Unstoppable
 By Graham
Clifford
If ever a County semi-final held incentive for both clubs then it was
this one.
In 2005 St. Brendans were defeated by Tir Chonaill Gaels in the London
Senior Football Championship final while Parnells were bidding to make
it to the showpiece for the very first time.
The game wasn’t a classic by any means but St. Brendans won’t
mind. Their two-point 0-7 to 0-5 victory means they will face a Tara side
on Saturday still understandably on a high after their impressive semi-final
win over Tir Chonaill Gaels a number of weeks back. An intriguing factor
ahead of the final will be freshness — St. Brendans will have two
huge clashes just six days apart while Tara’s players have been
training methodically for four weeks now without a major game.
The victors of Saturday’s eagerly-awaited clash will face either
Kerry’s Dr. Crokes or Waterford Champions Nire in the All-Ireland
Club Championship. If Crokes win then Kerry stars Colm ‘Gooch’
Cooper and Eoin Brosnan could well take to the field in Ruislip after
Christmas which would surely be a huge crowd puller for the Association
in the capital.
There was a real risk that Sunday’s semi-final wouldn’t go
ahead but the Kingdom Kerry Gaels club did not challenge a decision taken
to overturn an earlier Championship result by the County Board as many
expected they would.
This weekend will be particularly busy at the headquarters of London GAA
as the annual convention takes place on Sunday with a change of chairman
a very real possibility. Sitting chairman Cork man Larry O’Leary
faces the challenge of his current secretary Tommy Harrell from Wexford
with many predicting a victory for the latter being highly likely. Other
candidates may run for the post also.
On both scores two of the most eagerly awaited questions in London GAA
should be answered on Sunday evening — firstly who will be the new
Senior Football Champions and secondly has Larry O’Leary finally
lost the level of support amongst clubs in the capital which kept him
in his post for seven years.
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