GAA

There was only four games up for grabs this week in the Bank of Ireland Celtic Challenge but fear not as there was still plenty of quality on show across the country. Dublin Plunketts fought from seven down to catch Laois in a thrilling second-half performance while Monaghan were made to sweat all the way by Longford. Leitrim were hit …

Clare welcome Tipperary to Cusack Park on Sunday for what is probably the standout fixture of the GAA calendar this weekend.  The width of the post separated the sides in Semple Stadium last year as a late flurry from Clare saw them dump their neighbours out of the championship in June. The rivalry between Clare and Tipperary is fierce and …

Kerry are out on Saturday for their first championship match of 2019 when they take on Clare in the Munster SFC semi-final at Cusack Park, Ennis. The Kingdom announced their starting XV earlier this week and purists around the country are already purring at the thought of a full-forward line containing Paul Geaney, James O’Donoghue and David Clifford. It’s a …

Tipperary legend Eoin Kelly has dismissed talk of the Premier County being the favourites to win the All Ireland Hurling Championship in 2019. Liam Sheedy’s side have won two from two in the Munster Championship, scoring 4-58 so far, 4-49 from play. They still have two games left to play in the round-robin series and despite getting knocked out in …

It wasn’t the easiest win for Clare against Waterford in their Munster round-robin opener last month, clinging on for a one-point win in Walsh Park. The Banner County led by six points at half-time but a rejuvenated Waterford fought back before a point by Ryan Taylor clinched the narrow win for Clare. The manner in which Clare allowed Waterford claw …

Kerry and Clare have named their sides for the Munster Senior Football semi-final on Saturday evening in Cusack Park, Ennis.  Kerry manager has made two changes to his full-forward line from the league final defeat to Mayo with Paul Geaney and James O’Donoghue named alongside David Clifford. Diarmuid O’Connor is set for his championship debut at wing-forward with Sean O’Shea …

Once again, Mayo have become the subject of intense scrutiny following their defeat to Roscommon in the Connacht SFC. Following the loss, leading pundit, Joe Brolly, chastised the Mayo team over what he described as “the disaster of all disasters” and that was only the tip of the iceberg as Brolly went on to personally attack some of the Mayo …

Damien Comer has confirmed that he is unlikely to be fit to play in next month’s Connacht final when Galway defend their crown against Roscommon for the fourth year running.  The Galway captain underwent surgery following an ankle fracture he sustained in a charity soccer game over Christmas and while the Annaghdown man isn’t ruling anything out, he admits at …

Nobody would have begrudged Bernard Brogan had he decided to step away from Dublin duty at the end of last season as he celebrated his sixth All-Ireland win with his newborn sons alongside him.  Having suffered a cruciate injury at 34, not many expected to see Brogan enter the field of play in 2018 but he returned to a hero’s …

The old saying goes that you should never mix sport and politics but to be quite frank the two go hand in hand and always have done.  We’ve had our fair share of scandals in this country when it comes to combining the two with the biggest story of 2019 to date being the ongoing mess that is the FAI. …

September 23, 2012 It’s All-Ireland final day in Croke Park and Gaelic football’s showpiece event has taken on an extra special meaning. There was no Kerry for just the second time in eight years. Dublin had faltered, while Cork and Tyrone had regressed. Donegal faced Mayo in a game that guaranteed history. Either Mayo were finally going to break the …

It was a busy weekend in the Football Championship with plenty to dissect following shock wins, drab encounters and talk of two-tiers. Roscommon pulled off their first win in Castlebar since 1986 to condemn Mayo to the qualifiers. Dublin, as expected, got their campaign off to a facile 26-point win over Louth while Tyrone had 16 to spare against Antrim …

Kerry legend Aidan O’Mahony believes Conor Cox will have a target on his back throughout the Football Championship following his impressive display for Roscommon against Mayo.  Cox completed a transfer from the Kingdom in December of last year and now plays his football with the Eire Óg club in Roscommon. The 26-year-old previously helped Kerry to All Ireland Junior titles …

The GAA have confirmed the fixture details for the opening round of the football qualifiers which will take place on the weekend of June 8th/9th. The draw for the first round took place yesterday morning and threw up some interesting clashes including an all-Ulster meeting of Monaghan and Fermanagh while Carlow will face the losers of Kildare and Fermanagh who …

Gaelic football took centre stage this weekend in the absence of the Munster Hurling Championship as fans around the country were treated to a host of provincial championship clashes. The standard on show most definitely varied from county to county. As expected, Dublin and Tyrone strolled to easy wins over Louth and Antrim respectively, while Fermanagh made Donegal sweat for …

GAA President John Horan has confirmed that a Tier 2 Football Championship will be discussed by Central Council next month with a Special Congress a possibility in the autumn. Speaking on RTE’s Morning Ireland, Horan admitted that there is a serious appetite for a tiered approach to the football championship and confirmed that such a structure could be introduced as …

Despite being kept scoreless for almost 18 minutes of Sunday’s Ulster Championship encounter with Fermanagh, the game panned out exactly how most would have expected for Donegal. Fermanagh defended like dogs in the opening quarter and kudos to them, that’s what they had to do in order to win the match. It worked for them last year when they took …

Monaghan will square off with Fermanagh in an all-Ulster clash as the draw for round one of the All Ireland football championship qualifiers was made on Monday. In another standout game, the winners of Kildare and Longford – who drew yesterday – will travel to Carlow while Westmeath who were defeated by Laois were handed a home tie against Waterford. …