2009 Clan na Gael News Clan na Gael Hurlers Return to Winning Ways Clan na Gael’s traveling hurling team defeated Charlotte on Saturday, December 5 with a fine display of hurling.    The game was played in Charlotte and was sweet revenge for the Atlanta side that suffered a defeat at the hands of Charlotte in last year's hurling dual.  Atlanta started well with three goals in the first ten minutes. Charlotte steadied after that and scored three quick goals towards the end of the first half.  The score was 3-6 to 3-2 at half time; just a 4 point lead to the Gaels.  Clan na Gael came out to the second half on a mission.  Fine marksmanship from James Noonan, Kevin Quinn, Morgan Darcy and Rob Kiely put 6 points up on the board in the first six minutes of the second half. It was a great display of hurling in the second half, especially from newcomer and former Galway senior goalkeeper Morgan Darcy who cleaned up all loose ball around him.  Thanks to Kevin Devin and Barry Given for having us in Charlotte. MVP – James Noonan Full Time Score: Atlanta Clan na Gael 5-16   Charlotte 3-6   Atlanta Co-ed Hurling League 2009 Fall League 2009 Results November 2, 2009   Congratulations to Team Ray Henry on a great victory in the deciding game of the Fall 2009 League. In a cracker of a game played at full speed and full passion for 60 minutes they emerged the deserving victors. The game is best summed up by player, Johnny O'Sullivan: "Wow, 30 people. It was a legendary game to be honest. There were hardly any wides, and some of them were the 65's we deliberately put out because of all the pressure we were under at the end. What a great game!! The first instant classic of the Atlanta Coed Hurling League." Celebrations and bragging completed the day at The Grange in Decatur with everyone looking to a bright future for hurling in Atlanta in 2010. Full Time Score: Team Ray Henry 5-14 Team Alan Mobley 4-11   Click here for more pictures 2009 NACB Championships: Championship games were held in Boston, MA Sept 4th, 5th & 6th. The Clan na Gael girls had a tough task facing a very strong Fog City Harps team on Friday in the Junior A competion. Unfortunately they were defeated and so ended another great year of ladies Gaelic football for Clan na Gael. Congratulations to the James Connollys Ladies emerging as the deserving winner with impressive displays in the Junior B completion. They defeated Denver by 9 points in the final to capture their first NACB ladies football title and bring the cup back to Charlotte, NC. Click here for results of the 2009 Championships Click here for reports about the 2009 Championships Charlotte Ladies win the South East League 2009 Congratulations to the James Connollys Ladies on winning the 2009 league with a win over Clan na Gael in the final on August 22nd. Ladies win first South East League game of 2009 Clan na nGael 1-09 Na Fianna 0-4 A tight fought contest at GSP on Saturday July 11th which was 2 points each at half time. Clan Na nGael stuck to the task and finally managed to pull away in the last 10 minutes of the game to get the first league victory of the year. Connolloy's Cup tournament in Charlotte June 20th 2009 Both Clan Na nGael men and ladies traveled to Charlotte to participate in this annual event. Clan na nGael Men celebrating their win at James Connolly's Pub in Charlotte, NC. Featuring Zach Golden our goalkeeper with the extraordinary kick out, holding the cup he later lost. Left to right Chris Cairney, Jim Whooley, Ray Henry, Zach Golden, Stuart, Alan Mobley, Padraig McDonagh, John Hackett. A big thanks to the Clan na nGael supporters that traveled to Charlotte for the weekend, especially the ever present Patti Stuczynski and all of the Cairney Clan. Event Report boldly taken from the Charlotte Website. The 2009 Connolly’s Cup turned out to be a massive success all around and we would like to thank everyone for showing up and competing on the hottest day of the year: a mere 96 degrees, 100% humidity.  Teams participating this year included Charlotte James Connolly’s (3), Atlanta (3), DC (2), and NY – St. Barnabus (1).   The round robin tournament featured 3 different cups: 1. Men’s Division 1 – A Team 2. Men’s Division 2 – B Team 3. Ladies Division  Charlotte’s A squad took on NY- St. Barnabus to kick off the first match of the day.  Despite the temperature in the early morning, Charlotte went on to win the match by a result of 4-7 to 0-3.  Determined to bounce back, NY – St. Barnabus rebounded against DC in a back & forth match.  Ultimately, NY – St. Barnabus held on to defeat DC by a result of 3-11 to 0-14 with some early second half goals being the difference.  The final match of the division paired Charlotte v. DC.  Charlotte took control from the first ball and never looked back handing DC another loss  and thus retaining the Connolly’s Cup for another season. In the second division, Atlanta manhandled Charlotte in Game 1 by a result of 4-8 to 1-3.  Frustrated by the lack of ball movement in Game 1, Charlotte bounced back only to come up short in the second game by a result of 2-6 to 2-9.  While the result was not what Team B had hoped for, a lot of their young players got their first real match experience that will hopefully prepare them for the matches ahead leading up to Boston.  Atlanta was able to lock down the first ever B division and is already looking forward to defending the cup in 2010. In the ladies matches, Charlotte won their first match against Atlanta Clan Na Gael by a result of 5-8 to 1-4, while DC bested Atlanta Na Fianna 5-12 to 3-2.  The final match came down to Charlotte V. DC in what seemed to be like a runaway for Charlotte.  However, some late second half goalsby DC pulled the match within 3 points, yet the ladies of Charlotte were determined to hang on sliding by DC by a final of 4-6 to 3-6.  This was a big win for the ladies of Charlotte bringing home their first ever Connolly’s Cup to the Queen City. Link to News Archive  View our Events page for more information.