An action packed St Stephen’s Day, saw Farrangeel/Stakehill claim the plaudits of Parish League Champions 2006.

Beaten finalists in 2005, Farrangeel/Stakehill had an epic encounter with the Village in the decider and secured the honours with a last gasp pointed free from the boot of Alan Guerin.

It was great to see so many turn out on the day, especially those who had returned home for Christmas – from the US and Canada in particular – and those who had hung up their boots and togged out to join in on the action.

Both finalists opened the day’s competition, with Farrangeel/Stakehill coming from four points in arrears to claim a 0-8 to 0-8 draw with the Village. Action then turned to the other group where defending champions Lamanaugh/Derryleigh were favourites to emerge, with Ruhill and Gneeves making up the remainder of the group.

Ruhill caused a surprise by defeating Gneeves in the opening game 3-3 to 1-4 and Gneeves faced into their clash with Lamanaugh/Derryleigh knowing that defeat would end their day. Another shock as Gneeves stormed to a narrow 3-3 to 2-5 win, leaving the defending champions on the brink of elimination. They made amends for the first performance, defeating Ruhill by six points, 4-10 to 2-10, sending the group into a penalty shoot-out. Gneeves drew Lamanaugh/Derryleigh meaning that Ruhill advanced to the semi-finals and in a tense shoot-out, Gneeves emerged victorious 2-1 to 1-0, with Cormac Breen sealing victory with a point with Gneeves’ fourth spot kick after Alan Lynch’s heroics in the Gneeves goal.

The semi-final pairings were as follows – Village v Gneeves and Farrangeel/Stakehill v Ruhill. The Village advanced to the final with a 1-6 to 0-6 victory while in the other semi-final a Paul Cremin inspired Farrangeel/Stakehill secured their berth in the final with a 0-10 to 0-7 defeat of Ruhill.

The final was a close affair throughout, Daniel Guerin opening the scoring with a point but a Denis O’Connor goal shortly afterwards gave the Village the advantage. Farrangeel/Stakehill recovered to lead at the interval 1-1 to 0-5 and midway through the second period, had a three point cushion, thanks to the scoring of Cremin and the two Guerins. The Village bravely clawed their way back and levelled the game towards the end but Guerin’s last gasp pointed free ensured the accolades for Farrangeel/Stakehill on a 0-10 to 1-6 scoreline.