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Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Victory over Dubs can spur Tyrone on
Beating Dublin in a 2005 All-Ireland quarter-final replay was the catalyst for Tyrone's march to Sam Maguire, and Owen Mulligan - one of the heroes of that team - believes victory for the current crop of Red Hands over the Dubs on Saturday can do likewise. In the drawn game 20 years ago, Mulligan scored one of the greatest goals seen on a football field when selling a pair of dummies before thumping past Stephen Cluxton to bring Tyrone level. Advertisement Mickey Harte's men would win the replay with Mulligan again finding the net, before taking down Armagh in the semi-final and defeating Kerry in the decider to win a second All-Ireland title in three years. The Cookstown man was part of the Tyrone golden generation which claimed a third triumph in 2008, but his goal against the Dubs is one of of those moments that is replayed and revered to this day. "My sister Michelle text into the family WhatsApp group 'happy anniversary' and I thought she was on about my mother and father," Mulligan said, speaking to BBC Radio Ulster's Sportsound. "You can be remembered for far worse in the GAA. I was privileged to be part of a great Tyrone team with the glory years but the significance of that goal has followed me around. Advertisement "It's nice to go to these matches and have people coming up, no matter what county they are, shaking your hand and saying 'you scored the best goal in Croke Park ever', it does make you proud." Dubs are 'there for the taking' - Mulligan Every team needs a spark and getting past a fancied Dublin team over two games proved to be the shot in the arm that Tyrone team needed, having lost an Ulster final replay to arch-rivals Armagh previously. Dublin was another team they had many battles against, but the big occasion was what they relished. "We'd won the All-Ireland in '03 and in '04 there was a bit of a hangover that carried into 2005. To get the draw and then win the replay was a massive kick-on for us to go and win the All-Ireland," recalled 2005 All-Star Mulligan. Advertisement "As a young lad, you wanted to play in those games and I couldn't understand why teams were getting to Croke Park and choking. Dublin at 'Headquarters' would get any young lad's juices flowing and it did for us." The counties meet again on Saturday in a quarter-final and Mulligan, while expecting a tough battle, feels his county may have enough to get over the line. It won't be easy and there are so many variables, but Mulligan gives Tyrone the edge at midfield and if they can keep a lid on Con O'Callaghan in the Dublin attack, he believes the Red Hands have the firepower to prevail. "I think it is finely balanced," he acknowledged. Advertisement "This is a massive game to kick-on your season and no better place than Headquarters against Dublin who are there for the taking. If the Tyrone forwards can click, we have so much going for us." Listen to the full interview with Owen Mulligan on Sportsound, which begins at 14:00 BST on Saturday 28 June.
Irish Times
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals: What time are Monaghan v Donegal and Tyrone v Dublin today and what channel are they on?
Who's playing? The last eight in this year's All-Ireland Senior Football Championship will be cut down to four with the four quarter-finals to be staged across this weekend. The pairings are Monaghan v Donegal , Tyrone v Dublin , Meath v Galway , and Armagh v Kerry . Where and when? READ MORE The games will be played as two double-headers at Croke Park on Saturday and Sunday. Monaghan v Donegal will serve as the weekend opener on Saturday, throwing in at 4pm, before Tyrone v Dublin at 6.15pm. On Sunday, Meath v Galway is up first from 1.45pm, followed by Armagh v Kerry at 4pm. Meath's Ruairí Kinsella tackles Dublin's Con O'Callaghan during the Leinster SFC semi-final. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho Are there tickets left? Tickets for Saturday and Sunday's double-headers went on general sale via Ticketmaster earlier this week with seated and terrace options still available as of Thursday afternoon. How can I follow the action? The two games on Saturday will be streamed live on GAA+, while Sunday's double-header will be televised on RTÉ. The Irish Times will be running a live GAA blog throughout the weekend, with updates, reports and reaction from our team of writers. Any news stirring? Following confirmation of the fixture details on Monday, Donegal criticised the six-day turnaround from their preliminary quarter-final win over Louth last Sunday and this Saturday's quarter-final meeting with Monaghan. While Galway were also in preliminary quarter-final last Sunday the same day, beating Down in Newry, they have an extra day to recover seeing as their quarter-final clash against Leinster champions Meath is set for Sunday. [ Donegal disappointed at six-day turnaround for quarter-final against Monaghan Opens in new window ] A statement released by Donegal GAA on Monday night claimed the welfare of their players was not 'adequately considered' in the scheduling process for this weekend's games. Donegal manager Jim McGuinness. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho When will we know the semi-final pairings? We'll likely know the semi-final pairings after the final whistle of Armagh v Kerry on Sunday as repeat provincial and All-Ireland group pairings will be avoided where possible. Depending on how the weekend's results go, semi-final matchups between any combination of Monaghan, Donegal, Tyrone and Armagh would therefore be off the cards (given these counties already met in the Ulster SFC), as would Dublin v Meath (who met in Leinster). Then the All-Ireland groups would come into play, further limiting our options. Armagh, Galway and Dublin each came out of Group 4, so no replay of any combination of them, while it's also a no for Donegal v Tyrone and Kerry v Meath, as those counties already met in Group 1 and 2 respectively. With all that in mind, should a draw be needed it will be held on Sunday evening during the Sunday Game on RTÉ. We'll keep you posted on that front.
BBC News
7 hours ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Victory over Dubs can spur Tyrone on
Beating Dublin in a 2005 All-Ireland quarter-final replay was the catalyst for Tyrone's march to Sam Maguire, and Owen Mulligan - one of the heroes of that team - believes victory for the current crop of Red Hands over the Dubs on Saturday can do the drawn game 20 years ago, Mulligan scored one of the greatest goals seen on a football field when selling a pair of dummies before thumping past Stephen Cluxton to bring Tyrone Harte's men would win the replay with Mulligan again finding the net, before taking down Armagh in the semi-final and defeating Kerry in the decider to win a second All-Ireland title in three Cookstown man was part of the Tyrone golden generation which claimed a third triumph in 2008, but his goal against the Dubs is one of of those moments that is replayed and revered to this day."My sister Michelle text into the family WhatsApp group 'happy anniversary' and I thought she was on about my mother and father," Mulligan said, speaking to BBC Radio Ulster's Sportsound. "You can be remembered for far worse in the GAA. I was privileged to be part of a great Tyrone team with the glory years but the significance of that goal has followed me around. "It's nice to go to these matches and have people coming up, no matter what county they are, shaking your hand and saying 'you scored the best goal in Croke Park ever', it does make you proud." Dubs are 'there for the taking' - Mulligan Every team needs a spark and getting past a fancied Dublin team over two games proved to be the shot in the arm that Tyrone team needed, having lost an Ulster final replay to arch-rivals Armagh was another team they had many battles against, but the big occasion was what they relished."We'd won the All-Ireland in '03 and in '04 there was a bit of a hangover that carried into 2005. To get the draw and then win the replay was a massive kick-on for us to go and win the All-Ireland," recalled 2005 All-Star Mulligan."As a young lad, you wanted to play in those games and I couldn't understand why teams were getting to Croke Park and choking. Dublin at 'Headquarters' would get any young lad's juices flowing and it did for us."The counties meet again on Saturday in a quarter-final and Mulligan, while expecting a tough battle, feels his county may have enough to get over the won't be easy and there are so many variables, but Mulligan gives Tyrone the edge at midfield and if they can keep a lid on Con O'Callaghan in the Dublin attack, he believes the Red Hands have the firepower to prevail."I think it is finely balanced," he acknowledged."This is a massive game to kick-on your season and no better place than Headquarters against Dublin who are there for the taking. If the Tyrone forwards can click, we have so much going for us."Listen to the full interview with Owen Mulligan on Sportsound, which begins at 14:00 BST on Saturday 28 June.
Irish Times
10 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Paddy Christie on Owen Mulligan's memorable 2005 goal: ‘To this day I would say it was great play... it changed everything'
Paddy Christie has never watched the moment back but he can still see himself on Owen Mulligan's heels, muck spraying up from their studs as they race to meet the incoming ball. Just another battle for possession. But eight seconds later Mulligan would score what many believe is the greatest Croke Park goal of all time. There are plenty of contenders for that accolade and parochial subjectivity tends to add a couple of postcodes to the distances shots were struck from, but it is impossible to have a debate on this topic without including Mulligan's double-dummy goal from the 2005 drawn All-Ireland quarter-final against Dublin . The backdrop to that strike was as follows: Dublin led 1-11 to 0-11 with just more than 20 minutes remaining in front of 78,514 spectators. Mulligan had not been enjoying a stellar season, he didn't start the drawn Ulster final or replay and was subsequently taken off in Tyrone's qualifier win over Monaghan having managed a single point. Moments before his quarter-final goal against Dublin it appeared Mulligan was to get the curly finger again as Peter Canavan prepared to enter the fray. However, a brief chat between Canavan and Mickey Harte purportedly altered the details of the switch. What followed changed Mulligan's season and arguably changed the course of Tyrone GAA history. READ MORE Here is the anatomy of that goal: 48 mins 12 secs: Canavan is introduced, replacing Ryan Mellon. 48 mins 33 secs: Dublin have possession at the Hill 16 end but Alan Brogan is swallowed up just outside the D and his shot is blocked. Ryan McMenamin secures the loose ball, works it out wide to the Cusack Stand side from where a long foot-pass is delivered forward. 48 mins 45 secs: Stephen O'Neill gets out in front of Paul Griffin but the ball skids off the surface just inside the Dublin 65m line, bounces off the Tyrone forward's shin and he fails to gather possession. The ball bobbles back out the field. 48 mins 49 secs: A brief scramble for possession ensues before O'Neill flicks the ball up with his left foot. Standing between the two 65s, he takes a look forward and sends a left-footed pass inside. 48 mins 53 secs: Mulligan races out ahead of Christie, allows the ball to bounce off the turf and it canons back up into his arms. He collects the ball about 35m out and facing away from goal. Mulligan's momentum carries him close to the 45m line by which point he has decelerated sufficiently to turn. Christie slips. It's on. 48 mins 55 secs: Now facing goalwards, Mulligan takes a left-foot solo. Tyrone's Owen Mulligan goes past Stephen O'Shaughnessy of Dublin on his way to scoring a goal in the 2005 quarter-final. Photograph: Tom Honan/Inpho 48 mins 57 secs: Stephen O'Shaughnessy comes out to meet him. Approaching the D, Mulligan holds the ball in his left hand, looks left and feigns as if about to handpass in that direction. O'Shaughnessy buys the ruse. Mulligan immediately switches direction, moving possession over to his right hand and as he darts by the Dublin defender he bounces the ball on the edge of the D. 48 mins 58 secs: He takes another left-foot solo 48 mins 59 secs: As Mulligan approaches the 20m line, Paul Casey – with arms outstretched – takes position to stop his progress. Mulligan looks left again, lets the ball sit in his left hand and draws his right arm back away from his body indicating he is winding up to fist it across the face of goal. Casey buys it and commits to intercepting what turns out to be a phantom pass. Mulligan leans back to his right foot and powers forward. Owen Mulligan on his way to scoring a goal against Dublin in the 2005 All-Ireland quarter final. Photograph: Tom Honan/Inpho 49 mins 00 secs: Mulligan enters the large square. 49 mins 01 secs: He unleashes a thunderous right-footed shot beyond Stephen Cluxton , just before Barry Cahill arrives with a shoulder that knocks Mulligan to the ground but it's too late, the damage is already done. 1-11 apiece. ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ The game finished in a 1-14 to 1-14 draw. Two weeks later in the replay Mulligan scored another memorable goal, famously celebrating by staring defiantly towards Hill 16. Tyrone won that contest by seven points and progressed to win the All-Ireland. Christie was the Dublin captain in 2005 and picked up Mulligan in the drawn game. A groin injury kept the Ballymun man out of the replay but it had also been a factor in the build-up to the first match, having suffered the problem during the Leinster final. After a frenetic opening passage of play against Tyrone, the matchups settled and Christie found himself keeping Mulligan company. 'Straight away I thought, 'This is going to be a problem now.' Mulligan hadn't been going well but he was a classy player and I wasn't sure how I'd hold up sprinting and turning,' recalls Christie. The pair largely cancelled each other out in the first half, engaging in their own mini battle as the war went on around them. Owen Mulligan against Dublin in the 2005 All-Ireland quarter final. Photograph: Tom Honan/Inpho 'We were sort of hanging out of each other, there was a bit of off the ball stuff but there wasn't really anything major happening. Neither of us were really in the game. 'I was kind of frustrated in one way but relieved in another because early on I'd been fearful I was going to get roasted, carrying an injury and marking Owen Mulligan in Croke Park, that could go badly wrong.' The first half passed without any major hiccups. Dublin led by five at the turnaround and Christie v Mulligan was a stalemate. But in the dressingroom at half-time, members of the Dublin management set-up had a different view of Christie's performance. 'I was told, 'He's destroying you, are you okay out there? You are miles off it.' I was questioning myself then. I'd normally pride myself on being fairly straight when it comes to self-analysis, I'd have an idea if I was going well or not.' Mulligan gathered a couple of balls early in the second half so when O'Neill sent in another pass in the 49th minute, and with the half-time analysis still swishing around in his head, Christie gambled. 'I was adamant that no matter what I'd win the next ball, so I went really hard for a ball I had no entitlement to win. He was in front of me so I tried to get a fist to it but he won the ball, I fell and he was gone,' Christie says. 'I got up and ran after him but I was out of the equation. I just remember seeing the dummy handpasses with the two lads and then the stadium erupting.' Some 13 years later, on the eve of the 2018 All-Ireland final between Dublin and Tyrone, Christie and Mulligan were reunited for a segment on RTÉ's Up for the Match programme. Inevitably, the chat wound its way to 2005. 'I recounted how I'd been told in the dressingroom at half-time that they thought I was struggling. Then Mulligan interjects and says, 'They told me exactly the same thing in our dressingroom at the break, they said I was struggling.'' Owen Mulligan against Dublin in the 2005 All-Ireland quarter final. Photograph: Tom Honan/Inpho Seán Cavanagh watched the move for the goal unfold from near the middle of the field. 'Mugsy always had that show with the wee fist pass, we'd seen it hundreds of times in training but if I'm honest I didn't ever think it was going to work as well as it did on that day,' Cavanagh says. 'What made it extra special was that Mugsy wasn't having the greatest of games that day and I think he was about to be taken out, so to produce what he did in that moment when we needed it so badly was special. 'It just was one of those magical moments in Croke Park. Mugsy obviously enjoyed the big games and the pantomime element of them – the bleached blonde hair made him stand out.' Collie Moran set up Dublin's goal just before half-time, his lung-bursting run opening the Tyrone defence and leading to Mossy Quinn poking home. Tyrone's Owen Mulligan rescues a dog and gives it to referee during the game against Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan/Inpho Going off the pitch at the break Moran remembers the energy bouncing around the stadium but Mulligan's goal in the second half wrestled everything back in Tyrone's favour. 'You could just see the move building and building,' recalls Moran. 'When he turned Paddy and ran towards the goal the crowd started to get excited, then when he beat Shocko they got louder again, he went by Paul and everybody got out of their seats, he planted the ball to the net and the place went wild. 'That goal changed the momentum of the match, we were lucky to get a draw in the end.' So many variables had to align for that goal to come to fruition. 'Occasionally I wonder if my memories of it are actually from being there on the pitch that day or are they from seeing replays of the goal so often over the years,' adds Moran. 'But there were chances to stop the move developing. The ball got caught under Paul Griffin's legs initially and it just kind of all snowballed from there.' Christie believes had Dublin denied Mulligan a goal in that moment, then the outcome of the match – and consequently the All-Ireland – would have been different. 'To this day I would say it was great play by him, the finish was even better than the dummy handpasses, but as players we should never have sold ourselves,' says Christie. 'I should never have committed myself in the first place, I broke one of my own rules – I went for a ball I should never have challenged for. What was he going to do if I'd just let him get the ball 45m out with me hanging out of him? Not an awful lot. But instead I sold myself and then unfortunately the two lads inside sold themselves. 'I remember afterwards thinking if I had stood him up or if the lads didn't commit perhaps Tyrone might have gone away with a point from the attack and that wouldn't have been a big deal. But the goal changed everything.' Everything.
Irish Times
10 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Monaghan's Croke Park record is of failure against big teams - Donegal clash is a chance to change it
This is usually the point at which any Monaghan bandwagon starts to creak and groan and chug its last. In their best years in the All-Ireland series, they have tended to be the little engine that could, right until it becomes obvious they can't. There's no big mystery as to when they arrive at that point, either – it's generally when they come face to face with a Division One team in Croke Park . In 2005, Monaghan played their first championship match in Croke Park for 27 years, a double-scores whipping by Tyrone . It was only their sixth championship game at HQ since 1930, including a replay against Kerry in 1985. They have become far more regular visitors since but their record is reliably dire, a between-the-eyes summing up of their place in the scheme of things. Over the past two decades, Monaghan have played 15 championship matches in Croker and lost 11. Those defeats have come against Tyrone (five times), Dublin (three), Kerry (twice) and Kildare (once). Of the remainder, they've beaten Kildare twice and Down once in normal time, as well as a memorable penalty shoot-out win over Armagh two summers ago. If you drill down into the victories, Down were a Division Two team when Monaghan beat them in 2017 . And though Armagh (2023) and Kildare (in 2014 and 2018) had played in Division One earlier in the season, they'd all been relegated at the end of their respective league campaigns. Of the four, only Armagh were considered as possible All-Ireland contenders – and even then, they were down the list behind Kerry, Dublin, Derry and Tyrone. READ MORE The point is, Donegal are favourites for the 2025 All-Ireland. Monaghan don't beat the favourites for the All-Ireland. They don't ever beat serious contenders for the All-Ireland, not in Croke Park and not in the All-Ireland series. History tells us that this is where they come unstuck. So why should this year be any different? On the face of it, it shouldn't. Donegal have beaten Monaghan already this summer and haven't lost a championship game against them since the 2015 Ulster final . They've won the last three clashes between the counties and drew the one before it, making this the longest unbeaten Donegal stretch in the fixture since the counties first met in 1929. But dig a little deeper and you'll find that games between these two have always found room for an upset. Even when Donegal were a bit of a rabble in the summer of 2023, they were still able to pull off the biggest win of their year with a two-point victory over Monaghan in Omagh . That result was in keeping with tradition – time and again, matches between these sides have been won by the unfancied team. For Donegal 2023, read Monaghan 2013 . And Monaghan 1995. And Donegal 1983. If you go through the games Monaghan have lost in Croke Park over the past 20 years, they have been against sides that they have no tradition of beating. Tyrone have been their bogey team for a generation now – they've never beaten them outside of the Ulster championship. As for Kerry and Dublin, Monaghan have never won a game against either of them in championship football. Donegal are favourites for the 2025 All-Ireland. Monaghan don't beat the favourites for the All-Ireland. Photograph: Leah Scholes/Inpho In the GAA, everyone has a mental block about somebody. It doesn't make sense but it's undeniably true. And it means that Monaghan supporters will travel in much more hope and confidence this weekend to face Donegal (top of the betting for Sam Maguire) than they would if they were facing Tyrone (sixth), Dublin (fifth) or Kerry (fourth). Don't ask for the science, just accept the facts. Away from that sort of specious juju though, Monaghan carry a threat that is specific to this particular championship. In Gabriel Bannigan's first year in charge, they have taken to the new rules in an eye-catching way, embracing the possibilities offered by two-pointers and backing their hard-running style in one-on-one situations around the arc. [ Malachy Clerkin: Mayo's decision to oust Kevin McStay was fair enough but the way they did it was foul Opens in new window ] Back in the spring, they were the top scorers in the league across all the divisions, averaging a shade over 1-24 a game. They have kept that number steady throughout the championship, putting up 4-96 in four matches. Only Down scored more than them in the group stage, with Armagh a full three points-per-game further back in third. There are caveats aplenty, of course. Monaghan ran up all their gaudy totals in Division Two of the league, which showed itself to be an outlier in terms of scoring. Of the 10 highest-scoring teams in the 2025 league, seven were in Division Two. Westmeath and Down got relegated from the second flight despite being the joint third-highest scorers in the country. Division Two was a high roller event this year and everybody played fast and loose. And though the average of Monaghan's totals hasn't dropped in the championship overall, the numbers don't tell you everything. All three group matches were against teams from Division Two and Three. In their only match all year against a Division One side, they scored just 0-21 against Donegal in Clones in April. That match was a ruthless depiction of the difference between the elite teams and the rest. Jim McGuinness's side put on a masterclass of scrubbing the opposition's strengths and making them find a different way to try to compete. Rory Beggan had been Monaghan's leading scorer in the league, filling his boots from two-point frees. So Donegal simply took that option away – they didn't concede a single kickable free to Beggan all day. No fouls outside the arc, no three-up breaches, no dissent. The Monaghan goalkeeper got to take just a single kick at goal all day, a first half 45 conceded by Shaun Patton when he turned a goal chance from Ryan McAnespie around the post. Monaghan stayed in that game by kicking two-pointers from play, five in all. But even that was a lower total than they needed – they tried for 12 two-pointers and missed seven. By contrast, Donegal only attempted a couple of two-pointers in the course of the game and landed them both. McGuinness's players didn't drop a single kick into Beggan's hands all day. Their shooting return was 76 per cent; Monaghan's was 57 per cent. Monaghan's best chance was always to try to sit in and hold on, to give themselves a chance down the stretch. It worked against Armagh in 2023. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho That's the difference. Monaghan's season so far has looked impressive at first glance but it has been built on games against lesser opposition. Clare and Down led them at half-time before Bannigan's side wrested control as the game progressed. In both games, they were helped by their opposition's wastefulness in front of goal. It seems unlikely that Donegal will be quite so obliging. And yet, there's no doubt Monaghan come to Croke Park this weekend with a genuine chance. Andy Moran's fingerprints are all over the way they attack. In the likes of Beggan, Dessie Ward, Micheál Bannigan, Jack McCarron and Conor McCarthy , they have a consistent two-point threat from a range of different angles and scenarios. That threat forces defences to come further out to meet them, leaving space for Bannigan, McAnespie and the elusive Stephen O'Hanlon to take on their men one-on-one. More than any other factor, the new dawn brought on by the rule changes have changed Monaghan's expectations here. All those years over the past two decades when they came to Croke Park to play a big Division One team, they were bound by their desire to keep everything tight. Their best chance was always to try to sit in and hold on, to give themselves a chance down the stretch. It worked against Armagh in 2023, albeit after penalties. But the limits of that approach were shown a fortnight later in the All-Ireland semi-final when they matched strides with Dublin all the way to the hour mark before eventually falling to a seven-point defeat. It was a slow death, the latest in a long line. [ Dean Rock: Rory Beggan is Monaghan's ace card who stops forwards at one end and puts fear in defenders down the other Opens in new window ] Whatever happens against Donegal, it won't be that. Monaghan have gone about the new game like a backpacker taking on a new identity in a foreign country. Who they were and what they did in the old game is irrelevant, for now at least. They know they can only win by going for broke. They are conceding big totals but on the flipside, they are taking a huge amount of shots. If they find the accuracy to go with their sense of adventure, they could finally smash through the glass ceiling. After 20 years of trying to beat a big team in Croke Park, this is as good a chance as they could hope for. If not now, when?
