Month: September 2021

WESTMEATH FOOTBALLER RAY Connellan has called time on his Aussie Rules career and will return to Ireland this summer after cutting short his time with AFL side Essendon.

The 24-year-old has spent the last three years in Australia, two of those with St Kilda before being released by the club last August. The Athlone man was then given the chance to resurrect his career last December when he was enlisted by Essendon’s VFL coach, Dan Jordan. 

Essendon confirmed the news today in a statement, explaining that Connellan had made himself unavailable for selection and opted to return home to focus on his studies.

“In the short time Ray was part of our program he was a great guy and fun to be around, but also set some really good standards with his hard work on the track,” Jordan said.

He’s a lightning-quick, really exciting player and hadn’t played a lot of back or wing in the last couple of years at St Kilda so we wanted to give him that opportunity and watch him grow.

“He was getting to a nice level and then had his hamstring (injury) which forced him out for four or five weeks. He came back for the last couple of games and was just starting to find his feet again but clearly mentally his heart was somewhere else.

Having said that we all saw a glimpse of what he can bring and the attributes that he has. He’s a phenomenal athlete and we wish him all the best.”

Connellan managed just four matches for the VFL Dons this season, averaging 15.3 disposals and 4.8 marks.

He may also return to Westmeath’s inter-county set-up this summer or after their All-Ireland campaign has come to an end.

The Lake County will take on Limerick in round 2 of the qualifiers this weekend, having been dumped out of the Leinster provincial championship by Laois in May.

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WHEN TOMÁS Ó Sé was finishing up his Kerry senior career in 2013, Conor Cox was starting out on the inter-county road.

They shared a dressing-room in that campaign with Ó Sé retiring at the close of that summer but that debut season was not the launchpad for Cox to enjoy an extensive spell in Kingdom colours.

Conor Cox chipped in with 0-5 against Galway yesterday.

Source: Tommy Grealy/INPHO

Yet it didn’t spell the end of Cox’s aspirations at the elite level of Gaelic football.

Yesterday Ó Sé was in Pearse Stadium on TV pundit duty and watched Cox play a starring role on Connacht final day, hitting 0-5 to cap his reinvention as a Roscommon attacker.

Rather than have regrets that Cox is lost from the setup of the Kerry side preparing for next Saturday’s Munster final, Ó Sé was delighted to see a former colleague succeeding elsewhere.

“He’s buzzing up there. His old fella is from Roscommon, he would have been brought up on football in general. Listowel would be football mad.

“That town Listowel with the Brogans and the Kennellys, it’s some story when you think about it. I think he’s done brilliantly well. There’d be something wrong with you if you didn’t enjoy the fact that he was going so well with them. Right now if there was an All-Star team picked he’d be on it.

“He just has a confidence, he backs himself even if he has a bad wide, he doesn’t stop. Like that last kick (for a point) he kicked, logically that shouldn’t be going over at all, outside of the right boot. Into the wind then as well. Now I don’t think he meant the other in the first half.

“The last two games, even in the Mayo game, he’s kicked huge scores. He’s won vital ball for them when they needed him to win it. Cox has definitely stepped up and I think a lot of Kerry folk would be delighted for him because he wants to play inter-county football and he’s getting the chance up there now.”

Cox was man-of-the-match in Roscommon’s victory over Mayo last month.

Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO

The array of attacking riches in the Kerry side had made it difficult for Cox to make a breakthrough.

“In my last year in 2013, he was around the panel. I’d say he would have made the panel that year but he chose to travel. A young fella, you can’t step in his way or whatever, but that’s why he wasn’t there that year. He’s around quite a while. He’s physically a very strong player and he’s a huge addition to Roscommon.

“If you have Geaney, if you have Clifford, if you have O’Donoghue, would he get a game down in Kerry and would that be his role? I don’t think he’s an outside man, I think he’s an inside man. So he’d struggle probably to get his game. He won three junior medals with Kerry and he was flying with those teams.

“He’s doing brilliantly where he is. I spoke with Billy Morgan during the week, Billy Morgan could never understand why he wasn’t on the Kerry setup or why he wasn’t in there because he won huge Sigerson games for UCC.

“He was always a top forward in club football but I think did that initial stepping away from Kerry and going travelling, did that stand against him? I’m not sure. I’d always be of the belief if you’re good enough, you play. Maybe Kerry had a litany of forwards at the time and maybe he just didn’t get the break.”

Tomás Ó Sé at the launch today of the Benetti Menswear GAA campaign for 2019.

Source: Ramsey Cardy/SPORTSFILE

In contrast to the success being savoured by Cox and his Roscommon team-mates, Galway’s form took a nosedive in the second half as their winning position at the interval was squandered.

“It was just a disaster for them,” stated Ó Sé.

“The kickouts imploded. They missed Duggan, they missed Conroy, they missed Comer big time. In fairness they’re three huge players. We knew they weren’t going to have those players yesterday and we still had them picked out as favourites.

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“So I think it’s very disappointing. Their full-back line was badly exposed, their forward line just looked like they absolutely didn’t have a clue what they were doing. Shane Walsh was buzzing in and out, there was no structure to it. The substitutions, they were in trouble at midfield, there was nothing coming from the half-back line.”

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TYRONE ALL-IRELAND winner Sean Cavanagh believes former team-mate Tiernan McCann will be the first to admit his actions in their recent tie against Donegal were unacceptable but reckons there was an element of provocation in the controversial incident.

Tyrone’s Frank Burns and Tiernan McCann with Donegal’s Stephen McMenamin.

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

McCann is set to miss Tyrone’s next two championship outings after his altercation with Donegal’s Stephen McMenamin during their Ulster semi-final loss.

Cavanagh, who brought his Tyrone senior days to a close in August 2017, soldiered alongside McCann during the end of his career and referenced the reaction of the Killyclogher man in the wake of the incident that saw him dive during their 2015 Croke Park clash with Monaghan.

The five-time All-Star winner is adamant that offences like eye-gouging must be ‘harshly clamped down’ on but feels there must have some provocation that caused McCann to react.

Joe Brolly and Colm O'Rourke have their say on that second-half Tiernan McCann flashpoint #RTEgaa pic.twitter.com/AjcHAJK2UJ

— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 8, 2019

“Tiernan’s an intelligent guy, he’s a pharmacist. He knows. I remember after the Darren Hughes incident, he was the first man to come out and say I’m sorry, I made a mistake. 

“I’ve no doubt he felt the exact same after Donegal. I haven’t been speaking with him but that type of incident, it’s not the type of thing you want to see, Tiernan will be the first man to tell you that.

“There’s always two sides to these things and that’s the bit that people watching on TV don’t always see. I’m pretty sure there must have been some sort of provocation there, I don’t know the details of it.

“It doesn’t seem logical to me that he did what he did without (being provoked). He lost the head, he did something that should never be done in a sporting environment. It obviously was some sort of a reaction.

“Look, he’s got his two game ban and that’s where it’s at at the moment. There’s been a few incidents creeping in. Eye gouging and stuff like that, I think everybody recognises that it has to be harshly clamped down on.

“The sooner the GAA do that with every incident, the better for the game.”

Cavanagh spoke of the ‘huge disappointment’ in Tyrone since their loss to Donegal as their system collapsed.

Sean Cavanagh was in Dublin today for the reveal and official launch of the Benetti Menswear GAA Ambassador campaign for 2019.

Source: Ramsey Cardy/SPORTSFILE

“There’s obviously huge disappointment after the Donegal game. I think the general consensus is that the system and style they were trying to play didn’t work. I think everyone, including myself has been calling to try and use some of the forward players more effectively, but you can’t forget about what makes you good in the first place.

“That first 20 minutes, we were wide open and we made it too easy for Donegal. We had a runway down the middle of the defence. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that happen in Tyrone. 

“The next few games is about trying to find that middle ground about being tight at the back and avoiding a situation like the first 20 minutes against Donegal, and bringing this new attacking style into play. It’s about knitting it together.

“I don’t think we’ll completely abandon it. I still think the likes of Mattie and Cathal McShane in there are still going to cause serious bother. They may have to kick a bit longer, or may accept that they’re going to lose a few balls up there.

“They will be much tighter in defence, but hopefully still carry that threat up front. Losing Peter Harte in that game was a big blow. They seemed to lack a number of leaders when they really needed it to try and drag them back into the game.”

Ahead of Saturday’s qualifier against Longford, Cavanagh feels Tyrone will adopt a more defensive ethos and still expects them to have a prolonged season.

“I’ve no doubt they will revert to what they know. It’s too risky now. You can’t go down to Longford on Saturday with arrogance and say ‘we’re going to score 3-15, 3-20 here’, because they just won’t do it. You have to approach every game with its own merits, and you’re not able to kick the ball in Longford the way you can kick it in Croke Park. 

“Ultimately it’s about winning. I think they’ll go through the qualifiers in the way Tyrone normally do. I know there are a few sharks in the water too. You can’t take risks.

“It’ll be about getting through the next three rounds, and maybe in the Super 8s there’ll be opportunities to try things. If they time it right in the Super 8s, they’ll be a much stronger unit.”

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FROM SPEAKING TO various Roscommon players in the immediate aftermath of yesterday’s Connacht success, what came across was their determination to give a better account of themselves in the Super 8s this season.

Enda Smith played a key role in the victory.

Source: Tommy Grealy/INPHO

Roscommon crashed out of the All-Ireland quarter-final phase last summer with a -39 scoring difference after heavy losses to Tyrone, Donegal and Dublin in an admittedly tough group, but they look better equipped to compete at that level this time around.

“We said it a few weeks ago, even after the league, that if we were going to the Super 8s I’d feel a lot more confident than last year,” said Enda Smith following the four-point defeat of Galway.

“I just think there’s a different edge about us. We were five points down there against Galway and we came back, in previous years that wouldn’t happen.

“I really think there’s confidence in the lads, belief in our training, and the system that we’re trying to implement.”

A major reason for their increased belief this time around is they have a forward of Conor Cox’s talents in their ranks. Any side aiming to reach the latter stages of the All-Ireland series need at least one elite scorer in attack.

All the signs so far in his Roscommon career indicate Anthony Cunningham has unearthed a forward that fits that bill.

After his three points from play helped them past Mayo in the Connacht semi-final last month, he was interviewed on the field by a Sky Sports reporter.

“Conor, since your move from Kerry could you ever have envisioned anything like this?” he was asked.

“To be honest, I suppose I could,” was Cox’s response, giving a little insight into his quietly confident personality.

Conor Cox transferred from his native Kerry to line out with Roscommon this season.

Source: Evan Logan/INPHO

In his nine league and championship games in 2019, Cox has posted 1-40. He’s averaged five points per game during the summer and is playing with the sort of swagger that all elite forwards possess. 

One of the major differences between Galway and Roscommon was that the latter had better quality forwards and they were happy to kick the ball into them. The visitors played with Cox and Diarmuid Murtagh as their full-forward line and the pair contributed 1-8 of Roscommon’s 1-13 tally.

Murtagh is another accurate finisher, having now scored 1-76 in championship football.

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The Rossies kicked 16 balls into Cox or Murtagh, finding their target on nine occasions and they were far more accurate with their deliveries in the second-half.

“We were forcing the kick-pass in that first half and it was bouncing away from us because of the conditions,” Smith continued.

“A lot of it was that we were over anxious in the first half. We were kicking balls into lads when it probably wasn’t on.

Diarmuid Murtagh top-scored for the Rossies with 1-3.

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

“It was bouncing off lads knees in the conditions, so we just said we needed to run the ball a bit more and be a bit more careful on the ball, and we were. It was a matter of minding the ball and we did that very well.

“We went back to a running game, more of a patient running game, rather than trying to force it and it paid off.”

Because of the wet weather and Galway’s habit of dropping at least 13 bodies behind the ball, Roscommon’s inside pair had to be patient. They had just 23 possessions between them – 14 for Cox and nine for Murtagh – but were extremely efficient when the chances came their way. 

“I think we were more efficient in the second-half,” explained Cox.

In the first-half we lost a good few balls that we should have held on to. Galway play a good defensive arc when they’re set up and I suppose we were a bit more patient in the second half and that paid off.”

Murtagh hit 1-3 from five shots and Cox scored five of his seven strikes at the posts. (He hit one wide from play and dropped another ambitious effort from a sideline short).

Galway defenders looked to force the Listowel Emmetts club man onto his left side when he was in possession. All his looks at the posts came from the left flank, but his striking on his weaker foot was exceptional. 

There may not be a better point scored all summer than Cox’s outside the boot effort off his left in the 10th minute. In total, he scored 0-2 off his left foot and 0-3 from his right, including two frees. 

In the pair, Roscommon have accurate free-takers off either side of the field which will count for a lot in the Super 8s and beyond.

Cox won a free that Murtagh converted and provided two hockey assists – or the pass before the assist – to round-off an impressive display.

After appearing in seven league games for Kerry across three seasons, Cox is determined to make up for lost time on the inter-county scene. 

His father Martin, who hails from the Eire Og club, was in Salthill yesterday with plenty more family members to witness the stirring victory over rivals Galway.

“We’re absolutely delighted,” Cox said. “I can’t really put it into words yet to be honest. Five points down at half-time it was an uphill battle and we believed.

“Anthony Cunningham is a great manager, he was always positive with us and he just told us to work on the things that we had been working on and get them better.

I’m delighted. To be honest, it’s grand for the players, but when you see the supporters, young boys and girls delighted on the field afterwards, it really shows that they back us to the hilt and we’re delighted to give them something to shout about.

“My family were all here today so we’re delighted. I saw them out there after – all delighted, all mad Rossies.”

After reaching the last eight through the front door, skipper Enda Smith says an All-Ireland semi-final is now a realistic aim for this group of players.

“I think it has to be,” Smith says. “The Super 8s is a brand new competition for us.

“It’s in four weeks, that’s a lot of time, so we’re going to enjoy the next few days then give it a good crack and hopefully represent ourselves a lot better than we did last year.” 

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TIPPERARY’S HOPE OF seeing Cathal Barrett and Patrick ‘Bonner’ Maher make a Championship comeback this summer will become clearer over the next 24 hours.

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The Premier are waiting anxiously for further news on the double injury blow to both Barrett and Maher in Sunday’s win over Limerick.

Barrett hobbled off in the final minutes of the first half with a suspected hamstring problem and, moments later, Maher was stretchered off after landing awkwardly and hurting his knee.

Tipp boss Liam Sheedy conceded afterwards that the pair are “highly unlikely” to feature when the counties meet again in the Munster final in two weekends’ time.

A brief update issued by the Tipperary camp on Monday evening said that “there is no news to report”.

“Both players are still awaiting scans and a further update on their injuries will be made after team training tomorrow night.”

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CORK ATTACKER PATRICK Horgan admits there could have been an argument made to take the players off the pitch at Cusack Park for a spell during the thunder storm that developed in the second half of Sunday’s Munster hurling championship tie.

Clare’s John Conlon and Cork’s Damien Cahalane during Snuday’s game.

The action after the break was marred by poor visibility at the Ennis venue as a result of the heavy rain, which was followed by thunder and lightning.

The game, refereed by Carlow’s Paud O’Dwyer, continued with conditions improving before the finish as Clare ran out 2-23 to 2-18 victors.

Cork goalkeeper Anthony Nash during the second half of Sunday’s game.

Source: Laszlo Geczo/INPHO

“Yeah, even a flicker in the golf and they’re gone off the course,” stated Horgan.

“But I suppose you can’t with all the people here in the ground. It’s as dangerous for them as it is for us, so you have to get on with it.

“No, it was the worst I ever saw, you could hardy hold your hurley up.”

After witnessing the chain of results that knocked Galway out of the Leinster race on Saturday night, there was an element of relief in the Cork camp that their loss to Clare did not prove costly as Tipperary did them a favour in defeating Limerick elsewhere in Thurles.

It was a strange atmosphere at the final whistle for the Cork contingent as they digested a second defeat of the summer but are still in contention.

“We live to fight another day,” said Horgan.

“We saw how things went Saturday night and on Sunday – nothing is a given in this championship. We played two unbelievable games in the last few weeks, against Limerick and Waterford, and we played well in patches today. We’ll take what we’re given at this stage and we’ll move on. ”

Patrick Horgan in action for Cork against Clare’s Jack Browne.

Source: Laszlo Geczo/INPHO

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The loss ended Cork’s hopes of a third Munster title on the spin. Horgan, who hit 4-42 in their four provincial games in the round-robin series, and his team-mates will now be gearing up to face Westmeath or Laois on the weekend of 6-7 July.

“We came up wanting to qualify for a Munster final, and the only way we could do that was with a result here. That didn’t happen but it turned out that we’re qualified anyway, in third.

“We’re playing hurling all year for competitive games, and those competitive games are the ones you want to play in, like Munster finals. It’s unfortunate we came up short on Sunday but as I say, we’re still in there with a shout. We hope to have a long year yet.”

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TIPPERARY FORWARD PATRICK Bonner Maher is set for a long spell on the sidelines after tearing his cruciate in Sunday’s win over Limerick at Semple Stadium.

It was confirmed this morning that a scan result has revealed the extent of Maher’s injury which will leave him sidelined for the rest of the 2019 season.

A Tipperary GAA statement confirmed the nature of Maher’s injury with the Premier setup still waiting to see what injury damage defender Cathal Barrett sustained in the game.

Maher suffered the injury in the closing stages of the first half of Sunday’s game in Thurles and was taken off to be replaced by Dan McCormack.

He has been a key figure in Tipperary’s strong start to the 2019 championship that has yielded four round-robin victories in Munster and sets them up for a provincial final against Limerick on Sunday 30 June.

The 29-year-old is one of the more experienced members of the Tipperary side with two All-Ireland senior medals to his credit as he was part of the 2010 and 2016 triumphs.

He has won two All-Star awards in 2014 and 2016 while also picking up All-Ireland medals at minor and U21 level.

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MONAGHAN FOOTBALLER DARREN Hughes has had his eight-week ban upheld for an incident in their All-Ireland first round qualifier against Fermanagh.

The game on Sunday 9 June saw Monaghan run out 1-10 to 1-6 winners in Clones and they now face a Round 2 clash with Armagh on Saturday night at the St Tiernach’s Park venue.

Hughes, who continues to be sidelined from playing due to a broken ankle sustained in a match with his club Scotstown, was on the sideline during the match and became involved as an altercation developed on the pitch between opposing players.

The incident was noted by Laois referee Maurice Deegan with an eight-week suspension handed out to Hughes on the grounds of ‘any type of physical interference with an opposing player’ while acting as a maor uisce. 

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Hughes requested a hearing which took place last night and the CHC found the alleged infraction proven. The experienced Monaghan player now has the option of appealing the decision to the CAC.

An altercation developed between Monaghan and Fermanagh players in Clones.

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

Meanwhile Down hurler Ruairí McCrickard is set to miss their Christy Ring Cup final against Meath on Saturday in Croke Park after his one-match ban was also upheld last night by the CHC.

McCrickard had been sanctioned for ‘behaving in a way which is dangerous to an opponent, including deliberately pulling on or taking hold of a faceguard or any part of an opponent’s helmet’.

That incident took place in Inniskeen earlier this month in their Christy Ring Cup clash with Roscommon.

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LIMERICK AND TIPPERARY are set to play in front of a sellout crowd for Sunday week’s Munster senior hurling final with the public sale of tickets now having sold out.

The eagerly-awaited clash at the LIT Gaelic Grounds on 30 June pits the reigning All-Ireland champions against the 2016 Liam MacCarthy Cup holders with huge interest in the game from both counties. 

Only terrace tickets were on sale to the public and Munster GAA chiefs have confirmed this morning that the allocation there – which was available on tickets.ie and through Centra or SuperValu – has now sold out.

Stand tickets, for the Mackey and Open Stand, were not on sale to the public and instead are solely available through the Limerick and Tipperary county boards, along with the clubs in the competing counties. 

They are expected to be snapped up which should see a full house at the 44,000 capacity venue for the match which will throw-in at 2pm and will be preceded by the minor clash of Limerick and Clare at 11.30am. 

Limerick’s last Munster final tie at the Gaelic Grounds ended in success in 2013 against Cork with 42,730 supporters in attendance. Tipperary triumphed in the most recent provincial decider at the venue when they cruised past Waterford in 2016 in front of a crowd of over 26,000 spectators.

The last Limerick and Tipperary clash in a Munster senior decider was in 2001 with the Premier prevailing by two points in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Tipperary ran out 1-22 to 0-21 victors when the counties met in the round-robin series in Semple Stadium last Sunday with Limerick triumphing 1-23 to 2-14 in the 2018 meeting between the sides.

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Paul Tierney taking on the Wainwright Fells.

Source: Inov-8

CORK NATIVE PAUL Tierney, who previously played senior hurling for his county, has this afternoon completed a record-breaking and gruelling trek in the UK.

Having set off last Friday morning, Tierney scaled all 214 Wainwright Fells in the Lake District, which required him to cover a distance of approximately 520 kilometres, as well as scaling 36,000 metres of ascent (the equivalent of Mount Everest multiplied by four).

Often through difficult weather conditions, the 36-year-old had been on the go for six days, six hours and two minutes when he reached the finish line in Keswick. He subsequently shaved nearly seven hours off the previous record, set by Steve Birkinshaw in 2014.

He’s done it! @paulmissinglink has broken the record time for summiting all 214 Alfred Wainwright’s Lake Distirct fells in one go. #inov8 #GetAGrip #wainwrights214 pic.twitter.com/OfHmL2ThMH

— inov-8 (@inov_8) June 20, 2019

Tierney dedicated the challenge to his late friend Chris Stirling, who died tragically in April. The remarkable feat of endurance has already raised over €18,000 in donations for the MIND mental health charity via the JustGiving page that Tierney set up.

“To be honest, just getting around is something I’d value doing,” he told  The42 before undertaking the challenge. “That’d be an achievement in itself. Breaking the record will be a bonus, but I have to set out to break it because if I don’t then I’ll never get anywhere near it.”

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As well as being a three-time Cork senior hurling championship winner with the Blackrock club, Tierney represented his county at minor, U21 and senior level. He was a member of the Rebels’ panel in 2004 when they defeated Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final.

Tierney playing for Cork against Clare in the National Hurling League in April 2004.

Source: INPHO

He quit hurling a year later to pursue his passion for triathlons and marathons, before progressing to even bigger challenges in recent years. In 2013, he relocated to the town of Ambleside in Cumbria, which is regarded as a hub for the trail and fell running scene. 

Two years later he won the Lakeland 100, an annual trail race in the Lake District that covers over 100 miles. In addition to competing for Ireland on multiple occasions in the Trail World Championships, Tierney has also finished in the top 25 in the Tor des Geants — a 330km race through the Italian Alps — in each of the last two years.  

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