10 YEARS AGO

THE GAA season got off to a heated start as Armagh and Tyrone’s McKenna Cup opener turned into a sloberknocker.

A total of four red cards, 14 yellow cards and one black card were dished out in what was Kieran McGeeney’s first match as Orchard manager having acted as head coach under Paul Grimley the season before.

Unsurprisingly it was a defeat for McGeeney as his side finished with just 12 players as Tyrone shot the last five scores in a 1-12 to 1-10 win at the Athletic Grounds where nearly 9,000 people showed up – forcing a 30-minute delay to throw-in.

It took just eight minutes for the game to boil over, and after a melee Armagh’s Ciaran McKeever and Tyrone’s Colm Cavanagh were sent off by Noel Mooney. In the second half, Armagh pair Finnian Moriarty and Aaron Findon were also dismissed allowing the Red Hands to gain the upperhand.

There was also an opening defeat for new Down manager Jim McCorry as Martin Reilly inspired Cavan to a five-point win in Newry.

Both goals arrived in the first half, within minutes of each other, to help the visitors to a 2-11 to 1-9 win.

Donegal suffered a blow when it was revealed that Anthony Thompson would not be available for the 2015 campaign.

There was more bad news on the pitch as they lost 1-16 to 0-8 to Derry, Emmett McGuckin starring with 1-2.

20 YEARS AGO

FRESH after impressing for The Underdogs on TG4 alongside a certain Kieran Donaghy, Barra Ó Muirí looked like he could make his mark for Joe Kernan’s Armagh with a 1-3 tally against Down in the McKenna Cup with the other players in orange only managing three points between them.

The Newtown man was called into the panel after impressing in front of the cameras and would also score heavily against Derry, but football is a ruthless business and he was soon dropped off the panel, missing out on a Division One medal despite featuring against Galway.

Antrim’s Aishling O’Reilly had a weekend to remember as she set a world record at the prestigious USHA Junior Handball Nationals in Iowa by becoming the first player to win three consecutive titles in one grade at the event.

Ireland captured seven titles in all in Iowa with Tyrone’s Caolan Daly also winning out.

It was announced that the Irish sporting community, including the GAA, would designate the following weekend to support the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster fund.

In what was designated GOAL Sport Aid Weekend, collections were planned while donations could be made.

The tsunami killed an estimated 227,898 people in 14 countries.

30 YEARS AGO

THE idea of a Donegal GAA museum was set to be discussed at Donegal Congress following proposals by clubs Killybegs and Malin.

The Malin motion simply called for the creation of such a facility while Killybegs went into more detail about what should happen with artifacts related to the Tir Chonaill County kept in one place.

The Allianz Leagues were on their mid-season break with Ulster sides experiencing mixed fortunes as 1994 turned to ‘95.

PJ McGowan’s Donegal brought in the new year as joint leaders of Division One and they had a light session before Christmas to keep in tune for the resumption of the league in February. In preparation, the side were preparing to fly to Glasgow to face Dublin in a challenge match.

Tyrone, meanwhile, released a statement saying that no unit of the GAA within the county had any knowledge of, or association with, the publication ‘Tyrone Gaelic Games Chart/Calendar 1995.’

The publication was from a Leinster company and Tyrone GAA wanted to make it clear that they had not received any monies from sales or advertising.