Galway's Liam Gordon to referee All-Ireland hurling final between Cork and Tipperary
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The 42
3 hours ago
- The 42
Cork City pick up first win under Ger Nash at 10th attempt
Cork City 1 Galway United 0 Stephen Barry reports from Turner's Cross IT'S BEEN a long time coming, but Ger Nash finally gained his first league win as Cork City manager at the 10th attempt. Josh Fitzpatrick's first goal for his hometown club, combined with City's second clean sheet of the season, was enough to break their duck against John Caulfield's Galway United. In all, City had gone 14 games dating back to April without a league victory. Their slim hopes of avoiding relegation require much more of the same as they remain eight points behind Sligo Rovers. If the Bit 'o Red win their game in hand against Shelbourne, Galway could be dragged into the relegation play-off berth before the weekend is out. After coughing up a two-goal lead against Sligo, City's tailspin appeared to continue during the week as they lost Milan Mbeng to Shelbourne, Malik Dijksteel to St Mirren, and Cathal O'Sullivan to a serious knee injury. Nash kept changes to a minimum with Alex Nolan replacing O'Sullivan. Advertisement Caulfield overhauled more than half his team following their 4-2 defeat to Waterford. Brendan Clarke returned between the posts, joined by former City players Jimmy Keohane, Garry Buckley, and Colm Horgan, ex-Cobh stalwart David Hurley, plus Dara McGuinness. Another former Leesider, Stephen Dooley, signed midweek, but didn't feature here. City replicated their rapid start against Sligo Rovers by netting their fastest goal of the season in little over four minutes. After Harry Nevin's good work down the right, they switched the ball via Matthew Kiernan to Fitzpatrick on the other flank. He took two touches to tee up a 25-yard rocket, which roared into the far bottom corner. The young winger's first professional goal will rank high on the club's goal of the season shortlist. But captain Fiacre Kelleher limped off injured after a penalty appeal as Galway upped the ante. They almost caught their hosts cold with a training-ground corner-kick routine. However, Keohane's fierce effort was deflected over by his teammate Edward McCarthy. More pressure down the flanks led to a Stephen Walsh header, which drew a sharp reaction save from Conor Brann. The 'keeper later denied a glancing Horgan header from another set piece, while Keohane couldn't connect with a through ball. Caulfield called on returning midfielder Patrick Hickey at half-time, but City started stronger by feeding off Galway errors. Kitt Nelson dragged a shot wide before sliding in Evan McLaughlin, who was denied by Hurley's block. The Tribesmen were struggling to come up with any response, although nerves were bound to set in for City. It all unravelled from the hour mark against Sligo, and they had a scare here in the same minute. However, Hickey was flagged offside before finishing in the net. Before long, the American forged a point-blank chance under a long ball. It whizzed wide, although a corner was awarded for an apparent nick off of Rory Feely. The centre-back also got in the way of a Hurley blast. Despite some anxious moments under Galway's aerial bombardment, five yellow cards, and nine minutes of added time, City held out with last-gasp goalline blocks from Walsh and Hurley. CORK CITY: Conor Brann; Harry Nevin, Rory Feely, Fiacre Kelleher (Freddie Anderson 28), Matthew Kiernan; Darragh Crowley, Evan McLaughlin; Alex Nolan (Charlie Lutz 63), Kitt Nelson (Kaedyn Kamara 63), Josh Fitzpatrick (Benny Couto 90+2); Seani Maguire. GALWAY UNITED: Brendan Clarke; Jeannot Esua, Garry Buckley, Rob Slevin, Bobby Burns (Axel Piesold 81); Jimmy Keohane (Vincent Borden 71), Colm Horgan (Patrick Hickey 46), David Hurley, Edward McCarthy (Aaron Bolger 57); Stephen Walsh, Dara McGuinness (Killian Brouder 71). Referee: Aaron O'Dowd (Dublin).
Irish Independent
3 hours ago
- Irish Independent
‘We've only half the job done' – Athlone's Shauna Brennan targets Champions League progression with tough four-day turnaround
A reward for Wednesday's 4-0 trouncing of Welsh side Cardiff City was another qualifier, also at home, against a more experienced Agram from Croatia, where the winners of that one-legged tie will move into the semi-final stage of the qualification rounds, where likes of Roma and Sparta Prague are already through with a bye. Athlone's players were all making their Champions League debuts against Cardiff and they are keen to extend their European season as far as possible. "It'll definitely be a different challenge on Saturday and we're expecting that. We know that we've only half the job done. Wednesday means nothing without Saturday so that's our focus,' says Athlone's Galway-born Shauna Brennan. "We know they're going to be a new challenge, they're going to be a good side. They've won the Croatian League but we'll look at their key players and we'll be ready for whatever comes at us.' Town's home ground was packed for the Cardiff game and another sell-out is expected for the visit of the Croatians as Brennan says that – despite the gloss of that 4-0 scoreline – the crowd did play a role. 'We haven't had a crowd like that before. It was a record crowd so it was great to see the support from everybody in Athlone to actually sell out the stadium. We were hoping it would be a sell out but obviously that depends on the fans and it was great to see them all come out and they're in blue and black,' she says. "I think it helped us in the first 10 minutes. We hit the ground running and I think the crowd really got behind us to do that and it helped us to win them tackles, the cheers from the crowd. They definitely did help us to get up for the game and be ready.' With a debate within the game overall about recovery and a mandated rest period between games, it's a big ask for the Athlone players – many of whom are part-time – to turn around and play two Champions League ties in four days. "It's tough,' says Brennan, who parked her Gaelic football career with Galway to focus on soccer with Athlone. 'We do have a lot of players that are full-time in Athlone but then there's the likes of myself and some of the other girls that are working or in college. "We stayed up on Wednesday night to get our recovery in and we'll do a light session on Friday night, a walkthrough probably and we'll be ready to go.'
The 42
3 hours ago
- The 42
Kerry and Cork to be seeded in separate 2026 Munster semi-finals
KERRY AND Cork will be seeded on opposite sides of the draw at the semi-final stage for next year's Munster senior football championship. The Munster Council have tonight ratified a new proposal whereby the seeding will be determined by league placings rather than featuring in the previous year's provincial decider. This means newly-crowned All-Ireland champions Kerry, along with Cork, will be seeded for the 2026 championship, based on their 2025 league positions. The Munster Council statement in full reads: Advertisement 'At tonight's Munster Council meeting, a proposal that the highest two ranking teams from the Allianz Football League are placed on opposite sides of the Semi Final Draw for the following year's Munster Senior Football Championship draw was ratified for a three-year period beginning in 2026. 'For the 2026 Munster Senior Football Championship, Kerry and Cork, as the two highest ranking Munster teams in the 2025 Allianz Football League, will be placed on opposite sides of the Semi-Final draw.'
