FDNY Play Transfer Market

By Eugene Kyne

THE biggest winners in the New York trans-fer market this past week were the Fire Department of New York and their junior team, with the addition of five players to their panel for the upcoming season.

Three players come over from St. Barnabas, with a possible midfield pairing of Barry Annette and Denis Kiely also coming on board. The team had a tough time in past seasons, but now they will start out as one of the favorites for the Junior B crown courtesy of their additions.

Fermanagh and Dublin also improved their lot with the transfer of Kieran Fitzgerald from Leitrim to the Dubs a major coup. A New York panelist in recent years, Fitzgerald can be a dominant number six and surely starts as one of the favorites for player of the year honors in the B division.

Fermanagh adds two players who took home Junior A winner’s medals with Down this past season in Bernard Griffin and Colm Shannon. Shannon, a superb corner forward, returns to his home county, and he will give them a bona fide scoring treat.

Down lost five players this past week and will require major rebuilding by way of the draft to replace them. Those names will be released in March.

The biggest name to change teams was the senior player of the year in 2006, Dan Doona, who left his native Kerry to join fierce rival Leitrim. Doona was the championship difference last fall with a man of the match display in the county final against Leitrim, but now he will line out along side his former opponents.

With rumors rife this past month, the players that didn’t move were possibly the biggest stories. Suffice to say there were a lot of relieved clubs this past week, with no news the best news of all.

Just two hurlers changed jerseys, Ronan Sheedy and county star Kieran Bergin, but the most frightening news in the small ball group was the announcement that Connecticut State, county champions as recently as 2004, are withdrawing from the championship for the 2007 season. It leaves just four clubs playing hurling in New York this year, Galway, Tipperary, New Jersey/ Kilkenny and Offaly.

The most startling statistics are the loss now of four hurling teams in the past three years, Westmeath, Clare, Limerick and State. It’s a trend that cannot continue, or alas the county team will no longer be viable and the division will cease to exist.

Meath senior footballers also announced that they will not be playing this season. They were crippled by players returning to Ireland after winning the junior A title and finally succumbed to the inevitable this week.

The 2007 interclub transfers are: Pat Lyons, St. Barnabas to FDNY (junior); Barry Annette, Down to FDNY; Denis Kiely, Dublin to FDNY; Thomas Flynn, St. Barnabas to FDNY; William Donoghue, St. Barnabas to FDNY; Bernard Griffin, Down to Fermanagh (junior); Colm Quinn, Tyrone to Fermanagh; Colum Shannon, Down to Fermanagh; Justin Friel, Donegal to Fermanagh; Paddy Coyle, Stamford to Tyrone (junior); Pat Coyne, Stamford to Tyrone; Ryan O’Kane, Derry to Tyrone; Jonathan Coghlan, Offaly to Dublin (junior); Kevin Fitzgerald, Leitrim to Dublin; Raymond Reynolds, Offaly to Dublin; Kevin Lilly, Cavan to Derry (senior); Shane O’Neill, Down to Derry; Chris Green, Clare to Derry; Francis Sheridan, Down to Cavan; Sean Kelly, Tyrone to Astoria

Gaels (junior); Kieran Potter, Leitrim to Clare (senior); Patrick Brennan, Galway to Kerry (junior); Dan Doona, Kerry to Leitrim (senior); Aiden J. Traynor, Donegal to Armagh (junior); Declan Reilly, Donegal to Mayo (junior).

Hurling: Ronan Sheedy, New Jersey/ Kilkenny to Galway; Kieran Bergin, Offaly to Tipperary.