1997 All-Ireland Senior B Football Championship

1997 All-Ireland Senior B Football Championship

Championship details
Champions
Winning team	Louth (1st win)
Captain	Gareth O'Neill
Manager	Paddy Clarke
Finalists
Runners-Up	Clare
Captain	Barry Keating
Manager	John O'Keeffe

The 1997 All-Ireland Senior B Football Championship was the eighth edition of the All-Ireland Senior B Football Championship, a Gaelic football competition introduced by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in 1990. ^[1]

The competition ended in victory for Louth, who defeated Clare by three points in the final at Ballinasloe. ^[2]

Format

The championship began in September and was played on a straight knockout open-draw basis, with extra-time playable if teams finished level at the end of normal time. Twelve counties entered the competition, with Monaghan, Tipperary, Antrim and Roscommon each receiving a bye into the quarter-finals. ^[3]

Results

1st Round

Carlow v Limerick

20 September	Carlow	0-13 – 0-07	Limerick	Dr Cullen Park
				Referee: T. O'Rourke (Kildare)

Clare v Longford

20 September	Clare	1-14 – 0-04	Longford	Cusack Park
				Referee: G. Hough (Limerick)

Louth v Sligo

20 September	Louth	4-14 – 1-09	Sligo	St Brigid's Park
				Referee: B. Gorman (Armagh)

Wexford v Waterford

21 September	Wexford	1-13 – 0-12	Waterford	Stradbally
				Referee: Michael Collins (Cork)

Source: ^[4]

Quarter-Finals

Louth v Antrim

4 October [5]	Louth	3-12 – 1-14	Antrim	Casement Park
				Referee: M. McBrien (Fermanagh)

Monaghan v Tipperary

4 October	Monaghan	0-20 – 1-09	Tipperary	Castleblayney
				Referee: J. Harlin (Meath)

Clare v Wexford

4 October	Clare	1-23 – 2-14 *	Wexford	New Ross
				Referee: T. Meehan (Tipperary)

Carlow v Roscommon

n/a

Carlow

w/o – scr. **

Roscommon

* (After Extra Time)** (Fixture conceded by Roscommon)

Source: ^[6]

Semi-Finals

Louth v Carlow

26 October [7]	Louth	1-11 – 0-13	Carlow	O'Connor Park
				Referee: N. Cooney (Offaly)

Clare v Monaghan

26 October [8]	Clare	1-17 – 0-10	Monaghan	O'Connor Park
				Referee: S. McCormack Meath

Final

9 November ^[9]

Louth	1-11 – 1-08	Clare
White 1-5 (3f), McDonnell 0-2, O'Sullivan 0-1, C. Kelly 0-1, O'Hanlon 0-1, Hoey 0-1		M. Daly 0-3 (3f), A. Daly 1-0, Keane 0-2 (2f), Cosgrave 0-2, Enright 0-1

Duggan Park

Referee: Pat McEnaney (Monaghan)

GK 1 Niall O'Donnell (Clan na Gael) RCB 2 Aidan Carter (St Nicholas) FB 3 Gareth O'Neill (Cooley Kickhams) LCB 4 David Brennan (Mattock Rangers) RHB 5 Declan O'Sullivan (St Joseph's) CHB 6 Breen Phillips (Newtown Blues) LHB 7 Aaron Hoey (St Bride's) MF 8 Paul Kelly (Newtown Blues) MF 9 Gerry Curran (Clan na Gael) RHF 10 Ollie McDonnell (St Joseph's) CHF 11 Stephen Melia (St Joseph's) LHF 12 Colin Kelly (Newtown Blues) RCF 13 Stefan White (Clan na Gael) FF 14 Cathal O'Hanlon (Clan na Gael) LCF 15 Alan Doherty (St Mary's) Substitutes: 16 Martin Harvey (Dundalk Gaels) for Paul Kelly 17 Ray Rooney (Dundalk Gaels) for Carter 18 Niall Flynn (Glyde Rangers) for O'Sullivan

GK 1 James Hanrahan (Éire Óg) RCB 2 Pádraig Gallagher (Doonbeg) FB 3 Frankie Griffin (Kilrush Shamrocks) LCB 4 Alan Malone (Éire Óg) RHB 5 Barry Keating (Éire Óg) CHB 6 Brendan Rouine (Ennistymon) LHB 7 Charles O'Loughlin (St Joseph's, Miltown) MF 8 Donal O'Sullivan (Kilrush Shamrocks) MF 9 Peter Cosgrove (Éire Óg) RHF 10 Ger Keane (St Senan's, Kilkee) CHF 11 Martin Daly (Lissycasey) LHF 12 Denis O'Driscoll (St Breckan's) RCF 13 Johnny Enright (St Senan's, Kilkee) FF 14 Aidan Daly (Kilrush Shamrocks) LCF 15 Peadar McMahon (Kilrush Shamrocks) Substitutes: 16 Michael Galvin (St Senan's, Kilkee) for O'Sullivan 17 Ger Quinlan (O'Curry's) for O'Loughlin 18 Pat Foley (Naomh Eoin) for McMahon

References

1. "Waiting on Death Row". Irish Independent . 17 February 2001.
2. "Louth's forwards in control". The Irish Times . 10 November 1997.
3. "Senior Championship sets high standards". Sligo Champion . 10 September 1997.
4. "GAA results". Irish Times . 22 September 1997.
5. "Louth made to fight for All-Ireland 'B' semi-final place". The Argus . 10 October 1997.
6. "GAA results". Irish Times . 6 October 1997.
7. "Louth pip spirited Carlow". Irish Times . 27 October 1997.
8. "Daly shines in spirited Clare win". Irish Times . 27 October 1997.
9. "'B' title is honey sweet for Louth". Irish Independent . 10 November 1997.