The Tir Conaill Harps South team made amends for their 1 – 0 defeat in Dunoon at the hands of Cowal & Bute by running out 2 – 1 victors of the reverse fixture at Lochinch on Sunday.

Both teams took a while to adjust to the surface but TCH soon found the upper hand. Once again, sustained pressure in the opposition goal mouth found little reward and the first TCH goal was a long time coming. The Cowal & Bute goalkeeper and defenders pulled off some spectacular saves to deny some long range shots from TCH. A second goal was added to the score sheet soon after, with both goals coming from Sara Roche. The Harps midfielder Julie O’Brien was unlucky to have 2 goals scratched for various reasons, but credit must be given to every player for continuing to press for more scores. Cowal & Bute did manage to pull one goal back when Liva Krastina found herself one on one with Harps ‘keeper Janice Aitken, who was unlucky to not keep out the quick fire shot. Cowal & Bute pushed for an equaliser but the visitors, who bravely played one player short, were unable to get the better of TCH in the dying moments of the game. 

The TCH South team find themselves going into the close of the season on a run of good results, and with four fixtures remaining they look set to push for a top 2 finish in the South Division 2 League.
 

 As the senior gaelic season emerges from its summer hibernation, the Tir Conaill charges contested their first game from the second round of the league campaign. A strong Tir Conaill side saw off the challenge of Sands McSwineys at Lochinch by the score of 7-16 to 0-00, in a one sided contest. In a match of quality performances, one of the major talking points which emerged was the competition between Derry O'Connor and Connor Manning for most prolific scorer of the season. Also, a solid debut from Ryan Lynch in a new look half back line with Dom Roarty and Barry Doherty showed strength in depth. The second half saw a first appearence in ages for harps stalwart Aiden Shields, who fitted in like he'd never been away.

The seniors play their next round of the league this weekend on Tayside, with a potentially tricky tie against an ever improving Dundee Dalriada. The upcoming matches are being viewed as vital preparation for the upcoming championship semi-final. In what is shaping up to be a season where a championship final is a very realistic possibility, we encourage club members to come out and support the lads and try to push them on to glory...

It has now been over four and a half months since the fire attack on the club minibus.  In addition to the loss of the bus the U12 hurling/camogie team lost all their equipment.

The club continue to be overwhelmed by the generosity of others as the team from the East End of Glasgow have been fully kitted out by donations from both the UK and Ireland.  The generosity continues with a donation of hurls from Mighty Quinn Hurls, Belfast.

The coaches and children are very grateful for the equipment donations.  They have been working hard fundraising for their next trip to Ireland in September, when they hope to put their new equipment and their new team strip (sponsored by Eurohostel) into serious action.

The Harps raised a total of £1,450 last weekend thanks to the U12 camogie/hurlers and the shinty and camogie teams.

The U12s worked hard as they packed bags at Tesco, Shettleston on both Saturday and Sunday to raise a total of £1000.

The shinty and camogie lassies made an equal sacrifice as they spent Saturday afternoon eating cakes to raise £450 for the club.  There was only one cake in contention for the "Best Looking" award this year and that was Kirstie MacLeod's Club Crest Sponge. Janice Aitken once again made off the the prize for "Best Tasting" for her Harps Pavlova, although that was possibly due to her still being about at the end when the prize was awarded.  It always pays to help out with the dishes.

Well done to everyone and thanks to Tesco and to Roisin & Jamie for providing the venues for two very successful events.

The senior mens gaelic team recorded their second win on the bounce to book their spot in the Scottish championship semi finals. A great all round team display resulted in TCH overcoming Sands McSwineys by the score of 1-16 to 1-5 in Coatbridge.

The started well, with Derrick McGrath finding the net early doors. As the half progressed, all of the Tir Conaill forwards registered scores from play, with Barry Doherty and Damien Shannon also registering quality scores. The half ended though with a freak bounce deceiving Stephan McFadden in goal and narrowing the half time margin. The Harps weathered an early Sands storm, but with Aaron Ryan and Fergal Coffey holding firm at the back, the irrepresible Dom Roarty was free to raid forward and instigate the attacks. The game ended with Neil McBride registering his first score for the Harps, with John Lyttle sealing affairs with a monster of a score.

The performance will have buoyed the management team, as it shows clear progression from the earlier games. Its clear to see that the team is much more comfortable with each other, and new partnerships are forming all over the field. The way is clear for a home tie in the championship semi final, and who knows what else....

Tir Conaill Harps 1-16 : Derrick McGrath (1-1), Connor Manning (0-4), JP Noonan (0-2), Danny McGowan (0-4), Barry Doherty (0-1), Damien Shannon (0-1), Derry O'Connor (0-1), John Lyttle (0-1), Neil McBride (0-1)

After a couple of recent disappointing league performances the Harps were determined to show that they are a team to be reckoned with in the Valerie Fraser semi final.  They did not disappoint! 

The Harps got off to a strong start pushing forward from the throw up and looking like they meant business.  They made the most of this early pressure in the 7th minute getting the ball to Fiona who was about 15 yards out from goal on the left wing.  She turned well and struck a powerful shot into goal taking the Harps into the lead. continued to put on the pressure and Bam Bam came close in 17 minutes.  However 3 minutes later Orla made it 2-0 with a cracking shot from 20 yards out on the left wing.  GMA tried to respond, however their attacks were ably managed by the Harps defence who looked confident.  Siobhan in particular had an excellent game.  In the 2nd half both teams had some attacks in the early minutes however the Harps won the midfield battle with strong perormances from Yvonne and Orla.  In the 47th minute Fiona put the GMA goalie under pressure causing her to lose the ball, Fiona then dribbled the ball round the goalie before finding the net.  11 minutes later Fiona got her hat trick once again taking the ball round the goal keeper. Not content with 3, Fiona made it 4 (and 1 more than Andy) a minute later and celebrated with a dance!  Bam Bam was determined to get into the goal action and was unlucky to see a great shot from a tight angle hit the crossbar in the 62 minute. However 3 minutes later that determination paid off when she scored after taking it round several players in the D. Orla rounded off the scoring with her 2nd and the team's 7th, receiving a pass from Kirstie and walking it into goal.

We now meet Glengarry in the final of the Valerie Fraser Camanachd Cup for the 3rd year in a row.  On the evidence of today's performance they are well capable of winning back the cup! Every player on the pitch gave their all.  It was a proud day to be a TCH player, coach or supporter.

This was such a team performance that George named The Team as his player of the match.

Roisin (Roving Reporter) Reid

Winning team pictured below, looking not too bad after 70 minutes of bustin a gut.

(Photo courtesy of Tom O'Brien)

As I write this article our intrepid leader, Maurice Friel, should be leaving deepest, darkest Norwich in our new 17 seater Ford Transit minibus.  It wasn't quite the sale of the century but Nicholas Parsons would be proud if he knew the efforts that Maurice has gone to for the club.

After weeks of chasing two year old buses at various auction houses and dealers up and down the country Maurice' hard work has finally been rewarded.  So a big thanks to Maurice, who is now looking forward to being inundated with booking requests from the rest of the club and from the Harps Project.

For bus bookings go to Minibus Bookings.

Well done to Oonagh Collins and Siobhan Martin from the women's shinty team for all their hard work in organising the Race Night in aid of the mini-bus appeal.  The turnout was disappointing but all the work beforehand in getting sponsors, prize donations and selling owners & jockeys produced a profit of £450. 

This takes the total for the appeal to nearly £7,000.

Thanks to all who sponsored  the races; Osmosis, The Old Smiddy Bar, TLC Pharmacy Mosspark, Purple Rock, M Friel Plant Hire, Scottox, MJ Heraghty's Bar and Kelly's Bar. 

Thanks especially to Maurice and Annemarie Friel, who in addition to providing prizes and sponsorship, came along to support the night.  Maurice has been making a huge effort to secure a new two year old bus and so we appreciate them taking out more time for the club, especially on their Saturday night out.  Hopefully all of Maurice' efforts will soon be rewarded and the club will have a bus again.
 

 The Senior Mens Gaelic team registered a victory in the first round of the Scottish Championship with a thrilling win against Dundee Dalriada on Sunday the 6^th of June. The final score was 3-11 to 2-12 in favour of the green n'golds.

The neutral venue of Cavalry Park in Edinburgh hosted the opening game of the championship. The match began with a brace of Dundee points, with TCH slow out of the blocks. However, as the players began to adjust to the wet conditions the scores began to flow. Derry O'Connor and Derrick McGrath were making hay in the full forward line, and some great distribution allowed both to tack on early scores. Both sides traded points before Tir Conaill grabbed a crucial goal before half time, with Francie Vaughan, finding himself in an unfamiliar setting, slotting home with aplomb. The Harps went into half time 4 points up, after a monster 45 into the wind from Damian Shannon.

After half time, the harps grabbed a quick goal through Derry O'Connor. And moments later, O'Connor was hauled down for a penalty, which Conor Manning dispatched. The game looked to be won, and with John Lyttle and Barry Doherty dominating midfield, more scores were tacked on. However, Dundee found some reserves from somewhere, and staged a heroic fightback . A couple of goals and some fine scores reduced the arrears to one point near the end. A calming score from Paddy McCauley seemed to close the game out, but Dundee fought on to reduce the gap to one gain. Young Kieran Turner, making his championship debut showed maturity beyond his years to score a fine point to increase the gap to two again. In the end, some heroic defending kept the Dundee forwards t bay, and at the final whistle, the harps savoured a good victory.

In defence, Diarmuid Nixon performed well, and Damian Shannon patrolled the 40' admirably. In the forwards, the tandem of Derry and Derrick proved a handful, and Conor Manning chipped in with his obligatory haul. 

Tir Conaill Harps 3-11 : Conor Manning (1-4), Derry O'Connor (1-1), Francie Vaughan (1-0), Derrick McGrath (0-2), Danny McGowan (0-1), Damian Shannon (0-1), Kieran Turner (0-1), Paddy McCauley (0-1)