10 YEARS AGO
THERE was floodlight failure at Healy Park but the outage couldn’t save Mickey Harte’s Red Hands as they were swept aside by Monaghan in their Division 1 opener.

It was a rosy start for the hosts with Darren McCurry putting them 0-7 to 0-2 ahead midway through the first half, but they let their hold on the game slip from there and scored only two more points.

Monaghan decided to be more adventurous at that stage, and their man-to-man approach saw them get within two points at the break before starting the second half on fire to take the lead for the first time.

Then Omagh went dark and the players headed for the dressing rooms. It seemed like a momentum killer for the Oriel County but when the teams remerged half an hour later, they picked up where they had left off with Stephen Gollogly’s late goal securing a 1-13 to 0-9 win and a first league win in Omagh since 1988.

Referee David Coldrick was left with a reddened ear walking off the pitch as Tipperary players and manager Peter Creedon made their feelings known following their 2-8 to 0-13 loss at the Athletic Grounds.

Tipp looked set for victory against a county they enjoyed a feisty rivalry with for a few years, but Jamie Clarke popped up with two late scores to save the hosts.

The Premier County were unhappy with Robbie Kiely’s red card, a penalty given against them and scored by the Crossmaglen man and, also, the time allowed at the end for the game to get away from them.

There was late drama in Newbridge too as Down hit 2-1 in injury time to get the points against Kildare.

It looked a lost cause for Jim McCorry’s side but goals from Arthur McConville and Donal O’Hare either side of a Paul Devlin point completed their escape act.

20 YEARS AGO

DONEGAL fans would have been glad to hear of Brendan Devenney’s return as he finished a 24-week suspension.

The Letterkenny man had been handed the heavy ban for being adjudged to have pushed referee Joe McQuillan in Donegal’s loss to Fermanagh in Ulster and missed the rest of St Eunan’s season as a result.

But he made his return in a challenge match against Meath and hit the net in a 2-12 to 4-4 victory.

There was bad news though as Brendan Boyle picked up a serious knee injury for the Tir Chonaill County.

Derry booked a McKenna Cup final spot against Tyrone following a 0-12 to 0-8 win over Fermanagh.

Mickey Moran had no Paddy Bradley or Enda Muldoon, but Conleith Gilligan was in fine form as the Oakleafers posted 11 first-half points.

They were held to just a single point after the break, but the Erne County couldn’t get within striking range.

The Antrim hurlers won a Walsh Cup thriller with Laois, eventually winning 5-19 to 4-19 in Portlaoise.

Johnny McIntosh of this parish was the hero with a stunning 4-4 tally.

30 YEARS AGO

THE charge to eliminate Rule 21 of the GAA, which banned members of the British security forces from membership of the GAA, continued to gather pace with Carlow voting two to one in favour of its deletion.

The controversial rule had already been voted for removal by the
likes of Down and Dublin, and the Carlow delegates engaged in a long debate before landing on their decision.

The scheduled Railway Cup semi-final between Ulster and Connacht was a victim of the bad weather and was postponed for a week.

A number of inter-county challenge games also were called off, but Ger Houlihan came off the bench to help Armagh to a win over Antrim.