Latest news with #DamianLawlor
RTÉ News
11-07-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
The Championship: Stakes rise as temperatures soar
It's the penultimate weekend of the All-Ireland SFC, with four teams battling it out for those two places in the decider. This week Damian Lawlor is joined by former Kerry selector and player Mike Quirke, and ex-Armagh player Aaron Kernan to analyse a pair of mouthwatering showdowns. Can Tyrone shut out Kerry's blistering attack? Will eath's fairytale summer continue when they square up to Donegal? As temperatures around the country soar, a huge weekend of action awaits.
Irish Times
07-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Cork's Alan Connolly must defy mixed omens for semi-final hat-trick heroes
'Around the 25th, 26th minute, Dublin started to claw back a little bit, they started to get a little bit of a foothold,' said RTÉ's Damian Lawlor in his post-match interview with Alan Connolly on Saturday. 'How did ye guys reset?' 'Eh . . . I don't know really. We just scored a goal, like, that was about it,' came Connolly's slightly comic response. The Blackrock man, who bagged his fourth senior hat-trick in two seasons and brought his career tally to 24 senior goals, managed 3-2 from six shots on Saturday. His previous SHC hat-trick was against Tipperary last year; on that occasion, he scored 3-1 from five shots. Cork supporters are understandably on 'high doh', with the Rebels favourites to end a 20-year wait for the Liam MacCarthy. But what are the omens like for semi-final hat-trick heroes? Mixed. READ MORE The last player to manage the feat was Tipperary's Lar Corbett in the 2009 semi-final against Limerick, but the Premier subsequently lost the final to Kilkenny. Prior to that, Niall Healy of Galway hit three majors in the 2005 semi-final win over Kilkenny, but they would lose the final, of course, to Cork. Jimmy Barry-Murphy hit 3-1 against Antrim at the penultimate stage in 1986, and did get his hands on a Celtic Cross after a final win over Galway. Nicky Rackard managed it twice – 1956 against Galway and 1954 versus Antrim, winning one of those finals. Minor triumph means Tyrone's treble is still on When Johnny Mulvihill pulled off a spectacular catch and played Jack O'Shea in for an excellent goal 10 minutes into the second half of the 1975 All-Ireland minor championship final, Kerry led Tyrone by 1-6 to 0-1 and were well on their way to a historic treble. Later that afternoon, the Kingdom defeated Dublin to claim Sam Maguire, and a fortnight later, the hat-trick was complete when they annexed the Under-21 crown, again seeing off the Dubs. It was a historic achievement which has never been equalled since – but, as flagged by The Schemozzle a while back and by GAA president Jarlath Burns in his speech on Sunday in Newbridge, it's on this year. It felt like there was something serendipitous about Kerry and Tyrone meeting in Sunday's minor final, with it marking the 50th anniversary of that unprecedented treble. The Red Hands have already won the Under-20 All-Ireland (beating the Kingdom in the semi-final), and the two will meet in the All-Ireland SFC semi-final this weekend. Since that minor final in 1975, Kerry and Tyrone have met in eight All-Ireland finals across the three grades; the Red Hands have won six. Clubbable Tipp find strength in diversity Unusually, there were players from 14 different clubs named in Tipperary's starting team on Sunday, although a late change meant that only 13 clubs were represented on the actual starting 15. That's still quite a spread, however, with the 26-man panel drawn from a total of 17 clubs. For context, Kilkenny's starting 15 came from eight different clubs, with eight players (four each) from O'Loughlin Gaels and Ballyhale Shamrocks alone. Thirteen clubs were represented on the Cats' matchday squad. Of the four hurling semi-finalists, the Dublin squad was drawn from the fewest number of clubs (13), with nine different clubs represented on their starting team. Cork, in contrast, had panellists from 16 clubs, including 10 starters. The club with the most players involved in the All-Ireland semi-finals, for the record, was, unsurprisingly, Na Fianna, the All-Ireland club champions who supplied half a dozen players to the Dublin panel. In Mayo football, what's in a name? Two of the Mayo senior footballers have got engaged recently, as reported in the local press. This prompted a humorous typo in the Western People, which didn't do much to assuage the general sense that the county is football-obsessed. 'Congratulations are extended to two Mayo GAA players on recent engagements,' noted the long-established weekly, which is based in Ballina. 'Matthew Ruane recently announced his engagement to Mayo (sic) Mannion while Paddy Durcan also proposed to his partner, Alannah McBrien.' Ms Mannion's first name is, in fact, Moya. Speaking of Ballina, one of the town's most famous sons, Liam McHale, has stepped down from his role in charge of the Mayo senior ladies footballers. They defeated last year's intermediate All-Ireland winners Leitrim by 2-14 to 0-13 in Saturday's relegation playoff. Quote, unquote 'Some of them have never even been in Croke Park, let alone played up here.' – Tipperary veteran Noel McGrath , speaking after the match about his young team-mates. Number of the week: 1/30 Kilkenny's record in terms of All-Ireland titles at minor, under-20/under-21 and senior from 2016 to 2025 inclusive. The outlier was the 2022 Under-20 All-Ireland championship.
RTÉ News
27-06-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
The Championship: Football quarter-final previews
Damian Lawlor previews the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals with Dessie Mone and Micheál Quirke. And with the final group games in Camogie this weekend, Aoife Sheehan talks about the gap that exists between the serious contenders and the rest and how it might be bridged.
RTÉ News
20-06-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
The Championship: Knockouts get serious in both codes
joins Damian Lawlor to assess the weekend's preliminary quarter-finals in the All-Ireland football championship. Galway's trip to Down is probably the pick of the four football games, while Kerry seek to bounce back from last weekend's wobble at home to Cavan. In the other two fixtures, Cork face Dublin in Croke Park, while Louth make the arduous journey to Ballybofey to face Donegal. It's All-Ireland hurling quarter-final weekend, with John Kiely's Limerick heavy favourites against Dublin in Croke Park, while long-time foes Tipperary and Galway face off yet again at this stage of the competition in the Gaelic Grounds. Waterford's three-time All-Star Noel Connors previews both games, while Limerick's Cian Lynch and Galway's Fintan Burke chat ahead of both games. Follow a live blog on the All-Ireland Football Championship on Saturday and Sunday on and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates on Saturday Sport and Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Saturday Game at 9.15pm and The Sunday Game from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Watch the All-Ireland Hurling Championship quarter-finals, Limerick v Dublin and Galway v Tipperary, on Saturday from 3.30pm. Follow a live blog on and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Saturday Game at 9.15pm. Watch the Tailteann Cup semi-finals, Wicklow v Limerick and Fermanagh v Kildare, on Sunday from 1.30pm. Follow a live blog on and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Sunday Game at 9.30pm.
RTÉ News
16-05-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
The Championship: Race for Sam hots up, provincial hurling battles resume
This week on the Championship, Damian Lawlor chats to former Mayo footballer Keith Higgins and Sligo's Niall Murphy about the weekend's All-Ireland SFC round-robin action. Galway face a big test of their Sam Maguire credentials, it's crunch time for Clare and Down, while Mayo look to lift morale following their loss in the Connacht SFC final. Roscommon also head for Killarney searching for a spark to ignite their summer. In hurling, former Kilkenny star Eoin Larkin also drops in to preview a mouthwatering menu of provincial collisions, with Leinster and Munster coming to the boil.
