Niall McIntyre
Most players need a bit of fire. It could be a Sunday morning challenge match, it could be a county final but whatever game it is, GAA managers will get you riled up. They’ll put the hair standing on the back of your head, they’ll have you jumping out of your skin. They’ll do anything […]
8 years ago
Something has to give
8 years ago
It’s January 15 2018
8 years ago
Leinster are the only team guaranteed of a spot in the Champions Cup quarter-finals going into the last round of pool fixtures. Leo Cullen’s men are unbeaten in the competition this season, with five convincing wins in their five games so far. All they need is a single point next weekend in Montpellier to guarantee […]
8 years ago
Every single senior hurler in the country would fancy their chances standing over a 65 straight in front of the goals. Most senior hurlers will have the ability to strike the sliotar 80 yards or more in the current game. Their strikes are getting longer and longer recently due to a combination of better hurls […]
8 years ago
History was made. For the first time in the history of the GAA a competitive game was decided by virtue of a free-taking shootout competition. Meath and Longford couldn’t be separated after ninety minutes of action in Páirc Tailteann on Sunday, with the teams tied at 2-16 to 1-19 after extra-time. That meant a free-kick […]
8 years ago
Scenes in Navan. Meath and Longford’s O’Byrne Cup semi-final was decided by sudden death 45s. The counties were level after 70 minutes of action in Páirc Tailteann on a scoreline of 1-12 apiece on Sunday. The sides headed into extra-time, but not even two 10-minute halves of action could separate them. Even after a highly […]
8 years ago
This is not a drill. It may have been a dead rubber, and it may have been a severely depleted Cork outfit but the Kingdom’s senior hurlers and their manager Fintan O’Connor won’t give a damn. “We’ve done a nice bit of work pre-Christmas. It’s nice not to be behind, we felt we were behind […]
8 years ago
It’s exam season, but it’s also Connacht FBD League season. Mayo’s newcomer corner forward, Ciaran Treacy, lined out for Stephen Rochford’s side against Leitrim on Wednesday night, despite having a final year college exam taking place the next morning. Some of these lads showing some commitment to make the Mayo Panel. Ciaran Treacy travelled from […]
8 years ago
Catch them while you can. A host of bookmakers went non runner, no bet on the 28 races in the Cheltenham festival this March. Truth told, it’s a God send of a deal. It means you can follow your sneaky suspicions without the fear of sickeningly losing out. It’s hugely beneficial for punters, who can […]
8 years ago
The Fitzgibbon and Sigerson Cups are two of the oldest, proudest competitions in the GAA. Founded in 1911 and 1912 respectively, the third level competitions have stalked GAA history ever since, but this year, more than ever, College teams are struggling. The Laois senior hurlers were back training in October of 2017 in preparation for […]
8 years ago
Following previous greats. The Willie Mullins/Rich Ricci charge Getabird coasted to victory in the Grade 2 Sky Bet Moscow Flyer Hurdle in Punchestown on Saturday under Paddy Mullins. The Mullins/Ricci combination have a rich history in this race, with five of the last six renewals now having gone the way of the champion handler. Each of the […]
8 years ago
A lot to learn from this
8 years ago
Cian Johnson is the hottest ticket in Offaly. The talented youngster has been lording it for his school, his club and his county over the last two years. He kicked 0-6 from play in the county’s draw with Dublin in an O’Byrne Cup game recently. Cian Johnson is only 18. He goes to school every […]
8 years ago
Could he be the next Douvan, Vautour or Min?
8 years ago
Quique Sanchez Flores now looks nailed on to take the Stoke job. BBC’s Stoke-based journalist Matt Sandoz tweeted this morning that the former Spanish footballer and current Espanyol manager “is expected to take the job at Stoke City.” I understand Quique Sanchez Flores is expected to take the job at Stoke City. An announcement could […]
8 years ago
‘The Warrior’s Code’ didn’t leave anything out. Jackie Tyrrell’s autobiography, released in September of last year, is a searingly honest, all-encompassing and open look at the life of a Kilkenny hurler on the most successful team in history. Hurling folk have, for the last while been obsessed with the Kilkenny way of doing things. With […]
8 years ago
How are you to enjoy that?
8 years ago
He backs it up, too. If Michael Fennelly was an inter-county manager, he’d have his team back training in November. With the background the recently retired Kilkenny legend has in Strength and Conditioning and athletic performance, having been a lecturer of the subject in Limerick I.T, he’s in a good place to make such claims. […]
8 years ago
There’s no looking back for Michael Fennelly. For 12 years, he soldiered in the famous black and amber strip and he won almost every battle he faced. For the last seven of those years, with his real injury troubles beginning in 2011, the Ballyhale Shamrocks man went into those battles wounded. Wounded, but always fighting. […]
8 years ago
This will have felt good for Rory Gallagher. The Fermanagh man resigned from the hot-seat of Donegal football in August after his youthful side suffered a string of disappointing results in last year’s championship. Gallagher was the subject of some harsh criticism, and obviously deemed his job untenable ahead of the 2018 season. On his […]
8 years ago
The spoils were shared in Castlebar. Mayo got their 2018 season underway by drawing with Leitrim in the Connacht FBD League in MacHale Park on Wednesday night. Stephen Rochford gave a host of inexperienced faces opportunities to impress, with most of their playing members from last year’s All-Ireland final away on a team holiday. Tonight's […]
8 years ago
Kieran Bergin is just like any inter-county player. The only difference is that he’s retired. He can speak his mind now without fear of being dropped as a result. And now that he has spoken his mind, we need not only to listen, but we need to take head of his point that inter-county players […]
8 years ago
They won’t give a damn but they must be wondering why. Cuala have been the best hurling team in the country over the last two years. They’ve won the last two Leinster finals by a combined total of 23 points against Kilkenny and Offaly respectively. They crushed Clare’s giant-slayers Ballyea in last year’s All-Ireland final […]
8 years ago
The buzz goes on
8 years ago
Five games were postponed on Sunday. Frozen pitches around the country wreaked havoc for players, supporters and managers in the weekend’s pre-season GAA games. With temperatures reaching as low as -5 on Saturday night, it was no surprise that pitches were unplayable around the country the next day and five games fell victim amid disappointing […]
8 years ago
Hallellujah
8 years ago
A great idea. 8 double headers of men’s and ladies’ gaelic football games will take place during the 2018 National Leagues. The ladies’ football games will precede the men’s outings across the board after the Ladies Gaelic Football Association’s significant progress in organising ‘double-headers’ alongside men’s National League fixtures. The most exciting occasion is surely […]
8 years ago
Thistlecrack has been ruled out of the Gold Cup for the second year in a row. The 2016 Stayers’ hurdle winner has suffered a stress fracture, which will keep him out of the big race at the festival. The 10-year-old has gone through an injury hell ever since that swashbuckling triumph at Pretsbury Park. The […]
8 years ago
Off and running. The pre-season competitions aren’t to everybody’s liking. Players are forced to play in the bitter conditions of a typical January weekend. Games are called off at short notice, many teams only field their second string, and you’d have to wonder, is a start in a game on the first weekend in January […]
8 years ago
It makes a mockery of the whole competition and of Tipperary football.
8 years ago
4 runners, 3 winners and one eye-catcher. Not a bad day at the office. Willie Mullins didn’t have a brilliant Christmas. By Willie Mullins standards. It still wasn’t as bad as many thought, as despite numerous setbacks, through unlucky fallers and some off colour horses, he still managed nine winners over the festive period. And […]
8 years ago
There’s no rest for the wicked. Dublin played against Tipperary in a challenge match on Saturday in Dr. Morris Park, Thurles. This was their starting fifteen that lined out to face the Premier county. Here's a quick match report from our Senior Hurlers' challenge match against @TipperaryGAA in Thurles yesterday 👇https://t.co/CqDU7Aq1P6 — Dublin GAA (@DubGAAOfficial) […]
8 years ago
It’s about time this Clare team kicked on. It’s hard to believe it’s five years since their fresh faced assassins lifted Liam MacCarthy in 2013. That year, they romped home, coasting past everything they faced with an emphasis on short passing, speed, skill and stamina. They were a small team. But they caught all of […]
8 years ago
You’d have to question the legitimacy, and the need for these January competitions. Donegal’s clash with Monaghan was called off seven minutes before the ball was set to be thrown in in Clones on Sunday. Armagh and Derry’s McKenna Cup clash was scheduled for 2.00. It was pushed back to 2.30 at the last minute […]
8 years ago
No Samcro, no problem. Gordon Elliot’s young hurdling star Samcro lead the entries for the Lawlor’s of Naas Grade One Novice hurdle, but the 6-year-old Gigginstown horse was pulled out by connections on Wednesday after a ‘dirty scope.’ There were still some top quality hurdlers on show in the Naas showpiece. Willie Mullins’ Next Destination, […]
8 years ago
This doesn’t make sense
8 years ago
“I’d like to be on the sideline watching or in the stand, and drop dead, that’s the way I’d like it to happen.” The term legend is thrown around too often and too carelessly. Not when Mick O’Dwyer is involved. Micko is a legend in Kerry, he’s a legend further afield. He’s a legend of […]
8 years ago
It’s possible that we’ll see all three of them in action again this season. The Leopardstown Christmas racing festival was a tough nut to crack. Many of our so-called ‘bankers’ going into the meeting let us down. Last year’s Punchestown, Irish and Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Sizing John ran a stinker in the Christmas Chase […]
8 years ago
God knows they need them. It was the first Sunday of September 2016. Kilkenny went into the All-Ireland final against Tipperary as favourites. And why wouldn’t they have been? Brian Cody’s men had won four of the last five All-Irelands. They’d won 11 since the turn of the decade. After all that accumulated success, there […]
8 years ago
A great result for the Faithful county. A last minute Cian Johnson point ensured Offaly shared the spoils with Dublin’s second string in their O’Byrne Cup clash in Parnell Park on Wednesday evening. 18-year-old Johnson sparkled again for the away side, scoring six points, and he is quickly making a reputation for himself as one […]
8 years ago
Inter-county hurling is back. It’s the third of January, and while most of us are sitting on the couch at home, our inter-county hurlers and footballers are in action all over the country in their respective pre-season competitions. The value of these competitions has been questioned hugely this winter, but there’s no doubt that they […]
8 years ago
These will come in handy for athletes in any sport. Leinster and Ireland star Robbie Henshaw is one of the powerful rugby players in the game. Scrap that, pound for pound he’s one of the most powerful athletes in any sport. The Athlone centre weighs 102kg, and it’s 102 kg of pure muscle. Henshaw has […]
8 years ago
Rob Cross was on fire. It was brutal. It was relentless. It was ruthless, it was bloody well merciless. Rob Cross wouldn’t stop, he couldn’t stop as he led Phil Taylor a merry-dance to take his first ever world title in his first ever World Darts Championship appearance. The script was that the 5/6 favourite […]
8 years ago
Rob Cross is on fire
8 years ago
Savage
8 years ago
It’s not the first time such accusations have been levelled at players during this year’s World Darts Championships. Englishman Justin Pipe made himself the villain of Ally Pally when he appeared to have intentionally attempted to put off his opponent Bernie Smith in their first round clash last week. Pipe was caught on camera coughing […]
8 years ago
The more things change. The more they stay the same. The 21-18 scoreline was a fair reflection of this titanic battle between Connacht and Leinster in in the RDS. The men from the west led by a point at the break, but a stronger second half showing helped eke out a victory for the home […]
8 years ago
That’s the game
8 years ago
