Dramatic GAA Rounders finals on Sunday

Junior Final: Gusserane vs Myshall

Our first Men’s team to take to the pitch at the Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence in Kilcormac was Gusserane from Wexford. The run-on was lined with children from both teams waving flags and captain Conor Murphy proudly led his side onto the grass, followed minutes later by Shane Coburn and Myshall. Following team photographs and the coin toss by Referee Mark Jennings, the game started with Myshall fielding.

Gusserane took the first innings to settle with none of their first five batters getting any further than second base. Myshall managed to get two home in their first batting, but two great catches from Morgan Nash Colfer and John Flynn set the tone for the Gusserane outfield for the rest of the game.

Back in to bat for the second time, Gusserane got on the scoresheet with Matthew Flynn and Carel van der Merwe both hitting home base. Myshall answered with another five home, although two super catches from Niall Molloy and Conor Murphy kept the total low and the score at 7-2 to Myshall heading into the third.

Gusserane got three home in this innings, keeping Myshall to the same number of runs. Both pitchers fouled batters out while there were excellent catches from James Nolan, John Michael Nolan, Matthew Flynn and Niall Molloy.

Top of the fourth and Gusserane came to bat with a renewed determination and a plan of attack! With some smart batting, aware base running and lightening speed, they brought eight home. They followed that up with excellent fielding, keeping Myshall scoreless for the first time to head into the final innings with the score 14-10 in the Wexford men’s favour. Only Ned Molloy made it home in the final innings so Gusserane needed to keep Myshall from scoring four, or more.

Pitcher Carel van der Merwe caught the first batter, John Michael Nolan, out but the next two batters got safely on base. Morgan Nash Colfer caught Kevin Farrell out but his hit brought Matthew Roberts home. James Nolan came to bat with two out and hit a perfectly placed ball outfield, bringing Eoin Rea home and getting himself to third base. Shane Roberts’ groundball brought James home, leaving the score 14-13 with a runner on first and PJ Lalor up to bat. With PJ safely moving everyone on, Vice Captain Eolann McDonald came up knowing that getting the two base runners home would secure victory for the Carlow men. Hitting the last good ball short, it was easily picked up by John Flynn and thrown to Kevin Whelan for an out on first, then confidently lobbed back to Matthew Flynn for a cool, one-handed catch to ensure no more runs were scored and the victory was Gusserane’s.

To have been ahead and to lose by the narrowest of margins, it would take a heart of stone not to feel for Myshall and how much it hurt that they didn’t get it over the linem but with talent like theirs and a squad as strong as they have, we have no doubt that they’ll be back next year and quite likely in another final next season. Standout players for the Carlow side were Eoin Rea at Short Stop, Matthew Roberts at Back Catcher and John Michael Nolan and James Nolan for expert batting.

Many of the Gusserane lads knew Myshall’s pain from having been in the same situation after the 2025 Junior Mixed final which they lost to St. Senan’s and the hard work and commitment that they put into their 2026 campaign showed in their resilience and never say die attitude in this final. Managers Mary Power and Keith Molyneux deserve credit for their skill and time with this team.

Referees were all provided with a live microphone feed which helped spectators and those watching the live feed to keep up with calls and outs. Referee Mark Jennings was assisted by Michael Slevin and JP Tynan of Emo and Gretta Davis of Elphin as base umpires. The match officials’ pick for Player of the Match was Gusserane pitcher Carel van der Merwe, who had a fantastic day pitching in very difficult conditions. He was also responsible for a great out from a catch and got home twice.

Intermediate Final: St. Clare’s vs St. Senan’s

If the opening game of the day was a cracker, we were all ready for this game to really keep us on the edge of our seats. Last year’s Junior Men’s winners, and with only one season at Intermediate under their belts, St. Senan’s, taking on the mighty St. Clare’s from Cavan with their years of experience and multiple All-Stars gained over a lifetime of playing Rounders.

Winning the toss, St. Clare’s elected to field and, in a slight change from normal service, PJ Kelly headed out to Second Base, leaving his usual Back Catcher position to Jason Cawley. Managers Shane Dolan and Louise McAndrew had a plan.

Declan Rattigan came up to bat first for St. Senan’s and in a display of very smart fielding, pitcher Darragh Johnston got the ball to Steve Deyarmin on First to get the first out of the game and the start that St. Clare’s were looking for. With the next two batters making it to base, St. Senan’s Captain Kevin Doody came to bat and hit the ball straight into the hands of Chaz Solomon, thereby stopping any advancement of the runners on base. Next up was Niall Sheehy whose hit went to Short Stop Wayne Gerber and with another fast throw to Steve Daryarmin, secured the third out and no runs scored.

St. Clare’s came to bat meaning business. Two excellent catches from Dean Hogan outfield and one from Ian Sheehy on Third showed St. Senan’s ability to field but the Cavan men batted smart and got nine runs home in that first innings leaving the score 9-0 going into the second.

More excellent fielding with clean catches from Jason Cawley and Wayne Gerber as well as an out on second led to the Limerick lads being contained to one run home. St. Senan’s fielding was excellent in this innings with only Barry Walsh and Bryan Dolan getting home.

The third and fourth innings saw St. Senan’s get more home than St. Clare’s each time and, heading into the final innings the score was 19-12. Needing to get at least seven home the pressure was on St. Senan’s for their final turn at bat. Batter one, Kevin Doody, made it to base but Batter two, Niall Sheehy was out on second. There followed four runs home but then John Hanlon’s ball to left outfield was expertly caught by Ciarán Gray. The following two batters made it on base and JP Mulvihill came to bat knowing that getting himself around the bases would level the score. Unfortunately for him, his hit didn’t go far enough and was thrown back to Catcher Jason Cawley who tagged the base and prevented another run being scored.

While St. Senan’s were visibly disappointed with the outcome of the game, they should take heart from the fact that getting to a final in any team’s first year at a division is difficult and should not be underestimated for the amount of time, hard work and talent required to achieve that.

Chaz Solomons on Third Base is a workhorse while Steve Deyarmin had multiple outs on First. Outfield, both Bryan Dolan and Ciarán Gray had a great day while Player of the Match, Wayne Gerber, was responsible for outs and got home three times. And let’s not forget the hardest job on the pitch on a breezy day like yesterday – Pitcher Darragh Johnston played a blinder and was a hugely important part of the success of the team.

St. Clare’s have been keen to get back to Senior Rounders for some time now and it’s been lovely watching their journey to that place over this season.

Referee for this game was The Heath’s Philip Keane and his umpires—also from The Heath—were Danielle Keane, Serena Lewis, and Grace Salmon.

Senior Final: Carrickmacross Emmets vs Erne Eagles

Our final, highly anticipated, game of the day was our Senior Final between reigning Champions Carrickmacross Emmets of Monaghan and Cavan side Erne Eagles. A rematch of the 2025 Senior Men’s Final, Erne Eagles had taken the title in 2024 and we were expecting a dogfight to see who would come out on top for 2026.

Winning the toss Erne Eagles elected to field and first batter up, Colm Kiernan, was out on first base following a quick throw from Short Stop Mick Cullen to Shane Sheridan on First Base. Second batter up, Declan Finnegan, made it to base but Oran Kiernan behind him fouled out while Ronan Kiernan’s hit was caught by Justin Perrin outfield and fired back to Damien McArdle to prevent Declan Finnegan’s run in. After an almost textbook perfect first innings at field, Eagles came to bat and managed to get two home. Excellent catches from Colm Kiernan and Oran Kiernan as well as an out on base on Third showed just how dangerous the Monaghan men can be when they’re fielding well.

The second innings saw no change to the scoreline, but there were some more impressive catches for outs from Mick Cullen, Shane Sheridan, Justin Perrin, Colm Kiernan and Declan Finnegan as well as an out on First Base for Frank Duffy.

Things started to get a bit more exciting in Innings Three as Carrick got six home to be followed by Eagles pulling away more by getting nine home. The fourth was low scoring with some great fielding from both sides – outfield catches, a foul-out and Tag by Darryl Dolan, a super back catch from Damien McArdle and a great catch from Gerard Clerkin.

Into the fifth and Carrick got nobody home while Eagles cranked it up a gear at bat brining 12 home, before Barry Lambe caught a pop-up from Mick Cullen to bring the innings to a close.

In the sixth Carrickmacross got Dillon Carolan and Frank Duffy home, but elected to bat on into the seventh. Batters two, three and four were all caught or fouled out and the game ended 24(6)-10(7) to Erne Eagles.

While the scoreline shows a gap, the actual game was tight enough for most of the innings and doesn’t accurately reflect the excellent fielding and batting we observed on the day. Justin Burns on Third for Carrick literally put his body on the line multiple times to block balls while Colm Kiernan had two split second reflexes back catches for outs. Carrickmacross should be proud of their performance – it’s never easy to defend a title, it’s even harder when you’re facing an opponent like Erne Eagles with the depth of squad and number of excellent players they have to call on.

A special mention to the amazing pitcher/catcher duo of Darryl Dolan and Damien McArdle who make that level of skill, talent and game knowledge look easy.

Referee Danielle Dolan (The Heath) took control of a very well-run and amicable game. Her umpires were Philip Keane, Serena Lewis and Grace Salmon of The Heath. Their pick for Player of the Match was Damien McArdle, who had some outstanding catches at Back Catcher as well as assisting outs on base and getting home four times. The final anthem of the day was sung by Niamh Duffy.

Up Next: Mixed Finals Day

We have one more amazing Sunday of Rounders Finals to come and it will take place on Sunday September 13 in Mallow GAA, Cork.

• 11am (Junior Mixed Final): Galway City Rapparees vs Kilmore (Roscommon)
• 1pm (Intermediate Mixed Final): Emo (Laois) vs Galway City Rapparees
• 3.30pm (Senior Mixed Final): Breaffy (Mayo) vs Glynn Barntown (Wexford)

Link to buy tickets for Mixed Finals Day GAA Rounders Mixed All-Ireland Finals 2026 - Universe