Latest news with #Dublin-Meath
Irish Daily Mirror
25-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Dublin v Tyrone: Dubs must restore Con and confidence on search for Sam
Barney Rock claims Dublin need to restore Con and confidence if they are to fire their way back to All-Ireland glory. But Rock fears that his dream of a crazy Dublin All-Ireland double could be undone by a legacy issue that once worked in the footballers' favour. The hurlers' shock victory over Limerick last Saturday has GAA fans in the capital buzzing and Rock is happily allowing himself to get carried away. "There's possibilities in everything," he smiled. "Dublin could be playing Kilkenny in the All-Ireland hurling final and we could have a Dublin-Meath final. "And if Dublin won both All-Irelands, you'd have both managers coming from the same club, Na Fianna. It could happen, we don't know - that's the way sport goes. Meath could have a big say in that!". Dessie Farrell's footballers are back in action on Sunday in Croke Park, with a tough All-Ireland SFC quarter-final against Tyrone to negotiate. Dubs supporters are praying that their classy dangerman O'Callaghan returns after he suffered a hamstring injury in the opening group victory over Galway, missed the defeat to Armagh and then picked up another problem in the draw with Derry. "Dublin do need him," asserted Rock. "He's an exceptional footballer, we're a much, much better team with Con plays because he always scores and creates scores. "The lads on the field aren't doing what Con will normally do but they do know how to win in Croke Park, they could win a scrappy match. But if it comes to shoot-out, that might be the problem. "That would probably catch them against Kerry or Armagh - with one of them gone this weekend - or against Donegal or Galway or even Monaghan or Meath. There's a lot of teams there that can shoot two-pointers." Dublin have struggled badly in that department. Rock identifies the emphasis during the golden years of success of taking the percentage score as the reason. It was why, even before the new rules came into existence, Galway beat them at this stage of last year's championship. "We're not the greatest two-point kickers and that (long-range kicking problem) has come back to haunt them," said the legendary prolific free-taker. "Last year against Galway, they had opportunities but Galway beat them because they had fellas kicking long range scores. Most good teams in the All-Ireland now will get between five and seven seven two-pointers. They'll have a go at it. "With Dublin, maybe it's a confidence thing that some of the lads are just half afraid. Before now, Dublin had to make sure you got it in (closer to goal), you'd take the percentage shot. The percentage probably would be about 80 to 90 and outside of that you don't shoot and it's come back to bite them a little bit."When you look at them now, some of the misses - even in the Armagh match they were snatching at their shots and they were going wide, and that was disappointing." Rock was also unhappy that Dublin handed Armagh easy scores by technical breaches under the FRC's new rules. "How could that happen? Dublin are probably the most organised team," he said. "But to do three of them within an eight-minute period, that was three points - and then all of a sudden you're only down to one kick of a ball to level the game when we had 17 wides." The 64-year-old puts those costly errors down to a lack of confidence but is adamant that one good win against Tyrone would lift the Dubs. "And Tyrone is the ideal match for them," he claimed. "Tyrone will have small nippy forwards, which will probably suit Dublin in one sense, because we wouldn't be the tallest fellas in the backline. But the loss of James McCarthy and Brian Fenton, it's big for them. When you think of this type of game, it would have suited them. "The way the game has gone now, it seems to go from the kick-out and it's all about the break around the midfield. If Dublin can pick up those breaks and go forward, they'll cause more problems for Tyrone. "(Peadar) Ó Cofaigh Byrne is going to be meeting somebody equally as tall as him and that's how it will be from here on in. He's been brilliant in the last couple of games, single-handedly around midfield he's either won or broke ball." Rock, like every other Blues supporter, was questioning what was going on after Dublin struggled past Wicklow and then lost to Meath in Leinster, their first provincial defeat in 15 years. "But I still think that Dublin will always find a way and if they win next Sunday, they're in an All-Ireland semi-final," he asserted. "If Dublin win the All-Ireland this year, it probably would be one of the greatest ones to win. "Dessie would have had to set up a new team. And from that point of view it would be great because he lost Brian Fenton and he lost James McCarthy, and a few others." Overall, Rock feels that the Dubs have blown "hot and cold" since the Meath loss, through the group stage and against Cork last Saturday. However he believes that the Royals' famous ambush in Portlaoise has, in a way, helped the Dubs. "It probably gave them a little bit of a breather in that sense, it took the pressure off them," Rock claimed. "Everything went on Meath and Louth and Dublin then focused on the championship - and they really focused on the Galway match. "That was a big match for them - if they were beaten then they were going to struggle at that stage, but they really took it to Galway and deservedly beat them." *************** As a Dublin footballer, Dean Rock would have loved the transformation of the game under the FRC's remit. So would his dad, whose scores total at intercounty level would have been even higher if the two-pointer existed in his day. "Well, most people would be the same," said Barney, modestly. "But back in those days people would have shot, people sometimes would shoot on sight at the target (and missed). "But the game is changing and it's changing for the better, and it'll be interesting. I just like seeing more goals - although David Clifford scored enough last week so I can't say too much!". Barney insists that it's not weird watching his beloved Dubs without Dean playing. His son retired from the intercounty game at the start of last year after winning eight All-Irelands. "No, it's not," said Rock. "At the end of the day, every player goes to the end of their time with their team. Dean probably would love this type of game because he would be well able to kick from far out. But it just comes down to we all have to say we've given it our all. At this stage he's happy to be playing with his club." Barney says that the Jim Gavin-fronted rules committee have "woken up the whole championship in many ways", adding that he loves the three attackers on three defenders scenario. "It's great, now it gives forwards an opportunity to get in there and move it," said Rock, who predicts Monaghan could be the dark horse of the quarter-finals this weekend against Donegal. "But there's probably not as many goals scored when you take up the three on three that there should be and there could be, because you'd be expecting fellas to be getting in more, keepers would be making more saves. "But certainly when the ball breaks, every one of them are nearly 100 metre athletes because everybody just goes forward real quick. So the transition from when the breakdown comes to getting forward is probably the most exciting part of the game - but it's when it gets a little laboured, it goes back (to the old style of playing). "Like last week's hurling match (between Dublin and Limerick), the hurling was fantastic and the atmosphere after the hurling match, what it really needed was a real attack-minded game. "But it ended up being just a little bit sour. It was always very hard to follow hurling with football - but that one just looked like, 'Geez, we're going back'. "Then the Sunday Tailteann Cup game between Wicklow and Limerick, it was great - but then the next one with the better teams (Kildare and Fermanagh) just didn't really ignite." *Barney Rock was speaking at the launch of the 24th annual Circet All-Ireland GAA Golf Challenge in aid of GAA-related charities at Michael Lyng Motors (Ford) in Kilkenny
Irish Daily Mirror
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
2010 hero/villain Joe Sheridan in call to fans ahead of Meath v Louth rematch
Joe Sheridan has called on fans attending Sunday's Leinster final to focus on the current teams rather than his infamous intervention 15 years ago. Sheridan's late goal in the 2010 decider, a score which clearly shouldn't have stood, broke Louth hearts and secured Meath's most recent provincial title in what is arguably the most controversial moment in the GAA's modern history. The Seneschelstown man is hoping to attend Sunday's final, on the proviso that he can secure a babysitter for his nine month old son Josh, he told LMFM. He said: 'We should be at Croke Park and I'll be expecting the craic but I've nothing to do with this game and fans should concentrate on the players of both teams who will put their heart into everything they do on the pitch on the day. "Louth are probably the favourites I'd imagine but I think we might be able to do it. Whatever happens, it is good that Dublin isn't playing.' Sheridan explained how as soon as Meath scored their shock win over Dublin to set up the final with Louth, his phone started buzzing. "I didn't get to the Dublin-Meath match but I was watching it on the TV and it was hardly over and the messages started coming through. It's amazing how fast memes can be created and shared around. "Some of the messages were from lads I hadn't heard from in three or four years. I suppose it is all a natural reaction." Back in 2010, he received some nasty correspondence during the fallout from the whole affair but says it didn't knock him off his stride. "I got anonymous letters to the house saying some shocking stuff but to be honest the fact that they didn't take the time to bother to spell the words correctly meant I didn't take it seriously. "Some of those so-called fans who said they were out to get me anyway were people who had never been to a match before that and probably haven't been to one since. "I also had a chat at the time with the Gaelic Players' Association (GPA) on how to deal with things but I'm pretty easy going anyway with things like that. I always got a bit of slagging after that even from other teams so I'm well used to it by now, 15 years later." There was pressure from the GAA's top brass on Meath to offer Louth a replay 15 years ago given the circumstances, with no provision in the rulebook for one, but ultimately the result stood. Meath's Joe Sheridan lifts the trophy (Image: ©INPHO/Cathal Noonan) Sheridan added: "We shouldn't have had anything to do with it and yet it was all pushed back on us and then it dragged on. We (players) voted that the county board needed to take the responsibility, not us. "Meath faced heartache too because of decisions in matches but we always said that what happens on the pitch doesn't come off the pitch." To keep up to date with all the latest GAA news, sign-up to our GAA newsletter here.
Irish Examiner
02-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
'A bit of a disgrace' to put club game before Louth's win over Kildare, says Brennan
Louth manager Ger Brennan has described as 'horseshit' the decision to put a Leinster club football game on as a curtain-raiser before the county's provincial SFC semi-final win over Kildare in Tullamore last Sunday. Speaking at the launch of the Leinster final at The Battle of The Boyne Visitor Centre outside Drogheda yesterday, Brennan said he was upset Louth didn't have access to two dressing rooms for their clash in Glenisk O'Connor Park as the two other changing areas were required by Kildare's Milltown and Westmeath club Rosemount. "It was a silly venue and there was a Leinster intermediate league final on before the Louth and Kildare match, so we didn't have access to two dressing rooms," explained Brennan. "We were all squashed into one dressing room. How that was organised before a semi-final of the Leinster championship was just incredible.' Brennan claims the experience was a difficult one for Kildare too. 'I was talking to Brian Flanagan beforehand, I know him over the years and he's a sound fella. And we were there looking at each other because you have the guts of 15 or 16 in a backroom team and then you have 30 lads togging out, your 26 and your four reserves. And you have another seven or eight fellas who didn't make the squad or are injured. We were like sardines in one changing room. Dare I say, it was a bit of a disgrace and badly organised from the Leinster Council." Brennan only became aware of it when the priest that married him and his wife Aisling and baptised his children, Fr Joe Campbell, told him the match was on. 'He's from the parish and he said, 'I'll be down supporting Rosemount before your match' and he sent me on the advertisement for it. So I rang the county board and asked them were they aware of it and they said no. It was just horseshit." The former Dublin defender felt the game should have been staged in Croke Park. 'I know the Louth and Kildare lads would rather have played in Croke Park, so I actually don't think it was a good move to take the semi-finals out of Croke Park on this occasion. But then would Meath have finished the game as strongly? I don't know." Over 32,000 tickets have already been sold for Sunday week's Louth-Meath Leinster SFC final. The attendance is on course to be the biggest for the event since 47,027 attended the Dublin-Meath decider in 2019. The 2010 Louth-Meath decider attracted 48,875. At the launch, Leinster vice-chairman Martin Byrne said: 'I think the council showed a good bit of leadership this year. We tried a few things, we brought the semi-finals out of Croke Park for the first time in a long time. Kildare played their first game in a Leinster championship at home this year, Dublin went to Wicklow. All those things help create the occasions for those special days, which ends up with where we are on Sunday week.' Meanwhile, Louth captain Sam Mulroy has welcomed the news that funding has been secured for the county board to go ahead with the first phase of a new 14,000-capacity stadium outside Dundalk. "There has been a big push on to get it done over the last number of years. I think everyone who saw the news the other day was absolutely buzzing that they were getting the green light and can push it on again. I know in the background from talking to Seán [McClean, county chairman] and even Peter [Fitzpatrick, former chairman] in times gone past how hard they have worked to get it done and it's great credit to them. It's a massive thing for Louth's future and somewhere to call home."
Irish Independent
27-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Frank Roche: Old rivals Louth and Kildare clash and the stakes could not be higher
Louth and Kildare meet with a place in the All-Ireland up for grabs It's 1991, a summer made immortal by the four-game Dublin-Meath saga. Meanwhile, off Broadway, Lilywhite hope and rampant hype are wrestling for supremacy. Mick O'Dwyer's new charges have been fuelled by reaching a league final, losing to Dublin. Enter Louth from the long grass.
Irish Times
23-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Meath hoping to give Dublin as good a game as Cork gave to Kerry
A week ago, Darragh Ó Sé 'couldn't make an argument for Cork getting anywhere close' to beating Kerry in their Munster championship meeting on Saturday, so today he's doffing his cap to them for taking the game in to extra-time. ' It was great to see some of that old fire back in the Cork bellies ,' he writes, having a notion that the team being written off helped put it there. The challenge now, though, is to kick on and prove that they don't need to see the Kerry jersey to keep that fire burning. Another of football's great rivalries has been a wholly one-sided affair over the last 15 years, it being that long since Meath last beat Dublin. ' If it's not yet a dead rivalry, then it's certainly a dormant one ,' writes Gordon Manning in the build-up to Sunday's game in Portlaoise, which will be the first Dublin-Meath championship fixture outside Croke Park since 1980. Seán Moran, meanwhile, has been reading through a discussion paper published last week, the subject the effect on Gaelic players' mental health when they're competing in 'an amateur sport in a professional context' . The findings are stark, but Seán notes that the paper is based on data gathered in 2018 and wonders if matters have improved since then, particularly with the introduction of the split season. In soccer, there is yet more upheaval at the FAI with the announcement on Tuesday that Marc Canham is quitting his role as their chief football officer . His three-year reign was an eventful and not altogether successful one, that 231-day search for a successor to Stephen Kenny especially shambolic. READ MORE In rugby, Gordon D'Arcy wonders what impact Rieko Ioane will have for Leinster when he arrives in November on a seven-month contract, attack coach Tyler Bleyendaal looking forward to working with the New Zealander . But his focus, he tells John O'Sullivan, is on this season's challenges, next up Scarlets in the URC on Saturday. Connacht and Ulster both face South African opposition as they attempt to keep their top-eight hopes alive, Linley MacKenzie talking to Cullie Tucker ahead of Connacht's game away to the Lions , Michael Sadlier hearing from Richie Murphy whose injury-ravaged Ulster side host the Sharks. And in golf, Philip Reid is counting down to Royal Portrush hosting The Open in July, when a record crowd of 278,000 spectators will attend the championship, but a lot of work needs to be done before Portmarnock gets the chance to become the first course outside the UK to host the sport's oldest Major. TV Watch : There's more coverage of snooker's world championships on BBC1, BBC Four and TNT Sports through the day and evening. At 8.0, Arsenal play Crystal Palace in the Premier League (Sky Sports) and Inter Milan meet AC Milan in the second leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final (Premier Sports 2).
