Cruel blows for the Déise, cruel blows for Derek McGrath. Waterford are staring down the barrel of a gun as they prepare for their Munster Championship opener with Clare this Sunday firmly under the cosh, under the radar and under pressure. Their League campaign which saw them relegated was thoroughly uninspiring but it was excusable. […]

8 years ago

This is where it starts. Meath football has been in the doldrums for a couple of years now. For a county with such a rich tradition in the game not to have won a Leinster title in the last seven years has to be considered something of a tragedy. The Royals’ seniors endured a frustrating […]

8 years ago

Chalk and cheese. Those who travelled to Ardee for the clash of Louth and Wicklow’s under-17s on Wednesday evening were treated to a Leinster championship thriller. In recent times, the narrative surrounding gaelic football has been that the beautiful game is dying by the day. Pundits are far too eager to complain about different styles […]

8 years ago

That’s what makes the difference. Just as a work man should never blame their tools, that same work man should never conveniently forget the dangers of failing to prepare. Because then you run the risk of your most important tool of all becoming blunt, and you’re the only one who can be responsible for that. […]

8 years ago

It takes a pair of balls and plenty of confidence. The first priority, and the main aim of the majority of corner backs is to keep their corner forward quiet. That’s why they were put in the team’s last line in the first place. They mightn’t have the finesse of forwards but they’re sticky and […]

8 years ago

Doesn’t bode well for attendances. There are loads of die-hard Liverpool fans in Ireland. Something about the Merseyside club has captured us and on Saturday evening, their eyes will be glued on Kiev for the Champions League final, the Pool’s biggest game since they beat AC Milan at the same stage more than 13 years […]

8 years ago

Tipperary is a hurling county, that much is very clear. The Premier County’s footballers have been on the rise for a couple of years now. Liam Kearns has been at the helm for this climb from Division 4 up to Division 2 and from qualifier knock-outs to All-Ireland semi-finals. A likeable manager, the Kerryman’s outspoken […]

8 years ago

Only for Buff Egan, we wouldn’t have seen a minute of Joe McDonagh Cup action at the weekend. But that’s not the worst part. Not only did The Sunday Game fail to show any highlights of the second tier hurling competition, the worst part is that they didn’t even mention the results of the three […]

8 years ago

That’s how to do it. Rory Beggan’s right boot is a weapon and his Monaghan teammates are making the most out of it. The Farney Army have the most threatening kick-out strategy in the whole country as a result. On Sunday, Malachy O’Rourke’s men got the better of Tyrone in their Ulster quarter final and […]

8 years ago

Let the low ball in high. Back in the day, the big full forward was a given in hurling. Every team had a big, burly target man on the edge of the square and he’d be the out ball whenever it was needed. Hurling tactics have evolved over the years. Back in the day, the […]

8 years ago

The fulcrum around which this Limerick team evolves. Aaron Gillane burst onto the scene during Limerick’s League campaign this year. On Sunday in the heat of a Munster championship battle against Tipperary, the 21-year-old showed that he’s a clutch player, a player who has what’s required when the stakes are at their highest. A deadly […]

8 years ago

Colm Galvin has been playing this game for years now. He begins his day in the middle of the field for the throw-in but you won’t be able to pin the Clare man down again. Marking his man is never really a priority of his because once that first ball is sent down either end, […]

8 years ago

Limerick football manager Billy Lee hit his county board hard after his side lost to Clare in the Munster Championship on Saturday. In an explosive interview with Marty Morrissey, Lee ranted about the unprofessional actions of the Limerick county board in the the week leading up to the game. “Unfortunately, tonight we had a lad […]

8 years ago

State of the art. You can talk about funding imbalances all you want, you can give out about unfair advantages Dublin hold over other counties on a variety of levels but at the end of the day, it’s not Dublin’s fault or indeed their problem that they have inherited and fostered the good luck they […]

8 years ago

It was a tough loss for Tyrone. After losing to Monaghan in Omagh on Sunday, Tyrone heads will now turn to the treachery of the upcoming open draw qualifiers, where they could conceivably be pitted against fellow first round losers Mayo. The best of the best https://t.co/b0ME2tqIrW — SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) May 20, 2018 The loss […]

8 years ago

The best of the best. Monaghan defeated Tyrone in Omagh on Sunday afternoon and they will now progress to an Ulster semi-final tie with Fermanagh on June 3. And just as the sky is blue, that man Conor McManus played a key role in his county’s victory. As a ball-winner, there’s no-one better, as a […]

8 years ago

This was championship hurling. A late goal from Seamus Harnedy was the icing on the cake in Cork’s first round Munster championship victory over rivals Clare. The home side were good value for their five point victory, as they always seemed to kick on every time Clare came to challenge them. Their stranglehold on this […]

8 years ago

He was on his own 45. Rory O’Connor has been ripping it up in the underage and schools ranks for years, the young man from the famous O’Connor clan of the St. Martin’s club has been tipped for big things for quite a while now. Last year, he impressed in his championship debut against Waterford, […]

8 years ago

The Munster championship has arrived. Tipperary and Limerick opened the most hotly contested and eagerly anticipated provincial championships of all with a slow burner in the Gaelic Grounds. Cork and Clare set it firmly in motion with a ding dong, end to end belter down in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. The championship chaos started before the […]

8 years ago

A big win for the Treaty county. So often Tipperary’s bogey team in Munster, Limerick came back to haunt the Premier County again in The Gaelic Grounds on Sunday afternoon. And this was thoroughly deserved. In the end, the winning margin was six points as John Kiely’s men went onto win this first round Munster […]

8 years ago

Tidy tipping. Both Limerick and Tipperary started slowly in their Munster Championship opener at the Gaelic Grounds, but suddenly as the clock struck 15, this game sprung into life. With the home side enjoying the upper hand in the early stages of the game, Limerick looked to make their supremacy count on the quarter hour […]

8 years ago

Not good enough. Offaly football has been through the wringer over the last few days. On Sunday, the county lost their first round Leinster championship clash to Wicklow. Soon after, reports circulated, past players gave out, claims were made, the rumour-mill was in full flow as everything and anything was said to have been going […]

8 years ago

Stephen Wallace isn’t a happy camper. The Kerryman was sacked from his position as Offaly senior football manager on Wednesday night. On Thursday afternoon, he spoke to Colm Parkinson on The GAA Hour Football Show. Even though the Offaly footballers suffered a disappointing loss to Wicklow in their Leinster Championship opener at the weekend, Wallace […]

8 years ago

Eoghan O’Donnell did a job on TJ Reid in Parnell Park last Sunday. The Whitehall-Colmcille defender is predicted to have another job on his hands in Wexford Park this weekend. Tipped to go toe-to-toe with Wexford’s most dangerous attacking weapon in Lee Chin, how O’Donnell fares will be key to Dublin’s chances. Pat Gilroy is […]

8 years ago

We gave you the power. SportsJOE whittled it down to 16 players, the people of Ireland chose their favourite. Full forward is the blue riband position on the gaelic football pitch. Growing up, it’s the player everyone wants to be. The team’s focal point, the target man, the player who makes all the headlines with […]

8 years ago

There are some significant omissions

8 years ago

Michael Rice was forced into an early retirement in 2016. After a swift chat with Brian Cody, the Carrickshock club man was told that he was no longer cutting it at training and so that was it, after ten years, his days as a Kilkenny senior hurler were over. “He said to me, ‘look, it’s […]

8 years ago

Across hurling and football, there are some quality games taking place this weekend. From the Munster hurling Championship to the Ulster football, there are titanic clashes taking place in GAA grounds all over the country on Saturday and Sunday. While the increase in the number of hurling games taking place this year due to the […]

8 years ago

Nigel Dunne was Offaly’s top scorer in the League. He was the tenth top scorer of the whole League, was his county’s most dangerous attacker but after 28 minutes of their championship opener last weekend against Wicklow, he was called ashore. All isn’t well in the Faithful camp this year, that much is clear. Talk […]

8 years ago

The injustice of it all. The Republic of Ireland under-17s were screwed all the way out of the European Championships on Monday night. After trawling deep to battle back from a 1-0 deficit to force their quarter final tie with the Netherlands to a penalty shootout, Colin O’Brien’s side were undone by a frustratingly pedantic […]

8 years ago

He did to Padraig Walsh what few thought was possible. Liam Rushe had the beating of Padraig Walsh every time he got the ball on Sunday. With Dublin horsing Kilkenny out of it all over the field from the word go, their big, bustling full forward was the man they looked for with every ball […]

8 years ago

Always the poor corner forward. There’s no player more familiar with the curly finger. The defenders could be getting cleaned, the men in midfield mightn’t have got a sniff at it, the bottom line is that the team are struggling. The game plan isn’t working out and the manager wouldn’t be doing his job if […]

8 years ago

The reaction to Tom Parsons’ injury told a story in itself. The well-wishes and the messages of support flooded in for the Mayo midfielder from all corners of the GAA world from Sunday evening and into this week. The GAA world stood as one, shaken up by the graphic nature of the blow he suffered […]

8 years ago

John Fenton-esque. God be with the days when letting fly off the ground was just as common as picking the ball in the game of hurling. Chat to anybody with a hurling background over the age of 50 and they’ll rue the fading of the glorious ground pull. In an age where holding possession is […]

8 years ago

Damien Comer knows this is only the start of it. For the third year in a row Galway have defeated Mayo in Connacht, but according to talismanic full forward Damien Comer they’re desperate to make sure that isn’t as good as it gets. It may have a dour affair in the Castlebar sun, but you’re […]

8 years ago

Another long road ahead for Mayo. Stephen Rochford’s side were defeated by Galway in the Connacht Quarter final on Sunday afternoon and now they will be plunged into the deep-end of a treacherous qualifier run, starting at the very bottom in Round One on June 9. Now this team have shown us up time and […]

8 years ago

It cost Mayo in the end. Galway won the battle on Sunday afternoon, defeating Mayo in their Connacht first round clash in Castlebar, with the home side left counting the cost of a first half red card suffered by their half forward Diarmuid O’Connor. In the end, a smashing injury time goal from Johnny Heaney […]

8 years ago

This is what Kilkenny do. Dublin, to the surprise of almost everyone were the better team in Parnell Park on Sunday afternoon, but when it mattered the most Kilkenny stood up as they always do. Five points down with 10 minutes left to play, four points down with ten to play, the machines in black […]

8 years ago

It’s one of the most loosely applied rules in the game. The steps rule is enforced differently in every single game by every different referee, so why the hell wouldn’t players take the chance? Some referees give players the benefit of the doubt, other lads are strict on it but the bottom line is that […]

8 years ago

The fine margins that define these games. Golden opportunities don’t come around too often and when they present themselves, you just have to be ruthless, you just have to go for the jugular, you just have to take them. On Saturday evening, the Wexford footballers didn’t take the golden opportunity they were presented with, they […]

8 years ago

With commemorative jerseys on their backs, the Wexford footballers invoked the spirit of the county’s 1915-1918 All-Ireland heroes, but it wasn’t enough to down a spirited Laois side in Innovate Wexford Park. And Laois deserve huge credit for that. Trailing by ten points at the break, they looked for all the world a beaten docket […]

8 years ago

Restoring some Faithful pride. A hungry Offaly side put it up to Galway in front of a home, partisan O’Connor Park crowd but the Tribesmen always seemed to have something in reserve, and whenever they needed it, they would call upon it and kick on. Micheal Donoghue’s men may have been slow to get going […]

8 years ago

A slow burner. Anybody looking for an open, entertaining Champions Cup final was shot down by a tight, attritional first half with space at a premium and defences on top in the colourful San Mames Stadium in Bilbao, Spain. There was plenty of shadow boxing but little evidence of flair or trickery, certainly not enough […]

8 years ago

The Christy Ring and Nicky Rackard cups both got underway on Saturday, while one Joe McDonagh Cup game was played. The most eye-catching clash took place in Corrigan Park, with Carlow and Antrim, both fresh from first round victories against Kerry and Meath respectively, going head to head in West Belfast in Round Two of […]

8 years ago

Let them sing, sing and sing. The GAA is our national treasure and it’s only right that it’s spreading all over the world. A beautiful thing, a beautiful culture, the more and more people that are introduced to this and the further and further it extends its powerful wings, the better. The GAA is spreading […]

8 years ago

When talking goalkeeping, Kerryman Brendan Kealy is well placed to contribute. For seven years the he was the Kingdom’s number one net-minder, for now the former All-Star is the Offaly senior football goalkeeping coach. The 32-year-old has long been infatuated with the role of the ‘keeper, and he’s embracing the changes that are impacting on […]

8 years ago

This is it. The Championship may have began officially last weekend in Ruislip, but with the Leinster hurling and football championships getting underway, but with Mayo taking on Galway in Connacht this time around and with the Joe McDonagh and Christy Ring cups ramping up, this really is what it’s all about. We’re into the […]

8 years ago

Craig Bellamy spoke an awful lot of sense on Thursday night after Manchester United’s draw with West Ham. Finishing in second position is never good enough for Manchester United, it’s never good enough for Jose Mourinho. A badly beaten second is even worse for both and with the Red Devils trailing Man City’s wake by […]

8 years ago

Michael Darragh MacAuley is a free spirit who has his own way of doing things. Sporting a camouflage denim jacket and a matching pair of runners to boot, those are the only things concealed on a Thursday morning on Harcourt Street. The choice of gear is certainly in no way related to the Ballyboden man’s […]

8 years ago

The start of it again. Though the championship began last weekend in Gaelic Park, the MacHale Park clash of Mayo and Galway this Sunday seems like the real curtain raiser. Mayo have lost to Galway in the last two Connacht Championships and gotten away with it by going onto rally through the back door and […]

8 years ago