Month: September 2021

CORK MANAGER EPHIE Fitzgerald believes the tremendous work-rate of his players could send them back into an All-Ireland final after last year’s heartache.

The 11-time champions will face-off against Donegal in this year’s dream All-Ireland semi-final on 18 August.

And yesterday’s huge 8-18 to 1-6 victory over Westmeath outlined Cork’s huge squad depth once again. Saoirse Noonan scored a massive 1-5 after her introduction in the 38th minute, as Cork made it 23 goals in five games this season.

Fitzgerald knows tougher tests await as the Munster champions clash with their Ulster equivalent in the final-four. Cork were dumped out at this stage last year when Mayo shocked them. But the win over Westmeath was another step towards redemption.

“It was very one-sided. We scored a goal after a minute and it was plain-sailing. It was a strange match for an All-Ireland quarter-final in that it was so lopsided,” said Fitzgerald.

“We can only go out and give a performance as best we can. But there are bigger things ahead for us obviously with Donegal. They are a fairly formidable outfit but we will go away and give it our best over the next couple of weeks.

“We have a strong panel of players to pick from. We can bring on girls who are every bit as good as the players who are on there. So that gives us a bit of a bonus as well.

Source: Bryan Keane/INPHO

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“But Donegal are very good. When you look at their forward line, Geraldine McLaughlin, Yvonne Bonner, the Hegarty girls. They are a powerful unit.

“It will be a good football game and we are looking forward to it. People are saying we haven’t been tested but that’s testament to the girls and the work they are putting in.”

Cork were already 3-5 to 0-3 ahead at half-time at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick, with Libby Coppinger, Eimear Scally and Áine O’Sullivan on target.

Doireann O’Sullivan, Noonan, Scally and Ciara O’Sullivan (two) added further goals in the second half.

The Rebels have won 11 of the 12 Brendan Martin Cups on offer between 2005 and 2016. And now they are just 60 minutes away from another decider.

Dublin were crowned champions in Cork’s absence last year, but Westmeath manager Stephen Maxwell believes Cork could be back on top this time around.

“Over the last 12 years Cork have been the best team in the country and they are probably back to their best now. Dublin had the All-Ireland win last year but Cork are absolutely flying it, and I don’t envy Donegal trying to do what we had to today,” said Maxwell.

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ALL ROADS LEAD to Dr Hyde Park in Roscommon on Sunday for a mouth-watering TG4 All-Ireland senior football championship quarter-final double-header.

A general view of Dr Hyde Park.

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

First up it’s an all-Connacht affair with Galway and Mayo going head-to-head for a place in the All-Ireland semi-final (throw-in 3pm, deferred showing on TG4 at 7pm).

The sides last met in the provincial decider with the Tribeswomen coming out on top and since then Stephen Glennon’s charges have gone from strength to strength, topping their group comfortably.

Peter Leahy’s side on the other hand have shown true resilience to recover from the loss of 12 players from the panel, convincingly beating Cavan before coming close against reigning All-Ireland champions Dublin at the same venue the last day.

🏟️*VENUE CONFIRMED*

🏆 @SportTG4 @TG4TV All-Ireland senior 1/4 finals

🗓️ Sunday August 12; Dr. Hyde Park, Roscommon

⌚️3pm – @GalwayLgfa v @Mayo_LGFA (Deferred showing at 7pm 📺).
⌚️5pm – @dublinladiesg v @kerryladiesfoot (LIVE 📺) #properfan pic.twitter.com/9ssI0jci9B

— Ladies Football (@LadiesFootball) August 7, 2018

The Dubs themselves are in action in the second clash of the day, opposition coming in the form of Munster finalists Kerry (throw-in 5pm, live on TG4).

This meeting comes as a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland semi-final which Mick Bohan’s charges won on a scoreline of 5-10 to 0-11 before they saw off Mayo in the decider.

Saturday is another busy day in the ladies football calendar with two TG4 All-Ireland senior championship relegation play-offs down for decision, and there’s an All-Ireland intermediate championship quarter-final double-header fixed for Moate.

Dublin star Nicole Owens.

Source: Matt Browne/SPORTSFILE

Here’s the fixtures in full:

Saturday 11 August

TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship (Relegation Playoff 1)

• Tipperary v Waterford, Callan, 3pm

TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship (Relegation Playoff 2)

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• Cavan v Monaghan; Lannleire GFC, Dunleer, 1.30pm

TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate Quarter-Final

• Clare v Meath; Moate, 1.15pm

TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate Quarter-Final

• Roscommon v Laois; Moate, 3pm

TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate Championship (Relegation Playoff 2)

• Down v Longford; Inniskeen, 1pm

TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate Championship (Relegation Playoff 1)

• Fermanagh v Offaly; Inniskeen, 2.45pm

TG4 All-Ireland Junior Championship – Group A, Round 3

• Antrim v Kilkenny; Musgrave Park, Belfast, 2pm

TG4 All-Ireland Junior Championship – Group B, Round 3

• Limerick v Carlow; Askeaton, 2pm

Sunday 12 August

TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship Quarter-Final

• Galway v Mayo; Dr. Hyde Park, Roscommon, 3pm (TG4 Deferred showing at 7pm).

TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship Quarter-Final

• Dublin v Kerry; Dr. Hyde Park, Roscommon, 5pm (LIVE TG4).

TG4 All-Ireland Junior Championship – Group A, Round 3

• London v Louth; McGovern Park, Ruislip, 12pm.

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Clarinbridge’s Patrick Foley gets the nod.

Source: Laszlo Geczo/INPHO

GALWAY HAVE NAMED their team for Wednesday’s All-Ireland U21 hurling semi-final meeting with Tipperary.

Facing the Premier County at the Gaelic Grounds (7.30pm), Galway manager Tony Ward has made two changes to the side that overcame Wexford after extra-time in the Leinster final.

Andrew Greaney comes in for Mark Hughes in the backs, while Patrick Foley replaces Cian Salmon to line out at centre half-forward.

Read about the Tipperary team here.

Galway team (v Tipperary)

1. Eanna Murphy (Tommie Larkins)

2. Shane Bannon (Clarinbridge)
3. Jack Fitzpatrick (Killimordaly)
4. Ian O’Shea (Athenry)

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5. Fintan Burke (captain) (St Thomas)
6. Andrew Greaney (Craughwell)
7. Jack Grealish (Gort)

8. Sean Loftus (Turloughmore)
9. Thomas Monaghan (Craughwell)

10. Cianan Fahy (Ardrahan)
11. Patrick Foley (Clarinbridge)
12. Brian Concannon (Killimordaly)

13. Kevin Cooney (Sarsfields)
14. Sean Bleahane (Ahascragh/Fohenagh)
15. Evan Niland (Clarinbridge)

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Niall Donoghue back in 2013.

Source: Cathal Noonan/INPHO

TWENTY ONE-YEAR-old Conor Whelan is preparing to line out for Galway in the All-Ireland hurling final on Sunday, 19 August, after yesterday’s win over Clare.

The Kinvara forward is a cousin of another former Tribesman star — the late Niall Donoghue, who took his own life just two days before his 23rd birthday in October 2013.

As part of Littlewood’s #StyleOfPlay series, Whelan speaks openly about dealing with the loss of a family member and the issue of mental health in general.

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“Niall Donoghue would have been my first cousin and he would have been my first idol,” Conor says. “He took his own life in the winter of 2013.

It was immensely sad, it is still very raw and hard to take. We all have a responsibility to try and raise awareness and try highlight the importance of mental health.

“Sometime GAA players have a platform to reach out to young people who look up to them. I just think it’s very important that we try and influence them, change the culture and make sure we don’t lose another loved one like that.”

Source: Littlewoods Ireland/YouTube

If you need to talk, please contact:

• Samaritans 116 123 or email [email protected]
• Aware 1800 80 48 48 (depression, anxiety)
• Pieta House 1800 247 247 or email [email protected] (suicide, self-harm)
• Teen-Line Ireland 1800 833 634 (for ages 13 to 19)
• Childline 1800 66 66 66 (for under 18s) 

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GALWAY U21 CAPTAIN Fintan Burke never had to look too far for inspiration growing up.

First cousins: Fintan and David Burke.

A first cousin of the Tribesmen senior captain David Burke, he’s followed in his footsteps as he prepares to lead his side into battle in the Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling U21 All-Ireland semi-final against Tipperary tomorrow night (throw-in 7.30pm, Gaelic Grounds, live on TG4).

Both from the St Thomas’ club, along with David’s brother Eanna and brothers Conor and Shane Cooney, it’s incredible to think that such a small community has scaled such heights and produced such a special group of hurlers.

It’s no real surprise to Burke though, who carries fond memories of everyone gathering at the pitch for puck around after puck around when they were younger.

St Thomas’ won their first-ever senior county title in 2012 and were then crowned All-Ireland club champions in 2013. Burke was 16 at the time, too young to play but that drove him on more and more.

They won another county senior title in 2016, and he started at corner back. A great feeling to win alongside family and friends, people he had looked up to for so long.

“I suppose we would have been close enough,” he says of his older cousin David, as he rolls back the years.

“He has a good few brothers and you’d nearly be too embarrassed to ask for advice, you’d nearly get laughed at.

“So it was up to you to learn from them without asking. If you saw him going to the pitch, well then straight away you were going to be up to the pitch practicing the same things he was practicing.

David Burke in action.

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

“Most of the time when you’re at the pitch practicing yourself or you’re out for a puck and he was there you’d spend as much time watching what he was doing. And then when he left you’d practice what he was doing.

“The same would apply to Conor Cooney or Eanna Burke.”

He adds, of David’s influence on his own game:

“You wouldn’t really think about it too much, but when you would look back on it there’s certain aspects of how you’d play. You’d find yourself playing the same way or even his leadership roles coming up along.

“You wouldn’t necessarily sit down and think about it, but when you look back at your own performances you’d notice small things that he’d do that maybe you’d copying now.”

Of course, last September David was the man to lift the Liam McCarthy Cup as Galway ended a wait since 1988 to climb the steps of the Hogan Stand.

It came as a massive lift to the county, and it’s continuing to spur them on at all levels this year.

“Everyone is getting behind the lads, especially with the seniors doing so well and the minors in an All-Ireland final now and ourselves coming up. You do notice that there’s a good few even in the county kind of focusing on you.

“It’s alright having it in a good place for a year or two, but there’s no point stepping off the gas now and letting it go down.

Fintan Burke leading the U21 charge.

Source: Laszlo Geczo/INPHO

“I think it’s very important for us, especially us because we’re coming into it now, to keep it going and try not to get too sucked into all the supporters and everyone getting into the hype. You have to keep your feet on the ground a small bit.

“We’ll just focus on ourselves. If you do that and don’t look at the papers, then it does help a good bit.”

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This is the first year that the Galway U21s have contested Leinster before the All-Ireland series, and Burke feels that that’s only a good thing.

Not only does it mean they get a run of games and don’t come into the All-Ireland stages cold, he says, it also gives them more exposure and allows players to throw their hat in the ring to launch a potential senior inter-county career.

“If you’re looking at going into a senior set-up, it gives you a few matches to prove what kind of a hurler you were,” he explains.

“Whereas before, it was do or die. If you don’t perform in one game there was very little chance that you were going to get called in.”

The provincial final was one to remember. Galway looked pretty much dead and buried, trailing by two points with mere seconds left in extra-time, but cometh the hour, cometh the man, as Sean Bleahane rattled the net to break Wexford hearts.

Off the back of that success, they’re in a good place and confident in themselves as they face Tipperary. But the Premier county are coming in from a different perspective.

Lifting their first-ever U21 Leinster crown.

Source: Laszlo Geczo/INPHO

Beaten by 13 points by Cork in the Munster final, they’ll be hoping they can make amends tomorrow. They know they have a point to prove, and Burke is well aware of that and the room for a major backlash.

“Any team that you’d be involved with, the last thing you want to do is go out and perform poorly. We know even if you look at Tipp when they played Limerick, they beat a very good Limerick team.

“We know that there will be a massive lash back from Tipp. To be fair to them, they couldn’t have hurled any poorer than what they hurled against Cork.

“They’ll have a point to prove against us so we’re going to be prepared for it.”

– Updated 18.34

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THE GAA HAVE announced that Wexford official James Owens will be the referee for this year’s All-Ireland senior hurling final on Sunday 19 August.

Owens will take charge of the clash between Galway and Limerick in Croke Park, in what will be his second All-Ireland final having previously officiated in 2015 between Galway and Kilkenny.

Askamore club man Owens has previously been referee for the 2007 All-Ireland minor final, the 2008 All-Ireland U21 final and the 2015 All-Ireland club decider.

Owens has been involved in games this summer involving both Galway and Limerick. He took charge of Galway’s drawn semi-final with Clare, along with their Leinster final replay success over Kilkenny. Earlier in the summer, Owens was at the helm for Limerick’s games in Munster against Cork and Clare.

Tipperary’s Fergal Horgan will be the standby referee with Kilkenny’s Sean Cleere the linesman and Carlow’s Patrick Murphy the sideline official.

His umpires on the day will be James Dunbar and David Owens (both Askamore), Joe Kelly (Naomh Éanna) and Ian Plunkett (Marshalstown).

Johnny Murphy from Limerick will officiate in the All-Ireland minor hurling showdown between Galway and Kilkenny. Cork’s Diarmuid Kirwan will be the standby referee, the other linesman is Sean Stack (Dublin) and the sideline ffficial will be Thomas Walsh (Waterford).

His umpires on the day will be Mike Meade, James Hickey, Jimmy Barry-Murphy and
Kieran O’Callaghan (all Ballylanders).

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AFTER A HEAVY defeat in the Munster final to Cork, the Tipperary U21 hurlers welcomed a break to reassess and regroup.

Galway’s Fintan Burke and Tipp’s Mark Kehoe.

Source: Brendan Moran/SPORTSFILE

A 13-point loss on the big stage in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Not exactly ideal.

“After a loss like that you really have to regroup and see where you are,” Tipperary forward Mark Kehoe says.

“It was easier because everyone was in the same mindset. We’re going to learn from our mistakes now from the last day, we don’t want to be flat going into this game. I think we’re just dying to give a real big performance against Galway.”

The evening itself, that loss to the Rebels must be reflected upon though.

“It was a bit demoralising,” he continues. “13 points was a bit of an embarrassment now to be honest.

“After 20 minutes, they were racing ahead of us. That doesn’t usually happen. We just felt like we let Tipperary supporters down — the genuine Tipperary supporters who have followed us all the way through, they know we’re not about that.

“Knowing how we performed against Limerick and then how we performed against Cork, we kind of just let Cork hurl away and didn’t put a hand on them. If it was anyone you’d be thick with yourself.

In action against Cork.

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

“The fact that it was a Munster final, we really let the Tipperary supporters down and we really want to put a fight in now the next day and show the spirit. We’re all just dying to get out the next day and put that performance away.

“We all know we’re only as good as our last game. That’s in the back of our mind as well and we really just want to get at Galway now.”

The Tribesmen are coming into the game from a slightly different perspective, full of confidence with the Leinster crown under their belt after a late, late win over Wexford.

That’s no harm though, Kehoe smiles, as he thinks of tonight’s Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling U21 All-Ireland championship semi-final (throw-in 7.30pm, Gaelic Grounds, live on TG4).

“Galway are going to be hot favourites after winning the Leinster, after beating Wexford. We’re kind of coming in under the radar. Maybe that’s a good thing, we’ll look at that and look to implement our presence around the field.

That 2016 All-Ireland minor final.

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

“I think a Tipperary team going in as the underdogs is a dangerous animal. It’s not that it usually happens. We’re going to relish it now.”

They’re a young team and most of them have hurled together right up through the ranks so there’s a good sense of unity there.

“We’re used to being in big days with each other,” Kehoe adds. “We trust each other, we all know what we’re about. The trust is there so we just have to go out on the pitch now and trust each other.”

They’ve been through it all together; winning and losing, good days and bad days. The backbone of the team were there in 2016 as they lifted the All-Ireland minor title in Croke Park.

Kehoe’s also a talented footballer. He had success with both Clonmel and Rockwell in schools’ football, and he helped the Tipperary minor team to an All-Ireland final.

“I love hurling and it kind of just took over then,” he explains.

“When you’re winning, it’s easier to throw your hand at something. We play senior football with the club and it’s still massive but the focus is Tipp hurling at the moment anyway.”

At the Bord Gáis Energy U21 All-Ireland semi-final media day.

Source: Brendan Moran/SPORTSFILE

He’s in around the senior panel, but aspires to reach that mark on a more regular basis. To make that full breakthrough — and the sooner the better.

“When you’re in training with the likes of Seamie Callanan, Paudie Maher and Brendan Maher, you see the standard they set and one day you want to get to that standard,” he says.

“You want to get to it as soon as possible. You see they reap the rewards. They do it day in, day out. Maybe some of us, we do it one day but maybe not the next day. We see what it takes to become a top-quality player.We definitely look up to those older players, and want to be in their footsteps.

“Hopefully the management can put trust in us. We have to show them at U21 obviously first and we’ll all just stay training and put our heads down and hopefully once we all get our bodies right, mentally right and we’re mentally tough enough for senior, maybe the shot will come.”

But that’s to the back of his mind at the minute. All focus is on Galway tonight, and the game of hurling between his side and a coveted All-Ireland final spot against Cork.

Redemption.

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MONAGHAN MANAGER MALACHY O’Rourke has relayed his fears that the restructuring of the All-Ireland football Championship has made it doubly difficult for teams with the lack of recovery time between games.

Both themselves and Tyrone have played eight games in eleven weeks since they met in the Ulster quarter-final on May 20th, with just a week to get ready for a semi-final following the concluding round of Super 8s games.

“I think it is. I think when you are preparing for an All-Ireland semi-final and when the other teams are the same,” said the native of Fermanagh.

“For Monaghan’s case, to wait thirty years to get to an All-Ireland semi-final and you saw the scenes after it, it would be nice for the supporters and the players to sit back and take it all in, to have plenty of time to recover and then plan ahead,” he said.

“So a week is very tight, but we are not complaining. We are delighted to be in the position we are in, we would gladly have taken it earlier on in the year so we will just make the best of it.”

The chequered history of these two neighbours has rendered the narrative surrounding this game that Tyrone have a distinct psychological edge, having beaten them in Croke Park quarter-finals in 2013 and 2015.

O’Rourke responds that their wins over Tyrone in the 2014 and 2018 Ulster Championship evens up that score.

“We can’t do anything about that or worry about that. One thing I do know is that people say Tyrone are Monaghan’s bogey team,” said O’Rourke at a press briefing at the Entekra Monaghan GAA Centre of Excellence.

“I was just looking the other night, since we’ve been here since 2013 on, we’ve played Tyrone four times in the Championship and both of us have won two games each.

“We’ve played three times in the National League, we’ve won twice and they’ve won once. There’s been nothing between the teams, so we don’t see Tyrone as our bogey team in any way. We know they’re a really tough team, a really good team and all the games are nip and tuck. You’re right that they’ve beaten us twice in Croke Park, so that’s another challenge we face.”

Monaghan can also point to their convincing league win this year in Castleblayney, when they left Conor McManus on the bench until the 48th minute.

They have a clean bill of health going into this weekend with Kieran Hughes making good progress in his ongoing recovery from a hamstring strain.

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CONOR McMANUS AND PETER Duggan have been announced as the July winners of the PWC GAA/GPA Player of the Month awards.

McManus saw off competition from Galway’s Ian Burke and David Clifford of Kerry to win the football award, while Duggan took the hurling prize at the expense of Cathal Mannion of Galway and Limerick’s Aaron Gillane.

The performances of McManus were vital for Monaghan as they eventually sealed their passage to a first All-Ireland senior football semi-final in 30 years last weekend.

In their July games against Laois, Kildare and Kerry, the 31-year-old forward chipped in with a personal contribution of 1-18.

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The campaign ended for the Clare hurlers with Sunday’s semi-final replay defeat to Galway, but Duggan played a crucial role in the Banner County’s journey to the last four.

The Clooney-Quin ace hit a combined tally of 1-28 in Clare’s three games in July against Cork, Wexford and Galway.

Speaking on behalf of the GPA, Executive Committee member Ronan Sheehan said: “Congratulations to Peter Duggan and Conor McManus on their respective July Player of the Month awards.

“The two players have performed brilliantly in July among a series of stellar outings. Well done to both very deserving winners.”

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ÉAMONN FITZMAURICE HAS revealed that a player in the Kerry senior football panel received a letter telling them to “jump off a cliff”.

The Finuge clubman stepped down as Kerry manager at the weekend following his side’s exit from the All-Ireland SFC, and alluded to an air of “negativity that was coming at the team” in his parting statement.

He also referred to “anonymous letters” that he has received during his six-years in charge of the Kingdom.

Speaking on Off The Ball AM, Fitzmaurice expanded on that point and explained that managers are somewhat accustomed to getting this kind of mail in their position, but he stressed that targeting a player in a similar way was going “too far”.

“I’ve never taken any notice of that stuff because as I said, it goes with the territory,” Fitzmaurice began.

“Jack O’Connor got it, Pat O’Shea got it, Páidí [Ó Sé] got it. Mick O’Dwyer won eight All-Irelands and he got it, so it’s not something that I was ever precious about but something that changed this summer was players, and one player in particular, that got a letter.

“And it was more what was in the letter that annoyed me and I felt it was gone too far.

The player was told to jump off a cliff and take three or four other players with him that were named in the letter. I felt that was going way too far.

“As I said, when it’s coming at a manager and the selectors got a few [letters] this summer as well which was no harm for them to get a touch of it,” he laughs, “but when it goes to a player, really it’s gone too far.”

Source: Off The Ball/YouTube

He continued: “The lads are amateurs. I’ve been in the dressing with a lot of those lads for six years, some of the younger lads for two or three years and there’s a good a bunch as you can meet.

“They’re so dedicated and they’re so committed to the Kerry jersey it’s unbelievable. They were a fantastic bunch to work with so I’d always defend them to the hilt and I didn’t like that, I think that’s going too far really.”

When it was put to him that this kind of communication is a form of “hate mail”, Fitzmaurice agreed and while he said that the letter, which was sent during the summer, “didn’t bother” the player in question, the now former Kerry boss added:

“It is [hate mail] and I think with regard to the letters I’ve got myself and the anonymous letters, I wouldn’t go so far as to call them hate mail.

There have been some that have been fairly vitriolic but a lot of them wouldn’t and were in the harmless variety of things to be fair. They are anonymous letters and you wouldn’t take any notice of them but that one crossed the line that one that got the player.

“That’s probably where that came from on Saturday night, I hadn’t planned to say that but it came out.

“I know it’s taken a bit of a life of its own since. From the management perspective, I’d say there isn’t a manager in the country that doesn’t get some kind of a letter at some stage and that’s even club managers so as a Kerry manager you’re not going to be precious about that.

I think it’s definitely time to shout stop when players are getting very strongly worded letters like that.”

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