The best of the rest. Every year is the same. A couple of unheralded players shoot the lights out in their provincial championships. The All-Star calls are legitimate and they’re taken on board too. It isn’t long before they’re swallowed up though. The weeks pass and the underdogs are knocked out. Their star fades rapidly. […]

6 years ago

Irish basketball is on the way up. And the class of 1999 is taking them there. Two years ago, the under-18 girls brought Irish basketball to previously uncharted highs. A silver medal in their palms after the under-18 championships in Dublin, they had gotten the taste for it. It only made them hungry for more. […]

6 years ago

What a pity it would be. The All-Ireland semi-final and Kerry look beaten. Tyrone are on top all over and the Kingdom aren’t firing. They have Stephen O’Brien though. The darty Kenmare Shamrock showed moments of that trademark trickery early on but he wasn’t getting the opportunities, the freedom or the service. The second half […]

6 years ago

Kerry 1-18 Tyrone 0-18 And then there were two… An electric second half surge inspired by Paul Geaney and finished off by Stephen O’Brien and David Clifford helped Kerry book an All-Ireland final place against Dublin. Four points down and devoid of ideas at half-time, the Kingdom showed their true colours in the second half […]

6 years ago

Galway 0-14 Kerry 0-13 Galway have done it. Having won 34 games on the bounce in a run that stretches back to August 2013, Kerry have finally been beaten at the minor age group. Step up a heroic Galway side who bounced back from a provincial final defeat to Mayo to end the Kingdom’s six-in-a-row […]

6 years ago

Slow play. One of the ugliest traits in golf. It could be a Sunday stableford in your local course, it could be the US Open on Sky Sports but no matter where it is and no matter when it happens, the end product will always be the same. Uncomfortable viewing and unenjoyable golf. The golf […]

6 years ago

Dublin 3-14 Mayo 1-10 Manic and controlled aggression. Ferocious, bordering on reckless intensity. One man, two men, three men, four. Swarming every blue body that gets so much as a sniff of leather. Mayo’s first half rear-guard action was hailed as one of the most impressive defensive displays Croke Park had bore witness to. And […]

6 years ago

Cork 4-12 Mayo 1-12 Cork football is on the rise. One week after their under-20s dismantled Dublin in an All-Ireland final, the minors did likewise to Mayo in the wide open spaces of Croke Park. Patrick Campbell, that sharpshooter from Nemo Rangers was the main man for the Rebels who got goals at the right […]

6 years ago

“You need to take risks, and the risks need to come off.” So said Donegal legend Michael Murphy during the week when he was asked how any Gaelic football team are going to beat Dublin. Step up Mayo. Step up the team best equipped to halt Dublin’s five-in-a-row bid. The age-old rivals meet once again […]

6 years ago

31 years young. After Cork’s loss to Kilkenny in this year’s All-Ireland quarter final, the whole narrative surrounded that man Patrick Horgan. Another barely believable individual display, another ridiculous tally, another year without an All-Ireland medal. He’s not comfortable with it that way. It doesn’t sit well with him. Because he doesn’t play for praise, […]

6 years ago

The Wexford dressing room was a good place to be this year. Even during the January slog, the tunes were blaring and the spirits were high. As the year progressed, the stakes got higher but so did the enjoyment levels. “Literally when you walk into Ferns, you think there’s a disco happening in the changing […]

6 years ago

The Ireland machine rolls on. The Irish under-20 women’s basketball team are wiping out all before them at the European championship Division B over in Kosovo and they’ve a semi-final to look forward to now. Having coasted through the group stages with comfortable wins over Ukraine and Great Britain, they were catapulted into a quarter […]

6 years ago

That’s what it took to cut it under Micko

6 years ago

TJ Reid is 8/11 to be the Hurler of the Year. Seamie Callanan is the second favourite at 2/1. There’s little doubt as to who’s the more adored of the two though. While nationwide acclaim meets the Kilkenny man’s every groundbreaking performance, Seamie Callanan’s record breaking goalscoring feats are more of a slow burner. TJ […]

6 years ago

The 2003 All-Ireland football semi-final and the whole GAA world stopped and stared. Mickey Harte’s Tyrone were impossible to ignore. Ravenous, insatiable and incessant, they leapt across the Croke Park turf like they were mad at the grass and they hit Kerry bodies with that same manic aggression. The levels of intensity were groundbreaking and […]

6 years ago

Donie Brennan was an underage prodigy in Laois. Known and talked about the length and breadth of the county since he was a minor, the great Mick O’Dwyer reckoned he was good enough at just 18. The sky was the limit for the blue eyed boy wonder back then. Laois lost the 2004 Leinster final replay […]

6 years ago

Tyrone 2-15 Cork 2-12 Close, but no cigar for Cork. Just like last week, the Rebels come out of Croke Park with credit, with a performance but ultimately, with a loss. From the highs of leading by five at half-time, they were horsed out of it in the second half as a change in tactics […]

7 years ago

Galway 1-24 Clare 1-22 Clare needed a miracle, they weren’t far off getting one. With the quarter final stages being played in a round-robin format this year, score difference was always going to be crucial. As it worked out, the Clare minors needed a six point win against Galway in O’Moore Park, Portlaoise on Saturday […]

7 years ago

They already speak about this lad in awed tones in county Dublin. Ciaran Archer. Under-20 sensation. It’s strange to think now that two years ago, very few had heard of him. A sub on the county minor team, he appeared late on in their Leinster final win over Louth. Had potential alright, but hardly a […]

7 years ago

Cork 3-16 Kerry 0-12 Kieth Ricken’s pre-match words worked a treat. The Cork manager was in a relaxed mood prior to the Munster under-20 football final. He talked up his Cork boys, he had a bit of fun talking about the opposition. “That’s as obvious as tits on a bull as the man says,” he […]

7 years ago

It would have been worse if Bohs had actually won the game. UCD have been awarded a 3-0 victory over Bohemians after it was found that Bohemians fielded an ineligible player in their SSE Airtricity League Premier Division clash on Monday night in UCD. The game itself didn’t pass without controversy. After Yoyo Mahdy’s goal […]

7 years ago

Swings and roundabouts. When Rory McIlroy was down in the dumps, Graeme McDowell was flying high. When Graeme McDowell was having his own mini-meltdown, Rory McIlroy was steadying the ship. For a while at least. But then it all went haywire for McIlroy again. Fancied by many coming into it, big things were expected of […]

7 years ago

Brilliant stuff from Shane Lowry. Shane Lowry signed off on a -4 67 to come in as the clubhouse leader after a solid first round at the 148th British Open at Royal Portrush. The 67 is the Offaly man’s lowest ever opening round at a major and when you consider that he has missed the […]

7 years ago

The early bird catches the decent round. With the rest of us only turning over for our second sleep, Tyrone’s Darren Clarke and Cork’s James Sugrue were spinning rocks on the range. 4.30 in the morning you’d have found them out on the Royal Portrush practice grounds. The alarm had to be set for four. […]

7 years ago

Hard to believe. The course record holder, one of the favourites for this tournament, a former champion. Playing on one of the courses that moulded him as a golfer, hometown hero Rory McIlroy took an absolutely disastrous first hole at the 148th British Open. Standing on the first tee at Royal Portrush, the Hollywood native […]

7 years ago

Kilkenny 1-17 Wexford 0-18 Kilkenny strike back. After losing minor and senior Leinster finals to Wexford, Kilkenny were out for payback in Wednesday evening’s Bord Gais Leinster under-20 final and DJ Carey’s men duly obliged with a narrow win in Wexford Park. With the wind at their backs, it was the home side who started […]

7 years ago

Owen Mulligan is liking what he sees. Tyrone coasting through the qualifiers and bringing that form into the Super 8s too. Their weekend victory over Roscommon was the Red Hand at their very best. Tight in defence and efficient in attack, Roscommon were there or thereabouts but they never really looked like kicking onto win […]

7 years ago

Anthony Daly wasn’t impressed by the manner of Cork’s defeat to Kilkenny in Sunday’s All-Ireland quarter final. The Clare man hasn’t been impressed with Cork for quite some time. During the League, he questioned their character and this time around, he deemed that the Rebels familiar failings were to blame again. “Cork are the flakiest […]

7 years ago

Gripped by hurling. Living for it. The road from Dublin to Wexford is a fast one these days. The M11 motorway will take you from the capital city to wherever in the sunny south east you want to be. Motorway can be boring. Especially 90km of it. Gorey is the promised land. It’s where Wicklow […]

7 years ago

19 and busier than ever. Evan Shefflin is getting used to it now. The last year really has been a hurling whirlwind. But he’s happy to be going from breakthrough to breakthrough. It’s all new to him, this All-Ireland winning stuff, this Kilkenny senior stuff, this captaining Kilkenny stuff. He’s learning on he’s feet and […]

7 years ago

Dan Crowley was once the Great White Hope. For England. In fairness, the Three Lions have had many of them over the years and it doesn’t take too much to get them going all yellow banners on Sky Sports News but this lad looked like the real deal. A graduate of the Aston Villa academy, […]

7 years ago

The stories are almost legendary. 7 in the morning, out on the Glen pitch is where you’ll find Hoggie. Drilling a leather ball through the crisp morning air, watching it rip over the goals and then doing the same thing again. The stories are so good that they’re almost hard to believe. But it’s time […]

7 years ago

A costly one for Bohs, Conor Kearns enjoyed every minute of it for UCD. UCD kept their positive recent momentum going in the League of Ireland on Monday night with a priceless 1-0 win over Bohs at the UCD Bowl. In an entertaining affair, Yoyo Mahdy’s first half 25 yard stunner proved crucial for the […]

7 years ago

Cian O’Neill has called it a day. A disappointing championship exit against Tyrone in St Conleth’s Park will be Cian O’Neill’s final game as the Kildare senior football manager after he decided to resign from his position on Tuesday morning. The round 4 qualifier exit acted as a backward step from the year previous when […]

7 years ago

A man with the rare capacity to make the most of it. The son of Peter, the son of God, expectation was going to surround Darragh Canavan from a young age. The expectation would have drifted however, if it turned out at 13, 14 or 15, that he wasn’t actually that good. Loads of GAA […]

7 years ago

Tipperary were on their summer holidays early last year and for a man like Noel McGrath, it was tough to take. Tipperary: a place where expectations are high as the sky and a sense of presumption no doubt exists. This is hurling country. Their people presume their county will be involved at the glamour part […]

7 years ago

Hoggie this, Hoggie that, the bottom line is Cork could do with a clone of him, or maybe even two. The Glen Rovers forward brought the house down in Croke Park on Sunday afternoon with yet another jaw-dropping individual performance, yet it wasn’t enough to bring Cork to another All-Ireland semi-final. He didn’t have enough […]

7 years ago

Richie Hogan doesn’t spend time feeling sorry for himself. Two years interrupted by a troublesome back injury, Richie Hogan hasn’t got a clear run at it in recent times. There have been moments of magic, of course there has, this is one of the most gifted and fearless competitors hurling has ever seen. On Sunday, […]

7 years ago

Here’s to hoping that this isn’t the end of the journey, but the end of the beginning. Laois have risen. Hurling country is alive. We won’t call them a sleeping giant but an underachieving thoroughbred they have been. Back in the 70s and 80s, the midlands county were a big player in Leinster. Take the […]

7 years ago

Tipperary didn’t do too much, but they did just enough. Some of their passing was uncharacteristically sloppy, their handling was at times very poor and the flicks and tricks didn’t come off. Some of their defenders struggled out there but none of that really matters anymore. The bottom line is that Liam Sheedy’s men got […]

7 years ago

Brought to you by Centra #WeAreHurling And then there were four. Laois fought the fight of their lives but Tipperary did just enough. Cork looked at times as if they were about to run riot against Kilkenny but as they so often do, Brian Cody’s team steadied the ship when it mattered. If the Rebels […]

7 years ago

Tipperary 2-25 Laois 1-18 These men of Laois ain’t no flash in the pan. A red card for Aaron Dunphy midway through the second half proved costly for Laois as Tipperary, buoyed by their numerical advantage kicked onto win this All-Ireland quarter-final with ten points to spare. The Aaron Dunphy red card which could prove […]

7 years ago

Kilkenny 2-27 Cork 3-18 Kilkenny’s hype man minus the bravado. Conor Fogarty delivered an exhibition of hard work, clever hurling and bravery as Kilkenny overpowered and outhurled Cork in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling quarter final in Croke Park. Cork were fancied coming into the game and for parts, they lived up to the billing but […]

7 years ago

Kilkenny 2-15 Galway 3-16 Rusty but fresh or tired but sharp. Which one do you take? The Electric Ireland All-Ireland minor preliminary quarter final between Kilkenny and Galway took place as the curtain raiser in Croke Park on Sunday and both sides came to GAA HQ having travelled very different roads. The Cats’ journey was […]

7 years ago

Take a deep breath, Dublin fans. Take a breath, Gaelic football fans. Having not been seen in a Dublin jersey for the guts of two years, the wait is almost over to see Diarmuid Connolly back in the sky blue again. In an interview with Dubs TV on Sunday morning, Jim Gavin provided a host […]

7 years ago

Dublin 5-18 Cork 1-17 For a little while at least, there was a bit of craic in Croke Park. Cork took off like scalded cats. Kevin O’Driscoll drilled over an absolute peach off the outside of the boot to settle the rest of the Rebels down. Sean White, Paul Kerrigan and then Ruairí Deane kept […]

7 years ago

Tyrone 0-17 Roscommon 0-13 It wasn’t quite the 18 points of 2018, but it was still impressive by Tyrone and equally disappointing for Roscommon. Mickey Harte’s men started well in a partisan Dr Hyde Park and kept their foot on the throttle the whole way through to disappoint the home crowd and to get their […]

7 years ago

Ever since he made his debut as a fresh faced 19-year-old in the Connacht championship, Cillian O’Connor has been chasing down history. He’s still fresh-faced nine years on but on Sunday, another record is set to be surpassed. Some things never change. Colm Cooper, a Kingdom genius and the finest and most prolific scorer Gaelic […]

7 years ago

Brought to you by Centra #WeAreHurling The Westmeath game was always going to be an ideal one for the Cork hurlers. The beaten Joe McDonagh Cup finalists. A team low on confidence and a team shattered by a lost target for the second year in a row. A hiding wasn’t a guarantee, but it was […]

7 years ago

Paddy Purcell’s dad Michael is a Tipperary man with no divided loyalties this weekend. “He’s a true Laois man now!” And there’s no two ways about it. With the Laois hurlers defeating Dublin last Sunday, all eyes turned to Tipperary for this weekend’s All-Ireland quarter final in Croke Park. A historic day for the O’Moore […]

7 years ago