Danny “Bomber” Rouse Tournament Great Success.

Saturday 16.07.2011

Club

The inaugural Danny “Bomber” Rouse Memorial Minor 7 a Side Blitz was held at Páirc Mhic Sioghair, Strabane today with a great feast of football served up.Six teams were in attendance; Strabane “A” & “B”, Urney, Owen Roes, Clann na nGael and Newtownstewart with each team playing each other so all the clubs were guaranteed five games and the top two qualified for the final.

Strabane “A” & Urney made it through to the decider with Urney just shading out Owen Roes on scoring average even though the latter had recorded a 1-7 to 2-2 win over the St Columba’s side earlier in the competition.

In the final, Strabane “A” withstood a strong Urney challenge and fought back to record a deserved 3-6 to 3-2 victory over their big rivals to clinch the title.

Robert “Busty” Cunningham, on behalf of the sponsors Lisnafin Ardnalee Trust CCDA, kindly presented the Strabane “A” captain Dylan Arnold with the Danny Rouse Memorial Shield with Danny’s widow Eileen and son Danny Junior and daughter Andrea also in attendance. Members of the winners and runners up teams each received trophies from the sponsors.

One of the organisers, Aodhán Harkin thanked all the teams that participated and also thanked the referees, Eamon McHugh (Aghyaran), Michael McGlinchey (Strabane) and County Chairperson Ciarán McLaughlin who also took up the whistle for the day.

Aodhán spoke about the contribution that the late Danny Rouse who passed away suddenly in August 2010 had made to the G.A.A. in the entire North Tyrone area having played for and managed several clubs including the finalists Strabane and Urney. Danny was a great local character and it’s hoped that the annual hosting of this Blitz will help to keep his memory alive.

Thanks are extended to everyone who helped out in any way in the success of the event and all are looking forward to an even bigger and better event in 2012.