O'Connor inspires Barcelona to historic victory

LEINSTER CLUB JFC

Renowned as the home of one of the biggest soccer clubs in the world, Barcelona made headlines in the GAA world at the weekend as they became the first European champions to claim a scalp in provincial competition.

Trim man Eoin O'Connor, who won a Leinster Club IFC title in 2021, was the star of the show for the Catalan side in their 3-11 to 1-5 Leinster Club JFC win over Kilkenny's Conahy Shamrocks at Nowlan Park.

St Mary's Sam Victory, who is eligible to play for the Spanish side because of his student visa, also impressed when introduced as a substitute.

Amsterdam went close against Kilbride in the Leinster club JFC last year, but there was no stopping the European champions this time around as they advanced to play Laois side Kilcavan in O'Moore Park next Saturday.

Barcelona Gaels beat Berlin GAA 4-15 to 3-9 last month to claim the european crown and Tiernan Kennedy's men are the first side from from Iberia to compete in the competition.They stormed out of the traps in Kilkenny to lead by 1-3 to 0-0 inside the first 10 minutes, Aaron Hayes with their opening goal.

Another Hayes goal in the 18th minute strengthened their grip on the contest, and the visitors held a 2-6 to 0-3 lead at half-time.

They didn't loosen their grip on the game in the second half as a super O'Connor goal wrapped up what proved to be comfortable win.