The boys of the New York hurling team came down a hard road to

get to the Ulster Hurling final, that was finally played this past weekend in Boston.

For a full run down on a great GAA weekend, clike here. Due to some technical problems I will not be able to post any pictures for a while..

Donnelly takes victory for the Irish in Adirondack Park
By Neil McDaid

October 7th, Harrisville, NY. Perched behind the wheel of one of the top Mitsubishi Evolution Rally cars in the USA, Charlie [Celsus] Donnell, formally from Fintona Co Tyrone, would claim victory in the final round of the 2006 NASA/ESRC. On a day in which many of the top drivers in the event were caught out on the early stages, Donnelly was able to steer his very powerful open class Mitsubishi between the many rocks, jumps, off-camber bumps and some very large pine trees to take the victory at The Black River Stages Rally.

The Rally was run in the northeast corner of the vast Adirondack Forest Park in upstate New York, only some 30 miles from the Canadian border. The first frost of the fall would greet the rally crews early Saturday as they headed for the start of SS1 “Power Line 1”. At little over seven and a half miles this would be the longest stage of the rally. Danny O’Brien would set the early mark with a fastest time of 6:25 with Donnelly some 4 seconds of the pace.

Retirements would strike early for the Irish. Donal McGivney and Noel Gallagher, in their Subaru, dropped a front control arm over a crest. Donal managed to bring the Impreza to a safe stop, despite every effort by Donal and Noel Gallaher they were unable to get the Impreza up and running ending their rally.

SS2 “Fishing Hole 1”. Running first on the road, Charlie Donnelly was on a tear as he pushed the Mitsubishi at full tilt almost sideways through the entire stage. With no recce allowed on the stages driver and co-driver would have to rely on the stage notes provided by the organizers. Although these notes are generally very detailed they do not always highlight every hazard, like hidden rocks.

Hardly a mile into this short three and a half mile stage a series of left-right-left bends would claim a few victims. Danny O’Brien, running second on the road, would attack SS2 with the same commitment as the opening test. The notes called a “left four short” into a “right five short” into a “left six”.

Danny would enter the ‘left four’ a little too hot forcing him to slide into the right five. The rear of the car would clip a large rock hidden between the bends launching the car into a series of spins. I was perched about a hundred yards down the road and watched the Subaru head into the bushes. Within few seconds O’Brien had the car fired up and somehow got her back up onto the road. Unfortunately, the damage was done. The impact had broken a rear wheel and Danny had to pull over and change it, losing some 5 minutes.

Early trouble for O'Brien on SS2 as he makes junk of a rear wheel



Fellow Irish driver Enda McCormack, in a Mitsubishi, would also struggle through the same tricky section that caught out O’Brien. He would also spin but was lucky to get going again with no damage. Running ninth on the road Massachusetts driver Emilio Arce and co-driver Sarah Gardescu would have the biggest moment on the stage when they also came into the tight section with way to much speed. They would, unfortunately, roll the Impreza twice before coming to a rest against a stump of a large pine tree. Both Emilio and Sarah walked away uninjured. The same could not be said for their Impreza.

Brennan finds his mark after Turbo problems on the morning stsges

Stages three and four would be a repeat of SS1 & SS2. Cavan man Paddy Brennan, a sure contender for the overall victory going into the rally, would do his best to stay on the pace while suffering mechanical problems early in the day because of a turbo pipe that would not stay connected on his open class Subaru.

Heading into the first service of the day back in the small town of Harrisville Charlie Donnelly, with his cousin Barry McCann as navigator, had built a commanding lead of 1 minute and 48 seconds over the second place crew of Brennan and Brady. Enda McCormack and Kieran McElhinney, also out of New York, would round out the top three for the Irish. With O’Brien’s off on SS2 he was now sitting in 14th some 4:24 back from Donnelly.

Meep! Meep! a photgraphers nightmare, O'leary & O'leary

Much like Donnelly and Brennan, O’Brien, who had just clinched his third consecutive Eastern States Rally Championship title for 2006, had been one of the favorites for the overall victory coming into this year’s return of the Black River stages.

Further down the running order in the hotly contested M2 class a bit of a battle was taking place between the Boston Irish crews of Larry Duane and Eamon Sweeny in the Toyota Twin Cam Corolla and “Big Dan” Broslan and Martin Skelton in the Nissan Sentra. Sitting in second behind Dan Cook in the Datsun, Duane had pulled out a forty second lead over Broslan in third at the first service stop.

The afternoon stages would be made up of four stages all run twice. Danny O’Brien would go on the attack early to try and work down the time lost with the damaged wheel on SS1. The first time over SS5, “Jayville In,” O’Brien would set the second fastest time, just seven second off the blistering pace set by Donnelly. Again, on SS6 “Jayville out,” O’Brien would push Donnelly coming within four seconds of Charlie’s stage time.
Danny O’Brien would eventually set the fastest time over SS7 “Goose Pond in,” some six seconds faster than leader Donnelly, and also the stage win on SS12.

In the end, when the time cards were verified after a long day of 12 special stages over some very deceiving forest roads with hidden hazards, Charlie Donnelly would bring home the victory. After struggling for many years, pushing hard and trying to be competitive in lesser equipment Charlie finally proves his worth in the same Mitsubishi Evo that brought Tom Lawless to the overall victory in the United States Rally Championship in 2005. Charlie finished with a comfortable 2:21 cushion over Paddy Brennan who, despite numerous issues, was able to hang on to second.

Enda McCormack encored a 20 second penalty for a late arrival to time control 7, pushing him down to forth behind Randy Zimmer and Travis Sleight. Despite all the hard work from O’Brien, in the end it was a bridge too far to make up the difference lost on SS2, and he had to settle for 5th overall.


Showing some great driving form, Liam Mulvey, with Stephen Duffy on the notes, kept the tail out wherever possible on their Mazda RX3 as they took the class victory in M1 and 6th overall.

In M2 Class, Duane and Sweeney in the Corolla, in only their second full season in rallying, claimed the M2 class victory and 7th overall. Dan Broslan, who chased Duane all day, had no answer for the every increasing pace of his fellow Boston crew.

Looking forward to BRS 2007!

Kevin McBride devastated by Mollo,

where to go from here?
October 8th, 2006 - by Tomás Rohan
Kevin McBride's hopes of shot at the world heavyweight title evaporated in Chicago last night following a devastating second round stoppage at the hands of the unheralded Mike Mollo.
Mike Tyson's conqueror had hoped that a win over Mollo (with the lightly regarded WBA fedelatin title on the line) would hand him a top 15 ranking with the WBA and put him line for a shot at WBA champ Nicolay Valuev. The "Beast from the East" topped the bill at the Allstate Arena last night successfully defending his belt with an eleventh round stoppage of Monte Barrett.
McBride's prospects of being next in line for Valuev's title nose dived right from the first bell with Mollo showing little or no respect for the much bigger Irishman. The 26-year-old Illinois native entered the ring with a record of 16 wins and 1 loss which although statistically impressive had been compiled against club fighters and journeymen. (However it should be noted that aside from his shock win over Tyson the same accusation could be levelled at McBride.)
The only common opponent between both men was fringe contender DaVarryl Williamson who had recorded stoppage victories over both Mollo and McBride. Despite this McBride and his camp were confident that Mollo would not get in the way of their long awaited world title fight although it should be noted that Dan Horgan, a contributor to this site had predicted that Mollo would make short work of the "Clones Colussus."
Mollo had spent the early part of the opening round softening up the 278 pound McBride landing frequently to the mid section before a series of clubbing right hands floored the Boston based Monaghan man along the ropes.
McBride looked more embarrassed than hurt and offered a wry smile as referee Genaro Rodriquez waved him back into action.
Any hope that the nightmare first round would merely serve as a wake up call to stir McBride into action went out the window early in the second when he found himself on the floor for a second time. Once again McBride offered an embarrassed, almost bemused smile but it was becoming clear that his world title aspirations were on their last legs.
Sensing the finish Mollo followed up with another two fisted attack sending McBride reeling backwards before flooring him for the third and final time with a heavy left hook. Referee Rodriquez didn't even bother with the count even though McBride clambered quickly to his feet but offered little in the way of protest at the stoppage.
Instead he trouped back to his corner leaving behind his world title dreams and a substantial payday.
McBride's promoter Don King didn't seem overly concerned at the Irishman's defeat rushing to embrace the victory and waving an American and Italian flag in honour of Mollo's heritage. Judging by the uproarious laughter from the shock haired promoter in the ring it's unlikely he'll lose too much sleep over McBride's demise.
Truly this was an awful, awful performance by McBride. There is no other way of dressing it up. He looked like a man who simply didn't want to be there ironically enough in the same way that Mike Tyson clearly did not want to be in the ring with him on that shocking night in Washington on June 3 months ago. McBride folded from the kind of shots last night that had caused him to simply grit his teeth and fight on against "Iron Mike" but last night they sent him tumbling to the canvas.
Take nothing away from Mollo who did what he had to do and much to Don King's delight looks like a fighter who can shift tickets in the Chicago area. He can move on to a bigger fight but where too now for Kevin McBride?
Time will tell but it seems a long, lonely road back to anything like world title contention from here. Wherever that road takes him we wish Kevin well as despite some of his tongue in cheek statements about taking on both Klitschko's in the same night he is the epitome of the quiet, modest, gentle giant.

Big Kevin McBride ready for action Saturday, pictured here with his daughter Grainne

Kevin McBride back in the ring Saturday night

in Chicago against Mike Mollo

The McBride story to-date

It turned out that the third time was the charm for Irish heavyweight champion Kevin McBride when he met Mike Tyson on June 11 at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C.

Failed negotiations concerning Kevin’s purse negated the first two opportunities McBride had against “Iron” Mike. In 1995, 17-0-1 McBride was supposed to be Tyson’s first opponent in his comeback after serving four years in prison. Peter McNeeley eventually replaced McBride. Last year, Kevin was offered a match against Tyson, but once again purse negotiations broke down, and Danny Williams fought Tyson.

When the fight did finally happen, McBride made the most of his opportunity. Although he was a 20-1 underdog, he told everyone he knew to bet on him. He ran six miles every day leading up to the fight, and sparred every afternoon to whip himself into the best shape possible.

McBride’s plan was to absorb Tyson’s usual early barrage, then wear down the best fighter by far he had ever faced with his big frame. That was plan A. The good-natured Irishman and his manager Pascal “Packie” Collins had other plans.

“Plan B was we had a sniper in the arena,” joked Collins. “Plan C,” McBride said, “was to get the electricity pulled, hit Tyson with a sledgehammer, then put the lights back on.”

As it turned out, plan A was enough. McBride surprised Tyson from the outset. He stood his ground, weathered Tyson’s assaults and kept returning fire. So frustrated was Tyson that he resorted to head-butts (opening a cut over McBride’s left eye), twisted his arm and even bit his nipple.

After McBride pushed Tyson to the mat after an exchange in round six, Tyson decided he was done with the fight. Kevin McBride had retired Mike Tyson.

“All the disbelievers who said I’d never do it,” McBride said, “I hope they take their hats off to me now.”

McBride started boxing at the age of 9 as a means of defense from neighborhood bullies that were picking on him because of a speech impediment. Originally a member of the Clones Amateur Boxing Club, Kevin switched allegiances two years later to the Smithboro Boxing Club of County Monaghan. Under the coaching of Frank Mulligan, who trained Kevin throughout his amateur career and first 17 pro bouts, McBride captured three All-Ireland titles, highlighted by the 1992 Senior Super Heavyweight crown that qualified him for the 1992 Olympic Trials in Denmark, where earned a position on the Irish Olympic Boxing Team. Mulligan, incidentally, coached another Clones fighter, 2005 Boxing Hall of Fame inductee and former world featherweight champion Barry “Clones Cyclone” McGuigan.

At 18, Kevin became the youngest super heavyweight to compete in the Olympics and although he didn’t medal at Barcelona (Spain), he was part of Ireland’s most successful Olympic boxing team, including gold-medal winner Michael Carruth and silver medalist Wayne McCullough, who later became world bantamweight champion as a professional.

In 1992, McBride turned pro, signing with British promoter Frank Warren and later with British promoter Panos Eliades and manager Frank Maloney, the management team behind world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. Kevin fought to a four-round draw with Gary Charlton in his pro debut (Dec. 17, 1992) and then went on to win his next 19 fights.

His first loss was in 1997 to Louis Monaco. Two fights later (June 2), McBride captured the vacant All-Ireland heavyweight title via a fifth-round TKO of Paul Douglas in Waterfront Hall in Douglas’ hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland.

McBride suffered a loss to world heavyweight contender Axel Shulz in 1997 and two years later, thanks to his friend (former WBO super middleweight champion) Steve “Celtic Warrior” Collins, Kevin relocated in Boston and started training with Goody Petronelli, who had previously trained Collins as well as undisputed world middleweight champion Marvelous Marvin Hagler. Shortly after, Kevin recorded his most significant victory up to that time, a unanimous 10-round decision versus 19-1 Willie Phillips.

In 2002, McBride suffered his last loss when he was stopped by future world-class heavyweight (12-1) DaVarryl “Touch of Sleep” Williamson in five rounds due to McBride’s cuts.


McBride won seven fights in a row, all by knockout, before facing Tyson: (25-7) Gary Winmon (TKO2), Bahamian champion (16-11) Reynaldo Minus, (23-11-1) Craig Tomlinson (KO3) for the vacant IBC Americas heavyweight belt, (18-4-2) Najee Shaheed (TKO9) in an IBC Americas title defense, (14-26-3) Lenzie Morgan (KO1), (29-22-1) Marcus Rhode (KO3) and (15-2-1) Kevin Montiy (TKO5) in his last ring action (March 18, 2005).

The Luck of the Irish hasn’t always been in the corner with “The Clones Colossus.” Beside the first two failed proposals to fight Tyson, Kevin lost out on an opportunity to fight Danny Williams, who had defeated Tyson (July 30, 2004) as McBride’s replacement. Late in 2004, Frank Warren’s Sport Network reportedly presented McBride a six-figure offer to fight Williams at the Excel Centre in London. Unfortunately, at least for McBride, Williams instead opted to unsuccessfully challenge WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko for $1-million.

In December 2004, McBride, who had been ranked as high as No. 27 by the World Boxing Council, was dropped from the WBC ratings due to inactivity resulting from the time spent negotiating for the aforementioned Tyson and Williams fights.

McBride has learned from sparring with Lewis, former WBA heavyweight champion John Ruiz, IBF heavyweight title-holder Chris Byrd, Williamson, hot prospect Calvin Brock and others.

After the win over Tyson, McBride signed with legendary Don King. His head trainer is Goody Petronelli.

In his last appearance on April 1 in Cleveland, McBride disposed of Byron Polley with fourth-round technical knockout.