All-Ireland semi-final fixtures confirmed
The All-Ireland senior football semi-finals are confirmed for the weekend July 13/14. Both games will go ahead as double-headers, with the Tailteann Cup semi-final between Laois and Down taking place on Saturday and the All-Ireland junior final on Sunday.
Saturday July 13
Armagh v Kerry -17:30 – RTÉ/BBC
Tailteann Cup final
Laois v Down, Croke Park, 15.00 – RTE
Sunday July 14
Donegal v Galway – 16:00 – RTÉ/BBC
All-Ireland JFC final
New York or Warwickshire v USGAA v London, Croke Park, 13.30 – TG4 Youtube
Outrageous goal in Westmeath Senior League final
The pick-up, the run, the finish. Incredible from Fola Ayrionde, who helped St Loman’s to a 1-11 to 0-11 win over Coralstown-Kinnegad. Video from Iarmhí TV.
Sean Cavanagh says Derry’s championship ‘hasn’t been anywhere near good enough’
Sean Cavanagh says ‘it’s hard to say’ if Mickey Harte will stay on as Derry manager after a tumultuous championship campaign.
Derry enjoyed a tremendous League campaign beating Dublin in the final but their season petered out in dramatic fashion with underwhelming Championship losses to Donegal, Galway, Armagh and Kerry.
“It is hard to say, I suppose that is for Derry County Board,” Cavanagh said of Harte’s future.
“I know it was a two or three year contract, I’m not sure what a contract means when it’s an amateur organisation.”
“But I think if you asked anyone in Derry tonight, winning a League does not mean an awful lot when you go through a Championship where you’ve lost four games, drawn one and beaten a Division Three team.
“That’s not good, it is a poor Championship season.
“With the personnel and the quality they have in that group, and they have a couple of really cracking minor teams – from last year’s All-Ireland winning team to this year’s which is back in the final – there is a lot to be envious of in terms of talent in the county.
“But the Championship simply hasn’t been anywhere near good enough.”
All-Ireland semi-final draw confirmed
With Donegal defeating Louth by 1-23 to 0-18 and Kerry defeating Derry 0-15 0-10, the draw for the semi-finals of the All-Ireland senior football championship is now confirmed.
All-Ireland semi-final draw
Donegal v Galway
Kerry v Armagh
Enda McGinley on drab first half of Derry-Kerry
It’s fair to say that Derry-Kerry was far from a thriller in a drab first half that ended 0-6 apiece. Former Tyrone All-Ireland winner wasn’t bowled over by the slow pace of the game and he picked out a moment at the end of the half where a Derry player could just stand up on the spot soloing the ball.
“That doesn’t sit well with me,” said McGinley.
He acknowledged that the Jim Gavin led Football Rules Committee are being employed with a bid to adding excitement to the game. Shane McGuigan was the star of the first half kicking three from play with Brendan Rogers also impressing.
“Kerry are very passive. They’re not putting enough heat on Derry when they’re attacking. They’re not direct enough,” said Tomás Ó Sé at half-time.
“Kerry are too measured, they’re not going after it,” he added.
“The game is totally on Derry’s terms,” added Paul Flynn.
Shane Walsh says he will ‘be fine’ after Galway win over Dublin
Having come into the game under an injury cloud, Shane Walsh got through 65 minutes of Dublin’s All-Ireland quarter final win over Galway. He turned in a brilliant display, kicking seven points on an evening when he gave John Small lots of trouble.
That he limped off after 65 minutes was a worry for Galway who now have an All-Ireland semi-final in two weeks time but Walsh told Galway Bay FM that he will ‘be fine.’
“All-Ireland semi-finals don’t come around too often. We’ll get there. We’ve a good medical team there. Everyone’s looking after me so I can’t complain,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Galway Bay FM commentary of the game’s closing moments was absolutely legendary.
Dessie Farrell defends decision to start the big guns
Dessie Farrell has defended his decision to front-load his team against Galway, starting the likes of Jack McCaffrey and James McCarthy and Paul Mannion in the game. The experienced trio had come on as subs against Mayo earlier in the season inspiring the team over the line but Farrell threw them in from the start on Sunday.
Farrell said in his post-match press conference that a desire not to become predictable inspired the decision.
“You can become very predictable too, doing that and some of those lads were coming back from injury and we felt had more in the tank and more to offer. It worked well in the first half but we started to struggle in the second and just couldn’t find a way,” he said.
Sunday’s fixtures
All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals
Kerry v Derry, Croke Park, 3.15pm – RTE
Donegal v Louth, Croke Park, 1.15pm – RTE
Ladies IFC quarter-finals
Down v Monaghan, Páirc Esler, 2pm
Wexford v Westmeath, McCauley Park Bellefield, 2pm
Clare v Tyrone, Cusack Park, 2pm
Leitrim v Roscommon, Ballinamore, 2pm
Ladies IFC relegation qualifier
Offaly v Wicklow, Crettyard GAA, 2.30pm
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