Latest news with #DelaneyCup
The Irish Sun
13-07-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
‘It tops the lot' – Meath star Eoghan Frayne reveals highlight from All-Ireland fairytale ahead of semi-final vs Donegal
EOGHAN FRAYNE always believed the Royals would rise again and fulfil the dreams of every young Meath fan — including himself. September marks 26 years since the county's last All-Ireland victory as they slipped away from the top table. Advertisement 2 Meath footballer Eoghan Frayne poses for a portrait during a Meath Football media conference at Bective Stud in Balgil, Navan Credit: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile 2 Eoghan Frayne, left, and Jordan Morris of Meath celebrate after the All-Ireland quarter-final against Galway Credit: Daire Brennan/Sportsfile A Leinster title came in 2010 but the was followed by 15 seasons of Dublin dominance in the province. But growing up in the Royal County powerhouse of Summerhill — home of All-Ireland winners Mark O'Reilly, Mattie Kerrigan, Mick and Pádraig Lyons — Frayne dared to dream. Winning the Tailteann Cup two years ago brought hope to the beleaguered county but playing for Sam Maguire last summer was a major reality check. Legend Colm O'Rourke was Advertisement Read More on GAA Louth, Kerry and Monaghan swept Meath aside and faith in their credentials dipped again before Robbie Brennan took the reins. And the Dubliner has masterminded a first run to the All-Ireland semi-finals since 2009 with But whatever the result at The 22-year-old said: 'You still dream about that stuff, even if it's not within grabbing distance. You still think you can get there. Advertisement Most read in GAA Football 'If you ask any young lad in one of the weaker counties, I think they'd still imagine themselves there. You don't think you can let that stop you. 'You still like to imagine yourself there and we're lucky enough from Summerhill — you have Mark O'Reilly, you've Mattie Kerrigan, Mick and Pádraig Lyons. Watch RTE pundits' contrasting reaction to full-time whistle of Tipperary's epic win over Kilkenny 'You've lads who have been there. Even Conor Gillespie, who would have played with Meath at the time, like, he would have been a hero of mine growing up. 'I would have seen it when I was younger, clips of the Meath team from the 90s and that gives you motivation to try to get back there.' Advertisement A Frayne starred in that triumph in Portlaoise with a 0-11 haul. Ending a 15-year hoodoo against their old foes was a watershed moment, even if they The Wee County won their first Delaney Cup in 68 years, but Meath were far from finished. Advertisement They navigated the dreaded group stages undefeated and took another massive scalp by A fortnight ago, Frayne's fellow forward Jordan Morris was the Meath hero as he plundered 1-6 to And the Royal skipper revealed that trimming of the Tribe has been the highlight so far. Frayne admitted: 'I suppose Galway was probably the best out of them because considering it was an All-Ireland quarter-final and it's been so long since Meath were in an All-Ireland semi-final, so I'd say it tops the lot of them. Advertisement 'It was just great, especially the way the game went and when Galway got the second goal, we were under pressure and had to fight back and then ended up winning by a point. It was definitely a relief to get over the line. It was a crazy feeling and the Meath fans . . . once the final whistle went and the roar out of them was great. 'There were so many Meath fans and that definitely made an impact. 'I remember when Seán Rafferty turned John Maher over on the halfway line, the roar. That makes such a difference during the game. 'That can give you such a boost on the pitch and that can change momentum easily and the amount of Meath fans there, it was class.' Advertisement KEEPING COMPOSURE And the Royals have used that support to inspire them in some sticky situations too. Galway turned the game on the hour mark when goals from Maher and Liam Silke put them two ahead. But man of the match Morris fired a late 1-2 tally to settle it. Frayne reckons their great escapes are down to cool heads and a never-say-die attitude. He said: 'I suppose keeping your composure is one part of it. Advertisement 'I don't think it's easy enough to . . . when some things aren't going your way, to be just like, 'This game has gone out of our reach' and throw the towel in kind of. 'I think we just don't panic. There's a lot of level-headed lads in the group and they don't get too high or too low. 'That can have a huge impact on the result of the game. 'And then our preparation leading up to games, it's huge as well. The new rules . . . you could easily fall behind or easily gain a lead with the way two-pointers are. Advertisement 'So I don't think there's any game that you can give up on until the final whistle has gone, the way the rules are. You can see with two-pointers, a ten-point lead in the new rules isn't that much. 'It's not giving up, going until the end, keeping your composure and trying to get the next ball after the next one. We keep going.' A lot of that belief comes from their boss. Brennan has been there and done it with Kilmacud Crokes. He led them to club All-Ireland glory in 2023 and his first campaign in the Meath hotseat has been the stuff of dreams. Advertisement Frayne said: 'It's been great. He's definitely brought an energy to the group and given us a huge lift. 'Before the Galway game, he filled us with confidence which I think the group needed. 'Confidence makes a big difference. If you put him into any team in the country he'd fill them with confidence. 'There's not that much in the skill set between a lot of teams but once you have a good work-rate and you have a bit of confidence, you can win games and luckily we've won a good few this year so I can't speak highly enough of him. Advertisement 'Robbie coming in gave us a huge boost. Yeah, it's going all right so hopefully it keeps going that way.'
Irish Independent
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Thanks Ger...Louth GAA's loss as the man who delivered Delaney moves on
The Argus It's just over a week since Ger Brennan left and people are still taking about his departure from Louth. The Dubliner who guided Louth to a first Delaney Cup in 68 years, left quietly with no fanfare - a phone call, a short meeting and a statement issued by the County Board announcing Brennan's departure.
RTÉ News
01-07-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Ger Brennan brings curtain down on Louth tenure
Ger Brennan has left his role as manager of the Louth senior footballers after two seasons in charge. The two-time former All-Ireland winner with Dublin guided Louth to Leinster SFC glory, the Wee county's first provincial succcess in 68 years. Their 2025 campaign subsequently ended in the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final following a 2-22 to 0-12 defeat to eventual semi-finalists Donegal in Ballybofey on 22 June. The St Vincent's club man's Louth departure, with one year remaining of his three-year term, comes shortly after Dessie Farrell stepped down as Dublin manager following their All-Ireland exit at the hands of Tyrone on Sunday. In a statement, confirming his decision to step down, Louth GAA thanked Brennan and his backroom team for their contributions. "We are writing to share the news that Ger Brennan has made the decision to conclude his tenure as manager of our senior football team following two remarkable and thrilling seasons leading our squad," Louth chairman Sean McClean said. "Throughout his time with us, we have had the privilege of witnessing the extraordinary dedication, professionalism and inspiring leadership that Ger consistently demonstrated. "From the moment he joined our organisation, his devotion to Louth football has been absolute and unwavering. "He has worked with tremendous energy and purpose to develop our players, energise our loyal supporters, and strengthen the sport throughout the county. "With Ger's expert guidance and the invaluable support of his outstanding management team, our squad achieved remarkable success - including maintaining our Division Two status and the momentous achievement of bringing the Delaney Cup home to Louth for the first time in 68 years, a truly historic milestone for the county."
Irish Independent
24-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
No hint on Louth future from a refective Ger Brennan
All-Ireland SFC preliminary Quarter-final – Donegal v Louth Louth manager Ger Brennan was giving nothing away about his future with the county following Sunday's All-Ireland Senior Football Championship preliminary quarter-final 16-point defeat to Donegal in Ballybofey. With two years done, two Leinster finals and a first Delaney Cup in 68 years, as well as Division Two league status maintained, Brennan has the option of a third year.
RTÉ News
24-06-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Meath's lofty ambitions fuelled by tyros raising the bar
Meath will be hell-bent on reaching an All-Ireland football semi-final this weekend, but whatever transpires this weekend at Croke Park, 2025 has been a qualified success for the Royals. Ending Dublin's dominance in Leinster was a shock to most outside the camp, while reaching the quarter-final stage was achieved with just a third-ever championship victory over Kerry. For the first time in their history, they have lowered both Kerry and Dublin colours in the same season. Robbie Brennan's team got to sit back and watch others scrap it out at the weekend, with Galway now focussed on bringing the Meath journey to a conclusion on Sunday (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player). For all the highs, there is the obvious disappointment of a provincial final defeat. Getting Dublin out of the picture was only half the job and it was Louth who put new colours on the Delaney Cup. Team captain Eoghan Frayne says for all the focus now on Galway, there is no getting away from the progress made this season. "It's been a great year," he said at the RTÉ Sport summer launch. "We had some massive wins. At the same time we lost the Leinster final as well which was a big one. You're judged off silverware." Brennan spoke in the dressing room to his charges after the loss and delivered a message that resonated with a group looking to continue an upward trajectory. "He just said, 'You can only be really disappointed if you don't believe that you'll be back here again'. "It was kind of just, 'look, we've made serious progress so far, there's no point throwing it away really'." Frayne saw bits and pieces of Galway's win over Down on The Sunday Game. The video analysis will be served to the players this week, but there are no nostalgia pangs for a fixture that would please the traditionalists. He wasn't born when the sides met in the 2001 All-Ireland final, a match between counties who carved up three of four titles between them around the turn of the century, and has no memory of the 2007 qualifier where the Royals turned over the Tribesmen in a Round 4 qualifier in O'Moore Park en route to an All-Ireland semi-final appearance. Events in Páirc Esler served to highlight the importance of two-pointers; Down's second-half comeback turbo-charged by two successful efforts a little over a minute after the resumption, while Shane Walsh illustrated yet again why he is arguably the best in the business from outside the arc. It's little surprise that Frayne is a fan of the orange flag – his effort against Kerry was his 10th so far of the campaign – and he feels it is vital to make hay with the right people on the ball. "It's not that big of a kick and if there's a slight breeze, it's actually not that hard to score them if you're any way accurate at all. "They're exciting, and it's great to see lads shooting from distance. If you get two or three in a row, it's a huge momentum swing. "We're just lucky enough to have some good skilful natural footballers and I think the new rules kind of shows off the skills of the players which we're lucky enough to have." It pleases the Summerhill man that they have the 1.45pm Sunday slot – "I'd rather an earlier game than an evening game, I like to get going straight away" – in what will be just his third game at Croke Park for Meath. Last year's defeat to the Dubs and the provincial final reversal at the hands of Louth means there is motivation to right that particular wrong, though it's easy to forget he only made his senior bow two years ago. One of Brennan's first move was to appoint Frayne as the new team captain. He notched 0-11 in taking down the Dubs and the performance levels suggested the responsibility wasn't weighing heavy on his shoulders. Did it all happen faster than he had expected? "Down the line, maybe it was a goal of mine to captain Meath, just from maybe being minor and under-20s captain, it would have been a nearly natural progression," he says. "I feel that I'd always wanted to be and I would have been working towards that. But then when it came along, I was obviously shocked that it came so soon. "But I didn't have to think twice about it. I was always going to say yes. It's obviously a great honour for me, especially when I'm 22." The Maynooth University student has Ciarán Caulfield (22) as vice-captain and it shows Brennan's decision to put his faith in the coming crop of players, marrying that in with the experience of the likes of Bryan Menton and Donal Keoghan. "They've been doing it long enough, they don't need to be worrying about all that stuff now, they just kind of need to focus on themselves. "Robbie wanted to give more responsibility to lads that are starting off rather than giving it to the same fellas that are further on in their career." Éamonn Fitzmaurice is among those who believe that the Royals harbour a real shot at turning over a Galway side with plenty of mileage on the clock in recent weeks and likely to be short of a clean bill of health. A place in the last four would be dreamland stuff for supporters, but Frayne has loftier ambitions again. Asked what the ceiling is for this group of players, he said: "Hopefully winning All-Irelands. That has to be the aim, your goal can't be just to beat Dublin in the Leinster championship. "You have to be looking further on that as well at the same time. Everyone wants to be winning All-Irelands and Leinster championships, so hopefully we can get there." Watch two All-Ireland Football Championship quarter-finals, Meath v Galway and Armagh v Kerry, from 1.15pm on Sunday on RTÉ 2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on and the RTÉ News app. Listen to commentaries on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Sunday Game at 10.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
