which has emerged from the journeywomen, Western Ireland. Under the guidance of multiple All-Australian player, now Western Ireland Women's coach, Jason Fay, they are displaying great teamwork and can make their way into their first Cup Final. They have a big test next week though in the match of the round against Na Fianna. It should be a great clash between Western's All-Australian Full Back, Mitzy Galic, and Na Fianna's Al Kenneally.

Onkas, and last year's Tom Finn Cup Finalists, Cougars and Irish Blues will slug it out for 3rd and 4th, whilst Irish Rovers will have a tough time fighting back from their 3 big losses.

We trust everybody had an enjoyable festive season and a well earned break- we sure did, hence the reason for no news for a while.

The 9-a-side comp this year has been great with some new teams, some rebuilt teams and of course, a few of the mainstays of the comp. As we head into the last round, it's been pretty tight at the top with only a few changes of position in the last couple of rounds, with Titans, Onkas, Shenanigans and Western Ireland securing the first four positions. We are having a top 6 finals series and the battle for the remaining finals spot will go right down to the wire. Last year's Grand Finalists, The Surps, took out 5th spot with a convincing win last week.

There is a 3 way battle for 6th. It will depend on results, and on form, The Band should sneak into the 6 on score difference with a win over Red Lions on Tuesday night. If The Band lose though, first timers Irish Arks will have a battle royale with the Angry Leprechauns to decide the final spot. The Angries will appreciate the extra day recovery after their day long training session at the Schutzenfest and will need their best side to do the job.