Mayo love this kind of thing. These players relish the risk, they live for the pressure, they come into their own when it matters the most. After 51 minutes of action in Semple Stadium, they looked in serious bother. Three points behind and with Colm Boyle gone to a black card, their lives were on […]

8 years ago

What a bloody leap. When Josh Keane sliced a high ball towards the Mayo box from 50 yards out, it looked like a bit of Hail Mary effort. It looked like a hopeless long ball that the Mayo men would gobble up. Michael Quinlivan didn’t see it that way. In reality, it was probably something […]

8 years ago

David Reidy was the unluckiest man in Cusack Park last Sunday. The Éire Óg Ennis club man was on the receiving end of one hell of a dirty belt from the butt of Tom Condon’s hurley one minute. The next, he was looking up at an unjust red card after Diarmuid Byrnes went to ground […]

8 years ago

Routine stuff for the Farney army. Waterford’s surprise victory over Wexford and the celebrations that followed made Tom McGlinchey’s side the story of the first round of the qualifiers. A wounded Monaghan animal ensured it was a short story. They journeyed down to the sunny-south-east with a task at hand and they carried out their […]

8 years ago

The conveyor belt is strong down in Kilkenny. The Cats have won five All-Ireland minors in the last 15 years and the county’s current under-17s are throwing all the shapes of a team that are gunning to add another Irish Press Cup to the collection. Hurling is the only currency down Noreside where hurls and […]

8 years ago

Tipperary needed a performance. That was what they got. There was a lot of pressure on the Tipperary under-21s on Thursday evening. The lofty hopes and demanding expectations of an entitled hurling county were on their shoulders after their seniors were dumped out of the championship as early as they’ve ever been before. They played […]

8 years ago

We’re in for a few cracking games. The under-21 hurling championship always produces. Kilkenny and Galway lived up to its billing on Wednesday night with a couple of favourable refereeing decisions just shading it for Galway in the end. Down in Munster, Waterford gave a fancied Cork side the fright of their lives before Darragh […]

8 years ago

Two freestyle hurlers, two very similar hurlers. The role of the hurling midfielder has changed greatly in recent times. Nowadays, playing in the midfield is a bit of a free ticket. The most graceful movers, the slickest hurlers, the sharpest brains all line out in í lár na páirce now. The number eights and nines […]

8 years ago

Bernard Brogan was a victim of the dreaded cruciate at the beginning of this year. He went under the knife less than six months ago and the obituaries were already being written for him. ‘He’s 34 years of age now. He’ll struggle to come back from this one. Any pace he did have will be […]

8 years ago

You can’t mouth words and then not live them when it’s your turn. Cheddar Plunkett told a story about DJ Carey on The GAA Hour Hurling Show recently. When the Kilkenny man used to run his ‘School of Hurling’ courses for coaches and young players, he’d always have a chat with the coaches after each […]

8 years ago

He will have a game in the Sportsgrounds. Paddy Jackson’s new club Pepignan have been drawn in the same pool as Connacht for the 2018/2019 Challenge Cup, the draw for which took place in Lausanne in Switzerland on Wednesday afternoon. Drawn alongside Pepignan and Connacht were Sale Sharks and French side Bordeaux Begles for the […]

8 years ago

Kevin Walsh had a few things he wanted to get off of his chest on Monday’s GAA Hour Show. Fresh from their second Connacht title in the last three years, the Galway football manager is unsurprisingly happy with the progress of his team. But it’s a team that he feels is still widely misunderstood. The […]

8 years ago

Too good to be true. The World Cup always has a habit of throwing up a few surprises. We saw it last week with defending champions Germany stung by Mexico in their opening group stage game. Favourites Brazil stumbled their way to a draw against Switzerland and to date, the majority of the plucky underdogs […]

8 years ago

It’s been a disappointing month for Mo Salah. Less than four weeks ago, things couldn’t have been going much better for the little Egyptian schemer. With a Champions League final on the horizon and a kind World Cup group over the hedge, May, June and July were supposed to be his swashbuckling seasons’ crowning glory. […]

8 years ago

We’d better enjoy it while it lasts. The provincial under-21 championships kicked into gear last week but the show only really begins when the TG4 coverage does. The TG4 coverage continues on Wednesday night and it could be for one last time. Over the last number of years, the under-21 hurling championship has been a […]

8 years ago

The hunt goes on. Celtic Cross or no Celtic Cross, Michael Brick Walsh will either way go down as one of hurling’s greatest whenever he does decide to hang up his hurl. It’s sixteen years since the Stradbally native made his debut in the Déise blue and white and he’s still going as strong now as […]

8 years ago

A legend of the game. He’s been there for 15 years, he’s played more championship games than anybody else, he’s won four All-Stars and three Munster titles. He will undoubtedly go down as one of hurling’s fiercest warriors and finest gentlemen. It’s no coincidence that his name is set for the annals whenever he does […]

8 years ago

The World Cup has nearly come full circle already, and what a week it has been. By 6.00 on Tuesday evening, all 32 teams involved in this World Cup will have the first game of their respective group stages complete. Time flies when you’re having fun and it certainly doesn’t seem like six days ago […]

8 years ago

At the time, it didn’t look good for the Patrickswell man. Clare and Limerick’s Cusack Park clash didn’t live up to the hype at the weekend. A bizarre first half incident that saw both David Reidy and Tom Condon sent off appeared to stall the game as a contest. While Limerick man Condon undoubtedly deserved […]

8 years ago

Gach rud gach lá. When Derek McGrath took over Waterford five years ago, they were a team in transition, a team in a much worse place than they are now. While they never reached their ultimate goal of bringing Liam MacCarthy back to the south east, the five years he spent there will undoubtedly go […]

8 years ago

Interviewer Curtis Strange was flabbergasted. The surprising thing about all of this is that Phil Mickelson has admitted that he didn’t lose the plot on the 13th hole when he did this at the US Open at Shinnecock Hills. Phil Mickelson has had enough 😂 #USOpen pic.twitter.com/bgLUvnOfWR — Drunk Sports Fan (@Drunken_fan) June 16, 2018 […]

8 years ago

The wheels are off the chariot. After suffering a fifth consecutive test defeat, a whole host of England rugby players threw their toys out of the pram on Saturday afternoon. Eddie Jones’ side suffered an eleven point, 23-12 loss to South Africa in Bloemfontein and the Saxons are now 126 days without a win in […]

8 years ago

Frustration at its finest. On his 48th birthday, Phil Mickelson endured a testing afternoon in the US Open at Shinnecock Hills. The American golfer narrowly made the cut to the weekend’s action, but on moving day he was only moving one way and that was backwards. He’s currently rooted at the very bottom of the […]

8 years ago

Esteemed company. Roy Keane had a big influence on Diego Forlan during the Uruguayan’s time at Manchester United. The pair’s careers overlapped for three years at Old Trafford during a time where the Corkman was the spiritual leader of the team’s dressing room. A strong personality, Keane famously demanded a lot from his teammates and […]

8 years ago

What’s the point in having VAR if you’re not going to use it? Argentina and Iceland played out a 1-1 draw in their Group D opener in Moscow on Saturday afternoon but this match will be remembered for the penalties that were, and were not. The Argentines got bolted out of the blocks early on […]

8 years ago

Dublin had to earn this one. The Sky Blues went down to Innovate Wexford Park on Saturday afternoon as hot favourites on the back of wins over Longford and Westmeath in their group games prior. Unlike Kerry and a number of other teams, Dublin have a full hand to play with in this competition. They’ve […]

8 years ago

The Kerry under-20s are down a few men this year. But aren’t they better off? The main purpose of underage competitions should be to develop youngsters so that they’ll make better seniors when their time comes. Of course, it’s brilliant for a county to win an All-Ireland minor or a provincial under-21 championship but really, […]

8 years ago

Spot on from the Tyrone man. The Tyrone county board should have thought about this a little bit more. They should have thought about what had gone down and they should have thought about the example they were setting. Armagh defeated the Red Hand County last week in their Ulster under-20 semi-final meeting but it […]

8 years ago

This is the beginning of it now. The World Cup officially kicked off on Thursday but a meeting of the two lowest ranked teams in the entire tournament didn’t set the pulses racing. So for the majority of us, the World Cup officially begins on Friday. Two mouthwatering clashes are set to take place on […]

8 years ago

It’s here. All eyes will be on Russia over the next few weeks with the greatest tournament on earth taking place on the other side of the world. The competition was set in motion on Thursday afternoon but the meeting of the two lowest ranked teams in the whole tournament wasn’t one to get pulses […]

8 years ago

Hurling needs Podge Collins. In 2013, the Cratloe schemer took the League and the championship by storm. With his searing pace and his explosive step, the Banner bullet had defences scrambling every single occasion he got on the ball. He was the conductor in chief of Davy Fitzgerald’s Clare outfit and he pulled all the […]

8 years ago

Shapers are going to shape. It’s different strokes for different folks on a GAA pitch. Some lads won’t give a damn what they look like while others can only play well if they look good and feel good at the same time. But those lads who commit to it better be ready to being called […]

8 years ago

Pathetic stuff. Even in an age of dummy teams, over the top mind games and ridiculous media bans, the Fermanagh county board’s treatment of the Donegal press at a Tuesday night press conference takes these pointless acts to a whole new level. 11 days prior to the Ulster final, the Erne County declared war on […]

8 years ago

Sure to turn heads at Villa Park. Aston Villa’s recent financial restraints are no secret at this stage and as a result the Birmingham club’s bargaining power has been diminished. It was hardly surprising then when Tottenham, encouraged by the hard nose of Daniel Levy, attempted to swoop in with an offer of half nothing […]

8 years ago

That’s how to do it. Roscommon named their team for next Sunday’s Connacht final a full week in advance. The county’s social media account provided a full run down on the panel’s injury concerns and in turn ramped up the excitement amongst the county’s supporters for the Hyde Park showdown with Galway. It’s a statement […]

8 years ago

Things are getting a bit weird now. Damien Delaney and As Roma don’t go hand in hand with one another usually but over the last while the links between the unlikely couple have been getting stronger and stronger. It all began a couple of weeks ago when Crystal Palace announced that the former Republic of […]

8 years ago

He doesn’t give a damn about you. You can come to meet him and he’ll run straight out over you. You can stand him up and he’ll just knock it over you and over the bar as well. You get a teammate to double up on him and he’ll just saunter into the space between […]

8 years ago

Two Laois players displayed tremendous bravery and courage at the weekend. Captain Stephen Attride showed complete and utter disregard for his own safety for the good of Laois in their Leinster semi-final against Carlow. Forward Evan O’Carroll’s father passed away during the week but the Crettyard club man still came on as a second half […]

8 years ago

Diarmuid Connolly is heading stateside. After months of mystery and speculation surrounding the inter-county future of Diarmuid Connolly, it has emerged that the St. Vincent’s club man will be playing his football on the other side of the Atlantic for the summer. The two-time All-Star is set to complete a transfer to Donegal Boston, according […]

8 years ago

This can’t have been easy for the Waterford stopper. Waterford endured a torrid time against a rampant Limerick in The Gaelic Grounds on Sunday afternoon. The Déise were outclassed all over the field and their defeat couldn’t be pinned down to one particular moment. Limerick ruled the skies and they dominated their home deck. Kyle […]

8 years ago

This will be a thrilling round of fixtures. The draw for the second round of the football qualifiers took place on Monday morning and some classic encounters are on the horizon for football folk. The tie of the round will undoubtedly be the meeting of Tipperary and Mayo in Semple Stadium on Saturday June 23. […]

8 years ago

This is John Conlon. This is the biggest powerhouse in hurling right now. May’s Hurler of the month kicked off June with the same explosiveness he came into it with. On the second weekend of the sixth month, Tipperary’s 2018 championship was brought to a shuddering halt. Peter Duggan hit the Tipperary tank hard, so […]

8 years ago

This year has been an incredible year for hurling. The Round-Robin system was introduced to the Munster and Leinster championships and it has come and gone as an overwhelming success. The Munster championship in particular, threw up thrills, spills and everything in between in almost every single match over successive weekends. It was a feast […]

8 years ago

Things are hotting up. The first round of the qualifiers have come and gone and eight teams have fallen by the wayside now. Each winning team has built up a head of steam and they’ll be gunning for the next round to continue in their fine vein of form. On the other side, the beaten […]

8 years ago

Kilkenny looked a beaten docket at half-time. They looked a beaten docket ten minutes into the second half. You don’t know anything about hurling, however and you don’t know anything about this Kilkenny team or these Kilkenny giants if you ever consider them a beaten docket. But after the clock struck 38 minutes in Nowlan […]

8 years ago

Conor Mortimer scored 14-388 in a Mayo jersey. The Shrule Glencorrib club man played his last game in the green and red in 2012 and that was the year he broke Joe Corcoran’s long standing record to become the county’s all-time top scorer. Cillian O’Connor has been coming for Conor Mortimer for a while now. One […]

8 years ago

Hurling folk weren’t happy. You can’t blame them. Kilkenny Wexford was down to be broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event on Saturday evening. The Leinster championship clash was due to throw-in at 7.00 in Nowlan Park. With the football first round qualifier meeting of Meath and Tyrone, which was being broadcast on Sky Sports Arena, […]

8 years ago

This is what it’s all about. Mayo fans will travel in their numbers and they’ll travel all over the country. They’ll always make their presence felt and they’ll take over any town or city their team takes them to. On Saturday afternoon, the green and red army took to Limerick. After a disappointing loss to […]

8 years ago

Saturday was a big day of action in the Joe McDonagh Cup. Two years after capturing the Christy Ring Cup, Meath have been sent back down to hurling’s third tier. Laois saved their blushes in Páirc Tailteann by defeating the Royal County comfortably in the relegation decider. In a woeful year for the county’s hurlers, […]

8 years ago

Kildare had lost 12 games on the trot coming into this one. But, surprisingly, it was only a fortnight ago when the panic really set in for the Lilywhites. Despite having lost 11 games in a row prior to their fall at the very first hurdle in Leinster, you always felt that there wasn’t any […]

8 years ago