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FAI Cup draw: Champions Drogheda United drawn against Derry City in repeat of last year's final

FAI Cup draw: Champions Drogheda United drawn against Derry City in repeat of last year's final

Irish Times6 days ago
Defending champions
Drogheda United
will travel to the Brandywell to take on Derry City in a repeat of last season's FAI Cup final, one of four all Premier Division clashes to come out of the pot in Tuesday's third-round draw.
St Patrick's Athletic
will host
Shelbourne
in a Dublin derby at Richmond Park, while Turners cross will see an all Munster encounter between Cork City and Waterford. Bohemians will also host Sligo Rovers at Dalymount Park.
Drogheda's reward for winning the cup final last November was qualification to the Uefa Conference League but they were subsequently removed as their owners Trivela are not allowed to enter two teams in the same European competition. Trivela's Swedish club Silkeborg IF also progressed to the Conference League.
The FAI Cup takes on greater significance this year as the champions go into the Europa League qualifiers, where they would earn a minimum of €4.31 million by reaching the group stages. Progress in the Conference League only guarantees €3.17 million in Uefa prize money.
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The upgrade is due to Shamrock Rovers' recent success in Europe. Stephen Bradley's side face Longford Town in Tallaght in the last 16, while there is a rare Galway derby as amateur outfit Salthill Devon were drawn against Galway United.
All ties will be played the week ending Sunday, August 17th.
FAI Cup third-round ties
Finn Harps v Bray Wanderers
Kerry v Cobh Ramblers
Shamrock Rovers v Longford Town
Cork City v Waterford
Salthill Devon v Galway United
St. Patrick's Athletic v Shelbourne
Derry City v Drogheda United
Bohemians v Sligo Rovers
Ties to be played the week ending Sunday, August 17th
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Kerry's embrace of new rules helped them to collect 29th All-Ireland SFC title
Kerry's embrace of new rules helped them to collect 29th All-Ireland SFC title

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Kerry's embrace of new rules helped them to collect 29th All-Ireland SFC title

All-Ireland SFC final: Kerry 1-26 (1-5-16) Donegal 0-19 (0-0-19) This, we should have seen coming. Kerry may be hierarchy but when it comes to new rules, they have been fleet of foot to embrace them. Fifty years ago, they won an All-Ireland with the allowance of the open hand-pass among other tweaks. When all hand-pass scores were banned a handful of years later, they sucked it in and were champions again. Their jubilee team celebrated before this final won in a year where substitutes were increased from three to five. Paul Geaney and Paul Murphy were around in 2014 when they last beat Donegal in a final to cap a season when the black card was introduced. You can have all your Jack O'Connor league All-Ireland double, lucky Hill 16 side dressing room and Kerry playing in blue piseogs but when the parameters of the games has shifted, so have they. Until they arrived in Croke Park, they mightn't have been setting the world alight with two-pointers but Armagh knew all about it last month and here they outscored Donegal five orange flags to none. 'We played eight games in nine weeks in the league in bad conditions,' opened the ageless O'Connor about why they took time to warm to the new rule. 'There wasn't much time now to be working on two pointers. We're basically recovering and doing a bit of fitness work and basic stuff during the league. 'So as soon as the league was over, we went to the training camp, we started working at it then because there was a bit of an art in getting the right shooters on the ball at the right angles and coming on the right cuts and stuff. 'So it was around then that we started working on it and we didn't see a big need to work on it in the league because, first of all we didn't have time to do it, and second of all we were scoring goals which were kind of camouflaging the fact that we weren't getting two points or so. Simple enough, simple as that.' Donegal didn't look capable of scoring them and trying to claw back a seven-point half-time deficit without them their task was going to be onerous. Wedded to the system, they didn't help themselves either when most of Donegal was screaming out for Paudie Clifford to be shadowed. In performance and tactics, Kerry outclassed Donegal. Gavin White was a supreme leader, Paudie Clifford may as well have held a baton in his hand such was his influence and with yet another handsome haul David Clifford is line for a third footballer of the year award. Hugh McFadden had been withdrawn from the Donegal starting team in the hour before the game. Caolan McGonagle was expected to start but probably not at the expense of the Killybegs man. McGonagle was his team's second scorer but he had a slack enough first half and he wasn't alone in this Donegal team who seemed shellshocked by the intensity of Kerry's beginning. White won the toss and chose to enjoy the breeze into the Davin Stand in the first half and he led by example when he blitzed onto the ball from the throw-in and fed Dylan Geaney for the first score after just 11 seconds. Oisín Gallen responded in the second minute but Kerry picked off the next couple of points. Seán O'Brien punched a ball to the edge of the square over the bar then Kerry won the resultant kick-out and White cut in from the wing to fist over another point. After McGonagle's point, White repeated the trick only this time with his foot and soon enough Donegal were shifting Ciarán Moore from Joe O'Connor's side to pick up White when he came forward. Donegal's problems extended beyond White, though. Paudie Clifford was orchestrating so much and while Finnbarr Roarty was pushed out onto him his marking was surprisingly loose. The elder Clifford opened his account in the eighth minute, one of four Kerry scores without response. David Clifford thumped over his first of three opening-half two-pointers in the ninth minute after a McColgan error. He raised another orange flag three minutes later and then O'Brien doubled his contribution. Donegal were reeling but Gallen offered some respite with a point but Clifford was fouled outside the arc by Brendan McCole and Seán O'Shea applied the punishment to stretch Kerry's lead to eight in the 15th minute. O'Brien was everywhere and made a big block on a Roarty point attempt before Clifford's tally grew to five following a McGonagle error. When Michael Murphy kicked a free against the post and a goal move involving him and Ryan McHugh was overcooked, it seemed too much was going awry for the Ulster champions. However, Gallen was on hand to make sure that attack counted for something in the form of a 22nd minute point and the following three scores were Donegal ones, two from Murphy, as the gap collapsed to four. Ending eight minutes without a score, a O'Shea free for a dubious Roarty foul on Paudie Clifford followed by Geaney's second steadied Kerry only for those scores to be cancelled out by Conor and Shane O'Donnell. However, Kerry killed the clock sufficiently enough at the end of the half to tee up David Clifford for a crowd-rousing third two-pointer. He clenched his fist to the Kerry following as he wheeled around to head to the dressing room having put his side 0-17 to 0-10 up. McFadden's introduction along with Jason McGee's earlier made a contest of Kerry's kick-out and was key to Donegal getting back within four points midway through the second half. That and Michael Murphy's boot, four converted frees in the third quarter. White's third point made it a five-point game in the 54th minute although he appeared to overcarry. McGee was infringed upon for Murphy's fifth free of the half and Murphy slotted it over. A couple of two-point free opportunities came Kerry's way within three minutes. Shane Ryan slipped for the first won by Paudie Clifford but when Paudie claimed another one Seán O'Shea drew it over and Kerry were six to the good. That became seven when a Donegal kick-out was pounced on and Paudie Clifford applied the finishing touch with his fist. David Clifford brought his total to nine and it was appropriate that another star of the season, Joe O'Connor, applied the coup de grace with a final-minute goal. If this was his namesake Jack's last gift to Kerry as manager, it was a beautiful one. The old dog learning new tricks and teaching them too. Scorers for Kerry: D. Clifford (0-9, 3 tps); S. O'Shea (0-6, 2 tp frees, 1 free); D. Geaney, G. White, P. Clifford (0-3 each); J. O'Connor (1-0); S. 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'We have to right the wrongs of last year' - Galway out to go one better against Cork in finale
'We have to right the wrongs of last year' - Galway out to go one better against Cork in finale

Irish Examiner

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  • Irish Examiner

'We have to right the wrongs of last year' - Galway out to go one better against Cork in finale

Galway 1-18 Tipperary 1-11 Galway's redemption road became less and less certain for passengers lost over the course of the season. All-Star full-back Roisín Black was travelling when the year threw in. A knee injury upon her return meant Saturday was her first start of 2025. The rest of the Galway spine that pushed Cork to almost breaking-point in last year's final classic was ravaged and has not returned. The cruciate curse took captive centre-back Áine Keane and centre-forward Niamh McPeake. Also unavailable are Niamh Hanniffy and the legendary Niamh Kilkenny. Factor in too Orlaith McGrath stepping away. And yet what you had on Saturday was a much more comfortable semi-final win than when these counties collided at this same stage 12 months ago. What you also had were muted and measured Galway celebrations that spoke to this semi-final, even for all those passengers lost, being nothing more than a means to an end. There was none of the shouting and roaring and jumping of 12 months ago. Galway's 2024 was so patchy that they maybe didn't realise they were capable of reaching Cork's level until they stood level with them coming down the stretch in the All-Ireland final. They're heading back to Croker and they believe. 'I hope so,' replied Galway manager Cathal Murray when asked if Saturday was clear evidence of his team being further down the road compared to last summer. 'It's a different feeling compared to last year when we weren't going well coming into the semi-final and were behind for most of that semi-final. Today, we were on top for most of the game. 'Losing the final last year was really hard. That was the goal all year to get back there. We are not being euphoric about getting there because we don't want to lose another one. We have to right the wrongs of last year. 'We were missing five all year, so this team has shown huge resilience to even get this far. To put in a performance like that with players who weren't on the team last year but have really, really stepped up to the plate, that is massive for the group.' All-Ireland winning defenders Shauna Healy and Emma Helebert were both absent last year. Their return has strengthened a rearguard unit that held Tipp scoreless from play for the opening 26 minutes and limited them to 1-3 from play in total. Within that rearguard, Dervla Higgins forced and feasted on turnovers. Rachael Hanniffy executed a superb man-marking job on Grace O'Brien. Ciara Hickey has built on her breakthrough All-Ireland final performance and is now the commanding figure in the half-back line. Further forward, newcomers Mairead Dillon and Caoimhe Kelly sniped a pair each. Chisel the game down to its core, though, and it was Galway's leaders that continued them on redemption road. When Tipp seized on the Karen Kennedy gift-wrapped goal and shot the last four points of the half to turn an 0-8 to 0-2 deficit into a 0-9 to 1-6 interval stalemate, it was the most dependable names in maroon who reasserted western dominance upon the restart. Niamh Mallon was fouled within seconds, Carrie Dolan converted. A brief word on the latter would be to say that moving her inside didn't work and shouldn't be persisted with. Their 38th minute goal was fashioned by Ailish O'Reilly and finished by Mallon. O'Reilly contributed three second-half points herself. Aoife Donohue popped up everywhere. For Tipp, more semi-final torture. A seventh last-four defeat in eight seasons. This latest semi-final rejection, mind, carried none of the one-point heartbreak they endured the past two years. Their fitness was inferior to their opponents, so too was their decision-making and sharpness in possession. Galway's redemption road has reached Croker. They knew it would be Cork waiting for them. We all did. Their conditioning and their bench contributors are about to be scrutinised like never before. Galway lived with Cork last August, the task now is to outlast the three-in-a-row chasing champions. Scorers for Galway: C Dolan (0-6, 0-5 frees); N Mallon (1-2); A O'Reilly (0-5); M Dillon, C Kelly (0-2 each); A Donohue (0-1). Scorers for Tipperary: G O'Brien (0-7, 0-7 frees); K Kennedy (1-1); E Heffernan (free), C Hennessy, J Kelly (0-1 each). GALWAY: Sarah Healy; Shauna Healy, R Black, R Hannify; E Helebert, C Hickey, D Higgins; A Starr, O Rabbitte; N Mallon, M Dillon, A Donohue; C Dolan, A O'Reilly, C Kelly. SUBS: S Gardiner for Helebert (42); S Rabbitte for Dillon, A Hesnan for Healy (both 52); N Niland for Kelly, J Hughes for O Rabbitte (both 61). TIPPERARY: L Leeane; E Loughman, J Bourke, K Blair; C Maher, S Corcoran, C McCarthy; M Eviston, K Kennedy; C McIntyre, C Hennessy, E Heffernan; G O'Brien, R Howard, M Burke. SUBS: E Carey for Blair (20 mins, inj); J Kelly for Burke (44); A McGrath for Maher (60). REFEREE: J Heffernan (Wexford).

Colin Sheridan: GAA not making the most of cultural goldmines that is the All-Ireland finals
Colin Sheridan: GAA not making the most of cultural goldmines that is the All-Ireland finals

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Colin Sheridan: GAA not making the most of cultural goldmines that is the All-Ireland finals

All-Ireland final Sunday. Kerry versus Donegal. Tradition versus turf. Colm Cooper's ghost versus Michael Murphy's shadow. One hundred thousand pilgrims in polyester descend upon Dublin, each clutching a flag, a hip flask, and the faint hope of finding a toilet somewhere north of the Gresham that isn't decorated like a Francis Bacon painting. It should be a weekend of national significance. It should stop the country. But instead, it sneaks in like a tummy bug and leaves just as quickly, a cultural blink-and-you'll-miss-it, gone before the spilled pints on Dorset Street have a chance to dry. This is exclusive subscriber content. Already a subscriber? Sign in Take us with you this summer. Annual €130€65 Best value Monthly €12€6 / month

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