Rory Maguire and Conor Cahalane lining out for Castlehaven league fixture 'non-story' says Cleary
Maguire and Cahalane saw the last 19 and five minutes respectively of Cork's 1-13 to 0-12 defeat to Meath on Saturday, May 24. The following morning, the pair played most of the hour in Castlehaven's Division 1 bottom-of-the-table league win over Carrigaline.
They were the sole pair, from the Cork bench in Navan, to line out in a club league fixture the day after the Meath defeat and six days before the Kerry game at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Of those who started on the bench against Meath, only a small number had clubs in League action the following day. All non-matchday panelists, as is standard procedure, were free to line out with their respective clubs.
When asked by the Irish Examiner on Tuesday, ahead of this Saturday's sink-or-swim Sam Maguire group fixture against Roscommon, if all subs from the Meath game were aware they were allowed to line out for their club the following day, Cleary said they were.
'Of course they were aware. That's a non-story, total nonsense. To me that was total nonsense,' he said with regard to reporting of the story by local media the week after the Meath defeat.
Looking forward to Saturday, Cleary said Tommy Walsh and Conor Corbett are injury-free and available for selection.
'Conor Corbett, he got a bit of a setback three or four weeks ago, he is on the mend. Conor's was a muscular thing, which often happens with cruciates and things like that. Tommy Walsh is on the mend. The rest are as we had the last day.'
Cork, beaten by Meath and Kerry, must overcome Roscommon to finish third in the group and secure an All-Ireland preliminary place. Roscommon, who lost to Kerry and drew with Meath, will advance if the game finishes level.
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The Irish Sun
23 minutes ago
- The Irish Sun
Inside Gavin White's life from stunning fiancee to job after MOTM display inspired Kerry to All-Ireland glory
GAVIN White gave the epitome of a captain's display as Kerry outclassed Donegal on All-Ireland final Sunday. The Kingdom skipper was duly named Man of the Match after a barnstorming performance where he set the tone from the opening throw-in 4 Kerry triumphed by 1-26 to 0-19 over the Ulster champions 4 He conducted an interview from their team banquet on Sunday night Credit: @TheSundayGame 4 He's been in a relationship with Tara Casey for several years 4 Tara proudly watching on as he went up to collect his POTM gong last night Credit: @TheSundayGame Upon receiving his individual award from GAA president Jarlath Burns at their team banquet on Sunday night, he conducted an interview with In it, the 28-year-old tried to sum up their journey across the 2025 inter-county campaign despite admitting to still being "a bit lost for words." Here, SunSport chronicles his daily life away from the Gaelic football pitch: FIANCEE AND JOB It's been a big 12 months for him as he only got engaged to his long-term partner Tara last year while holidaying in Dubai. Read More On GAA However, even when going on a trip abroad somewhere, Kerry football is still at the forefront for the Dr Crokes clubman as he still fit in time to help out a local club by dropping in as a guest trainer. The Middle Eastern GAA club posted at the time: "Thanks to Kerry Senior Footballer Gavin White @gavwhite97 and his new fiancée Tara Casey @tara_casey97 who visited men's training this morning. "Gavin put the lads through their paces ahead of MEL R2 fixtures in Bahrain next weekend. Congrats to Gavin and Tara on their engagement in Dubai this week!" The flying half-back works as a teacher in Killarney's St Brendan's College. It just so happens that Most read in GAA Football In the build-up to Sunday's showpiece, White talked about how he and his megastar teammate are revelling in passing on their knowledge to the next generation of Kerry footballers. He Cork hurlers catch strays during Jack O'Connor's triumphant RTE interview after Kerry outclass Donegal "It's a different angle that you're looking at and different age groups obviously. It's very enjoyable. "I suppose I was with the senior team there with the Hogan Cup in 2022 and that year I was injured for a good chunk of it, so that allowed me to put a bit more time into the Sem." CAPTAIN'S TONE Throughout his MOTM interview it was noticeable how he constantly side-stepped individual kudos in favour of emphasizing what a team achievement this year's success was. Asked if Sunday was the best game he'd ever had in a Kerry jersey, he instead deflected: "Look, you go out there and try and perform as best you can. "But there's plenty of lads here that played exceptionally well today. "Look at Paudie Clifford having 76 possessions across the game, that's absolutely unbelievable. "But look, it was a team performance and our only objective this morning was to bring Sam Maguire back to the Kingdom. "So we're absolutely thrilled with that."
The 42
29 minutes ago
- The 42
A day of days for Kerry as they complete the Ulster clean sweep
YOU CAN SAY these things now, and I have the What's App receipts if you'd like to check up, but after the semi-finals weekend, I messaged around a dozen people to tell them that, 'Remember this in a fortnight's time – Kerry will have walloped Donegal.' It was part hop-balling and a bit of craic to provoke some chat. But I would be selling myself short by saying I didn't think that Kerry were going to lift their 39th Sam Maguire. Forgive me for my lap of honour here. Or don't. It matters little to me anyway, but Ulster is well stocked with journalists and pundits and pretty much all of them went for a Donegal win. And I can back it up by directing you to the GAA Weekly podcast last week when Fintan O'Toole and myself both predicted a Kerry win. So there you have it; Declan Bogue, the Punter's Friend. Come all ye working men and women and invest your meagre wages. The logic I used was based on the fact that Kerry are forever the most ruthless cut-throats in Gaelic football, bar none. And how they would have loved the Godding-Up of Donegal over the last number of weeks. Gaelic Games is the classic example of recency-bias and Donegal's win over Meath in the semi-final prompted many to lose their sense of reason. Essentially, once Oisín Gallen potted his goal early in the second half, Meath packed away their season. Even you and I could have looked sensational playing in that last twenty minutes. Well, maybe you anyway. Meanwhile, Jack was poisoning all the black dogs of Ulster that had followed him around in campaigns past. First Armagh, then Tyrone. They might have fallen to Meath in Tullamore, but a Kerry team arriving into Croke Park, brimming with spite is a loaded gun. You see, Jack's always had this thing with Nordie teams. See a man like me can use those terms. Flash, Nouveau Riche and full of it, he said, while mentioning he went to visit a prominent Ulster coach to pick his brains about defensive systems and so on. Advertisement And somehow, he got the name that Ulster sides spooked him. They didn't. Apart from the 2005 final against Tyrone, his record in that record was strong. Beating Armagh, then Tyrone and now Donegal was the exact way he would have wanted it. And that it was against Jim McGuinness would have satisfied Kerry most. Jack O'Connor. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO In McGuinness, Donegal have a supreme motivator and a leader that anyone who plays under him, adores. But he is not above questioning when it comes to the tactics selected. Cast your mind back to the 2014 All-Ireland final. In the last few plays, Kerry had possession. Donegal needed to get the ball back. Instead, they stayed in a defensive shell, waiting for Kerry to launch an attack so they could force a turnover. Kerry weren't fools. Instead they held the ball and recycled it around their most talented ballers, eating up the clock. The System, as it was called then, ate itself whole. The thing is that the exact same thing happened here. The end of the first half was almost comical as Paudie Clifford, more than anyone, held onto the ball. He could have had a picnic in possession, and yet there were no challenges going in. Down on the sideline, McGuinness got close to where Brendan McCole and David Clifford were hanging out. Immediately, McCole had his hands on David Clifford. Essentially, Donegal decided the game would stop by not engaging. And once the hooter went, Paudie Clifford decided the game was back on again. In quick order, David Clifford booted the two-pointer of Jim Gavin's dreams. 'You've got your plans and you've got your processes and you've got all the things that you're working on all year. Where we got rattled was in possession ourselves. We gave the ball away at times today where it's very uncharacteristic. Against Kerry, you can't do that. They keep the ball very well,' said McGuinness. To which you can only ask, why did you leave the best pound for pound footballer in the country in Paudie Clifford unmarked throughout the entire game? There's a rumour going round right through that claims Paudie touched the ball 76 times. I checked it out by asking some colleagues and it appears it's Kosher. What the hell were Donegal thinking? 'Paudie Clifford is almost pressure-resistant. It's very, very difficult to get heat on him. He's physically strong, controls the game, protects the ball very well and obviously plays very well with his brother,' said McGuinness. It was a day of slightly odd behaviours from Donegal. They had to be asked twice to join the parade while they conducted a mini priming session in the middle of the pitch. They broke early from the parade then. And they did their usual thing of keeping the opposition waiting at half-time. It reminded one of Armagh in 2003, which felt at the time like Death By Huddles. It took nine minutes for David Clifford to touch leather in this game. Before that, he and Brendan McCole could have been wearing the same shorts. His first score was a spectacular two-pointer. Three minutes later he had another one. Kerry emerged from the first quarter, blinking into a 0-13 to 0-4 lead. Gavin White had been superb. Their defence was on top and Donegal's handling deserted them. Kerry's greater ambition carried the day. They had nine digs at two-pointers in the first half, with four flying between the posts. Donegal had none. By the time they did try a few, the options were questionable. Caolan McGonigle attempted one that was blocked down by Joe O'Connor and gave Kerry oxygen. They did suffer bad luck in losing a cast-iron two-point threat in Ciaran Thompson to an early injury. And further misfortune with the departure of Ryan McHugh after Gavin White steamed into him at the start of the second half. After twenty minutes, Michael Murphy went back into his own half. Throughout the game, he never got a sight of a two-point attempt but across the ground, he simply does not match Jason Foley for pace anymore. Michael Murphy. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO The greatest footballer Donegal ever produced had a remarkable season after two years away. Truly remarkable. Related Reads 'I was inside here a month ago and there steam coming out of my ears' - Jack O'Connor How Joe O'Connor put injury hell behind him and played his way into Footballer of the Year contention Kerry name unchanged side for All-Ireland final as Diarmuid O'Connor makes squad He is in a cohort of players that you wouldn't be surprised to see leave over the winter. This was a team that looked at the end of a season that began in Abu Dhabi and had more hotel residentials than Judith Chalmers. But, to use the device the GAA President is fond of to bring his speech to conclusion; the day belonged to Kerry. The day belonged to the side that had the sharper skills, the better shooters, the innate understanding of what every play meant and how to cook it up themselves. This was one year that football didn't need a big final to redeem itself after the manure of earlier rounds. And it didn't get it either. But football, and Kerry football, is in a good place right now. * Postscript: Naturally, we will gloss over the predictions that both Kilkenny and then Cork were going to end Tipperary's hurling summer. Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
How Kerry won it: Two-pointers, a kickout masterclass, and Clifford
The two-pointers For their first score, Gavin White took off from the throw-in and fed Dylan Geaney. For their second trick, Paudie Clifford went for two. They set the tone. The number 14's shot dropped short but Sean O'Brien's fist still managed to direct the ball over the bar. In the first half into the Canal End, Kerry went for 11 two-pointers. They converted four. In total they went 5/13. As the Ulster champions started chasing, Patrick McBrearty and Jamie Brennan were introduced and went for two. They had three attempts and didn't score a single one. The final shot tally was 35 for Kerry, 31 for Donegal. It was 22 scores to 19. In a year when the sport has been changed spectacularly, Jack O'Connor's side showed you have to be able to mix it up. They had the ability to kick the ball and run it. They can press aggressively and zonally. Kerry hit ones, twos and a three. David Clifford versus Brendan McCole It only took eight minutes for David Clifford to make his mark. A punch-for-punch opening exchange was swung towards the Kingdom with a terrific effort from outside the arc that stretched the margin to four. The first ever orange flag in an All-Ireland final was produced by the Fossa sensation, closer to the 45m line than he was the arc. McCole dedicated himself to the task but it proved formidable. When Clifford wasn't involved, he brought himself out wide to disrupt Donegal's zonal system and ensure they could only defend with ten. Just before the turnaround, Kerry worked the clock until the hooter had sounded. Everyone in the ground knew what was coming. No one knows how to stop it. Clifford roared off his brother's shoulder and swung over his third two-pointer of the afternoon. That relationship was a key feature of an awesome attacking display. Paudie's second-half kick to Clifford cutting in towards goal was pure genius. Clifford's championship record is now phenomenal. 45 games, 22-222 scored, two All-Irelands in the pocket. Remember, he is 26 years old. The half-back burst This was a kickout masterclass. Shane Ryan finished with 71% retention. A crucial part of that was their half-back axis, with Mike Breen and Gavin White in particular excelling. Together they were monsters on breaking ball. White roared into the contest with his very first involvement. He scored three points from play. The third was the definition of a captain's score. Michael Murphy nailed a point to cap three successive scores and make the gap just four with 15 minutes late. White took it upon himself to drive forward and fist over a point. Jim McGuinness made one late change, bring in Caolan McGonagle as expected but in place of Hugh McFadden. They sorely missed his physical presence on restarts early on, losing five of their first 11 kickouts while Kerry won all of their own during the same stretch. McFadden was brought on for McColgan at half-time. White managed to show all the ways a half-back can impact a game. It has been a whirlwind year for the Dr Crokes man. He led his club to county and Munster titles before suffering a nail-biting defeat to Errigal Ciarán after extra-time in the All-Ireland club semi-final. In the aftermath of that, White was criticised in places for a late free that they failed to retain. He sat down, watched it again and backed his decision. On the biggest stage, he showed exactly why he trusts his instincts.
