1978 Sligo Senior Football Championship

Gaelic football competition October 2020 October 2020 Sligo Senior Football Championship 1978 Sligo 1978 Tourlestrane 2 Shamrock Gaels, Easkey,Owenmore Gaels, Calry Gaels,Mullinabreena, St. Farnan's,Grange, Geevagh n/a This is a round-up of the 1978 Sligo Senior Football Championship. Tourlestrane won their first title in 22 years, after defeating surprise finalists Grange, who had caused a major upset by knocking out the holders and reigning Connacht champions, St. Mary's, in the semi-final after a replay. This final remains not only Grange's only appearance in a Senior final, but the only occasion that a team from North Sligo has reached the final. The Championship structure was changed in this year, from the two-section round-robin method, to a knockout system, where the sides defeated in the opening round played on in their own section, with two sides qualifying for the semi-finals, while two sides from the "winner's section" joined them in the last four. This was the only year that such a backdoor system operated in the Championship. At the end of the year a more significant structure change took place - the Intermediate grade was introduced for 1979, with the sixteen teams divided in two by league position - the top eight remaining in Senior, the rest demoted to the new grade, and one went to Junior with the Junior champions taking their place in Intermediate. The result was that the 1978 finalists Grange, found themselves relegated along with semi-finalists Shamrock Gaels. Other sides who had made an impact in the previous decade, including Easkey, Mullinabreena and Owenmore Gaels, also made the drop, with the latter being the only one of the eight not to return to Senior level since. First round Game Date Venue Team A Score Team B Score Sligo SFCFirst Round 18 June Ballymote Tubbercurry 2-15 Shamrock Gaels 0-10 Sligo SFCFirst Round 18 June Ballymote Tourlestrane 3-9 Coolera 0-7 Sligo SFCFirst Round 18 June Tubbercurry St. Mary's beat Geevagh (24 pts) Sligo SFCFirst Round 18 June Tubbercurry Curry beat Easkey (1 pt) Sligo SFCFirst Round 18 June Markievicz Park Eastern Harps 2-5 Grange 0-9 Sligo SFCFirst Round 18 June Markievicz Park Owenmore Gaels beat Calry Gaels (no score) Sligo SFCFirst Round 18 June Easkey Enniscrone beat St. Farnan's (no score) Sligo SFCFirst Round 18 June Easkey St. Patrick's 1-11 Mullinabreena 0-6 Second round Game Date Venue Team A Score Team B Score Sligo SFCSecond Round (Winner's Section) 23 July Ballymote St. Mary's 1-8 Tubbercurry 0-10 Sligo SFCSecond Round (Loser's Section) 23 July Ballymote Geevagh 1-15 Calry Gaels 1-2 Sligo SFCSecond Round (Winner's Section) 23 July Tubbercurry Eastern Harps 2-12 Owenmore Gaels 0-4 Sligo SFCSecond Round (Loser's Section) 23 July Tubbercurry Shamrock Gaels 4-10 Easkey 1-7 Sligo SFCSecond Round (Loser's Section) 23 July Markievicz Park Grange 3-13 Coolera 3-7 Sligo SFCSecond Round (Loser's Section) 23 July Markievicz Park Mullinabreena 1-9 St. Farnan's 2-6 Sligo SFCSecond Round (Winner's Section) 23 July Easkey Tourlestrane beat Enniscrone (no score) Sligo SFCSecond Round (Winner's Section) 23 July Easkey St. Patrick's 1-10 Curry 0-6 Quarter finals Game Date Venue Team A Score Team B Score Sligo SFCQuarter Final (Loser's Section) 6 August Ballymote Shamrock Gaels 4-8 Geevagh 2-2 Sligo SFCQuarter Final (Loser's Section) 6 August Ballymote Grange 1-15 Mullinabreena 0-10 Sligo SFCQuarter Final (Winner's Section) 6 August Tubbercurry St. Mary's 0-13 Eastern Harps 2-6 Sligo SFCQuarter Final (Winner's Section) 6 August Tubbercurry Tourlestrane 4-9 St. Patrick's 0-7 Semi-finals Game Date Venue Team A Score Team B Score Sligo SFCSemi-Final 27 August Tubbercurry Grange 0-9 St. Mary's 0-9 Sligo SFCSemi-Final 27 August Tubbercurry Tourlestrane 3-8 Shamrock Gaels 1-5 Sligo SFCSemi-Final Replay 3 September Tubbercurry Grange 2-5 St. Mary's 0-10 Sligo Senior Football Championship Final Tourlestrane2-7 - 0-7(final score after 60 minutes)GrangeTeam: A. Nealon N. Brett D. O'Mahony M. Maye J. Quinn M. Brennan M. Henry P. Henry G. Lundy B. Leonard P.J. Gallagher (1-0) A. Brennan (1-3) L. Walshe (0-2) T. Carty (0-1) M. Curran (0-1) Substitutes:Half-time: Competition:Sligo Senior Football Championship(Final) Date:10 September 1978 Venue:Markievicz Park, Sligo Referee:Team: C. Feeney C. Herrity J. Watters H. Gallagher J. Keaney S. Hoey R. Henry S. Kelly E. O'Loughlin J. Watters (0-1) M. Hoey (0-3) M. Feeney J. Feeney (0-1) S. Feeney (0-1) H. McSharry (0-1) Substitutes: References Sligo Champion (Summer-Autumn 1978) Category:Sligo Senior Football Championship Sligo