The stewards come into rescue him but Peter Duggan doesn’t need rescuing. He has a smile on his face that says I could stay doing this forever. He’s standing there right, under the beaming sun in Thurles and he’s mobbed by Clare supporters, young and old, and every single one of them is giddy in […]

3 years ago

Galway 2-19 Cork 1-21 Henry Shefflin raised his two fists into the air as, after a nail-biting finish, his Galway side booked their place in an All-Ireland semi-final against Limerick. It was hardly perfect from them, for large periods it was flat, but it was enough and, in the end, it was the perfect way […]

3 years ago

Tyrone GAA is in mourning following the death of Damian Casey, who has been described as the county’s greatest ever hurler. The Eoghan Ruadh Dungannon club-man passed away after a tragic swimming pool accident in Spain, where he had been attending a wedding as a grooms-man. It really is a jarring insight into the brevity […]

3 years ago

It was a big boost for the Wexford hurlers to see Shane Reck coming on as a late substitute against Kerry last Sunday, to make his first appearance of the year. He joined his brother Damien in the back-line, just like he had done last September when, truth be told, he probably shouldn’t have. Shane […]

3 years ago

She’s playing well, the hamstrings are good and while there’s another trip to Australia on the cards, Sinead Goldrick is, completely and totally focused, at the moment, on playing football for Dublin. That’s how it is and that’s how it will be until their championship campaign is over, which, unless there’s a shock, will be […]

3 years ago

You’d wonder sometimes about the man who, with nothing but a thought, a player and a team to pick, decided all those years ago that full back was the place for Brendan Rogers. You’d love to get inside his head. Did he know that the game was going to change? Did he have an idea […]

3 years ago

He had such a frightening scare with concussion that, this time last year, Shane O’Donnell was coming to terms with the fact that his days as a hurler were done. He hesitated to go into the details but, in admitting that his “brain was not functioning” at a time that he could not “process anything,” […]

3 years ago

And then there were eight. The draw for the All-Ireland quarter finals has been made. The games will take place on the weekend of the 25th/26th June with the venues and fixtures to be confirmed during the week. The draw was made on Morning Ireland this Monday, where Uachtarán an CLG Larry McCarthy conducted the […]

3 years ago

Joanne Cantwell asked Colm O’Rourke if he was going to be the next Meath manager and, in response, she got one-liner after one-liner…and she eventually got an answer. If he was to go and take it, O’Rourke wonders who’d keep Sean Cavanagh in check on The Sunday Game. He says that the wishes of his […]

3 years ago

Mayo 2-13 Kildare 0-14 Mayo did a Mayo on it. That’s the only way of explaining it. They were six points down, out of ideas and on the proverbial brink in the second half of this All-Ireland qualifier but, no more than half an hour later, when the referee blew his final whistle, they were […]

3 years ago

There have been weekends before and, the way things are going, there will be weekends again when the Clearys have to split up. Caroline will go to the football and Gerry will go to the hurling. The phones will be at the ready and, to keep each other informed, they’ll be sending updates across. It’s […]

3 years ago

It was like the Pamplona bull-run when Thomas Galligan won the throw-in at Brewster Park. He was the bull and the five Fermanagh players that had the job of chasing after him, unfortunately for them, were the bull-runners. He was the boss and, whether they liked it or not, they were at the mercy of […]

3 years ago

It doesn’t feel all that long ago when, back in 2008 and ’09, Tommy Walsh was the shooting star of Kerry football. He was the Young Footballer of the Year in 2008 and he went one better the following year, when he kicked 0-4 from play against Cork – a brace off each foot – […]

3 years ago

Eddie Brennan reckons that The Sunday Game’s analysis on the Munster final was unfair and biased. Shane Dowling and Brendan Cummins were the pundits on the night, with Des Cahill in the hot-seat and watching on, the Kilkenny man felt that the analysis lacked balance. The panel honed in on Clare’s indiscipline on the day, […]

3 years ago

Rory Hayes deserved to be sent off, by the letter of the law, and if Seamus Flanagan went down, then he probably would have been. If you’re from Clare then look – it goes without saying – you probably have steam coming out of your ears after reading that but the fact of the matter […]

3 years ago

Kilkenny 0-22 Galway 0-17 Kilkenny have won their third Leinster championship in a row after one of the worst provincial finals in living memory. Galway were the fancied team coming into this one but aside from Conor Whelan, Jack Grealish and Darren Morrissey, there isn’t another Galway player who will remember this game with any […]

3 years ago

Antrim 5-22 Kerry 4-24 Antrim were 11 points up after 25 minutes, they were five points up with five to play but Kerry just wouldn’t give in, and they were almost rewarded for their persistence. Padraig Boyle scored a late goal to reduce the arrears to one and, on the long drive home, Kerry will […]

3 years ago

The Dublin footballers wore ‘Support 4 Drummo’ jerseys in the Leinster final win over Kildare and the Dublin hurlers did the same in their final group game against Galway. Sean Drummond has a number of club-mates on both teams. He would have played with Con O’Callaghan and his brother Cian when they were younger while, […]

3 years ago

Tyrone followed up a mediocre League campaign with a bad start to the championship but they still have one more chance. They’ll be hoping that’s all they need. It’s last chance saloon now – it’s do-or-die in the All-Ireland qualifiers – and with a trip to Armagh on the cards this Sunday, the reigning champs […]

3 years ago

Kerry have four weeks off now, before they play an All-Ireland quarter final, but Paudie Clifford won’t be twiddling his thumbs. If it’s not football then it’s golf and if it’s not golf then it’s horse-racing. The 26-year-old says he’ll find out tonight if, over the next week or two, the Kerry footballers will be […]

3 years ago

Chrissy McKaigue experienced the best of the age-old provincial system on Sunday, when Derry enjoyed a beautiful Sunday in Clones, but none-the-less, the Slaughtneil defender has not changed his mind. He put his cards on the table on this one last year and he is still adamant that, if the football championship is to improve, […]

3 years ago

Munster or Leinster – where are the better hurling counties? You could spend a whole day on it. Because it’s a debate that, regardless of how long you spend on it, regardless of whether you’re talking about the past or the present and regardless of who you’re talking to, you’ll come no closer to finding […]

3 years ago

John Kiely and Shane Dowling and all of Limerick were adamant that, having being shown a red card during their round-robin game against Clare, Gearoid Hegarty was extremely hard-done-by. They weren’t the only ones who felt that way, to be fair. His first yellow card was a harsh one, when he was cautioned, basically, because […]

3 years ago

The draw for the first ever Tailteann Cup quarter finals took place this morning on RTÉ radio. As it was supposed to, the competition has had some very tight games so far and, with just eight teams left standing now, it’s bound to get more exciting over the coming weeks. Cavan were the pre-tournament favourites […]

3 years ago

Colm O’Rourke thinks Michael Murphy is a wonderful player but, when it comes to Footballer of the Decade talk, he doesn’t think the Donegal man isn’t up there with the Dubs of this world. Sean Cavanagh reckons he is. Noelle Healy didn’t get a word in. And, as she watched on, Joanne Cantwell could hardly […]

3 years ago

Galway 2-19 Roscommon 2-16 Having lost to them in successive weekends during the National Football League, Galway settled a score with Roscommon when it really mattered. Shane Walsh was the main man for the Tribesmen who, having lost three Connacht finals in the last three years, weren’t to be denied this time around. On the […]

3 years ago

If you’re reading this Brian Dowling then rest assured, there is nothing to worry about. Miriam Walsh doesn’t want you to be replaced as Kilkenny manager – the opposite is true – but in more general terms, the Tullaroan woman reckons it’s about time more women got involved in inter-county management. Offaly boss Susan Earner […]

3 years ago

“Like a gladiator going into the Colosseum, he wants a packed stadium, he wants it to be as intense as possible. That’s the kind of individual I am.” Diarmaid Byrnes was told that, a week and a half out, Limerick and Clare’s Munster final is already looking like a sell-out and he was delighted to […]

3 years ago

Eoin Walsh usually takes a day’s annual leave on the Monday if London have an away game on the Sunday. It’s just as hectic for Saturday trips, because, against partner’s wishes, it pretty much means that the Galwegian-come-Londoner, and all his team-mates, are gone for the weekend. You wouldn’t be a London footballer if you […]

3 years ago

Mickey Quinn made his 100th appearance for Longford back in March but, after ten years in blue and yellow, the only reason he knew he’d reached that milestone is because he totted them up himself. It really is an incredible achievement – whether you’re from Cork or Leitrim or Dublin or Fermanagh – to play […]

3 years ago

It was show-down weekend in Munster, the same in Leinster and, if that doesn’t do it for you, well, you had the All-Ireland under-20 final there as well. So what will we talk about boys? The split season? You took the words right out of my mouth. ‘The club v county debate rumbles on’ was […]

3 years ago

Colm Bonnar cut a dazed and confused figure in his post-match interview after Tipperary’s loss to Cork. The job as Tipperary senior hurling manager is one that he has craved for a long time but, unfortunately for him, his first year has been more of a nightmare than a dream. That was why, in the […]

3 years ago

Paddy Langton was at the very edge of his range when, after 20 minutes of the All-Ireland under-20 final, he eyed up the posts from his own 65 yard line. The Young Ireland’s club-man gave it a fair old welt and, from the stands anyway, it looked like he had done enough to score the […]

3 years ago

Kilkenny 0-19 Limerick 0-18 The All-Ireland under-20 final turned into a shoot-out between Billy Drennan and Aidan O’Connor. O’Connor barely missed a trick, neither did Drennan but the Kilkenny man had better back-up and that’s why, after a game that went point for point for point from pillar to post, Kilkenny are All-Ireland under-20 champions […]

3 years ago

Kilkenny supporters were getting impatient, the Wexford contingent were shutting their eyes but time stood still for Damien Reck. The Oylegate-Glenbrien player was the coolest man in Nowlan Park. It was do-or-die for Wexford on Saturday night and the game was at one of those stages where, if either team scored a goal, you’d have […]

3 years ago

Kilkenny have lost to Galway and they’ve lost to Wexford and Brian Cody, you’d have to imagine, is not too happy with that fact. They’ve qualified for a Leinster final which, as a step up the ladder of this championship, is mission accomplished but it’s not that they’re there, it’s how they got there. They’ve […]

3 years ago

Wexford 1-22 Kilkenny 1-18 A fella from Wexford told me he wasn’t going to Nowlan Park today because he didn’t see the point of it. Sure it’ll hardly be worth the hassle. It might have been handier to put the feet up at home, to be fair, and the view might have been decent on […]

3 years ago

And breathe. There was a breathless finish to the Joe McDonagh Cup group stages on Saturday afternoon and, after all that, it is the hurling folk of Kerry who are exhaling deep and well-deserved sighs of relief. There’s guaranteed to be a bit of excitement in there too. That’s because, after a mathematical, permutation-filled, three-way-race […]

3 years ago

Jerry Drennan has never known his nephew Billy to panic. On the hurling field or in the hand-ball alley. It’s what makes him, as Galway and Wexford discovered recently to their cost , one of the most prolific young free-takers and indeed scorers in hurling. Billy doesn’t over-do the nerves or the practice Jerry says, […]

3 years ago

Kilkenny didn’t get off to the best start in Parnell Park and, with Brian Cody growing increasingly tetchy on the line, it was Walter Walsh who bore the brunt of it. He was over on the far wing, on the other end of the field so to make sure Walter knew the story, Cody had […]

3 years ago

If you stop and smile you’re pathetic and if you walk away then you’re the point at the edge of a thorn. It’s an absolute free-for-all at the end of inter-county games nowadays and, as a player, it must be hard to know what you’re supposed to do. Because if there’s nobody lining you up […]

3 years ago

Here we go. After all the talk and all the proposals and all the plans, the All-Ireland senior football championship has finally been split in two. John Horan’s beloved brainchild, the long-awaited Tailteann Cup, was given the go-ahead and now it’s almost ready for road. Tipperary and Westmeath were the last two teams to be […]

3 years ago

Gearoid Hegarty was pointing fingers and spitting fire as he left the field on Sunday and, when you see what he was sent off for, you can hardly blame him. It was a second yellow card that did for the Limerick man in the end and, like Austin Gleeson before him, that second yellow card […]

3 years ago

Waterford would have been praying for Limerick to beat Clare because that draw, and all the permutations it brings, leaves them in what you’d have to call a shaky position next Sunday. Permutations It’s a shock and it’s a blow for the Déise to be in a mess like this because, with the Munster championship […]

3 years ago

Cork 2-22 Waterford 1-19 Cork had fire in the bellies and ice in the minds in Walsh Park today, and after three torrential weeks, that was what kept them alive in this championship. They always say that a wounded animal is a dangerous animal and the Rebels were like cut cats today. They were hungry, […]

3 years ago

It’s going to be some Saturday next Saturday. Permutations So here we are, with one game to go. Next weekend’s fixtures: Kilkenny v Wexford, Nowlan Park, 6.00 Galway v Dublin, Pearse Stadium, 6.00 Galway are the only team who, regardless of what happens next week, have qualified for the All-Ireland series. They are also guaranteed a […]

3 years ago

Kilkenny 3-25 Dublin 0-17 This is not a great Kilkenny team, it mightn’t even be a good Kilkenny team but it’s still Kilkenny. And when you miss the chances that Dublin missed against Kilkenny this evening then it’s as simple as this. You haven’t a hope of beating them. It might sound crazy to say […]

3 years ago

The contracts and the fixtures and the rest of it can wait because, really and truly, the only thing AFLW players want is a date. They want to know when pre-season is going to start and, from an Irish point of view, they want to know when they’re going to have to up sticks and […]

3 years ago

There are times, John Maughan admits, when he’d love to just rip the GPS off their backs and tear into them like he used to. With a stop and a smile, he reminds himself to calm down. It’s a different game now. A different game from when, as manager of Clare in the early 90s, […]

3 years ago

Collins Ugochukwu was so shocked when Billy Sheehan called up him up to the county panel at the start of the year that, during the famous phone-call, he almost talked the Laois manager out of it. “I was like, Billy! Me? Are you sure now? You know I only started playing this year.” Sheehan persisted, […]

3 years ago