Depleted Kerry hurlers face Christy Ring trapdoor
Kerry have never dropped below Joe McDonagh hurling since the competition's inception in 2018. But there will be just three survivors from the 2022 final when they face Westmeath on Saturday, with the Christy Ring trapdoor wide open. They are Louis Dee, Paudie O'Connor and Padraig Boyle.
That probably sums up the size of Kerry's task.
Yet just a month ago, John 'Tweek' Griffin's men beat Kildare, who now look certs to play in the Joe McDonagh final. Team captain Oisín Maunsell provided the leadership and grabbed the winner at the death. He was ably assisted by Dylan Moriarty but neither will play against Westmeath.
Remember June 2019, when Kerry condemned Offaly to the Christy Ring Cup by beating them 1-18 to 1-16 in Tralee. Look at where Offaly are now. Only Padraig Boyle remains from that Kerry team. Kerry reached three Joe McDonagh Cup finals under that reign of Fintan O'Connor and Brendan Cummins. The three were lost, but all were keenly contested.
On April 21, 2024 Kerry travelled to Mullingar with little hope of beating Westmeath. But they shocked the hosts, winning by 1-20 to 1-14, with Mossie O'Connor scoring 1-10 and Fionan Mackessy 0-4. O'Connor is in Australia and Mackessy is with Kilkenny.
It has been a tough year for Tweek Griffin and his management team. They have been bedevilled by injuries with Shane Conway missing the championship for a second year in a row.
Daniel Collins hasn't made it back, while Eric Leen is out injured.
Of last year's starting 15 and subs in Cusack Park, only seven remain. Missing are Evan Murphy, Daithi Griffin, Fionan Mackessy, Eric Leen, Colin Walsh, Michael Leane, Maurice O'Connor, Gavin Dooley, Brandon Barrett, Bill Keane and David Woulfe.
At least 12 players gone in just 12 months is too many for a county like Kerry to bleed, with only nine senior clubs.
Westmeath are also in some peril, though they will be hoping Kildare do the job against Down, meaning even defeat would leave Westmeath ahead of Down on the head to head.
If Kildare do beat Down, a draw would see both Westmeath and Kerry survive, but results in this year's Joe Mac have not been predictable.
Even allowing for the fact that Westmeath have not been firing on all cylinders, they still hurled a year in Division 1B, they managed to get a vital result against Down, and they rattled Carlow last weekend, scoring 4-22 along the way.
Players like Tommy Doyle at full-back, Robbie and Gary Greville, Davy Glennon, Killian Doyle, Joey Boyle, Niall Mitchell, and Niall O'Brien have all been playing at a high level and will want to finish their season on a high note.
Kerry have already produced one miracle of sorts in Newbridge, they may need another.
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Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Tyrone march into All-Ireland semi-final after gritty victory over Dublin
All-Ireland SFC quarter-final: Dublin 0-16 (0-0-16) Tyrone 0-23 (0-5-18) Grease is the word and Tyrone were the team as they simply made less mistakes to claim this error-strewn All-Ireland quarter-final. Watched by a 61,659 crowd in Croke Park, Tyrone sent over the last four scores of the game including Niall Morgan's cherry-on-the-cake two-point free to propel Tyrone into their first semi-final in four years. Wet, muggy conditions militated against the game joining the list of crackers this championship but Tyrone will hardly mind as they held off Dublin who couldn't gain enough motivation from the appearance of captain Con O'Callaghan for the last 20 minutes. Tyrone were a point to the good at half-time. It took eight minutes for the first score of the second half when Paddy Small finished a tap and go move to punish an overcarry by Conn Kilpatrick but the next three points were Tyrone's – Darragh Canavan, Ciarán Daly and Niall Devlin. Cormac Costello contorted his body to send over a fine score in the 50th minute just before O'Callaghan made his entrance. A converted Morgan 45 after some desperate Dublin defending dampened the Dublin mood but O'Callaghan was off the mark three minutes later and when Ciarán Kilkenny opened his account, the belief grew. However, Brian Kennedy spoiled a Stephen Cluxton kick-out and Daly added his second score. After Small kicked one over with his weaker right foot, O'Callaghan pounced on a kick-out. He found Luke Breathnach who squared the ball intended for Costello but Morgan intervened. Substitute Eoin McElholm showed Kilkenny a clean pair of heels to put Tyrone two ahead in the 62nd minute only for another introduction Breathnach to hit back one a couple of minutes later. After Cluxton kicked a two-point free effort wide, Kennedy touched on Morgan's kick-out to Mattie Donnelly and there was enough momentum in the attack for Ruairí Canavan to finish a point. Ben McDonnell fisted over another three minutes later and after O'Callaghan's point effort fell short Ruairí Canavan and Morgan finished the mission. Beforehand, there had been one late change to the Dublin team – Na Fianna's Brian O'Leary coming in for Lorcan O'Dell and scoring two first-half points. Peter Harte, a late replacement for Mark Bradley, kicked a couple of two-pointers in the opening half. The majority of the first All-Ireland quarter-final of the day had been played in dry weather but gloves were required for this main event and the greasy conditions contributed to several turnovers early on not to mention a multitude of erratic shooting across the half, Dublin's conversion rate a dreadful 50%. Only Dublin and Kerry had a poorer two-point return than Tyrone across the league and championship this year but they had converted three inside the first 10 minutes, the first from Kieran McGeary, the second from Peter Teague and the third provided by Harte. Dublin were profiting from some sloppy Tyrone play and Costello had a shot kept out in the fourth minute. By the 12th minute, Costello had three points to his name. With two O'Leary points in the space of three minutes, Dublin were level by the 18th minute before Darragh Canavan raised Tyrone's first white flag. Costello's third score from play and Niall Scully's first came in quick succession but Harte cancelled them out with his second two-pointer to restore Tyrone's lead. Tyrone had a goal opening in the 26th minute but Rory Brennan's drive was snuffed out by Seán MacMahon. After a second Costello free, Darren McCurry bisected the posts for Tyrone's first from a placed ball. Killian McGinnis had Dublin back in front in the 33rd minute but Tyrone were able to turnover a managed Dublin attack up to the hooter and McCurry gave his side the half-time advantage, 0-11 to 0-10. Scorers for Dublin: C. Costello (0-6, 2 frees); B. O'Leary, P. Small (0-2 each); S. Cluxton (45), N. Scully, K. McGinnis, C. O'Callaghan, C. Kilkenny, L. Breathnach (0-1 each). Scorers for Tyrone: P. Harte (0-4, 2 tps); D. Canavan, N. Morgan (1 tpf, 1 45) (0-3 each); K. McGeary (1tp), P. Teague (1tp), D. McCurry (2 frees), C. Daly, R. Canavan (0-2 each); N. Devlin, E. McElholm, B. McDonnell (0-1 each). DUBLIN: S. Cluxton; S. MacMahon, E. Murchan, D. Byrne; B. Howard, J. Small, L. Gannon; P. Ó Cofaigh-Byrne, K. McGinnis; S. Bugler, N. Scully, C. Kilkenny; P. Small, C. Costello, B. O'Leary. Subs: C. Murphy for K. McGinnis (44); C. O'Callaghan for B. O'Leary (50); L. Breathnach for N. Scully (temp 57-ft); T. Lahiff for P. Ó Cofaigh-Byrne (59); R. McGarry for S. Bugler (65); T. Clancy for E. Murchan (68). TYRONE: N. Morgan; P. Hampsey, C. Quinn; P. Teague; R. Brennan, K. McGeary, C. Quinn; B. Kennedy (c), C. Kilpatrick; S. O'Donnell, C. Daly, P. Harte; D. McCurry, D. Canavan, M. Donnelly. Subs: M. O'Neill for S. O'Donnell (temp 10-20); B. McDonnell for R. Brennan (inj 44); E. McElholm for D. McCurry (52); A. Clarke for C. Quinn (56); C. Meyler for P. Teague (temp 59-ft); R. Canavan for P. Harte (63); M. O'Neill for K. McGeary (68). Referee: P. Neilan (Roscommon).
RTÉ News
13 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Former Tyrone star Seán Cavanagh expects Armagh and Galway to battle for Sam Maguire
Armagh and Galway are the frontrunners for All-Ireland glory, according to former Tyrone star Seán Cavanagh. Armagh proved victorious in last year's final, defeating Galway by a single point in the Croke Park clash, and with both sides avoiding each other in the quarter-finals, a repeat meeting remains on the cards. Cavanagh was responding to a question regarding Tomás Ó Sé suggesting that six of the eight remaining teams could win Sam Maguire, and the three-time winner went one better by stating that all-bar Meath could win it. But on further interrogation, it became evident that Cavanagh sees the title staying in the Orchard County, or heading west across the Shannon. "I think you could actually make an argument, I think seven of the eight would fancy their chances, if I'm honest," said Cavanagh. "I don't think it would have been in Meath's chats at the start of the year that they could win Sam Maguire. I think Leinster was always probably going to be their target. "But I think the other seven teams there right now, they'll be talking about the potential to win Sam. Tomás was probably trying to talk it up, but I'm going to try and talk it up a bit more than that." The All-Ireland champions remain the team to beat, according to Cavanagh, who is in awe of the quality and depth of the Armagh squad, and their application and endeavours on the pitch. They take on Kerry on Sunday at HQ, and while Cavanagh is not ruling out the possibility of David Clifford inspiring his side to victory, the Moy man believes that the Kingdom have become too reliant on his contributions, and that Armagh will have too much on this occasion. "I've watched a few Kerry games, and while last weekend, their defence and their press looked a bit tougher, they were very open against Cork in the group stages. "They've had their injury concerns, they're very vulnerable, and they're coming up against a team that has probably 25 players that could play on Sunday, and it wouldn't change the level of their performance. "I think Armagh have brought a consistency in the standards that certainly I wasn't expecting. I always felt the years after we won an All-Ireland, we started to run out of gas a little bit, and even psychologically, we started to show signs of tiredness. "Armagh haven't shown anything like that because they're able to drop in five or six guys that are freshening the team up. "Right now, Armagh is the team to beat. I think Kerry's reliance on David Clifford, in particular, is still there and I think Armagh will relish trying to stop him. "I think it's going to take a really big performance from Kerry to try and topple the All-Ireland champions on Sunday afternoon." "I don't see too many signs of weakness in Armagh right now, and I'm not convinced Kerry has it in the locker to do that this weekend, unless we get a David Clifford 3-07, which isn't out of the realms of possibility. "But it just feels, any time I watch Kerry, the reliance on David, it's been the same for the last few years." Cavanagh feels that Galway are about the best side equipped to prove competitive with this Armagh unit, and he expects the Tribesmen to be battling for top honours in this year's championship. Galway take on Meath in the first game of Sunday's Croke Park double-header and Cavanagh expects Pádraic Joyce's side to progress. "The fact that they've hung in there and with all their injury problems, and all they've got on going on there, they've looked really strong to me," said Cavanagh, when asked of Galway's chances. "I think personnel wise, it's still them and Armagh and I wouldn't be overly surprised to see another Armagh-Galway final. "The fact that (Matthew) Thompson's come in, and that forward line didn't really need much adding to, if I'm honest, and the likes of Céin Darcy around midfield has been incredible. Peter Cooke was a phenomenal player a few years ago, and he's now coming into the games now as well. "It feels to me that whoever beats Galway could win this All-Ireland. That's where my head's at right now. They'll take a fair bit of stopping." Cavanagh did not quite put his own county into the mix of winning this year's championship, however, he does feel that Tyrone might have a performance in them as they meet Dublin on Saturday, following the Monaghan versus Donegal encounter. Cavanagh feels that despite the relegation in the league, that football could be on the way up in Tyrone, backed up by the fact that their Under-20 side have won back-to-back championships, while the minors have reached this year's decider. "With the signs of life and energy that Malachy (O'Rourke) has injected back into the team, a few new faces and a bit of momentum with underage, it does feel that, as a county, we've got a bit of momentum heading back in the right direction," he said. "Dublin are the Man United of the GAA, they are the box office team, they have been an incredible team for so long now and they've been the benchmark. "But I think we're ready to stand up, and if we come on Saturday night and we beat the Dubs, and we make an All-Ireland semi-final. I think, as a county, we're back heading in the right direction."
Irish Daily Mirror
14 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Former Kerry star believes Armagh clash is 'perfect scenario' for Kingdom
In both 2006 and 2009, Kerry were in various states of apparent disarray heading into All-Ireland football quarter-finals that they weren't expected to win. The form of the team wasn't good, there were issues within the camp and county, and they were drawn against a side that seemed to be in much better shape. Sound familiar? Sean O'Sullivan was in the Kingdom side at the time and, as he will be on Sunday at 4pm, Jack O'Connor was patrolling the Croke Park sidelines as Kerry boss. 'In 2006, we were obviously hurting from the previous year after losing the All-Ireland to Tyrone, but we thought we were going in the right direction,' said O'Sullivan. 'It just wasn't happening for us though and, particularly up front, we weren't scoring a lot. The Kerry faithful weren't happy with us and the defeat up in Páirc Uí Chaoimh was a tough one to take.' Losing by six points, 1-12 to 0-9, in that Munster final replay, on a day where captain Declan O'Sullivan received boos from a section of the Kerry support, there was a real sense of crisis. However, a qualifier win over Longford, the switch of a certain Kieran Donaghy to full-forward, the buzz of a last-eight tie against Armagh and everything changed. 'Things started to turn and we drew Longford in the qualifiers in Killarney. Jack either had the brainwave, or wasit the last throw of the dice, to peg Donaghy in at the edge of the square,' he added. 'Eoin Brosnan got a hat-trick that day and I'm nearly certain Donaghy had a hand in two of those goals, if not all three of them. It was the spark that ignited the season. 'I only watched the Armagh game back recently enough and we were in serious trouble in the first half at times. 'We stayed in the game up until half-time, I think we were 1-7 to 1-5 down, and we levelled it up fairly quickly in the second half. Then there was broken play around the middle, I just made a run and it might have been Tommy Griffin who played it to me, and I don't know if I was going for a point or was going for a pass, but I'll take that to the grave. 'I put it into the danger zone, let's put it like that, and the big man from Austin Stacks did the rest. It really turned the game, we were in control from then, and it turned our season. We went on to win the All-Ireland.' That famous goal from Donaghy, and the subsequent celebration in front of Armagh goalkeeper Paul Hearty, became an iconic Championship moment. Kerry won by eight points, 3-15 to 1-13, and lifted Sam after beating Cork and Mayo. Three years later, Kerry weren't in a good place either. Beaten by Cork in a Munster replay, 1-17 to 0-12, they didn't play well against Longford, Sligo or Antrim in the qualifiers either. Indeed, the Sligo game in Tralee saw Diarmuid Murphy make a stunning penalty stop to save Kingdom bacon. Tomás Ó Sé and Colm Cooper were dropped, in the aftermath, for a disciplinary issue. 'We were on the road together a lot, we had had a great run, we were getting to final after final, and maybe we were a little sick of each other. Jack was cranky with us and we were cranky with each other,' remembered O'Sullivan. 'Then you had the Gooch and Tomás going offside a little bit, so it was just one of those seasons. We were doing the right things in training, we were working hard, but we were forcing things in games. 'Then we got the draw of Dublin up in Croke Park, on the August Bank Holiday Monday. We were coming down from Tullamore after playing Antrim and you could already feel the change in the mood on the train.' With Cooper and Ó Sé back in the side, and Mike McCarthy coaxed out of retirement to anchor the centre-half-back spot, Kerry went out and eviscerated Dublin by a 17-point margin, 1-24 to 1-17. The Kingdom were back on track. Meath and Cork were then dispatched, and the 'canister' was returning to what the Kerry natives consider its rightful home. All was well again. On Sunday, Kerry are underdogs once more. The Royals stunned them by nine points, they are ravaged with injuries and seemingly ready to be put out of their misery. Or are they? O'Sullivan added: 'Forget what's gone before, forget the favourites' tag that's hanging over Armagh, and just really go for it, with the intention that if we lose today, we're gone, and our year is over. 'I feel that can get a real performance out of Kerry. If we get a performance, we're more than a match for Armagh. We're more than a match for anyone left in the Championship 'It's just getting that performance out of us on the big day. If we can do that, I feel we'll win. I genuinely believe that this is the perfect scenario for us. 'We're either good enough, and we'll win, and be through to an All-Ireland semi-final with a great scalp under our belts, or we're just not good enough, and we're beaten, and we're on the way home. 'Jack is a really good man-manager and he thrives on these types of situations. He's got good guys around him as well. At the same time, it has to be a two-way street. Jack will back them to the hilt, he'll take all the criticism on his chin and he'll protect the players, but the players need to give something back now. 'They need to step up, starting on Sunday – and I certainly believe they will.'
