Month: September 2021

Kevin O’Brien reports from Pearse Stadium

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

1. Anthony Cunningham’s impact

IN THIS FIRST season in charge, Anthony Cunningham has delivered a Connacht title after thrilling away wins over both big guns Mayo and Galway. It’s a remarkable achievement for Cunningham and another trophy to go into his extensive medal collection.

A two-time All-Ireland hurling winner with Galway as a player in the 1980s, Cunningham led St Brigid’s and Garrycastle to Connacht and Leinster club football crowns respectively. In hurling he delivered Galway U21s to All-Ireland success and brought the Tribe to two All-Ireland senior finals, in addition to delivering a Leinster title.

This Connacht victory deserves to go right up there with the St Thomas native’s greatest achievements on the sideline. His decision to bring 25-year-old Kerry forward Conor Cox on board this season has also proved a masterstroke.

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

2. Roscommon return to the Super 8s

Roscommon are the first team to book their place in the Super 8s this season. As a group, they were extremely disappointed with their performance at the All-Ireland quarter-final phase in 2018.

The Rossies lost their three games against Tyrone, Donegal and Dublin by a total of 39 points and looked a level or two below their opponents last year.

Physically, they appear better placed to contend in the Super 8s this campaign and they have a month to get the bodies right before their next championship game on the weekend of 13/14 July.

As Connacht champions they’ll go into a group with the Leinster winners, and the runners-up in Munster and Ulster – or the team that beats them in the final round of the qualifiers.

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

3. Galway’s second-half collapse

This defeat is a significant blow for a Galway squad who’ve badly struggled with injuries this campaign. Connacht champions in 2016 and 2018, Galway without their best player Damien Comer who hasn’t featured yet this season after undergoing foot surgery.

Midfielders Ciaran Duggan and Paul Conroy were also significant absentees for Kevin Walsh’s side, but the manner of their second-half collapse will be deeply concerning to their manager. 

In a devastating seven-minute spell before the break, Galway reeled off five unanswered scores and would add just 0-2 to that tally in the second-half with a strong wind at their backs.

Ian Burke found himself well shackled by David Murray, although  Galway failed to deliver any quality ball into the All-Star in the second period. The Tribe converted just two of their nine scoring chances after half-time, which sums up their day.

4. Half-time Roscommon changes

Trailing by 0-10 to 0-5 at the interval, Cunningham opted to move Cathal Cregg closer to goal in the link role he performed so well in against Mayo. Enda Smith, who had been operating in that position, withdrew to the middle third and helped Roscommon compete better on the kick-outs.

Cregg had a decisive impact for Diarmuid Murtagh’s 40th-minute goal. Cregg claimed possession around the 45 and ran at the Galway defence before releasing Murtagh with a deft handpass. Murtagh’s low finish past Ruairi Lavelle gave Roscommon a massive lift, bringing them to within a point so soon after the restart. 60 seconds later, Cox was curling over the equalising score.

From there Roscommon never looked back, with Cox and Murtagh in devastating form up front. They competed for better on the breaking ball at centre-field, as Galway counted the cost of Fiontain O Curraoin’s injury-enforced departure after 21 minutes.

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

5. Can Galway save their season?

The Tribesmen head to a round 4 qualifier on the weekend of 6/7 July with plenty of question marks hanging over them. There are a few big guns lurking in the backdoor system, with Mayo, Tyrone and Monaghan three potential opponents they could face.

The side that reached the last four of the All-Ireland series in 2018 have not been playing with the same sort of quality or purpose this season.

That could be put down to the spate of injuries they’ve suffered or coach Paddy Tally’s departure over the winter to take charge of Down. Or it may be the case that the defensive style of football Galway are employing is beginning to grate on the players.

It doesn’t look like a whole lot of fun to play in the Galway team at the minute. When the tide turned against them in the third quarter, their players showed little ability to think on their feet and change up their attacking style.

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They have three weeks to figure things out before a season-defining qualifier clash.

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Connacht champions!

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

Supporting the Ireland women’s hockey team at the FIH Series Final

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Source: PressEye/Jonathan Porter/INPHO

Dublin fans celebrate their incredible win over Galway in the Leinster SHC

Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO

Usain Bolt taking on Jamie Carragher at a Soccer Aid match for UNICEF

Source: Nigel French

Robbie Brady celebrating his goal against Gibraltar

Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO

Carli Lloyd with her teammates after scoring at the Women’s World Cup

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Bohemians players rejoice following their win over Shamrock Rovers

Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO

Great view for Rory McIlroy at the US Open

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Ireland’s Rob Russell at full stretch for at the World Rugby U20 Championship

Source: Pablo Gasparini/INPHO

Cork boss John Meyler playing peekaboo before taking on Clare in the Munster SHC

Source: Laszlo Geczo/INPHO

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LIMERICK HURLING FANS will get to see their sides in action at home in two finals on Sunday 30 June after the venue was confirmed for the 2019 Munster senior and minor deciders.

LIT Gaelic Grounds will host the senior showdown at 2pm as Limerick face Tipperary while the minor curtain-raiser will see Limerick take on Clare at 12pm.

John Kiely’s reigning All-Ireland champions lost out 1-22 to 0-21 when they faced Liam Sheedy’s Tipperary side in Semple Stadium this afternoon. Tipperary will be aiming to regain a title they last won in 2016 with Limerick’s most recent triumph in 2013 in a home final win over Cork.

The winners advance to the All-Ireland semi-final on the weekend of 27-28 July with the losers heading to the quarter-final stage on 13-14 July.

Limerick, who last lifted the minor title in 2014, will face Clare, who triumphed at this level in 2011.

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CLARE JOINT BOSS Donal Moloney lauded the character of his players in claiming victory over Cork yesterday in their last Munster tie of the season and hit out at their critics from the past week.

Heavy losses at the hands of Tipperary and Limerick since the start of June had generated plenty criticism of the Clare players.

Their campaign culminated in a 2019 championship exit yesterday but they did depart in a positive fashion with a stirring display in front of their home support in Cusack Park yielding a five-point success over Cork.

“We’re just so proud of them and our county should be proud of them,” insisted Moloney.

“And they shouldn’t be proud of some of the stuff they said over the last two weeks. It’s always a tough week.

“They can attack us all they want you know? We are around a long time we don’t have any issue with that, but attacking players and stuff as they have done is not very respectful.

“It was print and social (media). I don’t have to qualify it, you all know. You don’t need me to spell it out lads. We are just very proud of our players.

“We can’t control other results. we’re very proud. This is our third Sunday in a row and to be beaten like we were last week and then to do what they did today, to get up off the floor and do that it really reflects the courage and the character of our players. We’ll take stock now and see where we go.”

Clare’s Peter Duggan and Patrick O’Connor after the win over Cork.

Clare got off to a lightning start with Shane O’Donnell’s goal inside the opening seconds of the match setting the tone.

“Yes, Shane (O’Donnell) has been terrific all week – they’ve all been terrific all week, all of them. They were superb today.

“We said at the start we wanted to get a Munster championship record, we wanted Clare to start winning games in Munster. We’ve won six in the last three years, contested two Munster finals and died with our boots on.

“Clare haven’t had a record like that since back in the ’90s so we set our stall and we’re very proud with how the players went at it today.”

David Fitzgerald with Clare joint boss Gerry O’Connor.

Source: Laszlo Geczo/INPHO

Clare’s season has now drawn to a close with Moloney not drawn on the managerial future of himself and Gerry O’Connor.

“If you’re not at your absolute best every day you’ll get turned over. That’s life. It’s very, very difficult to win four championship matches back to back, especially the way the games are set up.

“We are very proud of our players today and we’ll take stock and see where we are.”

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THE LEINSTER, MUNSTER and Joe McDonagh Cup round-robin series concluded at the weekend to cut the number of contenders for this year’s All-Ireland senior hurling title down to eight.

Carlow and Waterford had already been ruled out of the reckoning in Leinster and Munster respectively prior to the weekend’s action. The last round of provincial ties saw 2017 All-Ireland champions Galway and last summer’s All-Ireland semi-finalists Clare bow out.

The close of the Joe McDonagh Cup put Laois and Westmeath into the decider ahead of Antrim, Kerry and Offaly.

It makes the picture a bit clearer for the remainder of the 2019 championship. Sunday 30 June will see Kilkenny face Wexford in pursuit of Leinster honours, Limerick take on Tipperary in the Munster decider and Laois meet Westmeath in the Joe McDonagh Cup final.

Both Laois and Westmeath will be out the following weekend in preliminary All-Ireland quarter-finals against Cork or Dublin.

The winner of that game involving Cork will meet the beaten Leinster finalists with the victors of Dublin’s match set to face the beaten Munster finalists.

After those quarter-final ties on the weekend of 13-14 July, the semi-finals are pencilled in for 27-28 July and then the All-Ireland decider on Sunday 18 August.

Here’s the set of fixtures to watch out for.

2019 All-Ireland SHC

Sunday 30 June

Joe McDonagh Cup final: Laois v Westmeath, Croke Park, 1.45pm

Munster SHC final: Limerick v Tipperary, LIT Gaelic Grounds, 2pm

Leinster SHC final: Kilkenny v Wexford, Croke Park, 4pm

Weekend 6/7 July

All-Ireland SHC preliminary quarter-finals

Dublin v Winners of Westmeath v Laois

Cork v Losers of Westmeath v Laois

Weekend 13/14 July

All-Ireland SHC quarter-finals

Runner-Up Kilkenny/Wexford v Cork/Runner-Up Joe McDonagh Cup

Runner-Up Limerick/Tipperary v Dublin/Winner Joe McDonagh Cup

Saturday 27 July

All-Ireland SHC semi-final
Provincial final winner v All-Ireland quarter-final winner

Sunday 28 July

All-Ireland SHC semi-final
Provincial final winner v All-Ireland quarter-final winner

Sunday 18 August

All-Ireland SHC final

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CLARE JOINT MANAGER Gerry O’Connor was in the spotlight in yesterday’s Munster championship tie after a first-half incident involving Cork player Daniel Kearney.

Midway through the opening half the altercation occurred after the awarding of a disputed sideline, O’Connor getting involved after Kearney and Clare defender Cathal Malone had challenged each other.

The Sunday Game panel on the Gerry O'Connor incident during #CLACOR #rtegaa pic.twitter.com/qm7w9zIDHP

— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 16, 2019

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Malone received treatment before resuming his place in the Clare side, Kearney was shown a yellow card and O’Connor was sent to the stand by referee Paud O’Dwyer.

The incident was debated on The Sunday Game last night.

“Gerry O’Connor gets involved and to me it’s an absolute no-no,” stated ex-Kilkenny player and current Laois manager Eddie Brennan.

“You just cannot handle a player when you’re an official. I think what we’re seeing here is the pressure of the occasion. Gerry O’Connor normally, I’ve never seen him this irate.

“Maybe it’s indicative of just the occasion and the situation Clare find themselves in. We saw it in Nowlan Park a couple of years ago where Davy Fitzgerald got penalised for doing that and rightly so.”

Cork All-Ireland winning goalkeeper and former Clare coach Donal Óg Cusack also commented on the incident.

“I think Cork showed fantastic discipline when that happened. There’s no excuse for a manager of the opposing team. For Cork the argument might be made that they needed to be more aggressive but I think they were right to err on the side of that and put it into the bank and don’t forget what happened in Ennis today.”

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ANTHONY CUNNINGHAM TURNED 54 over the weekend and he hardly could have celebrated his birthday in better fashion. 

Roscommon celebrate after the game in the changing room.

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

Roscommon stormed Salthill for the second time in three years, delivering the Connacht crown on this occasion after recovering from a five-point half-time deficit. 

Cunningham’s side failed to score for the final 15 minutes of the first period, but outscored Galway by 1-8 to 0-2 in a dominant second-half. 

“The second half showed tremendous courage,” he said. “You would have to use the word courage. They really went for it. It was looking a bit rocky there ten minutes before half time.

We dropped off and Galway punished us. They just nailed on five points. And if the wind came up that was going to work against us as well. We just asked that they worked harder.

“Delighted for the players. We’ve a good bit of improvement to do as you will probably tell me. And you’re right. But we will settle down not after a few days and focus on the Super 8s.” 

The St Thomas club man who previously won a Leinster title with Galway hurlers and provincial club football crowns with Garrycastle and St Brigid’s, was quick to deflect the praise onto his backroom team and players.

“It is just an honour. I have to say in Ian Daly and Mark Dowd: two tremendous coaches with me and I was lucky. They are tremendous workers. There is no bottom to them really with the work. And we set up with a lot of work in the gym as well – that might have been missing a bit.”

He incidentally became the second Galway man to take down his native county over the weekend, as Mattie Kenny guided the Dublin hurlers to a stunning victory at Parnell Park on Saturday night.

Kieran Molloy and Thomas Flynn compete with Tadgh O’Rourke.

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

Roscommon dialled up the tenacity and physicality after the break, with three Daly brothers hugely influential in defence. At half-time, Cunningham told his players “to play with a bit more intelligence on the ball.”

“Breaking ball was poor,” he continued. “We had a lot of turnovers against us in the first half. Conditions were tough. We needed to settle down and show more composure.

“We had a chat about it at half time and got to the pitch of the game and competed a lot more for kick outs. We put a lot more pressure on Galway.”

The visitors dominated the breaking ball under Ruairi Lavelle’s kick-outs after the restart and completely suffocated Galway’s attack. 

I think we forced it in the last ten minutes of the first half. (We needed) to get back to our game plan and stick with it and look to attack up front.”

David Murray kept All-Star Ian Burke under wraps, forcing four turnovers on the Corofin ace during the opening 35 minutes.

Conor Devaney (and later Hubert Darcy once he replaced Devaney) would drop back from wing-forward to man-mark Peter Cooke, which released Niall Daly to sweep in front of his full-back line.

There were some hairy moments near the finish as goalkeeper Darren O’Malley was forced to save with his legs after a long ball was flicked towards the net by a Galway hand

Darren O’Malley makes a crucial save near the end.

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

“We sort of brought the crowd in then to help us,” he joked about the late pitch invasion.

“It was a difficult situation- they could have slipped a goal there. But when there was only going to be a goal in it at that stage, Galway were going to go for it. They almost snuck it but a great save by Darren, he was under pressure. It is great for these young players. They really worked hard.”

For the first time since 2001, Roscommon took out both Mayo and Galway in the one campaign – and they won both games away from home which makes the feat even more impressive.

“With pitches now and the level they are at and the level of support that Roscommon got in Mayo the last night was huge,” said Cunningham.

And probably a few more travelled today. They are passionate supporters. But I think in the league they really got behind this team and but for one or two scores and one or two pieces of action we were unlucky not to stay up.

“The Mayo match was a great confidence boost and when we were in trouble there today they went back to that reservoir and said: we have done this before. We haven’t conceded a goal yet. We were rocked by Galway there and they are a top-class team.

“Kevin (Walsh) has done tremendous work and they have been standard bearers in Connacht as much as Mayo. And when you do get rocked it is very hard to coach or teach that. You are just hoping that their character will respond.

And right through the Daly brothers, Conor Hussey, Shane Killoran at midfield, Tadhg there a great catch at the end. So the middle third and then we used the ball more intelligently up front. And Diarmuid (Murtagh) slipped a goal which really put is in the driving seat.”

Roscommon will hope the four-week break before the Super 8s gives them a chance to get some key players back from injury. Devaney was on crutches afterwards nursing an ankle problem that forced him off after 25 minutes.

Fintan Cregg and Ultan Harney were not part of the matchday panel. Cregg, who hit the winner against Mayo in the semi-final suffering a back injury in training during the week, while Ultan Harney hurt ligaments in his knee – although it’s not thought to be too serious.

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STARS FROM THE Roscommon footballers and Tipperary hurlers got the nod for The Sunday Game’s man-of-the-match awards this weekend.

There were incredible scenes as Roscommon rallied to dethrone Galway and win the Connacht SFC on Sunday.

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Anthony Cunningham’s side produced a stunning second-half display to clinch the title after trailing the Tribesmen by five points at half-time.

Padraig Pearses defender Niall Daly scored one point to help the Rossies to a 1-13 to 0-12 victory, which secures a 23rd senior Connacht crown for the county.

' It means so much to the people' – Man of the match Niall Daly on Roscommon's win over Galway #rtegaa pic.twitter.com/5FzvJEXqG3

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) June 16, 2019

Meanwhile, Tipperary made it four wins from four in the Munster SHC round-robin series. The Premier County overcame the reigning All-Ireland champions Limerick with an efficient performance in Semple Stadium.

Seamus Callanan’s 38th minute proved to be the difference between the sides as he finished with a tally of 1-4 from play.

Man of the match Seamus Callanan on securing a Munster final berth after victory over Limerick #rtegaa #TIPLIM pic.twitter.com/8bFwWYyrxT

— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 16, 2019

Tipperary and Limerick will meet again in the provincial decider on Sunday 30 June where the Shannonsiders will have home advantage at the LIT Gaelic Grounds.

Callanan and Daly were both rewarded with The Sunday Game’s man-of-the-match awards for their efforts.

Do you agree with the man-of-the-match winners? Let us know.

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KEVIN WALSH WAS at a loss to explain Galway’s second-half collapse in yesterday’s Connacht SFC final. 

The Tribesmen looked on course to claim their 48th provincial crown when they led Roscommon by five at half-time, but by the end of the 80-odd minutes it was the visitors who were celebrating a four-point victory.

The hosts managed just a single point from play in the second-half, which highlighted their struggles in attack. Galway’s forward play was laboured in the face of Roscommon’s defensive web and by the end of the game, four of their starting six forwards were sitting on the bench.

They saw six shots either go wide or drop short during the latter period.

“The second half we just didn’t seem to get our hands on the ball,” said Kevin Walsh.

“We overturned the ball maybe two or three times at the start of the second half, when we were attacking, and the next 20 minutes we didn’t seem to get our hands on the ball.

“They seemed to be winning all the breaking ball and running at us. We certainly weren’t as good defensively in the second half.

“We’ll have to evaluate it during the week. One thing for sure is it wasn’t a consistent performance.”

Back-to-back All-Ireland club champions Corofin play a free-wheeling brand of attacking football, in stark contrast to the county side who’ve persisted with their defensive approach.

It was put to Walsh that their lack of scoring chances after the break may have been down to the number of bodies they filtered back behind the ball. 

“Did you think so?” he replied.

“I don’t think it was one of the reasons, because there’s a lot of guff out there about that.

“At the end of the day we didn’t get our hands on the ball when we needed to get our hands on the ball. There was no different structure in the first half compared to the second half.  

Galway have three weeks before their round 4 qualifier match. A victory in that tie would seal a return to the Super 8s. They’ll be keen to get Fiontain O Curraoin back after his injury-enforced departure on 22 minutes.

Walsh didn’t appear optimistic that Damien Comer would be fit to return from a broken foot in time for their next outing.

“I’ve touched on this last week. He’s not ready. We just have to see what happens over the next while.

“The fact we’re going to be out a week earlier now obviously brings it a bit closer. If we got over today we’d have four weeks, we now have three weeks.”

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DONAL ÓG CUSACK says Offaly “deserve to be relegated” to the third tier of the All-Ireland senior hurling championship following their defeat to Kerry on Saturday.

The two-point loss to the Kingdom marked Offaly’s fourth loss in the Joe McDonagh Cup and they must now prepare for the Christy Ring competition in 2020.

Offlay were last All-Ireland champions 21 years ago, but speaking on The Sunday Game, Cusack pointed out that their slump in hurling has been ongoing. He also addressed comments that suggested Offaly’s drop to the third tier was “a sad day for hurling.”

“I did hear a lot of comment that it was ‘a sad day for hurling.’ I think that’s definitely unfair to Kerry” said Cusack.

A dejected Oisin Kelly after Offaly’s defeat to Kerry.

Source: Oisin Keniry/INPHO

“If Kerry went down so it’s not a sad day for hurling? I don’t think anybody wants to see hurling teams like Offaly going down through the grades.

But in reality, this isn’t something that happened today or yesterday. They lost their four games so they deserve to be relegated.

Presenter Des Cahill then put it to Cusack that Offaly are considered to be one of the “eight or nine significant hurling counties and now they’re gone.”

Cusack responded by referring to the different sides who have won the All-Ireland in the last number of years before suggesting that “project teams” could be a solution for counties who are struggling to compete.

The Sunday Game panel discuss Offaly's relegation to the Christy Ring Cup and the tiered champiosnnhip format in hurling #rtegaa #TheSundayGame pic.twitter.com/IvHjzDABhV

— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 16, 2019

“I would be all for project teams,” he said.

“I’d be all for the likes of Team Ulster, maybe without Antrim [and] giving proper resources, proper programmes to the likes of Carlow, rewarding them for what they’ve achieved over the last while.

“What I would say definitely, if in 10 years’ time we still only have the same amount of teams playing hurling at the level that they are now that all of us within the GAA have failed hurling.

The last thing I’ll say is there’s a certain amount of belly-aching, the belly-aching brigade because I think we’re all to blame for this. Kerry and Offaly was being streamed yesterday. I’d be surprised if more than 1,000 people were watching it online.

“I’d also be surprised if there were more than 1,000 people at the game.”

Laois hurling boss Eddie Brennan was also on the Sunday Game panel.

He mentioned Carlow’s relegation from the Liam MacCarthy Cup after only one season in the top tier, and discussed what that might mean for the future of structures in hurling.

“Is it going to be an up-down scenario?” said Brennan.

I think the tiered competition is good in merit. Like Donal Óg said you’d hope that we don’t lose any team. I would envisage in four or five years’ time that maybe you’re going to have two groups of six or eight teams playing for your championship.

“That would incorporate Carlow, Laois, Kerry [and] whoever else. I know there’s money being pumped in from Central Council but it doesn’t stop at that, there needs to be more investment. Obviously, it’s the whole structure from top to bottom.”

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