Clare and Waterford shock provincial champions to reach All-Ireland Minor Hurling decider
Clare
completed a weekend of All-Ireland minor semi-final shocks by dumping out Munster champions
Cork
at Semple Stadium.
On Saturday evening, Leinster champions
Kilkenny
fell to
Waterford
at Wexford Park to create a novel final pairing.
In an absorbing Thurles clash, the Banner racked up 27 points despite hitting 14 wides.
They were led by 0-13 from Paul Rodgers, the younger brother of senior star Mark.
READ MORE
Cork's goal arrived in the fifth minute through Cormac Deane, the son of Rebel stalwart Joe. The Killeagh youngster cut on to his left and blasted a low shot from the 21 to the net for a 1-1 to 0-3 lead.
Leon Talty denied him a second goal as Clare soon reclaimed the lead. They were sparked by three in a row from Rodgers, who later added an exceptional sideline cut from close to the 65. All six forwards were on the board by half-time as they led, 0-15 to 1-10.
Clare's Paul Rodgers in action against Cork's Darragh Heavin. Photograph: Tom O'Hanlon/Inpho
The sides were level six times in the third quarter until Clare made the decisive move taking four of the next five points.
Michael T Brosnan and Eoghan O'Shea left one between the sides entering stoppage time, but Rodgers found the insurance score.
On Saturday, Cormac Spain's 2-6 tally helped Waterford to a first minor showpiece since 2013.
Cian Byrne batted home a first-minute goal for Kilkenny, but the Déise took their first lead when Spain whipped to the net in the 18th minute.
They led 1-10 to 1-7 at midway, yet Kilkenny restarted with five points on the spin.
Waterford turned the game on its head with a 1-7 streak around the three-quarter mark, with Spain racing away to bury his second goal.
They still held a seven-point cushion approaching injury time, but Kilkenny got it back to two with Adam Maher's goal. Jamie Shanahan's point steadied their nerves at the death.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
41 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Why Tipperary's scoreboard tally doesn't matter and what else we learned from the GAA weekend
The controversy over the scoreboards at Croke Park on Sunday recalled memories of a previous All-Ireland hurling semi-final, the 1998 replay between Clare and Offaly . It was abruptly ended with Clare ahead by three but referee Jimmy Cooney ended the match two minutes prematurely, treated as an abandonment, which triggered a re-fixture in accordance with the rule book. Offaly ended up winning the next day out, as well as that year's All-Ireland final. When it comes to refixing a match for erroneously awarded or disallowed scores, the rules are quite specific – it can't be done. This was tested early in the existence of the Disputes Resolution Authority, the GAA's independent arbitration tribunal. The position on refereeing error is rather clear since the 2005 determination by the DRA. READ MORE A football match in Limerick that year between Fr Casey's and St Senan's gave rise to a challenge from the former, based on a refereeing error in respect of a score. The ruling laid it out plainly: 'If Fr Casey's are correct that there was a mistake in this case and that it changed the outcome of the game, then one must have sympathy for them. However, even if they are right on both of these issues, this cannot allow for an erosion of the principle of referees' control. Tipperary's Noel McGrath after his 70th-minute effort, mistakenly recorded as a point on the scoreboards at Croke Park. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho 'How an error at any particular stage in a game will affect the outcome is something of an imponderable, and the fact that injustice will occasionally result from a blanket protection of referees' decisions is a consequence that must be borne by all. It is the lesser evil.' The only exception is if 'a referee is shown to have had an improper motive amounting to a corruption of his role as an impartial arbiter of fact and rule'. There have been scoreboard errors more recently. Just two years ago the display recorded that Carlow had beaten Offaly by 2-29 to 1-31 in the Joe McDonagh Cup final. The correct score was 2-30 to 1-32 but this did not affect outcome. In 2016, Meath were actually awarded the Christy Ring Cup after their final score, 2-17 to Antrim's 1-20, had been incorrectly recorded as 2-18 to 1-20. After consultations with the GAA management committee, Meath reluctantly agreed to a re-fixture, saying in a statement: 'Asking us to replay a game that we firmly believe we won last Saturday is very disappointing.' However, the county won the re-fixture 4-21 to 5-17. Sunday's issue was not so much the validity of a score – Noel McGrath's phantom 'point' in the 70th minute – but the effect on Kilkenny of believing they were now chasing a four-point rather than a three-point deficit. Green-eyed Tipperary When Liam Cahill took over as Tipperary manager three years ago, scoring goals was high on his manifesto. In his successful years with age-grade teams in Tipp and during his time in Waterford, it had been a discernible pattern. When Tipp's under-20s won the 2019 All-Ireland final under Cahill, they blistered Cork with four goals in the opening eight minutes. Four years later, in his first championship match as senior manager against Clare, Tipp scored five. 'I think from an entertainment point of view too, I think it's nice that you have games with goals in them,' said Cahill on that glorious day in Ennis. 'Spectators need that. While it's lovely to watch fellas picking off points from 70 or 80 yards it can become a bit monotonous at times. We practice it. I won't tell you any different, we do practice it.' In Tipp's next game against Cork, they scored two goals, but then their goalscoring fell off a cliff. In their next seven championship matches, they scored a combined total of just three, including four blanks. Darragh McCarthy celebrates scoring Tipperary's second goal against Kilkenny. Photograph: Leah Scholes/Inpho The storming resurgence in Tipp's form this year has coincided with the rediscovery of their goal touch. The two goals they scored against Limerick were they first they had scored against those opponents during Cahill's time in charge, and if you omit the Cork game – where they played with 14 men for 70 minutes – they have averaged nearly three goals a game. On Sunday, they clearly targeted the Kilkenny full-back line and went for goals from the start. In the first half alone, they created six goalscoring opportunities and converted three. In contrast, Kilkenny failed to score a goal for the first time since round two of last year's Leinster championship. 'When you concede four and you know if I was asked before the game if we hit 30 points I would have said we wouldn't have been too far off,' said Derek Lyng after the game. On Sunday, nothing mattered more than goals. – Denis Walsh Righ t man for t he job Wherever the Dublin hurlers go from here, it feels certain they have the right man to lead them. That might sound like an overly generous assessment of Niall Ó Ceallacháin when his team has just shipped a 20-point beating in an All-Ireland semi-final but you'll spend a long time looking if you're trying to find a Dublin hurling supporter with misgivings. Ó Ceallacháin didn't put a tooth in it afterwards on Saturday night. He rattled off the three competitions Dublin entered in 2025 and was up front about the fact that they didn't make the final of any of them. They came third in Division 1B, which saw Offaly and Waterford promoted to 1A. They lost to Kilkenny and Galway in Leinster and so didn't make their provincial final. They were wiped on Saturday. Niall Ó Ceallacháin after Dublin's semi-final defeat to Cork. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho Of the three, walking face first into the Cork windmill was clearly the most forgivable. How a team can fail to get out of 1B in the spring before beating Limerick in the summer is a bewildering show of inconsistency. And yet, a familiar one. Job number one for Ó Ceallacháin in 2026 will be eradicating that tendency towards hot-and-cold performances. He's not the first Dublin manager to have that at the top of his to-do list. He does at least have the innate steadiness to suggest a future that is about more than one-off big days. – Malachy Clerkin Reid's s t ill go t i t TJ Reid was the last player to leave the pitch at Croke Park on Sunday. After his Kilkenny team-mates had shuffled down the tunnel, Reid remained on the pitch with his daughter, Harper. Wearing Ronan Maher's Tipp jersey turned inside out, having swapped at the final whistle, Reid spent several minutes playing with Harper and walking around the pitch with her in tow. He's 37 now and the end of Kilkenny's season will naturally raise questions as to whether we will see Reid back in black and amber in 2026. His legacy as one of the greatest players of all time is already guaranteed and again on Sunday he raged against the dying of the light. Kilkenny's TJ Reid with his daughter Harper after the semi-final defeat to Tipperary. Photograph: Tom O'Hanlon/Inpho It was Reid who won possession from Paddy Deegan's hit-and-hope boomer down the field in the final moments of the game. Reid came out from a forest of bodies with the ball, shimmied away from some Tipperary tackles and offloaded to John Donnelly, creating what appeared to be a match-saving goal chance only for Donnelly's shot to be saved on the line. Reid's accuracy from placed balls was also a significant factor in Kilkenny amassing 0-30 – he finished the game with over a third of their scores, 0-11 (eight frees and one 65). His long distance free-taking was superb. So, there seems little doubt Reid – who made his Kilkenny senior debut in 2007 – could still operate at the highest level next year if he so chooses, but, as with all players, there are many other factors to be considered. Whatever way it plays out, it has been a pleasure to see him in full flight. – Gordon Manning Fu t ure focus Tyrone's production line rolls on, showing the sort of alacrity and can-do spirit that would make some Chinese factories look like havens for layabouts. Sunday's All-Ireland minor final victory over Kerry means they've done the underage double in 2025, having tidied away the under-20 title in May. Scroll back through history and you'll find this is only the sixth time the minor and under-20/21 double has been done. Kerry did it in 1975, Cork in '81, Tyrone themselves in 2001, Dublin in 2012, and Cork again in 2019 were the others. Take out the most recent Cork one and you're looking at the launch pads for all four counties' greatest football eras. Those doubles didn't guarantee senior success but they fairly added to the tide. Tyrone's Peter Colton celebrates after scoring a goal for Tyrone against Kerry in Newbridge on Sunday. Photograph: Tom Maher/Inpho It's Tyrone's fifth All-Ireland minor title since the turn of the century, allied to their sixth under-20/21 crown. Omagh CBS have won two of the last three Hogan Cups as well. Throw in last year's Sigerson Cup win for Ulster University, which featured nine Tyrone players in the final, and it's clear that Malachy O'Rourke isn't going to run short of options any time soon. All that's left for them in 2025 is for the senior team to get past Kerry on Saturday and then see off either Donegal or Meath in the final. Simple! If they somehow manage to pull it off, it would only be the second time in history that any county has completed the treble in one year. You have to go back 50 years for the other one – Kerry in 1975. Those lads did all right, you might recall. – Malachy Clerkin
RTÉ News
44 minutes ago
- RTÉ News
RTÉ GAA Podcast: Tipperary and Cork set up all-Munster All-Ireland final
Shane McGrath joins Jacqui Hurley and Rory O'Neill to look back on All-Ireland hurling semi-finals weekend. Tipperary's resurrection is almost complete as the team comes from last in Munster in 2024, to the All-Ireland final later this month. Cork are their opponents in the final after putting in a slick performance to dismantle Dublin on Saturday. Watch the Tailteann Cup final, Limerick v Kildare, on Saturday from 2.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on and the RTÉ News app. Listen to commentary on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1 Watch the All-Ireland Football Championship semi-finals with RTÉ Sport. Kerry v Tyrone on Saturday from 4.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player and Meath v Donegal on Sunday from 3.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow live blogs on and the RTÉ News app. Listen to commentaries on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Sunday Game at 10.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
James Horan: 'I won't be going for the Mayo manager position. It is time for something different'
Former Mayo manager James Horan has ruled himself out of a return to the county hot seat as they begin their search to replace Kevin McStay. McStay was relieved of his role as senior football manager last month and local media had speculated that Horan would seek a return for a third spell. The former Mayo player was first appointed in 2010 and led the county to successive All-Ireland finals in 2012 and 2013 before stepping away a year later. He returned in 2018 and again led the team to All-Ireland finals in 2020 and 2021. In 2022, he stepped down. Speaking on the Irish Examiner podcast, Horan said he won't be in the running for the role and has spoken to the Mayo chairperson to confirm this. 'I won't be going for the Mayo manager position,' he said. 'Not at all. It is not for me. I had a go at that and I think it is time for Mayo to look at someone different or something different. I'm just a supporter and happy in that position, going to the games with my young fella, cheering them on. "Where I am at the moment, I've had a chat with Seamus Tuohy on that just to clear it up, because I don't even want my name associated with it in case there is any confusion. Absolutely not.' Meanwhile, Former Tyrone star Peter Canavan said it is still an attractive position, although he was strongly critical of the statement issued about McStay's departure. 'The hunger and passion among their supporters for an All-Ireland, they are craving and crying out for it,' said the two-time All-Ireland winner. 'The fact they have been knocking on the door, I've a degree of sympathy for them but they just keep shooting themselves in the foot. Time and time again. They need a really strong character. They need another James Horan. 'They need someone who can pull the thing together but when they treat Kevin McStay in the manner that they did, how do they expect to get a good, homegrown talent like Andy Moran or somebody. "Who would want to step into that position when you see someone like Kevin McStay being treated the way he was. 'It was just an unbelievable decision, I thought someone was winding me up when I heard the statement that came out. But in terms of potential, in terms of quality players, there is so much going right in Mayo.'
