Month: September 2021

Tipperary 2-16
Meath 1-14

AN AISHLING MOLONEY masterclass and goals from her clubmate Aisling McCarthy and Angela McGuigan steered 2017 champions Tipperary to All-Ireland intermediate championship glory once again.

Moloney fired 0-8 — 0-7 of that from play — at Croke Park, to lead the Premier county past 2018 finalists Meath, and restored their senior status after relegation last year.

After lifting the Mary Quinn Memorial Cup in 2017, Shane Ronayne’s charges competed well in the top flight last year, but found themselves back in the intermediate ranks this summer.

And it was Déja Vú for the Division 1 side as captain Samantha Lambert climbed the steps of the Hogan Stand to lift the silver. For Meath, who battled gamely throughout, it was just like 12 months ago when they fell short in the decider at the hands of Tyrone. 

It was a thrilling first half from start to finish, a total of 2-19 scored with Tipperary ahead by the minimum by the end of it. Tit-for-tat for the most part, the biggest margin at any stage was three points as the rain came down. 

The Royals started strongest, Vikki Wall beating Moloney to the throw-up and working the ball up the field for Aoibhín Cleary to split the posts at the Canal End. Australia-bound dual star Orla O’Dwyer responded immediately, with Moloney, McCarthy — who also plies her trade with AFLW outfit Western Bulldogs — and Caoimhe Condon making it 0-4 to 0-1 within five minutes.

Tipperary’s experience of the big stage shone through at times but anything that was thrown at them, Meath dealt with accordingly. From there, Wall and 17-year-old rising star Emma Duggan upped the ante on the scoring front, along with Fiona O’Neill.

Orla O’Dwyer on the ball.

Source: Oisin Keniry/INPHO

But anything they could do, the Premier could too with Moloney, Angela McGuigan and Anna Rose Kennedy all posting brilliant points on the front foot. On 20 minutes, Wall brought the gap to one — 0-8 to 0-7.

More Moloney excellence ensued, but O’Neill’s 24th-minute major put wind in the Royal’s sails; the Dunboyne star’s rattle of the net making it 1-7 to 0-9. Kelsey Nesbitt added another point onto that, but Tipperary soon stopped their momentum.

McGuigan stepped up with their all-important first-half goal, firing home after some great work from Ava Fennessy in the build-up. Duggan (free) and McCarthy exchanged minors in the final minute of the half, leaving it 1-10 to 1-9 as the whistle sounded.

The second period started much slower; a more tactical, cagey battle with the stakes so high and the margins for error so fine. Nine minutes passed without a score, with goal chances and vital interceptions at each end while Moloney kicked a few uncharacteristic wides.

But it was the Cahir ace who bit back after Bridgetta Lynch opened Meath’s tally to draw matters in the 39th minute.

And just after, her clubmate McCarthy raised a green flag at the same goal she did in the 2017 decider, to make in 2-11 to 1-10. O’Dwyer tagged on a point, and from there it looked as if it was Tipperary’s to lose.

To their credit, Meath never gave up and explored every avenue through Wall, Duggan and Dee Rangers’ Orlaith Duff’s heroics in defence. Stacey Grimes’ introduction from the bench lifted things, and she hit a free.

Fiona O’Neill faces Maria Curley.

Source: Bryan Keane/INPHO

Moloney led her charges phenomenally though, keeping the scoreboard ticking over alongside Ava Fennessy. And Wall’s 66th-minute offering would be the game’s last, but it was too little too late for Meath.

A sidenote, but one of importance: following the Royal’s failure to win today and Westmeath’s relegation, Dublin are now the only senior team in Leinster, leaving the provincial competition up in the air.

Scorers for Tipperary: Aishling Moloney (0-8, 1f), Angela McGuigan (1-1), Aisling McCarthy (1-2), Orla O’Dwyer (0-2), Caoimhe Condon (0-1), Anna Rose Kennedy (0-1), Ava Fennessy (0-1)

Scorers for Meath: Emma Duggan (0-5, 3f), Fiona O’Neill (1-1), Vikki Wall (0-4), Aoibhín Cleary (0-1), Kelsey Nesbitt (0-1), Bridgetta Lynch (0-1), Stacey Grimes (0-1)

Tipperary

1. Lauren Fitzpatrick (Ballymacarbry, Waterford)

2. Lucy Spillane (Fethard)
3. Maria Curley (Templemore)
4. Emma Cronin (Moyle Rovers)

5. Bríd Condon (Aherlow)
6. Samantha Lambert (Ardfinnan)
7. Caitlín Kennedy (Aherlow)

8. Aisling McCarthy (Cahir)
9. Anna Rose Kennedy (Aherlow)

10. Niamh Lonergan (Moyle Rovers)
11. Aishling Moloney (Cahir)
12. Orla O’Dwyer (Boherlahan)

13. Ava Fennessy (Clonmel Commercials)
14. Angela McGuigan (Sliabh na mBan)
15. Caoimhe Condon (Brian Borus)

Subs

18. Laura Dillon (Ardfinna) for Emma Cronin (HT)
17. Róisín Daly (Moyne Templetouhy) for Caoimhe Condon (42)
24. Orla Winston (Clonmel Commercials) for Angela McGuigan (50)

Meath

1. Monica McGuirk (Duleek/Bellewstown)

2. Katie Newe (Ratoath)
3. Orlaith Duff (Dee Rangers)
4. Sarah Powderly (Navan O’Mahony’s)

5. Orla Byrne (Duleek/Bellewstown)
6. Shauna Ennis (Na Fianna)
7. Sarah Wall (Dunboyne)

8. Máire O’Shaughnessy (Donaghmore/Ashbourne)
9. Aoibhín Cleary (Donaghmre/Ashbourne)

10. Emma Duggan (Dunboyne)
11. Vikki Wall (Dunboyne)
12. Megan Thynne (Dunsany)

13. Bridgetta Lynch (Oldcastle)
14. Kelsey Nesbitt (Simonstown)
15. Fiona O’Neill (Dunboyne)

Subs

25. Orlagh Lally (Clann na nGael) for Sarah Powderly (46)
29. Stacey Grimes (Seneschalstown) for Emma Duggan (47)
24. Megan O’Brien (St Michaels) for Orla Byrne (47)
30. Niamh Gallogly (Royal Gaels) for Shauna Ennis (65)
18. Emma White (St Patricks) for Sarah Wall (67)

Referee: Jonathan Murphy (Carlow). 

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1) The right three-in-a-row for Dublin

The outpour of emotion and scenes at the final whistle summed it up for this Dublin team. They’ve been through it all.

The moment the final whistle sounded.

Source: Bryan Keane/INPHO

The last three Septembers brought jubilant days, master-minded by Mick Bohan, with the icing certainly put on the cake today as they joined illustrious company and etched their name into ladies football three-in-a-row history alongside Cork and Kerry.

But one must not forget the three-in-a-row that came before, the three heartbreaking decider defeats to Cork in 2014, 2015 and 2016. As was referred to many times in the build-up, that’s the three-in-a-row this Dublin group remember. But today surely cancels that out.

The progression this team have made under Bohan has been incredible, and today’s treble just confirms their greatness. A weekend to remember for the capital after their male counterparts went five in-a-row last night.

2) A low-scoring, dogged – and bizarre – battle

An absolutely fierce one at Croke Park today, it wasn’t exactly the All-Ireland final we were anticipating between Dublin and Galway. 2-3 to 0-4 it finished, just nine scores hit between the sides as we waited 22 minutes for the first in torrid conditions.

Cometh the hour, cometh the women, and it was Sinéad Goldrick who popped up for a goal into the Hill 16 End. Though Galway took the game by the scruff of the neck and dominated at early doors, the Foxrock-Cabinteely star brilliantly marshalled her defence and forced the Tribe into rueing several chances. And when hers came up the other end, she took it.

Just one Galway point followed before the break, making it 1-0 to 0-1. As the conditions worsened, so did the scrappiness with mistakes made across the board. But goals win games, and Hannah O’Neill proved just that with her palmed effort ultimately putting the game to bed.

Dublin’s Jennifer Dunne is tackled by Barbara Hannon and Sinead Burke of Galway.

Source: Bryan Keane/INPHO

3) Another record-breaking attendance 

56,114. What a turn-out. 

Although today wasn’t exactly the best advertisement for ladies football, the crowd were brilliant throughout with each and every one of the players applauding it afterwards. The rain didn’t dampen the spirits, and when the announcement was made at half time to reveal the number of the day, the excitement well and truly shone through. 

Up and up and up, as the numbers from the past few years show:

2014: 27,3742015: 31,083

2016: 34,445

2017: 46,286

2018: 50,141

2019: 56,114

4) Dublin’s old guard stand up

Just take Lyndsey Davey as the prime example. Player of the Match today, she was one of the Sky Blues’ survivors from 2004 — the last time these counties last clashed in the final. Her work-rate was colossal, her presence in the build-up to that O’Neill goal imperative.

The Skerries Harps star also chipped in with a point, as did captain Sinéad Aherne, another stalwart from 2004. And the third, Siobhán McGrath, as per usual, was nothing short but admirable around the middle.

Another of their most experienced players, Noelle Healy led the way in a second half where the Dubs showed their true character. The 2017 Player of the Year was a late withdrawal from the starting 15, O’Neill her replacement, but when introduced from the bench, Healy came with fire in her belly and helped her side over the line with a nicely-taken point.

5) A great year ends on low for Galway 

Sinéad Burke dejected.

Source: Bryan Keane/INPHO

They came out with the right approach today, going at Dublin and getting their match-ups spot on. But their lack of experience on the biggest stage was evident. Their early misses definitely came back to haunt them and after losing Mairead Seoighe to the sin-bin, they were definitely chasing the game.

But this rising Galway side are to be admired. The’ve been tagged ‘the nearly team’ so many times before, but showed their true colours this year as they reached a first All-Ireland final since ’05. Their league final appearance will come as a boost too and with so many players coming into their prime, Tim Rabbitt’s team will definitely be back all guns blazing in 2020.

For Dublin, who knows what will happen next. Will some of their older players settle for three, or will they go in search of more? All will be revealed in due course, but one thing’s for sure, they’ll enjoy this one.

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A WINNING TEAM’S post-match press media briefing is always easier than the losers’.

And a wonderful story or two always comes out of it, this one about a special ball carrier who helped Dublin on their journey to lifting the Brendan Martin Cup once again.

Mick Bohan talks to his team after the game.

Source: Bryan Keane/INPHO

“Up the Dubs,” three in-a-row winning boss Mick Bohan proclaims as he comes into the room to face the music, a grin on him like a cheshire cat. What a weekend.

And off he goes to give his immediate feelings, basically without a question asked.

“Conditions made it very difficult,” the Clontarf man conceded. “In the women’s game, they obviously don’t have the same distance in the kick as they do in the lads so it makes it more difficult to break it down, particularly obviously the way Galway set-up today.

“Credit to them, they came with a plan, they executed it well and made it extremely difficult for us to spray the ball which is obviously what we try to do, but, Jesus, what a day for characters.

“There were so many scraps won around the field, so many of them on the floor. You just have to be immensely proud of our group after that.”

Happy enough so?

“Isn’t it amazing,” he smiles, before speaking at length about how strange yesterday was trying to avoid the hype surrounding their male counterparts and the Drive for Five they successfully completed. 

We’re involved with the ladies team but at the end of the day, we’re all Dubs. We are obviously immensely proud. What a weekend to be a Dub. To be involved in a GAA family, you bring up your sons and daughters to play the games and within 24 hours of each other, we’ve presented incredible sports heroes to people in this city.

That game was watched on TV but not attended, the entire focus on the job at hand today.

Galway started well, Dublin looked nervous, he says. And he refers back to a swim this morning on which he kept thinking about how unsettled his side had been previously in the summer with injuries and departures, and how, as a result, the pressure of three in-a-row hadn’t crossed his mind. 

With stalwarts Lyndsey Davey (30) and Siobhan McGrath (31) to his right at the top table, Bohan went on to dish out some high praise for the more experienced side of his panel.

“Isn’t it some testament to the older group of our players,” he continued. “That was an absolute war out there today. And all the scraps, but if you look at the key scraps in that game they were won by the older players. It just shows.

Lyndsey Davey and Sarah Fagan celebrate.

Source: Oisin Keniry/INPHO

“Lyndsey (firefighter) is talking about 15 years. McGrath (accountant) would be very close on the same thing. But look what they did. When you talk about developing people for the world, for so many different skillsets. I look around our camp at the moment and see those leaders. That is what they do. They do that in so many ways night after night.

That is what we saw out there today; it wasn’t pretty, but character. Today was all about character and their character stood up a little bit higher than what Galway’s was. That is no disrespect to them at all. They need to learn their trade and you can only do it by getting here.

“That little bit of experience that comes year after year. You can imagine how proud we are going back into that dressing room.”

Davey and McGrath pick up from there between them, returning the praise for their manager and speaking about how far ladies football has come in their time.

That, perhaps, reminds Bohan of that special someone, the mascot present with the Blues Sisters today. How these players are role models, and how this win is about so much more for this group of players.

“I don’t know if you saw it outside there, there was a little girl, Niamh McMorrow from Trim,” he begins. 

“I don’t know if you were familiar with her story, but she had an accident. Nine or 10 months ago, she had an epileptic fit and fell down the stairs in her grandmother’s house and she severed her spine.”

He mentions some medically-involved players in the set-up: Noelle Healy (doctor) and Lucy Collins (physiotherapist) and explains how this all came about then.

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“I think I had done a football course in Trim or something like that, and her Dad made contact with us. At that time, it was quite bleak. Obviously she had to go through surgery and the chances of regaining the power of your legs is very slim.

Her Dad, in fairness to him, set a goal quite quickly after she had surgery. If we were to get to an All-Ireland final that she’d lead us out. Even at that time, our medical staff and the girls who are involved in medicine themselves would have said that it possibly was an unrealistic goal. She walked out with the match ball today. 

“What’s incredible about that is… I would have felt, and I think the girls will back this up, we were incredibly lucky that someone wanted to contact us to help in that regard, which anyone would try and do if you can create some kind of a role model.

“Gaelic games is her sport, and we would have felt her achievement today was bigger than ours. The fact that people call on you for that type of stuff is just, I think, remarkable. We were immensely proud of her and it did mean an awful lot to our group, for anyone that might have seen what happened outside.”

Noelle Healy facing Orla Murphy.

Source: Oisin Keniry/INPHO

He points out former Dublin footballers Jimmy Keaveny and Brian Mullins, as two of his sporting heroes growing up, and discusses how Johnny Sexton, Brian O’Driscoll and Paul Flynn are some other younger girls have looked up to over the past few years.

But now, it’s different. People like these female Dublin players are heroes across the length and breadth of the country.

“Now, look what has happened,” he smiles. “That exposure to female sports… and we didn’t come in banging a drum for this by any means, the bottom line is the knock-on effect of key role models like you have here is so important.

“I don’t know how many hours in the gym that young kid had to do to try and mobilise again, to put her weight on her feet, but she needed help.

Someone to aspire to, somebody who just would give her a bit of direction. The girls would have texted her and called into her, quite a number of the girls in the squad called in over that period of time, and kept in touch.

“To see those things… as we all know, there’s more to sport than just sport. That’s one of the things that comes out of days like today. You win a medal or a trophy or whatever else, but there’s so much more to life than that.

“A big day, a huge achievement and, oh, we’re going to have some craic, lads,” he concludes.

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Updated Sep 16th 2019, 7:15 AM

A DISAPPOINTING END to a great 2019 for Galway ladies, but Tim Rabbitt has backed his troops to go again after their All-Ireland final defeat to Dublin.

This summer, the Tribe reached a first All-Ireland final since 2005 after falling short at the semi-final stage so many times before and yesterday’s 2-3 to 0-4 defeat to Mick Bohan’s three-in-a-row champions comes as just a “stopping point” on the journey.

A bizarre final — the lowest scoring since 2003′s 1-4 to 0-5 meeting of Mayo and Dublin — it’s one Rabbitt and his side will learn a lot from. 

They were out of the blocks brightest, with their match-ups and intentions spot on, but in the end, Dublin’s experience of the big stage reigned supreme and they grabbed the all-important goals, while Galway will rue their early misses.

“As often happens in these games you get [and miss] a couple of chances like that and you’re hoping it won’t be the deciding factor,” he said afterwards, “but it was a really good start from our guys and we just didn’t take the opportunities when they came.

“What was it – five scores to four? Every chance then was going to be very important.

Galway manager Rabbitt.

Source: Oisin Keniry/INPHO

“There were no nerves today. It wasn’t that we didn’t perform. This is a developing team, we were very calm, we were well in the game for long periods. We just made too many turnovers at crucial periods and Dublin, being the team that they are, punished us.

To only concede five scores in a match, and especially against Dublin, you’d expect to win a game but they are worthy All-Ireland champions and congrats to them on the three in-a-row.

He says Galway knew it was going to be a “different kind of game” to their “open” All-Ireland semi-final win over Mayo after past experiences with Dublin, and that conditions definitely wouldn’t have helped the low-scoring nature of yesterday’s battle. Not the best advertisement for ladies football.

“It never stopped raining for the whole game so conditions were bad but it was more missed chances,” he noted. “Dublin missed a few in the first half, we missed a few but yes, I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in a game with just two scores at half time.

It’s unusual but that’s just the way it unfolded. I never thought it was going to be a shoot-out today. We couldn’t allow it to be, we had to be sure to be defensively strong, but we didn’t take our chances when they came.

“Once they got the goals, we were going into a lot of traffic and they turned over a lot of ball against us which we knew would happen but we had to take to take the game to them in the end.”

The Galway bench link arms before throw-in.

Source: Oisin Keniry/INPHO

The end of 2019 it is so, but definitely not the end of this Galway team.

They’ll go again, Oranmore/Maree man Rabbitt, who stepped up to the helm after coming in as a selector under Stephen Glennon last year, insists.

We’re on a bit of a journey at the moment and this is only a stopping point on it,” he said of his 2019 league finalists.

“The girls have been absolutely brilliant all year and put in a super effort. Everyone; players, county board, sponsors really came together and maybe that’s something that’s been lacking in Galway football before, that backing each other and rowing in together.

“But that certainly has been there this year and we want to build on that now.”

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AS THE CURTAINS fall down on the 2019 inter-county campaign, the only issues left to be resolved are the end-of-season awards that will be handed out in November.

Five-in-a-row champions Dublin are expected to dominate the All-Star team and they’ve plenty of contenders to be crowned Footballer of the Year too.

Five Dublin players have won the top prize this decade – Bernard Brogan, Alan Brogan, Michael Darragh Macauley, Jack McCaffrey and Brian Fenton – and they’re likely to add another this winter.

Let’s have a look at the frontrunners for the award. 

1. Con O’Callaghan (Dublin)

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O’Callaghan was selected as the Sunday Game panel’s top footballer of 2019, confirming his status as the frontrunner for the crown. One of three former Young Footballers of the Year on this list, O’Callaghan reached new heights this summer. 

He became Dublin’s primary score getter and finished as their top scorer from play with 4-14 in eight games. He bulked up during the off-season and proved a nightmare for defenders all summer. The 23-year-old shone with a four-point haul on Saturday night. The Cuala star will only get better in the coming years, given he’s just completed his third season as a starter.

2. Stephen Cluxton (Dublin)

At 37, Cluxton would be the oldest player in history to land the honour. Offaly legend Martin Furlong was 36 when he was named Footballer of the Year in 1982 after his side prevented Kerry from doing the five-in-a-row. 

The Parnells stopper’ is the most influential player of the modern game. After saving a penalty in the drawn game, he gave another big display on the replay as Dublin lost just two of his kick-outs and he made an important stop on Stephen O’Brien.

Billy Morgan (in 1971) was the only other goalkeeper to win the top prize, could Cluxton become the third? 

3. Jack McCaffrey (Dublin)

A previous winner in 2015, McCaffrey was also shortlisted for the award last year. He’s been one of Dublin’s most consistent players during their current unbeaten run.

McCaffrey’s performance and his tally of 1-3 in the first game will go down as one of the great All-Ireland final displays. He stood up on an afternoon where a number of Dublin’s key men endured quiet games.

A hamstring injury which prevented him from sprinting saw Dublin remove the Clontarf flyer at the interval, but he enjoyed another stellar season.

4. David Clifford (Kerry)

Clifford is the only non-Dublin player to make our shortlist. Given the competition for places in the full-forward line he’s not a guaranteed All-Star but remains the most likely candidate from a county outside the champions to win the top prize.

It’s hard to believe he only made his debut last year, such is the influence Clifford already has on his team. He managed to kick 0-5 in the replay, four from play, despite being tightly marked by Mick Fitzsimons and with Jonny Cooper sweeping in front.  

He posted 0-24 this summer in seven games and created a whole lot more. 

5. Paul Mannion (Dublin)

Mannion is in enjoying the best spell in his football career. He’ll win his third All-Star in-a-row this winter and 2019 will go down as his strongest season in the Dublin jersey.

Mannion helped Kilmacud Crokes lift the Dublin SFC title 12 months ago and continued his excellent form right through 2019. He clipped over 0-5 in a semi-final masterclass against Mayo and chipped in with six points over the two finals. 

6. Ciaran Kilkenny (Dublin)

Kilkenny’s brilliant replay showing gives him an outside chance of winning the top award. He was unfortunate to lose out to Fenton a year ago when the Raheny man was crowned Footballer of the Year. 

Kilkenny kicked four points in Saturday’s final from centre-forward and dictated the Dublin attack. He was quiet in the drawn game but delivered in a big way on his second outing. 

Honourable mentions: Brian Fenton, Brian Howard, Sean O’Shea, Stephen O’Brien, David Moran, Paul Geaney.

****

Who do you think deserves to be named 2019 Footballer of the Year? Let us know in the comments section below.

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THE COMPLETION OF Dublin’s Drive for Five on Saturday night was a huge TV hit for RTÉ, with over 1.1 million people tuning in as Jim Gavin’s side made All-Ireland SFC history.

A peak audience of 1,123,300 watched the All-Ireland football final replay against Kerry on the RTÉ 2′s The Saturday Game Live, with Dublin running out six-point winners to wrap up a first-ever five-in-a-row in the GAA.

A statement from the national broadcaster reveals that an average of 966,600 viewers tuned in for the showdown, a share of 72.3% of those watching TV at the time. Additionally, RTÉ Player welcomed a total of 140,808 streams.

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Likewise, for the drawn game, the audience peaked at 1.1 million viewers, while the average audience was 968,700.

“It’s a fitting testament to two great teams that audiences again tuned in to RTÉ in such huge numbers to witness the climax of a great GAA Championship year,” RTÉ Group Head of Sport, Declan McBennett said.

Elsewhere there were record numbers for the TG4 All-Ireland ladies football finals on TG4. While a record-breaking attendance of 56,114 — just short of the 57,900 at this summer’s Fifa Women’s World Cup final — saw Dublin, Tipperary and Louth lift silverware at Croke Park, those at home tuned in on TG4.

Source: TG4.

In all, 666,000 watched, with an average audience of 252,500 observing the senior final between Dublin and Galway — that’s a rise of over 70,000 from 2018, and makes this the second-highest viewing figure for a ladies’ final on TG4 since it first started to broadcast the games in 2001.

Viewing peaked at 358,440 and the match took a 30% share, making TG4 comfortably the most popular channel in Ireland yesterday afternoon.  

Back to Saturday night’s figures, they come on the back of an increase across the board on RTÉ in 2019, with Dublin’s semi-final meeting with Mayo watched by 697,000 fans; yielding a 63% share of viewing. That was 244,000 more than watched last year’s semi-final game between Dublin and Galway, which commanded a 47% share.

The following day last month, Peter Keane’s Kingdom saw off Tyrone in their last four battle with 546,000 tuning into the action. That’s a 22% increase on 2018’s semi-final clash of Ulster rivals Monaghan and Tyrone (449,000).

Average viewing for all of RTÉ’s Super 8s games this year was 344,000, opposed to 303,000 in 2018.

Source: Declan McBennettRTE/Twitter.

In the small ball code, the 17 SHC matches RTÉ showed threw up an average share of 46.9%, up from 45.6% in 2018. Over 800,000 people tuned in to Tipperary’s emphatic All-Ireland final victory over Kilkenny. 

That same weekend in August, the All-Ireland camogie semi-finals attracted impressive figures with interest growing year-on-year there too. The All-Ireland quarter-finals registered an 11% increase in average thousands, while the semi-finals grew by 18%.

– Updated after the release of TG4′s numbers for the ladies finals

Former Ireland performance analyst and current coaching wizard of OZ Eoin Toolan joins Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey to predict Ireland’s World Cup, break down every pool, and call the overall winners.

Source: The42 Rugby Weekly/SoundCloud

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FRESH FROM CLIMBING the steps of the Hogan Stand and lifting the Brendan Martin Cup once again, Dublin’s three-in-a-row All-Ireland champions continued a fine tradition and shared the celebrations with those in Crumlin’s Children Hospital this morning.

All-Star defender Rachel Ruddy, who works as a physiotherapist at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital led the way with the silverware, with smiles all round as her team-mates and members of management shared their joy with the staff and patients present. 

Ruddy arriving with the Brendan Martin Cup.

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

Mick Bohan’s Sky Blues were 2-3 to 0-4 winners over Galway after a dogged battle in front of a record-breaking crowd of 56,114 at Croke Park yesterday. After suffering three final losses to Cork between 2014 and 2016, they made it a third consecutive All-Ireland title yesterday, joining their male counterparts on a weekend to remember for the city.

One to savour, but it’s about much more than that.

The All-Ireland champions Dublin were in Temple Street Children's Hospital today as the celebrations continued on a Blue Monday #RTEgaa pic.twitter.com/8lttgBK5vA

— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) September 16, 2019

“Going into some of the rooms with kids who have just had heart surgery, the parents are like, ‘Oh my God, your knee,’” star forward Nicole Owens explained to RTÉ’s Evanne Ní Chuilinn after recently undergoing surgery for cruciate damage. “I’m like, ‘I’m fine!’

Sport seems so important but at the end of the day, it’s something that we enjoy and it’s a privilege that we get to enjoy it. Coming in here really does put all that into perspective.

Perspective, indeed.

Here’s a look at the heartwarming scenes:

Five-year-old Lauren Knight from Donabate and 11-year-old Kate Cullivan from Naas with the Dublin team

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

Lauren Knight with goalkeeper Ciara Trant, Player of the Match Lyndsey Davey and All-Star defender Rachel Ruddy 

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

Ruddy, who works in Crumlin, with her colleagues 

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

Darragh Carroll, 10 months with Trant, Onnagh Whyte, Davey and Nicole Owens

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

Brid O’Connell and her two-month-old son Geoff McGovern with Hannah O’Neill, Jennifer Dunne and Sarah Fagan

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

Goal-scorer O’Neill with baby Geoff

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

Alex Daly from Stillorgan with members of the Dublin team

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

Three’s a charm!

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

Six-month-old James Ryan from Mayo with O’Neill, Kate Sullivan, Olwen Carey and Jennifer Dunne

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

A few more, including defence coach Paul Casey, join the party

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

There was a lot of love for baby James 

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

Former Ireland performance analyst and current coaching wizard of OZ Eoin Toolan joins Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey to predict Ireland’s World Cup, break down every pool, and call the overall winners.

Source: The42 Rugby Weekly/SoundCloud

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THE GAA’S CENTRAL Council will debate the introduction of a new Tier 2 football championship at next month’s Special Congress, in addition to three new proposed playing rules.

Last Friday, the Gaelic Players Association called on Central Council to delay the planned vote on the proposals for a two-tier competition, saying the established Fixtures Task Force need further time to develop their own recommendations. 

But the GAA will press ahead with Central Council set to put forward a proposed format for a vote at the Special Congress, which takes place at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on 19 October.

Under this proposal provincial championships will be played as currently. The All-Ireland qualifiers will be open to teams from Divisions 1 and 2 and any Division 3 or 4 teams who qualify for their provincial final.

This will mean only two full rounds of All-Ireland qualifiers in future as opposed to four – an additional preliminary round is provided for however, in years where more than eight teams are eligible to participate in round 1.

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It is proposed to then introduce a new straight knockout Tier 2 championship for all Division 3 and 4 teams that do not reach their provincial finals.

The GAA says a range of marketing and promotional supports will be committed to the new competition, as well as the use of Croke Park for semi-finals and finals and a planned increase in TV coverage.

A vote will also be taken on the proposed permanent introduction of three rules at all levels of the game:

• The taking of all kick-outs from the 20 metre line
• The introduction of a 10-minute ‘sin bin’ for players who receive a black card
• The awarding of a ‘mark’ to players who cleanly catch a ball kicked from on or outside the opposition’s 45m line, that travels at least 20m and without touching the ground

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Ciaran Kilkenny takes the ball forward.

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

ONE OF DUBLIN’S great strengths is the versatility of their players. 

James McCarthy, for instance, regularly moves between half-back and midfield, while he’s been used as an emergency full-back on the likes of Michael Murphy and Tommy Walsh in recent years. 

Jonny Cooper can play anywhere in the defence, Brian Howard operates across the half-forward line or midfield, Paul Mannion spent a few years at wing-forward before returning to his natural role in the corner and Con O’Callaghan broke onto the team as a creator at centre-forward but has been used at their primary scorer at full-forward this year.  

Perhaps none of Jim Gavin’s troops can perform such a wide range of duties as Ciaran Kilkenny. The Castleknock man burst onto the scene as a high-scoring inside forward with the Dublin U21s in 2012.

He scored 2-30 during their run to All-Ireland glory, before establishing himself on the senior team in a formidable half-forward line alongside Diarmuid Connolly and Paul Flynn. Kilkenny’s three All-Stars have all come on the half-forward line, but he did play closer to goal last season when he scored 2-24 in the championship. 

When McCarthy went down with a knee injury in 2016, Kilkenny filled in as a ball-carrying wing-back. He racked up an impressive 52 possessions in their quarter-final win over Donegal that year.

“I love playing wherever for the team,” Kilkenny said in 2017. “I played centre-back a lot for my club when I was younger. And actually when I was younger than that, I played a lot at full-back as well.

“So I love playing in defence. I get a great thrill out of it. Half-forward, half-back and midfield, they’re all nearly the same role. You’re in the thick of things. You get to get on breaking ball, you can get tackles in, you get on the play and support the attack.”

Dublin manager Jim Gavin embraces Ciaran Kilkenny after the final whistle.

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

When Dublin became more possession-based from 2015 onwards, Kilkenny assumed the role of the team’s de-facto point guard. He was the man tasked with running the offence, switching the point of the attack and feeding Dublin’s shooters. 

Kilkenny incredibly logged 62 possessions in the semi-final defeat of Tyrone two years ago, underlining his importance to his team. 

“In a basketball team the point guard’s role in general is to get the ball to the scorers,” former Irish basketball captain Tim McCarthy told The42 before the final that season.

“To me Kilkenny is the point guard, because what he does is he surveys the whole situation. What he does is find players. If you look at the point guard’s role, it’s to get the ball to the scorers. Ciaran Kilkenny in Dublin gets the ball to the scorers.”

Earlier that year, Kilkenny observed that a key part of his role was ensuring his side hold onto the ball.

“An important aspect when you’re playing against blanket defences is retaining possession,” he stated.

He had a stunning pass completion rate of 99.4% in the 2018 championship, completing 144 of 145 handpasses and all 24 of his kick-passes last season. 

Kilkenny was similarly efficient during Saturday night’s replay, completing 33 of his 34 passes by hand or foot. He registered 40 touches of the ball, with eight of those coming in the final 10 minutes as Dublin ran down the clock and dominated possession. 

The 26-year-old was tracked by Brian O Beaglaoich for most of the game this time around and played the entire first-half at left-half forward.

The vast majority of his plays during the opening period came down the left channel, but when Kilkenny reverted to 11 after the restart he got himself on the ball in every sector of the field. 

Kilkenny started both halves at centre-forward. For the throw-ups he generally makes a direct run towards the midfielders, leaving a huge gap down the middle.

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Dublin’s inside trio of O’Callaghan, Dean Rock and Mannion kept wide as Kerry were criminally exposed down the spine of their rearguard.

Nothing came of it in the first-half, but Eoin Murchan exploited the ocean of space created by Kilkenny’s run at the start of the second period to bag the game’s only goal. 

Superb start from the second half throw-in! Eoin Murchan with a @DubGAAOfficial goal pic.twitter.com/5ZlV9vLKVI

— The GAA (@officialgaa) September 14, 2019

After going scoreless in the drawn game, Kilkenny looked determined to make his mark from the off on Saturday night. He had his first score on the board within 90 seconds and his second arrived in the sixth minute after neat link-up play with O’Callaghan.

He provided the pass for scores from Davy Byrne and O’Callaghan during the first period and then tagged on his third point of the night in the 21st minute after an incisive run. By that stage his initial marker Gavin Crowley had been switched with O Beaglaoich.

(Click here if you can’t view the clip above)

Kilkenny’s fourth point arrived after a glorious Diarmuid Connolly slicer that dropped invitingly into his paw.

Sublime pass by Diarmuid Connolly here to set up a Ciarán Kilkenny point! pic.twitter.com/gg7Tabwqls

— The GAA (@officialgaa) September 14, 2019

Kilkenny frequently foraged back in the second-half and pulled off a brilliant block on Jack Sherwood in the 52nd minute to deny Kerry a score.

(Click here if you can’t view the clip above)

After turning it over, Dublin broke upfield and patiently probed for an opening with Mannion curling over a nice effort after a good screen from Niall Scully. Scully’s subtle check on the defender was another sign of the basketball influence on this Dublin side. 

Gavin’s side frequently use a number of techniques from the hardcourt to engineer space. One example of this is the backdoor cut, which Kieran Donaghy explained in detail earlier this summer.

It’s a move that counteracts defenders who mark up high and attempt to cut out the forward looping around the ball carrier to have a shot at the posts.

Kilkenny likes the trick and he pulled it off twice in the first-half and he was unlucky not to have been awarded a free for a foul by Paul Murphy in the first instance.

(Click here if you can’t view the clip above)

The three-time All-Star frequently changed the focus of the attack when Dublin needed a quick switch and injected pace into the moves by embarking on 12 solo runs at the Kerry defence. 

A deserved man-of-the-match award followed for Kilkenny and he may yet be nominated for Footballer of the Year for the third time in his career.

“It means absolutely everything,” a delighted Kilkenny told Sky Sports afterwards.

“What we put into the last couple of weeks, in terms of preparation, recovery, getting around each other. Our families having to put up with us at home. It just means so much to us. Everyone is so emotional out there on the field.

“Fair play to Kerry, they’re such a great team. Getting over the line just means so much to us. I’ve never felt anything like that before in my life. Everyone running around to each other after the game, it’s an incredible feeling.

“That’s what football is for, that’s what the GAA is all about, and we’re absolutely delighted.

“I’m so lucky – my dad packs my bag before the games and polishes my boots. They do everything for me. My mam just has to put up with me being cranky around the house.

“My family, my close network of friends, they’ve been so supportive throughout the year and we’re just delighted we’ve done it.”

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A QUICK LOOK through the programme from All-Ireland final day yesterday shows that just four Dublin players are currently over the age of 30.

Siobhan McGrath, Sinead Aherne and Lyndsey Davey.

Source: Inpho Sports.

Captain Sinéad Aherne, who again climbed the steps of the Hogan Stand to lift the Brendan Martin Cup and seal three-in-a-row for Mick Bohan’s charges, is the eldest at 33. Siobhán McGrath and Rachel Ruddy — who came on as a second-half substitute — are both 31, while Player of the Match Lyndsey Davey is 30.

In a dogged battle against Galway in front of a record-breaking attendance of 56,114 at Croke Park, experience of the biggest stage shone through as the old guard ultimately pulled the Sky Blues over the line.

A repeat of the 2004 decider meeting with the Tribe, just Aherne, Davey and McGrath were the survivors on the field yesterday. And pivotal parts, they all played.

This morning, a brilliant photograph circulated of 15-year-old Davey with her hands on her head after that loss 15 years ago, alongside one of the Skerries Harps star all smiles receiving her Player of the Match award yesterday. 

Source: DublinLGFA/Twitter.

Often an unsung hero of this side, the four-time All-Star is consistently brilliant and there’s no sign of her slowing down any time soon. The Dublin Airport firefighter has been there through the ups and downs, the highs and lows, the four All-Ireland final victories (2010, 2017, 2018, 2019) and five defeats (2004, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2016; not ’03, though)

Herself and Thomas Davis warrior McGrath, who is enjoying her second coming in the blue jersey after re-joining the Dublin set-up ahead of last season, joined Bohan in yesterday’s post-match media briefing; the two stalwarts’ smiles at the top table of the auditorium deep in the bowels of the Hogan Stand said it all.

Conditions were tougher than they looked, they stressed to begin, but one word which was mentioned over and over again throughout was character. Both in the second half of that showdown, but in times gone by, too.

“I think a lot has to be said for the character and resilience of the team over six years,” Davey rightly points out. 

To go from losing three All-Irelands to when Mick came in [in 2017]. What Mick has done these past three years, to bounce back and to win three in-a-row is just phenomenal work. I think it really is a team effort. The backroom team have just been amazing, the girls on the pitch… he’s really given us all the tools we need to go out and perform.

As the 56,114 crowd comes up, it allows for a period of reflection for the players. Davey came in in 2004, McGrath made her inter-county debut that same year. Credit to all involved for just how much ladies football has grown, they say.

The changes have been seismic. 

When I was younger, you come into Croke Park watching the men and you see a full stadium,” Davey remembers. “You are just like, I would love that to be us one day.

“You don’t know whether you will be playing by the time that happens. But 15 years later, we are still here. Even going around that pitch, the full stadium, bar the Hill, for the us to see where we have come from, it was a very special moment for us. It’s brilliant to be a part of that history.”

“Better and better every year,” McGrath grins. 

McGrath (centre) celebrating with clubmate Olwen Carey, Lauren Magee and Noelle Heaky at the final whistle.

Source: Bryan Keane/INPHO

There was some doubt ahead of this season whether Davey, now after completing her 16th campaign, would return to the set-up.

There was a conversation with Bohan, who Davey said at the time is “a very persuasive man” and there’s a laugh when that is mentioned. 

“We’re certainly glad we didn’t hang up the boots last year anyway, that’s for sure!” she grins, with a nod to the man on her immediate left. 

“It’s one of those things. It’s very unpredictable, sport. To give another year is a massive commitment. There’s no guarantee that we were going to get back here and have the chance to go for three-in-a-row.

“So many people were saying to me, ‘Keep playing while you can because those days, you look back and they’re gone forever.’ It is a massive decision every year. I’ve been saying ‘one more year’ for a lot of years now.

But I tell you, when I found out Mick was coming on board three years ago, I was definitely back in. Who would have thought three years later we’d be sitting here after winning our third All-Ireland, it’s just unbelievable.

Then Bohan interjects, with a mention for Davey, McGrath and Aherne, who were in very different places upon the Clontarf man’s — manager in 2003, too — return to the set-up in 2017. 

Time for an anecdote first, though, to depict the intensity of life in the camp.

“One of our members of our management team, Redzer, Elaine Kelly, is a psychologist during the day,” Bohan explains. “She does an awful lot of work with our girls, trying to help them through all the different challenges that are put in front of them.

After about three months last year I was asking her how she was getting on. ‘Getting on great,’ she said. ‘You spend about 12 hours a week breaking them, and I spend about 20 hours a week fixing them.’

“The reality being if you look back three years ago when we came in, Sinéad Aherne was on the brink of packing it in. There’s trauma involved in those defeats, as you can imagine. Lyndsey was undecided, McGrath was in Australia.”

Davey celebrating with Niamh Hetherton.

Source: Oisin Keniry/INPHO

“We got her back,” Davey pipes up.

In September 2017, McGrath was one of the 46,286 watching on as Dublin made it fourth time lucky and lifted the All-Ireland title for the first time since 2010. That January, she had returned to home soil after two-and-a-half years in Australia.

McGrath had left shortly after the 2014 All-Ireland final loss; the first of three back-to-back heartbreaking defeats to Cork. “I just needed a break from everything – I needed to go and be different for a while,” as she told The42 last September.

The accountant thought she had done her time for Dublin, but that persuasive man soon came knocking upon her return to these shores in early 2017.

We had heard she was coming back and we approached her,” Bohan explains. “True to form she said to us, ‘Look, I haven’t got the work done to come in at this stage of the year. I wouldn’t make a difference.’ We felt she could have.

The following year, she felt so herself, and she came back swinging. A key figure in their Brendan Martin Cup lift last September, McGrath was the same again this year and was incredibly influential around the middle yesterday.

I think we both benefited from that, she’s been an incredible player,” Bohan added on the eventual acceptance of his invitation. “She’s as tough as nails and in that engine room, you need that.

“Obviously then the likes of Lyndsey and Sinéad have just been so, so important for us. It’s incredible, not just what they do out there but what younger kids pick up off them. It’s those messages… no matter how many times we say it, you have to see it. You have to watch it, you have to follow someone else’s lead and that’s what they get off this group.”

She’s asked about her shift around the middle as the last question of the day, and while slightly less vocal than the others up to that point, McGrath took the opportunity to open up from her perspective and echo some of the previous sentiments Davey had shared. 

Tough playing midfield, she begins, but on a day like that and in those conditions, you’re playing everywhere. 

McGrath (centre) and Davey celebrate with Deirdre Murphy after last September’s win.

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

“Sinéad Aherne came back and got a great tackle in the half-back line,” she adds. “If everyone around you is working hard, which is the motto of this team, then everyone is doing the same job. It’s tough.

“To add the point of being older players etc etc, just the progression of the ladies game and the likes of what Mick brought in and his management team… it’s been very easy for the likes of me and Lyndsey to get ourselves into the conditioning that we need to.

“What Mick has brought to the game and the management team he brought in has given us the tools to push us to be there. I don’t feel my age, to be honest with you, when I’m out there.

“I think this is good for the ladies game going forward because you can see all the other teams are the same. Strength and conditioning is just so much better than what it used to be.

It’s what makes me not have to think about whether or not I’ll play for Dublin. I want to play, I’m loving every minute of being back. Credit to management team and the girls that are there, they’ve made it such a joy to be part of.

The best day yet?

“Yes,” she smiles, without a second thought.

Most definitely deserved for these admirable stalwarts who have soldiered together year after year.

Former Ireland performance analyst and current coaching wizard of OZ Eoin Toolan joins Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey to predict Ireland’s World Cup, break down every pool, and call the overall winners.

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