Last Saturday, Raleigh GAA competed in the annual Peach Cup in Atlanta. 10 players from the club made the 12 hour roundtrip and represented the club with honour. All players had to cope with the sweltering Georgia heat, but that didn’t stop Raleigh’s players from playing both hurling and football at the competition (even Atlanta’s dual players in the day focused on one sport!).
In the football, Raleigh played the hosts Atlanta and Charlotte in what turned out to be a 10 a side competition. Atlanta defeated Raleigh in the 1st game of the competition with a dominant performance. Raleigh lead at half time against the pre tournament favourites Charlotte before fatigue caught up with our players and the fresher charlotte side pulled away towards the end. Despite coming out 2nd best to both sides, there were many positives to take away from it. Jay “Torgo” McGee, Tony Power, Aidan O’Connell and Mark Keane all played their first games for the club. Both Aidan (scorer of the point of the competition) and Mark (goal poacher vs Charlotte) also got on the scoresheet for the club. Nick Holmes and Ed Quinn showed their versatility throughout by playing in numerous positions.
All of our players also played hurling as they starred for Knoxville, Greenville and Atlanta B hurling teams (yes we were mercenary hurlers on the day!). So much so that Steve Shannon and Enda ended up marking one another playing for opposite teams in the last hurling game of the tournament!
Possibly the most GAA played by anyone were Ann Scheunemann and Mia Jafari. They both played football for Raleigh and played lead roles in numerous Camógie games for the Hampton Road Camógie squad.
Well done to all concerned and a thanks to the Atlanta Clan na nGael club for organizing a well run tournament.
