Stephen Kenny will return home in the coming days. Having presided over the Ireland under-21s’ impressive victory over Sweden on Tuesday night, the 47-year-old Dubliner was advised by the FAI’s medical staff to stay behind for treatment at a local hospital. Thankfully, Kenny will be disharged in the coming days as an FAI statement confirmed. […]

6 years ago

The Underdogs of 2019 begin their journey on TG4 on Thursday night. And their challenge is already a clear one. Mayo with under three months to prepare for them. It’s a tall order for any team. The men of the west have been one of the most consistent and competitive inter-county squads in the whole […]

6 years ago

The horse-racing community is a small one. But that small community makes a mighty difference when called upon. Pat Smullen is the man in need right now. It was in March last year when the legendary Offaly jockey was diagnosed with cancer in its most vicious form. Pancreatic cancer, those dreaded words. Ever since, Smullen […]

6 years ago

For a man only fresh into the managerial game, Cathal Murray has seen and experienced plenty. It was in 2015 when he cut his teeth. He did so at the deepest of deep-ends. His beloved club Sarsfields were stuck back then and Murray, their tigerish corner back, put the hand-up. Forget that he’d have nippy […]

6 years ago

Aoife Donohoe was a soccer player for Kiltormer, first and foremost. At under-nine and ten, she was one of the best players on the team. The fact that it was the lads team didn’t matter. The harder the challenge the better it was. By under-11, she had a schoolboys soccer medal but by under-12, she […]

6 years ago

About as unmemorable as you’ll get. A good weekend, as the lads put it on the Football Spin, and you’ll have forgotten that Ireland even played Switzerland on Thursday night. McGoldrick’s goal was huge, yes. McClean and Coleman’s work-ethic was inspirational, true. But the end product wasn’t spectacularly positive, nor disastrous and so we’ll truck […]

6 years ago

Ireland 1-1 Switzerland We will take it. As Irish fans flooded out of the Aviva Stadium on a balmy September Friday, some of them with smiles on their faces, many of them scratching their heads, a familiar old question was doing the rounds. Lucky? Oh yeah. There’s no doubt about that. But more pertinently, why […]

6 years ago

Shane Long has scored 17 competitive goals for Ireland. It’s a return of one goal for every five games played. It’s nothing spectacular, it’s a relatively modest strike-rate. But it’s sure as hell better than the record of the four forwards in the current Irish squad. Those four, chosen by Mick McCarthy last week are Callum […]

6 years ago

David Clifford was born for the biggest stage. 17-years of age, he got his first run out on Croke Park. St Brendan’s, that famed Killarney nursery were in the Hogan Cup final and they were up against the might of St Pat’s Maghera. Some would say there was pressure on Clifford, the Killarney talisman and […]

6 years ago

Tadhg Morley doesn’t go half-hearted, he doesn’t know standing back. He’s a defender first and foremost, but he’s a footballer too. If the ball is there to be won, the Templenoe man will not be hamstrung by his responsibilities. He will go for it and he will more often than not claim it first time. […]

6 years ago

An exciting time in the Kelly household. A long way from Bohola in the heart of Mayo, sisters Niamh and Grace Kelly are heading Down Under in the new year to pursue a career in the AFLW. Perth is the destination, West Coast Eagles are the club. The Kellys are looking forward to an opportunity […]

6 years ago

So, this was the sight in Hill 16 two seconds after Killian Spillane had rattled the Dublin net. Let’s make that a little clearer you. Arms crossed. Blank faces. Steady, unmoved heads. No trace of a flag. Not now. Except for one fella. From the Hogan Stand, the sight was a bizarre one. The Cusack […]

6 years ago

It would be very easy for Devin Toner to go off in a huff. To keep the head down and say nothing at all. Act as if nothing happened. But Monday’s news was big news. It was surprising news. It was definitely tough news to take for Toner, Ireland’s ever reliable first choice lock for […]

6 years ago

Tom O’Sullivan’s face told a hundred stories. A lad who’d cooked a batch of scones in the morning and found there wasn’t one left when he got home. A fella whose bike was gone from the bike-rack even though he’d spent €20 on that bulletproof lock. A person caught behind a Sunday driver on a […]

6 years ago

If we go back to the 2018 All-Ireland final against Tyrone, Jim Gavin had five substitutions made by the 67th minute. His faith in his replacements clear for all to see. Rewind another year to that thriller against Mayo and the Dublin manager had four subs on by the time the clock had struck 64. […]

6 years ago

Club hurling is back on track. With the All-Ireland championship in the rear-view mirror, the club championships are up and running. And as is always the case, there were shocks, upsets, thrills and spills all over the place. The big story of the weekend however, was a dispiriting one. It was on Saturday when west […]

6 years ago

There would have been no justice in the world if Dean Rock had slotted that last gasp free-kick. Sean O’Shea just did not deserve to go out that way. True, it was the Kenmare Shamrock who committed a tired, clumsy foul on Paddy Small to give Rock a shot at glory. But that little lapse […]

6 years ago

Chin to the rescue. In a faraway land, Paul Galvin will be dreaming. Unfortunately for the Kerryman, in a fantasy world he must remain if you’re talking Lee Chin as a Wexford footballer. But look, at least you can look on and admire. Most GAA people are aware of Chin’s ability as a footballer. The […]

6 years ago

Killian Spillane has spent a long time waiting in the wings. Wonderful beginnings toiled and he met a few bumps in the road. Down in Kerry, they’re not that patient though. He got a couple of chances but couldn’t nail 13 or 15 down. Early substitutions and late introductions were the name of the game. […]

6 years ago

Let that man loose and watch him run, run, run. You think he’s asleep but Jack McCaffrey is always alive. Alive and kicking. On the prowl for little gaps, little opportunities. Give him a scent of one and he’s gone. He jogs around the place as if to lull the opposition into a false sense […]

6 years ago

You know what they say. Keep your friends close but the team statistician closer. Alan Brogan was never known for his tackling. He didn’t pride himself on the hard-hits. Was more of a finisher than a road-block. But with his career winding down the game was beginning to change and fast. 2011 was the year […]

6 years ago

Five-in-a-row brings a different kind of pressure. It’s never been done in GAA history. Kerry and Kilkenny have both come close until falls at the final hurdle. It all caught up on them. On Sunday, Dublin will have a chance of doing something no team could ever do. They have a shot at immortality. They […]

6 years ago

Match-ups, Tommy Walsh, Hill 16, Michael Darragh MacAuley is too cool for football and Kerry’s puncher’s chance. The GAA Hour’s All-Ireland football final preview show is here and it has them all. An in-depth analysis of how both Dublin and Kerry will line-up. The spanner Tommy Walsh would throw into the works, the reason Dublin […]

6 years ago

The tale of Tommy Walsh’s trek to the 2019 All-Ireland senior football final is a tale taller than most others. The rollercoaster begins with the highs of 2008. A big, bustling Kerins O’Rahilly’s club man is hot out of the Kerry underage nursery and his ascendancy to the senior team goes smoother and quicker than […]

6 years ago

Kerry have game-changers. Dublin have game-changers. We see your Stephen O’Brien and give you Con O’Callaghan. We see your Con O’Callaghan and raise you David Clifford. There will be star quality littered all over Croke Park on Sunday. How are some of them going to be blotted out of the game? How are some of […]

6 years ago

Abbie Herlihy isn’t meant to be playing ladies football. She has a condition called juvenile arthritis that makes it almost impossible. But through the support of her club Knocknagree, through the help of her family and through her own will and dedication, she still plays the game she loves. From the outside, she is just […]

6 years ago

There comes a time with everybody when the magic goes and the show stops. It’s no overnight sensation. Age catches up, injuries become the theme. The pace and the mobility gradually slip away. The touch becomes heavy rather than deft. The fading of the light ain’t pretty. Competitors will always fight it, but the fighting […]

6 years ago

The word is that Kerry have a free-pass in Sunday’s All-Ireland final. A young team. 5/1 outsiders. A number of them in their first season of inter-county football. You’d imagine they’ll get the chance again. All the pressure is on Jim Gavin’s Dubs as they chase a piece of GAA history. Five All-Irelands in a […]

6 years ago

The what-ifs still gnaw away. Half-time and everything was rosy in Tyrone’s red and white world. Four up and it should have been more. The game-plan carried out to near military precision. But then, like an alarm without a warning, it all went belly-up. Kerry got going and the Red Hand had little in response. […]

6 years ago

David Clarke and Andy Moran first crossed paths in the Mayo centre of excellence 20 years ago. 15-year-olds at the time, they had high hopes with the round ball and they had high hopes for the green and red. What a journey it’s been since. Minor and under-21 championships were won in Connacht. Moran and […]

6 years ago

Farewell to one of the greatest. Eight Connacht championships, two All-Stars and one Footballer of the Year later, Andy Moran has called it a day. One of the greatest ever to serve the Mayo jersey, the Ballaghaderreen club man has hung up his inter-county boots 15 years on from his Mayo debut. And what a […]

6 years ago

Loughmore-Castleiney are only a small club. Their pick is small, their parish rural. The quintessential GAA club it might be said. That’s where the similarities with most others end. Because in Tipperary they stand alone. One of the few dual clubs to hold senior status in both hurling and football, in 2013 they made history. […]

6 years ago

A panel effort. And Tipperary had a big one. 40 players, another 30 on the back-room team. Each one of them with a different role to play. Each one of them in some way helping another out. Bonner Maher was one of the unlucky ones. With an outstanding Munster campaign behind him, the Lorrha club […]

6 years ago

The life and times of an inter-county GAA player. Conference calls. Team buses not only to games, but to training too. Late nights. Sometimes this fella mightn’t be back until 1.00 in the morning. Time away from partners. Weekends are a no-go. Chris Barrett is at the extreme end of the scale. Living and working […]

6 years ago

All in the sanctuary of the football dressing room. Unless you’re Pep Guardiola, of course, who likes to air his grievances pitch-side for all the world to see. Is there any need for it? The Manchester City manager appears to be looking for attention. He’s well known for his intensity but surely it would make […]

6 years ago

All-Star awards are a subjective thing. Our All-Star hurling team makes a couple of changes to the Sunday Game team’s one. Then Corbett and McGrath’s chosen 15 is different again. Invariably, no two teams are the same. Different players impress different people in different ways. Almost every onlooker has a different view on the game. […]

6 years ago

Brought to you by Centra Ireland. It could be a club football game in February, it could be club hurling in August. But whenever Loughmore-Castleiney are playing in the Tipperary championship, you’ll hear the same mutterings on the sideline. ‘Five, six, seven, eight, nine…nine!!’ And no. They’re not counting subs, not counting selectors, they’re not […]

6 years ago

How closely did you follow the 2019 All-Ireland senior hurling championship? From Laois’ journey to Tipperary’s triumph and everything in between. There was Wexford’s landmark Leinster win, their first since 2004. Who could forget the day of drama on the final day of the Leinster championship? All the way to the third Sunday in August […]

6 years ago

Full back. A specialist, restrictive position they say. ‘It would be a shame to put a lad like him back there, you’ll lose so much out the field.’ They said it about Padraig Walsh. They say it about Ronan Maher too. Number threes are said to be sacrificing their own game. Are meant to be […]

6 years ago

The sending off undoubtedly had a huge bearing on the game but Tipperary looked sharper for the battle none-the-less. Their delivery of ball into their forwards was as is often the case, top class. Their puck-outs were economical and their support play was a joy to watch. Kilkenny on the other hand, resorted to high, […]

6 years ago

Tall tale. John Donnelly couldn’t make the DCU Fitzgibbon Cup team in February. Three Kilkenny forwards could. But the Thomastown club man was kept on the bench for their quarter against DIT and semi against UCC. It was much of a much down in Kilkenny. February, March and April passed and he was never too […]

6 years ago

Nobody was hurt. We would have had a better All-Ireland final. There was a score to be settled. You must be 100% sure. The take-up on Richie Hogan’s red card was 50:50. We’ll deal with the naysayers first. The above were the lines being rolled out. Richie doesn’t have a bad stroke in him. Cathal […]

6 years ago

Tipperary’s year. The return of Liam Sheedy, the return of Liam MacCarthy. After a calamitous 2018, the end of the road was said to have been near for this bunch of Tipperary players. The best of them are pushing on they said, they’ve been on the road for a long time. That they have, but […]

6 years ago

A parish with just 300 houses, Ballyhale Shamrocks are the most successful hurling club in Ireland. On Sunday, seven of their players will represent Kilkenny in the All-Ireland hurling final. One of them is the captain. It hasn’t been plain-sailing for TJ Reid – at one stage, he even contemplated giving up. Sean Reid was […]

6 years ago

The winter of 2012 was a dark and painful one for Tipperary. Soul-searching passed the days for Seamus Callanan. Aged 23, his Tipperary career hangs in a precarious balance. One that promised so much, it appears to be flittering away by the year. In his prime he’s meant to be. In reality, his stock has […]

6 years ago

It’s all fine and dandy on The Sunday Game. Liam Sheedy knows how to tone it down for the post-match interviews. When there’s serious work to be done though, the game face is on. He becomes a different animal, a motivational machine and it’s these man-management skills that have brought Tipp back to another All-Ireland […]

6 years ago

The scramble for tickets ahead of this Sunday’s All-Ireland senior hurling final has been as is always the case, frantic. The clubs got their tickets. It was every person for themselves. You had ‘members’ showing up across Tipperary and Kilkenny GAA clubs who hadn’t been seen on the club grounds since September 2016. An All-Ireland […]

6 years ago

Brought to you by Centra #WeAreHurling Ever since Paul Curran vacated the Tipperary square in 2015, leaving more than a decade of unbroken service behind him, the Premier county have struggled to find a body for that number three jersey. A meantime filled by stop-gaps more so than mainstays, the years ran by and Tipperary […]

6 years ago

12 explosive minutes was all it took. Everything was going to plan for Mayo in the first half. Their defenders were on top, they were dominating the game and each turnover was met with roof-raising roars by their fans. But then Dublin did what Dublin do. Colm Parkinson reckons Mayo should have given Jim Gavin […]

6 years ago

You don’t have to rewind too far to find Cathal McShane the midfield mullaker. There he lined out for Tyrone’s All-Ireland under-21 winning team in 2015. There he remained, if chosen to start, for the next three years in Mickey Harte’s senior team. Unfortunately for McShane, the if was a big one. Because though he […]

6 years ago