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BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
'McGuinness one step from crowning remarkable comeback'
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final - Donegal v KerryDate: Sunday, 27 July Venue: Croke Park, Dublin Throw-in: 15:30 BSTCoverage: Watch on BBC iPlayer, BBC Two NI, BBC Sport website & app; live text updates, report, reaction & highlights on BBC Sport website & app In sport, going back often leads to regret and dented legacies. This is what Jim McGuinness wrestled with when Patrick McBrearty showed up at his door two years ago. McBrearty had just been through a deflating first year as Donegal captain. Starting out with Paddy Carr as manager, Donegal beat Kerry in their Division One opener but stumbled from Carr resigned just 149 days into his tenure, Donegal were relegated. Aidan O'Rourke, who had been part of Carr's backroom team, took over as interim boss but the struggles continued with defeat by Down in emerged from their All-Ireland group, but after an eight-point preliminary quarter-final loss at home to Tyrone, the consensus was that the county was at a low ebb. McBrearty had seen enough and knew where he wanted to turn, to the man who gave him his Donegal debut aged just of course, loomed large over Donegal football for nearly a Glenties man led Donegal to All-Ireland glory in 2012, stepped away in 2014, and remained absent from inter-county management. In his time away, he worked as a pundit for Sky Sports. He wrote a book. He gave soccer coaching a go. Eventually, he was coaxed back into inter-county coaching. After a Covid-era training session with the Galway footballers in 2020, McGuinness did some work with Conor Laverty's Down side in was also linked with a Donegal return as part of Rory Kavanagh's ticket before the job went to Carr. But this was different. McBrearty, a part of McGuinness' Sam Maguire-winning team, arrived at the coach's house in Creeslough a day after the Tyrone defeat and pleaded for him to spearhead the team's was a big decision for McGuinness: answer his county's call or keep his took some time. Nearly two months later, in mid-August, his return was confirmed by the Donegal county asked about his decision to come back, he said his chat with McBrearty "did pull at the heartstrings". "There was a desire to change things and climb the ladder again and make things different. That emotional part was important," he reflected. The aforementioned ladder had many rungs. Before a ball was kicked under McGuinness, he admitted his Donegal squad was at "ground zero". It was hard to disagree. When he returned, it was Donegal's neighbours Derry being talked about as serious All-Ireland contenders. The Oak Leafers were back-to-back Ulster champions and had just installed Mickey Harte as boss. The gulf between the two teams seemed considerable. Harte's surprise move to Derry added further spice to the Ulster landscape and when Donegal were drawn against the holders in last year's Ulster Championship quarter-finals, it gave McGuinness' side an intrigue-packed first championship outing to work the time the game arrived, Derry and Donegal had Division One and Two titles tucked away, but events in Celtic Park that evening marked McGuinness' side as an emerging championship force. They scored four goals to beat Derry and outlasted Tyrone in extra-time before denying Armagh in a pulsating Ulster final, winning 6-5 on penalties after 90 minutes failed to separate the had only been a few months, but McGuinness' Donegal were unbeaten in league and championship and already being talked about as All-Ireland contenders, which made their semi-final loss to Galway all the more difficult to stomach. Reflecting on the two-point loss, McGuinness admitted his team's "batteries ran down a wee bit". For a team who looked remarkably fit all year, Donegal's fading efforts against Galway were difficult to understand. For McGuinness, though, there was a sense of clarity. To get back to an All-Ireland final, Donegal required added firepower. Against Galway, Donegal's six starting forwards scored just eight points between them. For McGuinness, there was a missing Michael All-Ireland winning captain under McGuinness in 2012, Murphy retired from inter-county football after the 2022 season and had been working as a BBC pundit before McGuinness with McGuinness' return, Murphy's second coming did not guarantee success, but the 35-year-old worked hard to whip himself into shape and has flourished under the new rules. Used intelligently by McGuinness - taken off early in wins over Down, Louth and Meath - Murphy has scored 0-44 in 10 championship appearances this season, significantly easing the burden on 2024 top scorer Oisin Gallen and allowing the management team to use McBrearty as an impact player in recent Murphy, the Donegal machine has operated beautifully. At the opposite end of the field, Shaun Patton has been brilliant in goal and Finnbarr Roarty has excelled at corner-back. Ryan McHugh has run himself into the ground from wing-back while Michael Langan has been a metronomic presence in midfield. For McGuinness, the parallels to his first spell in charge are striking. When he was first appointed in 2010, the team was at a low ebb after a comprehensive All-Ireland qualifier defeat by the first seasons of both spells, he led Donegal to Ulster titles but fell in All-Ireland semi-finals. In 2012, another Ulster crown was followed by the Sam Maguire. Victory over Kerry - whose 2014 All-Ireland final win proved the last act of McGuinness' first tenure - on Sunday would repeat his second-season heroics and further elevate his status in his home county, However, overcoming the Kingdom and in-form superstar David Clifford will require one of his most robust tactical McGuinness, Kerry boss Jack O'Connor has found success after going back. He has won four All-Ireland titles in three spells and, like his opposite number, has breathed new life into a group stung by a heartbreaking semi-final loss (to Armagh) last year.O'Connor is living proof that managerial sequels can live up to the original. Given where Donegal sat in 2023, victory on Sunday will vindicate McGuinness' decision to come back and complete one of the sport's most remarkable managerial comebacks.
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Shubman Gill and KL Rahul hold up England's push for fourth-Test victory
India captain Shubman Gill and opener KL Rahul slowed England's push to seal a Rothesay series win after Ben Stokes ended a two-year wait for a Test century. The England skipper had been without a three-figure score since the 2023 Ashes but he turned his overnight 77 into 141 on the fourth morning as his side were all out for 669 at Emirates Old Trafford. When Chris Woakes removed Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan from successive deliveries with India yet to eat into a 311-run deficit, England might have had hopes of quickly wrapping up a 3-1 series lead. But following a tough start to the afternoon session, Gill made 52 not out, having been dropped on 46 by Liam Dawson, and Rahul an unbeaten 30 as India went to tea on 86 for two, still trailing by 225. England's total was their highest at home in the Bazball era, with only the 823 they amassed in Multan last October eclipsing it, with Stokes to the fore on Saturday as he recorded a 14th Test hundred. He also joined Lord Botham, Tony Greig and Gus Atkinson as the only Englishmen to make a ton and take a five-wicket haul in the same match although he curiously did not bowl himself on Saturday afternoon. Having struggled with cramp the previous evening, Stokes was put through his paces first thing, scampering through for a single, getting home despite Anshul Kamboj's direct hit from mid-on. Stokes smeared Mohammed Siraj twice through the covers but lost Dawson for company after he was bowled by one that kept low from Jasprit Bumrah, having fended one off a length the ball before. Stokes breezed to 99 but then played and missed at Bumrah, facing five more nervous dots before glancing Siraj off his pads for his ninth four and 14th Test ton, which he celebrated by removing his left glove and doing his crooked finger celebration, looking at the sky in memory of his father, Ged. Stokes went to 7,000 Test runs in style by thrashing off-spinner Washington Sundar back over his head for six then reverse-sweeping him for four after England's total had gone past 600. Ravindra Jadeja was also carted for a couple of sixes before Stokes holed out while Brydon Carse did likewise in the slow left-arm spinner's next over, leaving India a tricky 15-minute period to bat before lunch. They were unable to emerge unscathed as Woakes squared up Yashasvi Jaiswal fourth ball, with Joe Root initially unable to cling on but scooping the rebound just above the turf. It got even better as Sai Sudharsan shaped to leave the next delivery but the ball took the edge and flew to Harry Brook. Gill negotiated the hat-trick ball, albeit after being rapped on the pad with Woakes' optimistic appeal turned down, but he had to overcome a testing period immediately after lunch from Jofra Archer. England's fast bowler pleaded for a review after locating Gill's front pad but the third umpire was unable to detect whether bat was involved first so the on-field official's not out decision remained. Gill's bottom hand, already bandaged, was struck two deliveries later while he survived another lbw in an eventful first over back but he rode out the storm and found some fluency as the ball got older. With Rahul appearing totally unflustered, England went up for a desperate lbw when Gill was on 45 before he was put down on 46 as a diving Liam Dawson shelled a difficult chance at backward point. Despite his first-innings five-for, Stokes did not bring himself on, even turning to Root to turn his arm over just before tea, with Gill bringing up a fifty to end the session.
The Independent
7 hours ago
- The Independent
Joe Root not focused on record chase after latest run landmark
Joe Root insisted reeling in Sachin Tendulkar is not a top priority after the former England captain moved up to second on the list of all-time Test run-scorers. Root overtook three greats of the game in one fell swoop with a magnificent 150 against India in the fourth Rothesay Test on Friday, leapfrogging Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid. Only Tendulkar, with a mountainous 15,921 runs, is ahead of Root, who has closed to within 2,512 with Ponting among those insisting the Little Master might not be out of reach for the Yorkshireman. While Root, who has amassed 21 centuries since turning 30 four years ago, is aware tongues will be wagging about whether he can catch Tendulkar, he is adamant it is not the be-all and end-all for him. 'I can't avoid it – they're everywhere,' Root told Sky Sports. 'It is easy to get caught up in this stuff but at the end of the day, you're playing against India in one of the biggest series there is. 'It's not about you, it's about winning the game and getting your team in a position where you can follow through on that. You're not doing your job if you're concentrating on yourself. 'When you look at the names there on that list, they are all people that, as a kid, growing up, that's who I would try and be in the garden, on the street, on the driveway, at my local club. 'Even just to be mentioned in the (same) sentence as these guys is a bit of a pinch-yourself moment.' Root's form since the start of 2021 has been breathtaking, amassing 5,586 runs at an average of 56.42, and the 34-year-old admitted some introspection during Covid was a major reason behind his uptick. 'I actually went away during that period and asked can I get some footage off Sky and just look at modes of dismissal (to see) if there were any trends,' added Root, who on Friday was stumped for only the second time in his 286 Test innings. 'One thing that I've done within that period is actually try and look at the game slightly differently. 'At the start of my career, a lot of it was based on my technique. Whereas in this second phase of things, it's been more about managing risk and thinking how can I eliminate as many modes of dismissal as possible with the highest output? 'It's very easy to get caught up, get too emotional, either get too hard on yourself or feel too sorry for yourself. You've got to see it for what it is, be very honest about it, and then just try and put that into practice.'
