If the GAA want to split Dublin in two – or in three or four – they shouldn’t stop there. They should take themselves down to Laois and look at the disparity between Portlaoise and Arles Kilcruise, two clubs of very different magnitude playing against each other in the senior championship. They should go to […]

8 years ago

Merry fecking Christmas! If the loved ones really love you, they’ll love you enough to sit down with you and watch a festival of sport on Friday night and all day Saturday. ‘Tis the season to lie in front of the tele and watch other people sweat it out. When you get home from work […]

8 years ago

The Derry man is feeling good. Daryl Gurney is on it and, when he’s on it, darts looks piss easy. As the fourth seed going into the PDC World Darts Championships, the 31-year-old backed up the hype but he still needed a masterclass against Ronny Huybrechts to make the bookies start shitting themselves. After disposing […]

8 years ago

This is especially bad

8 years ago

They say it’s worth two scores, when your centre back comes up the field and scales the black spots. It’s one of those inspirational moments, a dig out for the forwards, a thrill for the support to know this man has travelled so far to work such wonders. It’s demoralising for the opposition too that […]

8 years ago

It’s not a party until Jumpin’ Johnny Peters shows up. Not in Newbridge anyway. Even when it’s December 17 and the pitch is soft and the air is biting, the most special moments of club players’ lives can be cut out and immortalised in random locations around the country. For Moorefield, what happened in Portlaoise […]

8 years ago

Only a game of such craziness could conjure up such dramatic sub-plots. It’s really hard to encapsulate with mere words what Moorefield did on Sunday and how on earth they came away from Portlaoise with a Leinster title. With two minutes left on the clock, they were six points down. Six points. All St. Loman’s […]

8 years ago

Mayo 4 Sam Tried that, tried it again, got really, really close, fell short. All the eggs are in the Leitrim basket now. If one thing will encourage Emlyn Mulligan to fight back from a third cruciate injury just to help the Leitrim cause again, it’s the new storm of optimism that’s apparently taking over […]

8 years ago

You think you know a situation. You think it’s a formula by now: sportsperson says/does/posts something controversial; outrage ensues; apology arrives. Then it’s basically just up to the masses to decide whether or not they’re happy with the apology. Well, our prediction that Antoine Griezmann’s apology was only moments away was initially so wide of […]

8 years ago

Apology incoming. As Antoine Griezmann mucks around at an 80s party, he doesn’t seem to realise the trail of outrage he has left on his way there. The Frenchman made an ill-advised decision with his costume choice for a fancy dress on Sunday night and he made an equally as ill-advised decision to post a […]

8 years ago

Some say it’s like the Colosseum. In a way. Alexandra Palace can make or break a man. Dreams are realised and killed on the board of Ally Pally and nerves are solidified or broken in front of the most rapturous darts crowd in the world. It’s a funny thing, how much darts players can be […]

8 years ago

71 minutes on the clock and it’s still 2-0 to United. They’re coasting, they have the game under control and Mourinho is just Mourinhoing the ship home for another three points. Eventually, of course, they leak from a corner and the last 13 minutes are dire enough. If United fans are too used to the […]

8 years ago

It ain’t over ’til it’s over. 58 minutes are on the clock in Portlaoise. Ronan O’Toole’s tidy finish looks to have all but put the writing on the wall for Moorefield and for the 2017 Leinster football final. St. Loman’s have turned over a three-point half time deficit in ruthless fashion and the scoreboard reads […]

8 years ago

The GAA is not about winning. That’s the aim, it’s what everyone’s striving to do but the vast majority of club people will never experience the win that they’ll spend their whole lives chasing. It doesn’t make it any less meaningful or any less fulfilling. In any year, in either code, only three senior clubs […]

8 years ago

In 85 championship games for Kerry, Colm Cooper amassed 352 points. Sounds good, it is good, it’s the best of all time but the kicker is that Cillian O’Connor will probably surpass it in 2018. Just 42 points adrift of number one spot on the top football championship scorers of all time, what O’Connor has done […]

8 years ago

We usually reserve the term ‘only in the GAA’ for times of boastfulness. We save it for when we’re talking about two clubs going out for pints together, doctors on the opposition team coming to the aid of a rival, or anything that will make us look good or that falls generally under the classy […]

8 years ago

In all the excitement that counter-attacking football has brought about and in all the fluidity that modern-day athleticism has forced, it’s too easy to forget sometimes that a defender should live and die by what their direct opponent has done. Karl McKaigue doesn’t forget that. It used to always be a case that a corner […]

8 years ago

Alexndra Palace is a tough place to bring it. This morning, Willie O’Connor will wake up probably most regretting that he didn’t really show up. The Limerick star can rest easy in the knowledge that he already made waves making it the whole way to his first PDC World Championship but, on Thursday night against […]

8 years ago

It’s all going on in Mayo. Whilst the rest of the country sleeps, the west is very much awake. Donal Vaughan has transferred club from Ballinrobe to Castlebar. The Mayo News broke the story that the inter-county star has moved to the senior football champions after 11 years as a senior with Ballinrobe. Vaughan is […]

8 years ago

“I think the homecoming in Dublin is on for 2018.” Eddie Hearn told Katie Taylor to look after Wednesday’s fight with Jessica McCaskill and he’d deliver a fight on home soil for the Bray native next year. Katie Taylor held up her end of the bargain, now it’s up to Hearn to come good on […]

8 years ago

8-0. Katie Taylor didn’t f**k around in 2017. Eight professional fights, eight professional wins. A title. A title defence. It was a crazy year, a historic one, and one which culminated with not just a female bout headlining a Sky Sports card in York Hall, but it ended with Katie Taylor overcoming serious adversity and […]

8 years ago

“It looked like it was not the last 16, it looked like it was the final.” Jose Mourinho still has fond memories of celebrating wildly in the Old Trafford visiting changing rooms. He brought his Porto team to town and shocked the continent by winning in the lion’s den and advancing to the quarter-finals of […]

8 years ago

This is just horrific news. 16-year-old Izzy Dezu collapsed during a game on Tuesday night and passed away. The Shelbourne Academy prospect was playing against St. Kevin’s at the Athletic Union League Complex in Dublin when he collapsed. The exact cause of his death is not yet known but the club released a statement to […]

8 years ago

There was an amazing quote going around before the Manchester derby, said to be from the beautiful mind of Eric Cantona. “On one side, my heart was, is, and will forever be beating for United. On the other side, there is this bald guy whose vision of total football gives me a f**king hard on.” […]

8 years ago

It’s not quite 1992 but it’s a lot closer to it than we’ve been in a while. Donegal’s pure gold body is back and so too are their green sleeves at the side of that infamous kit which was the design for most of their 90s exploits. After teasing fans for far too many tweets, […]

8 years ago

Now the Champions League starts. There’s not much better that the European Championship knockout stage and, on February 13-14 and February 20-21, the second round begins and what a draw we have to look forward to. With Bayern, Juve and Real Madrid all finishing in second place, the round of 16 was always headed for […]

8 years ago

And we were wondering why there was such an influx of Dancer’s Hip in the GAA. First Des Cahill, now Marty Morrissey. RTÉ GAA’s invasion of Dancing With The Stars will continue in the new season as the renowned broadcaster was confirmed on Friday night as a contestant on the reality show. One of Munster’s […]

8 years ago

Michael Conlan keeps climbing higher and the heights don’t bother him. On Saturday night, the stakes are upped again as the Belfast boxer heads for a fifth professional victory. Maidson Square Garden Tougher opponent Chief-support bout to Lomachenko-Rigondeaux It’s another step on the road to becoming a world champion, a destination the 26-year-old makes no […]

8 years ago

If you pretend for a second that the GAA’s proposed inter-county ‘black out’ for April wasn’t a pointless idea anyway, how they’ve gone about trying to introduce the thing has been pathetic. Just to make it clear, giving clubs the month of April helps nothing in the first place. Most of them have April as […]

8 years ago

But he doesn’t do it in the big games…

8 years ago

25 years later, Derry City are back with the three stripes. Kenny Shiels’ would-be contenders to the League of Ireland throne might have some work to do to replace Barry McNamee from their engine room but the exterior is going to look nice anyway. The Brandywell outfit upset the early season predictions this year when […]

8 years ago

“It’s like a story you’d hear in the bible or something. A real one you’d tell around Christmas.” John Heslin might not want to boast about it but he is a bit of a class act. Last year, when he led UCD to the Sigerson Cup title, his emotional tribute to college legend Dave Billings […]

8 years ago

John Heslin is in relaxed form. You’d think the Westmeath superstar would feel some sort of weight on his shoulders given that he’s carrying the can for his county at present and, now, he’s leading St. Loman’s into the Leinster club football final on Sunday, There’s pressure on him to deliver but, every game, he […]

8 years ago

“Everybody says they want change but they won’t even hit follow on Twitter…”

8 years ago

Do you know those John 3:7 signs you see around the GAA grounds? They’re going to make one in Dunboyne. Emma 1:2. The Meath ladies are the All-Ireland intermediate football champions after coming through the white heat of an intense battle in Parnell Park. 2-13 to 2-12 was the final score as Dunboyne clinched glory […]

8 years ago

Con O’Callaghan is only 21. 21. Back in January, he had the hurling contingent of Dublin hoping he’d maybe, somehow be convinced to pledge allegiance to the sliotar this year after his goal-hungry performances with Cuala guided the club to a Leinster title and he was honoured with a provincial club player of the year […]

8 years ago

Punditry on Match of the Day is often criticised – for God’s sake, punditry everywhere is often criticised. It’s not an easy gig, their main sell is the highlights and the analysis is under strict time constraint so it either has to be rushed, inconclusive, or it has to just leave out talking points. That […]

8 years ago

In his seventh season now for Manchester United, David De Gea has moved house. You see, he’s living in a different stratosphere these days. As the argument rumbles on about whether or not the Spaniard is the best goalkeeper in the world, another question should be asked – a more serious one. Is David De […]

8 years ago

David De Gea is better in his position than Lionel Messi is now. Forget about him being a goalkeeper, surpassing Manuel Neuer – as a footballer, no-one is operating on the same level as David De Gea is. No-one in any area of the field in any country on the planet can touch him at […]

8 years ago

Never will you see a better advertisement for counter-attack football. Kilcar were back in the Donegal championship final last year and it isn’t any wonder with how well-drilled and how bloody slick they were. Inspired by 2-3 from the craft and guile of Ryan McHugh, Barry Doherty’s men are in the decider once more intent […]

8 years ago

The unsung heroes deserve the mic for once. Let them sing. Let the boys sing. In all the talk of All-Stars – and who missed out on All-Stars – and in all the fawning and appreciation over the best players in the country dominating the club scene, there are some men left out of all […]

8 years ago

Nobody in Ireland wanted to go to the World Cup anyway. It’s more enjoyable this way, you can actually just watch the football and enjoy it. The only really interest of Irish fans tuning in for Friday’s live stream of the World Cup draw is that Spain are a pot 2 team, England are a […]

8 years ago

There aren’t many full forwards anymore. Like a proper full forward, a number 14. The best of them, the best you’d name, all play along that line – they roam deep if they have to but, in a traditional sense, not many full backs are going out knowing they’re going to have a war on […]

8 years ago

There’s more to sport than being good. Luke Shaw is one of these people who’s blessed with talent and athleticism and, in most of our logical minds, that amounts to an asset. But there are some things you can’t measure. You can’t scale how much somebody wants something. You can’t calculate toughness or drive or […]

8 years ago

Castlebar and Corofin’s Connacht final threw-in at 2pm sharp on Sunday. Castlebar were due out onto the pitch at 1.40pm. Castlebar arrived to come onto the pitch at 1.36pm. So the stewards kept the gates closed and looked to tell them that they weren’t allowed onto the pitch until their permitted time. The Mitchels had […]

8 years ago

Everyone knows he hasn’t scored since February but there’s a reason why he’s started more games than he hasn’t in the Premier League this season. Shane Long gives you more than goals – good thing too because he’s not giving you many goals these days. Against United back in September, he put the shits up […]

8 years ago

Firmino would probably like to think he’s better than Nani on a number of levels. But he certainly isn’t as selfish as him anyway. Liverpool got back to winning ways at Stoke with a 3-0 rout of Mark Hughes’ men. They kept up pace with Chelsea in third place, Mohamed Salah kept on scoring even […]

8 years ago

Game respects game. Jose Mourinho, in truth, respects just about everyone far too much. But a trip to Vicarage Road these days is no stroll in the park and, any time Marco Silva is in the same ground as you, you really had best bring your A Game. For the Manchester United manager, bringing an […]

8 years ago

Eric Cantona had confidence but he never had ego. He knew he was good but, more importantly, he knew why he was so good and it boiled down to hard work. Any footballer would tell you the same. It isn’t because of freak luck that they just so happened to reach the top one day. […]

8 years ago

Been there, done it. You ask a man like Matty Forde about pressure and he’d just smirk and tell you that’s only a thing for tyres. 13 years ago, the Wexford legend won an All-Star and took the plaudits – even if they were only individual – that his talent surely deserved. On Saturday, he […]

8 years ago