NACB Finals – Philadelphia, September 2005 Junior C Quarter-final Setanta San Diego GFC v Charlotte James Connolly’s GFC Setanta San Diego became the first club in the history of Southern California GAA to field two teams at the North American finals when their Junior C team played their first ever game at this level, shortly after having seen the junior B team crash out of the tournament. The opposition was provided by the previous year’s winner of the Junior D competition, Charlotte James Connolly’s. Setanta’s cause wasn’t helped by the fact that they had suffered from some late withdrawals due to the unavailability of certain players to travel across the country. Charlotte’s greater experience was apparent early in the game as they settled quickly and knocked over 3 points. Colin Freeman at centre-half back started to win ball and, along with Tomas O’Sullivan, he started to find the Setanta half-forward line, in particular right-half forward, Declan McCole who won several frees in quick succession. A good move involving McCole and left-half forward, Declan Caulfield, created a scoring opportunity for Junior B coach and Junior C corner-forward, Tony O’Boyle but he went for goal instead of taking his point and the chance was gone. At this stage Charlotte were dominant at midfield even though Ultan Breslin and Martin McGowan fought hard against superb opponents. Charlotte knocked over another free to put them four points clear. Declan McCole played a nice ball into Bryan Ly who was through on goal but the Charlotte defence descended on him like bees to a hive and dispossessed him. The steady spell of Setanta pressure paid dividends when Bryan Ly and Declan Caulfield forced the Charlotte defence into conceding a penalty. A cool head was called for and club President, Declan McCole, stepped up and dispatched the ball to the back of the net with scientific precision in spite of the keeper’s best efforts. The goal gave Setanta great heart and they competed ball for ball with Charlotte. Goalkeeper, Mick Ward, sporting a fetching headband ala John McEnroe, along with fullbacks, Conor Coffey and team captain Brian White, prevented the Charlotte forwards from scoring any goals but their accurate forwards were able to score another 3 points before half-time. Declan Caulfield who had suffered quite a few hard tackles won another free for Setanta in front of Charlotte’s goal. Declan McCole calmly stroked the ball over the bar to lift Setanta spirits and reduce the gap at half-time to 3 points. Half-time score: Setanta 2-2 v Philadelphia Donegal 2-10 After a scrappy opening to the second half, Charlotte scored the opening point to extend their lead to four points. However, Setanta responded superbly with a flowing move involving a resurgent Martin McGowan, Ultan Breslin and Dave Boucher which culminated in Bryan Ly showing a clean pair of heels to the Charlotte defence before coolly tucking the ball inside the post for a magnificent goal. Setanta were only a point behind and Charlotte knew they were in a battle. Charlotte responded well however with a goal of their own in spite of Mick Ward’s best efforts. Unfortunately a battle of a different kind broke out shortly after as players were fouled off the ball and tempers became frayed. A series of skirmishes unfolded between some players. The end result was a sending off for a Charlotte player and Setanta forward Tony O’Boyle following an uncharacteristic breach of discipline. This was a severe blow to Setanta to lose such a key player. They say bad things come in threes, and that certainly applied to Setanta’s second-half. Immediately after the sending off, Setanta centre-half back, Colin Freeman, badly twisted his knee and had to be carried off the field. Within five minutes Setanta lost centre-half forward, Bryan Ly, when he chased down a ball in the Charlotte goalmouth and injured his knee in a terribly unfortunate accident. The loss of three pivotal players cost Setanta their shape and they struggled to hold out against a now dominant Charlotte. Declan King who started the game at left-half back, was moved to centre-half back and fought valiantly to fill the gap even leading several charges up the field. Dermot Doyle, at left-half back and Tomas O’Sullivan at right-half back kept a tight rein on the men they were marking whilst Conor Coffey and in particular, Brian White delivered some big tackles with one bone-shuddering hit by Brian White nearly knocking a Charlotte player back to North Carolina. Ronan McLaughlin, on for Bryan Ly, made a nuisance of himself in the forward line and after a great catch and turn he hit a goalbound shot which the keeper did well to save. Dave Boucher covered acres of space as he tried to engineer a scoring opportunity but he was well covered by the Charlotte defence. Setanta finally got another score when Tomas O’Sullivan made a great supporting run up the field and was on hand to stroke the ball over the bar for a lovely point. Charlotte kept knocking over points however and ended up winning by a healthy margin that was a harsh reflection on the effort put in by Setanta. Final Score: Setanta San Diego 2-02 v Charlotte James Connolly’s 1-15 Scorers: Declan McCole (Donegal) 1-1 Bryan Ly (San Diego) 1-0 Tomas O'Sullivan (Kerry) 0-1 Setanta: Ward, White(Capt), Coffey, O'Sullivan, Freeman, King, McGowan, Breslin, McCole, Ly, D Caulfield, O'Boyle, Boucher. Subs: Doyle for King. McLaughlin for Ly. King for Freeman.