Month: September 2021

THE BIG PRIZES have been handed out across the various grades at club and inter-county levels.

Hurling’s standard-bearers are Tipperary after a stunning summer campaign while Dublin swept all before them again to successfully retain their All-Ireland senior football championship crown.

But for others, the winter months are filled with soul-searching, regrets and thoughts of what might have been.

Here, we take a look at some of the teams who were there or thereabouts in 2016, but who fell agonisingly short.

Mayo footballers

Source: Donall Farmer/INPHO

Surely Mayo’s luck has to turn soon? Since winning their last All-Ireland senior football crown in 1951, the Westerners have finished runners-up on eight occasions – all of those defeats from 1989.

Mayo fans must be wondering if there is something in the much talked about ‘curse’ when you consider their ill-fortune across both of September’s finals against Dublin.

In the first game, Mayo conceded not one, but two own goals and in the replay, they lost Footballer of the Year Lee Keegan to a black card before Cillian O’Connor pulled a late, late free wide of the Hill 16 posts.

The year ended in controversy for Mayo when former bosses Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes opened up on the heave that saw the pair ousted last year. Mayo’s players know that to silence their critics, only an elusive senior title will do.

Galway hurlers

Source: Cathal Noonan/INPHO

For a county with undoubted tradition, an All-Ireland senior hurling famine stretching back to 1988 is far too long for Galway.

In August, they fell by just a single point against eventual champions Tipperary at the semi-final stage and had Adrian Tuohy and Joe Canning taken off injured at half-time.

Galway’s hurlers, like the Mayo footballers, came into 2016 on the back of a managerial heave and manager Micheál Donoghue was on the end of a verbal tongue-lashing from former Clare supremo Ger Loughnane during the summer.

There’s plenty of talent in Galway and their recent club and underage record is strong on the national stage. But the one trophy Galway hurling fans crave is the Liam MacCarthy Cup and 28-year-old Canning could end his inter-county career without the big one if the wait continues for a few more seasons.

Clonmel Commercials

Source: Donall Farmer/INPHO

Clonmel Commercials were one of the football stories of 2015, as they stormed to Tipperary county honours before becoming the first club from the county to lift an AIB Munster senior crown.

At Portlaoise’s O’Moore Park in February, Commercials were in the driving seat against Dublin’s Ballyboden St Enda’s in their very first All-Ireland semi-final.

They were three points clear with five minutes left and Ballyboden were down to 14 men after Declan O’Mahoney was red-carded.

But Ballyboden scored three points to take the game into extra-time and they kicked on from there to end a memorable Commercials campaign.

Ballyboden went on to claim the All-Ireland club title, with Commercials kicking themselves after letting that late semi-final advantage slip away.

Limerick U21 hurlers

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

In July, William Maher’s Tipperary ended Limerick’s reign as Bord Gáis Energy Munster and All-Ireland U21 hurling champions.

Ronan Teehan (1-1) and Jason Ryan (0-2) made vital contributions off the bench for Tipp as they marched on to a provincial final against Waterford.

The game was very much in the melting pot in the second half but Teehan’s 58th-minute goal was crucial, opening up a 2-11 to 0-12 lead in greasy conditions.

But there were late nerves jangling for Tipp as Limerick captain Darragh O’Donovan slammed home a smashing late goal in the final minute.

Limerick had a number of survivors from their glorious 2015 season but pre-match underdogs Tipp pulled off an upset.

Oulart-the-Ballagh

Source: Ken Sutton/INPHO

For so long the bridesmaids in the AIB Leinster club hurling championship, Wexford’s Oulart-the-Ballagh finally ended their wait for a provincial crown when they defeated Dublin’s Cuala in November 2015.

In February, they took on eventual champions Na Piarsaigh in the AIB All-Ireland semi-final at Semple Stadium and a storming second half saw Oulart come from five points down to force extra-time.

But Na Piarsaigh had the extra kick when it was needed most to prevail as Oulart looked a spent force in extra-time.

Na Piarsaigh, however, can consider themselves fortunate to have been awarded the only goal of the game in first half stoppage time when David Breen found the net from inside the 20-metre line.

Slow-motion replays showed that Ronan Lynch fouled the ball as he stood over a long-range free but referee Fergal Horgan didn’t spot the infringement.

Kilmacud Crokes

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

If you’ve knocked out the Leinster and All-Ireland champions in the previous round of the Dublin senior football championship, you’d have every reason to think that this could be your year.

But after Kilmacud Crokes saw off Ballyboden St Enda’s, they were shocked by St Judes in the quarter-finals.

Judes were full value for a 0-14 to 1-8 victory against a Crokes team that started as 1/3 favourites before throw-in.

Crokes were outplayed and trailing by five points at half-time, they did gain some oxygen with a Pat Burke goal midway through the second half.

But Judes held on to dump out a fancied Crokes outfit and march on to the last four, where they lost out to Castleknock.

Thurles Sarsfields

Source: Lorraine O’Sullivan/INPHO

Given their recent dominance of the Tipperary senior hurling championship, it’s difficult to comprehend why Thurles Sarsfields haven’t won more Munster titles.

Sars went from 1974 until 2005 without lifting the Dan Breen Cup but since ending that famine, they’ve racked up numerous county crowns.

Sars have been Tipp’s winners in 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016 but have just one Munster senior title to show for their efforts, in 2012.

They’ll feel that a real chance slipped by this year as Sars were seven points clear of Ballyea in the final ten minutes of their provincial semi-final clash.

But Gary Brennan’s late goal reeled them in and Ballyea marched on to a final clash with Glen Rovers, where they claimed a maiden Munster win.

Waterford hurlers

Source: Ken Sutton/INPHO

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Waterford’s All-Ireland senior hurling famine is on a par with the Mayo footballers.

The Déise haven’t tasted Liam MacCarthy glory since 1959 but there’s a feeling that they’re getting closer.

The county’s U21s stormed to Munster and All-Ireland titles this year and that underage crop was one of the greatest ever seen in the grade.

The challenge now is to build on that success in the senior grade and Waterford fans should feel confident about the years that lie in store.

But at senior level this year, Waterford fans were left with tears for souvenirs again.

They were hammered by Tipperary in the Munster final but ran Kilkenny desperately close across an All-Ireland semi-final and replay. Walter Walsh’s goal saved Kilkenny’s bacon in the drawn match before the Cats edged an epic Thurles rematch, with Pauric Mahony’s late attempt for an equaliser falling just short. 

Cork minor hurlers

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

Tipperary were deserved All-Ireland minor hurling champions, building up an unstoppable head of steam after losing their opening outing against Waterford.

But at the semi-final stage in Munster, Tipp were in a real pickle, trailing by six points early in the second half at Páirc Uí Rinn.

Cork hurling fans were dreaming of a badly-needed boost but Tipp, who were 0-9 to 1-12 behind, ran riot from there and won the remainder of the game by 0-14 to 0-3.

It was an alarming collapse from Cork but credit to Tipp for turning things around in emphatic fashion.

It was a landmark win for Tipp and they wouldn’t be stopped from there but Cork will wonder how far they could have gone had they built on that second half platform.

Castlebar Mitchels

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

Ballyboden St Enda’s made light work of Castlebar Mitchels in the St Patrick’s Day All-Ireland senior club football final.

But the Mayo men bounced back to claim Mayo honours and felt confident of progressing through the provincial series once again.

Home advantage was the reward for Mitchels as they welcomed Corofin to MacHale Park for a November semi-final but they shot themselves in the foot by registering seven first half wides.

Playing with the wind in the second half, and starting just two points behind after the break, Mitchels pushed on and led late on before needing a late point to take the game into extra-time.

Corofin proved too strong in the additional 20 minutes and as the Galway men went on to land the provincial crown, Mitchels realised just how close they were.

Ballymun Kickhams

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

One-point defeats are particularly hard to take but that was Ballymun’s fate against St Vincent’s in the Dublin senior football championship semi-final.

Over the hour, the sides were level on no fewer than nine occasions before sub Albert Martin landed the winner for St Vincent’s.

It could turn out to be their most precious score of the entire campaign as Vincent’s went on to finish 2016 as Dublin and Leinster champions.

Vincent’s now have an All-Ireland semi-final to look forward to against dual Ulster champions Slaughtneil.

They’re second favourites behind Corofin to land the All-Ireland title on 17 March but Martin’s priceless winner could be the score they look back on at the end of the season as the one that propelled them all the way to national glory.

For Ballymun, the motivation has to be to get back to the business end of the Dublin championship in 2017, and not let a chance like that slip by again.

Donegal footballers

Source: Lorraine O’Sullivan/INPHO

Ahead by three points at half-time in the Ulster final against Tyrone, Donegal were in a good place.

Their opponents lost All-Star Mattie Donnelly and Cathal McShane to black cards and Donegal seemed to hold all the aces.

But with time running out, Tyrone came on strong and reeled Donegal in with a flurry of sensational scores.

Sean Cavanagh, Peter Harte and Kieran McGeary stepped up to the late with the crucial scores that sealed a first Ulster title for Tyrone since 2010.

The Ulster finalists would both lose out at the All-Ireland quarter-final stage, Donegal to Dublin and Tyrone against Mayo, but Tyrone could console themselves with provincial silverware.

Cork U21 footballers

Source: Donall Farmer/INPHO

One-point winners against Kerry in the EirGrid Munster U21 final against old rivals Kerry, Cork went on to see off Monaghan by two points in the All-Ireland semi-final at O’Connor Park in Tullamore.

That set up a final clash with Mayo and if you’d told Cork before the game that they’d rack up 14 scores to Mayo’s 12, they’d have felt confident of victory.

The problem for Cork was that Mayo scored five goals on the day and it was a defeat that led to heavy social media criticism for goalkeeper Anthony Casey.

It was a good season for Cork but they ultimately fell short in their quest for a first All-Ireland U21 crown since 2009.

Dublin U21 footballers

Source: Donall Farmer/INPHO

Another one-point game with Mayo involved but this time, the Westerners came out on the right side of the result.

It was a remarkable EirGrid All-Ireland U21 football semi-final against Dublin in April but one that Dublin will feel they chucked away.

Down by six points at half-time, the young Sky Blues rallied and led by four with just 12 minutes left.

But Mayo had life left in them and a brilliant comeback was completed when Conor Loftus clipped over the winning free in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

The fact that Mayo went on to claim final victory over Cork would only add to Dublin’s sense of grievance.

Dublin U21 hurlers

Source: Donall Farmer/INPHO

There was no stopping Waterford’s U21 hurlers this year and no matter who they played in the final, there would only be one winner.

But Dublin will feel they should have been in the September decider, having spurned a glorious chance to beat Galway at the All-Ireland semi-final stage.

Brian Molloy was Galway’s hero, registering ten points on the night, and his match-winning haul included four points in extra-time.

Galway had 16 wides over the 80 minutes but Dublin had a massive tally of 21 wides as they fell just two points short.

Dublin had a four-point lead early in the second half but in a seesaw battle, there were plenty of twists and turns to come.

When the dust settled, Joe Fortune’s Dublin were cursing their luck and wondering how on earth they’d left a big chance slip.

Mayo ladies footballers

Source: Lorraine O’Sullivan/INPHO

Mayo have won four All-Ireland ladies senior football titles but the last of those was achieved back in 2003.

They haven’t contested a final since losing to Cork in 2007 but Mayo were so close to getting back to the Brendan Martin decider this year.

In a classic semi-final against Dublin at Kingspan Breffni Park in Cavan, the game boiled down to Sinead Aherne’s last-gasp free.

The Dublin forward was fouled by Mayo captain Sarah Tierney and with just seconds left on the clock, it was now or never.

Aherne held her nerve and banged over the winner, leaving Mayo crushed.

Manager Frank Browne and his players had invested so much in their 2017 campaign but after losing the Lidl Division 1 final to Cork, they were denied another crack at the Rebelettes in the All-Ireland decider by fine margins.

What was the toughest GAA defeat for you in 2016? Leave your feedback in the comments section below…

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PLENTY DRAMA, PLENTY success and plenty disappointment.

2016 was packed with standout club hurling moments, here are some of the pictures that capture it.

DONEGAL MANAGER RORY Gallagher will be without the services of Leo McLoone in 2017 after the forward decided to make himself unavailable for selection.

The former All-Ireland winner found himself out of favour last season and didn’t start any of Donegal’s Championship fixtures in 2016.

McLoone, a key part of Jim McGuinness’ All-Ireland winning squad in 2012, announced his decision to the Donegal Democrat but didn’t give a reason for opting out of the squad.

The 27-year-old made 12 inter-county appearances last year but most of those were from the bench as he fell down the pecking order under Gallagher.

It is the second time he has made himself unavailable for selection after missing the first half of the 2015 season.

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1. Finian Hanley with his daughter after the Connacht final

The Galway defender gets to savour a first provincial title win in eight years with his five-month-old daughter Freya.

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

2. Waterford’s Pauric Mahony is comforted after the defeat to Kilkenny

The Deise sharpshooter struck 0-23 over the course of the All-Ireland semi-final saga with Kilkenny. But he was denied a late chance to level it as his free was caught over the bar by goalkeeper Eoin Murphy. Waterford lost by two points in Semple Stadium with a devastated Mahony comforted afterwards by Jennifer Malone. Mahony didn’t forget that, later sending Malone a jersey and a framed photo.

Source: RTÉ The Saturday Game Live

3. The McGrath brothers celebrate glory with Tipperary

A year to remember for Noel, John and Brian McGrath from Loughmore-Castleiney. Noel and John won All-Ireland senior medals with Tipperary, Brian captained the minors to win the All-Ireland, John won an All-Star and all three won a county senior football title with their club.

The McGrath brothers celebrate the Munster final victories

Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO

The joyous September homecoming at Semple Stadium

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

4. Briege Corkery celebrates victory with her dog Hernandez

In August, Cork clinched a place in another All-Ireland camogie final with an extra-time win over Wexford. One of the core elements of their team is Briege Corkery and she celebrated afterwards at Semple Stadium with her dog.

Source: Cathal Noonan/INPHO

5. Leinster Championship and First Communion

Mark Timmons won a Leinster opener with Laois and his daughter Kathlyn celebrated her First Holy Communion. A good Saturday for the family all round back in May.

Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO

6. Keegan and Connolly in Croke Park

Two of the most high-profile footballers in the country have produced a series of memorable individual duels. When the season finally ended in October, the two embraced after Connolly was crowned an All-Ireland champion again with Dublin as Keegan and Mayo fell just short.

Source: Cathal Noonan/INPHO

7. The Tipperary footballers celebrate their win over Galway

Tipperary provided the novel storyline that lit up the summer’s football championship. The afternoon when they reached their first All-Ireland semi-final in 81 years against Galway was the highlight as they showcased their attacking flair to win by nine points.

The memorable post-match scenes saw Tipperary’s small, loyal band of followers soak in the moment of victory with the players in the Hogan Stand.

EARLIER IN THE month, Google Trends released their most popular searches throughout 2016, both globally and by country.

Euro 2016 was the top trending search Ireland. Other popular sports-related searches were Olympics at number six and Ireland vs New Zealand – the 10th most popular Google search in Ireland.

Conor McGregor made the list of most-searched famous men at number three, behind Steven Avery and Bruce Springsteen. Meanwhile, Katie Taylor stood at number four on the list of most searched women in Ireland.

Anthony Foley was the fourth most searched loss in Ireland. On the ‘what is’ list, the sports-related searches that featured were COYBIG (5th) and what is the time in Rio (8th).

Jose Mourinho, Michael Phelps and Michael Conlan were the top three most-searched sports people in Ireland, while Katie Taylor and Conor McGregor were sixth and seventh respectively.

Jose Mourinho.

Source: Martin Rickett

Euro 2016, Olympics and Ireland vs New Zealand were the three most Googled sports events.

Sports Personalities (Ireland)

1. Jose Mourinho

2. Michael Phelps

3. Michael Conlan

4. Paul Pogba

5. Nate Diaz

6. Katie Taylor

7. Conor McGregor

8. Adam Johnson

9. Simone Biles

10. Thomas Barr

Sporting Events (Ireland)

1. Euro 2016

2. Olympics

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3. Ireland vs New Zealand

4. Six Nations

5. UFC

6. US Open

7. McGregor v Diaz

8. Masters 2016

9. Super Bowl 50

10. Wimbeldon

Meanwhile on a global scale, Olympics was the eighth most popular Google search worldwide.

People-wise Michael Phelps (3rd), Simone Biles (5th) and Ryan Lochte (9th) all made the most-searched list.

Michael Phelps.

Source: PA Wire/PA Images

On the global list of most-searched losses, Muhammad Ali (5th), Kimbo Slice (8th) and José Fernández (10th) featured.

Sporting Events (Global):

1. Rio Olympics

2. World Series

3. Tour de France

4. Wimbledon

5. Australian Open

6. EK 2016

7. T20 World Cup

8. Copa América

9. Royal Rumble

10. Ryder Cup

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1. ”11 games, 11 wins, 25 goals scored, 2 goals conceded, from 8th place and 8 points off the pace to 6 points clear at the top of the table. This is, of course, Chelsea’s record since Conte changed to a 3-4-3 formation. These results are impressive regardless, however, they become even more impressive when the quality of the opponents are taken into account. On this stellar run the Londoners have beaten, Leicester, Man Utd, Spurs, Everton, Southampton and Man City amongst other tough challenges. Formations are, of course, merely a starting point; this piece seeks to analyse the finer details of Conte’s system and why it has been so successful.”

JD analyses Conte’s tactics being the focal point of the Premier League leader’s recent successes on spielverlagerung.com.

Source: Frank Augstein

2. “A disco in Slaughtneil, at the foothills of the Sperrin Mountains. The suggestion, pitched by one of the younger members of the GAA club’s committee, got the short shrift it deserved.“Everyone just looked around to yer man and said, ‘will ya wise up. That’ll not work up here’,” recalled Sean McGuigan. “Then the floor went quiet for a while and the next thing someone says, ‘well, hold on now, maybe we could try it’. Necessity, in effect, gave birth to invention in the early 1980s in south Derry. Surrounded by hills as far as the eye could see, and not a shop or a pub in sight, Slaughtneil had just built a terrific new hall – reputed to be the biggest in Ulster GAA – and were starting to get a little queasy about how they might actually fill it. “So it was decided to give the disco idea a go, a junior disco for teenagers,” continued McGuigan, now the club chairman. “I think the success of it was that parents were content because Slaughtneil GAA people were stewarding the buses in and out and looking after the thing all night. And sure we only charged a pound a head for years so it quickly became a roaring success.” McGuigan recalls driving back from Maghera to Slaughtneil one night maybe a decade later. The disco was on and he had a passenger with him as he carefully navigated the winding roads up around the Glenshane Pass towards home. Guy Pearce, the actor from Neighbours who featured in Hollywood blockbusters like LA Confidential, had agreed to come out for the night. Word had got back from another club chairman that Pearce was in Northern Ireland and sure it couldn’t hurt to invite him out. Mightn’t it bring a few hundred more through the door than normal?”

Paul Keane takes a look at Slaughtneil GAA club from a different angle in the Irish Examiner.

3. ”Jurgen Klopp did not introduce his Liverpool players to the woman who would subtly change their lives right away. When she joined the team, at the club’s preseason camp in Palo Alto, Calif., last summer, Klopp waited a couple of days, eager to see if her actions would win them over more easily than his words.”

Rory Smith of the New York Times wrote an in-depth piece during the week entitled “New Head of Nutrition Gives Liverpool a Taste of Premier League Success”.

4. “Dear Football Gods,

We need to talk.

Source: Daniel Gluskoter

I’m not trying to be a jerk, or openly combative, or unnecessarily dramatic, but I gotta know: Who do you think you are? Oh right, you’re gods. Congratulations. You exist on a higher plane of existence than the rest of us. Must be a tremendous feeling. I’ve been meaning to write you for some time, but the events of Christmas Eve finally compelled me to action. It’s not cool that you broke Derek Carr’s leg. What the hell was that? It didn’t make sense from a logic standpoint. That dude loves God. But instead of Carr and his upstart Raiders vanquishing the Patriots in the Tuck Rule Revenge Game we’ve waited 15 years for, you have the man down on the turf pointing to his formerly functional appendage and barking “it’s broke!” six times. Was that one for each of your gods? How fun that must have been for you.

Head’s up: You’re all terrible.”

Dan Hanzus sat down and penned an open letter to the American football Gods.

5. “Since its first appearance in 2002, the gossip column has consistently ranked as one of the most-read pages on the BBC website. In the most recent transfer window, it averaged almost one million browsers per day. But can you believe a word you read in it? To mark the 15th anniversary of its introduction, we have looked back at every gossip column from the summer transfer window to see how accurate the rumours were, whether stories about some clubs proved more reliable than others and to discover which sources were the most trustworthy.”

For the week that’s in it, John Staunton took a look at transfer rumours and how accurate they’ve been in recent times for BBC Sport.

6. “I remember from quite an early age standing at the gate watching boys playing football on the road and wanting to join them,” she recalls. “Eventually, I either plucked up the courage or they asked me, but I was always playing football on the street from then on. I was the only girl playing, but I was accepted by the guys and, it’s funny, but I remember that whenever a neighbour called the guards to complain that we were playing football on the street, the lads would all run and hide in the gardens when they saw the squad car coming. But I’d just stand there because I knew they’d never think I’d been playing. 

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

She reckons she was about 12 when she first came up against the glass ceiling, and it was crushing. There was a street league organised, but I wasn’t allowed play,” she remembers. “It wasn’t that the boys I played football with didn’t want me, it was either the opposition or the organisers who objected. Whatever the reason, I wasn’t allowed to play, but as far as I was concerned it was because I was a girl and girls weren’t supposed to play football. I just remember feeling awful. And it left something in the back of my mind. When you’re a child, you don’t think strategically, obviously, but, later on, I remember saying that I never wanted any other girl to feel like that again. I was called a tomboy, of course, and I’ve seen a lot of research since which shows that calling a girl a tomboy can have a huge psychological impact on them to the extent that it can turn them off sport.”

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Liam Mackey of the Irish Examiner caught up with former Ireland WNT head coach Sue Ronan.

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Harry Kane stopped blaming the pitch and started looking for a new job

Paul McShane, gamechanger

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Samir Nasri was hacked and he got in a very tense exchange with his own account

Source: Ronan

A fond farewell from the West

The Women’s Tennis Association had the best file pic to celebrate with Serena Williams

Gigi!

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THE GREEN AND Red of Mayo was a song that was undoubtedly played numerous times on jukeboxes around Edinburgh recentlty as Dunedin Connollys toasted an All-Ireland JFC quarter-final win over Rosenallis of Laois.

They went into the game as big underdogs, partly to do with the fact that they had never beaten an Irish side in championship football; while club football in Scotland has hardly ever been a hotbed for successful jaunts at All-Ireland championships. The last time they played on such a stage was in 2009 when they lost to Emyvale of Monaghan, a year in which they won the British Championship for the first time in the history of the now 28-year old club.

They have gone on to become the dominant force of Scottish GAA, winning nine out of the last 10 Scottish titles, but they had previously failed to make waves outside of the north of Britain. A fabulous extra-time win over John Mitchels of Liverpool in the All-Britain final in mid-November gave them their chance in the All-Ireland series, and they grabbed it with both hands when they welcomed their Laois counterparts to their home ground in Granton.

Their charge to the last four of the All-Ireland has been largely backed by a spine of Mayo men, with no less than six making up the starting 15 on a regular basis.

Former Mayo U21 footballer Conor Horan lines up at wing-back, Charlestown native Brendan Parsons  – a brother of Mayo star Tom — is in midfield, while Sean Malee, Daniel Loftus, Frank Molloy and Damien Keane all populate the Connollys’ forward line.

Malee, along with his sister’s husband, Frank Molloy, present the biggest threat going forward for the Scottish club, despite the fact that they have a combined age of 73.

“He’s my brother in-law. He’s 39 going on 19. He’s the Maurice Fitzgerald of our team,” remarks 34-year-old Malee about the Bohola man.

Molloy played in some league games for the Mayo senior team a number of years ago, while Kiltimagh native Malee was a regular with the Mayo junior team. Such pedigree throughout the ranks at junior level means that the ambitions at their adopted club have heightened, but they have even surpassed what they set out to do this year.

“It has been the goal for the last number of years,” said Malee of getting to an All-Ireland semi-final.

“Last year we basically bet ourselves; we lost the British semi-final to a team that’s much worse than us so this year all the guys really rolled in together and we finally got over the hurdle by beating Mitchells. It’s been a good year. The goal was to get to a British final, some of us would have bigger goals and thought we would be good enough to get into the All-Ireland series. Obviously our goalposts have changed now; we’re looking to get to an All-Ireland final.”

It wouldn’t be the first time that the centre-forward has featured in an All-Ireland JFC final if he were to help his team get there. He was one of the main men on the Kiltimagh side that agonisingly lost out to Kerry side Castlegregory in the 2009 final on a scoreline of 1-14 to 0-15 after extra-time, and, from a personal point of view, there is more to do.

“Obviously there’s a bit of unfinished business there,” he says. “I didn’t play well that day and we did leave it behind us because we were the better team. When it went to extra-time that day their bench was just that little bit stronger than ours, but we should have won it in the 60 minutes. Two points up with 30 seconds to go, it’s hard to take that. There’s definitely unfinished business there. I’d love to get back there and there are not too many Mayo men with All-Ireland titles,” explains Malee.

Day jobs

Malee works with the Ministry of Defence in Scotland, while Horan is in the final stages of his studies to become a qualified teacher. Such varying careers are common throughout the Connollys team, and Malee outlines the social advantages of playing with a club in Edinburgh.

“Essentially it’s kind of a social thing. It’s the easiest way of meeting guys because when you come over here to a new city the best thing to do is go training with a team. To be fair to the guys that are over the team, they have a hard task trying to keep everyone off the beer in Eddinburgh because there’s obviously so much happening around here all the time. It’s a social thing though, there’s a good team spirit there.”

“It’s not dissimilar [to playing at home] at all and it’s definitely not a pisstake. It’s very serious. Cormac O’Gara — our manager — is very serious and has everything really well organised. We started off the year with a strength and conditioning programme for 12 weeks. It’s slightly different because the level of intensity isn’t there early on in the year.”

That upsurge of intensity is something that Connollys have to deal with every year thanks to the largely uncompetitive nature of the Scottish Championship, and when they went in search of a decent challenge game in Newcastle this year it turned out to be a bit of a whitewash.

“The year is kind of different over here because you don’t really get going until August. You play a few league games but you’re playing against Scottish teams and they’re not the strongest to be fair. It’s very hard for us to get a proper challenge. We travelled down to Newcastle this year to get a decent game but we ended up winning by about 40 points or something like that. So, when you get to a semi-final then it’s the only real time you start to get a bit of a challenge. The intensity is at a whole different level then and that’s the real challenge we have, but thankfully we managed to deal with it this year,” said Malee.

With three Tyrone players on the Connollys team, they will have a bit of local knowledge on their next opponents, and the build-up has already begun.

“They have info; it has been sussed out already,” said Malee when discussing his teammates from Tyrone.

“We were getting Snapchats from their dinner dance last night,” he continued.

The Scottish club have representatives from all over the country involved, with Tyrone and Kerry providing three players each, Roscommon have two men in the panel, while Longford, Offaly, Galway, Leitrim and Down are also represented, while manager Cormac O’Gara hails from Donegal.

The Mayo link is strongest however, and victory in their next outing would ensure that there will be plenty of Mayo fans making the trip to Croke Park once again for an All-Ireland final, this time to cheer on a Scottish team.

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Dublin 1-19
Dubs Stars 1-14​

IT WAS HARDLY Croke Park beneath the summer sun but victory in the annual Dubs Stars challenge was welcome all the same for under pressure Dublin manager Ger Cunningham.

The Cork legend is beginning his third season as Dubs boss and needs things to go his way after a tricky few months that have seen several big names culled from the panel and several more make themselves unavailable.

Former players Peter Kelly and Michael Carton have publicly criticised Cunningham and the sense of a team needing to deliver in 2017 is strong.

Against that background, the show of character that saw Dublin seal victory by outscoring the Dubs Stars — the best club players in the capital — by 0-7 to 0-1 in the closing quarter or so, to win by five, must have been pleasing.

Cunningham will have plenty of newcomers this season and went with a team of greenhorns here though Alex Quinn’s 1-4 scoring haul for the Dubs Stars was probably most notable.

Tom Connolly and Fergal Whitely weighed in with three points each for Dublin while free-taker Oisin O’Rorke delivered 0-4 for the Sky Blues.

Dublin will begin their Bord na Mona Walsh Cup campaign on Wednesday night against Carlow back at Parnell Park and Cunningham may include many of the same players.

Dublin manager Ger Cunningham.

Source: Donall Farmer/INPHO

Caolan Conway lined out at midfield alongside AJ Murphy and the pair dovetailed well with three points between them in the first-half.

Dublin moved 0-5 to 0-1 up after 12 minutes but only added two more points for the remainder of the half.

Quinn’s goal approaching half-time, when he scooped home from close range after dispossessing the ‘keeper, put the Dubs Stars 1-8 to 0-7 ahead.

Further points from Quinn and Robbie Mahon put the club selection six clear early in the second-half though Dublin’s battling instincts kicked in from there.

Whitely and Connolly launched over a succession of long range points and a goal from Sean O Riain gave them the impetus to push on. Dublin and the Dubs Stars were without their AIB Leinster club title winning Cuala contingent for the encounter.

Scorers for Dublin: Sean O Riain 1-1 (0-1f), Conor Burke, Tom Connolly, Fergal Whitely, Sean O Riain (0-1f) 0-3 each, Caolan Conway and AJ Murphy 0-2 each, Fionntan MacGib and Donal Burke 0-1 each.

Scorers for Dubs Stars: Alex Quinn 1-4, Oisin O’Rorke 0-4 (0-2f), Joe McManus and Donie Fox 0-2 each, Cillian Costello and Robbie Mahon 0-1 each.

Dublin

1. Jonathan Treacy

2. Mark Kavanagh
3. Patrick Smith
4. Mark McCallion

5. Fionn O Riain Broinn
6. Matthew McCaffrey
7. Cian MacGabhann

8. Caolan Conway
9. AJ Murphy

10. Conor Burke
11. Sean O Riain
12. James Holland

13. Canice Maher
14. Tom Connolly
15. Alan Moore

Subs 

19. Fergal Whitely for Conway (h/t)
21. Fionntan MacGib for Burke (40)
22. Donal Burke for Holland (48)
23. Ben Quinn for Murphy (51)
18. Ciaran Dowling for MacGabhann (52)
20. Johnny McGuirk for Connolly (56)

Dubs Stars

1. Brendan McLoughlin

2. Niall Corcoran
3. Ronan Walsh
4. John Bellew

5. Conor Murphy
6. Chris Crummey
7. Robbie Mahon

8. Cillian Costello
9. Donie Fox

10. Ross O’Carroll
11. Joe McManus
12. Fergal Heavey

13. Kevin O’Reilly
14. Oisin O’Rorke
15. Alex Quinn

Subs

17. Eoin Sheehy for Walsh (h/t)
18. Ronan Hayes for Costello (h/t)
19. Gavin King for Heavey (h/t)
16. Eoin Skelly for McLoughlin (h/t)
20. Stephen O’Dwyer for O’Reilly (46)
21. Paul Crummey for McManus (49)

Referee: Sean Stack (Parnells)

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