Latest news with #Galway
RTÉ News
4 hours ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Former Tyrone star Seán Cavanagh expects Armagh and Galway to battle for Sam Maguire
Armagh and Galway are the frontrunners for All-Ireland glory, according to former Tyrone star Seán Cavanagh. Armagh proved victorious in last year's final, defeating Galway by a single point in the Croke Park clash, and with both sides avoiding each other in the quarter-finals, a repeat meeting remains on the cards. Cavanagh was responding to a question regarding Tomás Ó Sé suggesting that six of the eight remaining teams could win Sam Maguire, and the three-time winner went one better by stating that all-bar Meath could win it. But on further interrogation, it became evident that Cavanagh sees the title staying in the Orchard County, or heading west across the Shannon. "I think you could actually make an argument, I think seven of the eight would fancy their chances, if I'm honest," said Cavanagh. "I don't think it would have been in Meath's chats at the start of the year that they could win Sam Maguire. I think Leinster was always probably going to be their target. "But I think the other seven teams there right now, they'll be talking about the potential to win Sam. Tomás was probably trying to talk it up, but I'm going to try and talk it up a bit more than that." The All-Ireland champions remain the team to beat, according to Cavanagh, who is in awe of the quality and depth of the Armagh squad, and their application and endeavours on the pitch. They take on Kerry on Sunday at HQ, and while Cavanagh is not ruling out the possibility of David Clifford inspiring his side to victory, the Moy man believes that the Kingdom have become too reliant on his contributions, and that Armagh will have too much on this occasion. "I've watched a few Kerry games, and while last weekend, their defence and their press looked a bit tougher, they were very open against Cork in the group stages. "They've had their injury concerns, they're very vulnerable, and they're coming up against a team that has probably 25 players that could play on Sunday, and it wouldn't change the level of their performance. "I think Armagh have brought a consistency in the standards that certainly I wasn't expecting. I always felt the years after we won an All-Ireland, we started to run out of gas a little bit, and even psychologically, we started to show signs of tiredness. "Armagh haven't shown anything like that because they're able to drop in five or six guys that are freshening the team up. "Right now, Armagh is the team to beat. I think Kerry's reliance on David Clifford, in particular, is still there and I think Armagh will relish trying to stop him. "I think it's going to take a really big performance from Kerry to try and topple the All-Ireland champions on Sunday afternoon." "I don't see too many signs of weakness in Armagh right now, and I'm not convinced Kerry has it in the locker to do that this weekend, unless we get a David Clifford 3-07, which isn't out of the realms of possibility. "But it just feels, any time I watch Kerry, the reliance on David, it's been the same for the last few years." Cavanagh feels that Galway are about the best side equipped to prove competitive with this Armagh unit, and he expects the Tribesmen to be battling for top honours in this year's championship. Galway take on Meath in the first game of Sunday's Croke Park double-header and Cavanagh expects Pádraic Joyce's side to progress. "The fact that they've hung in there and with all their injury problems, and all they've got on going on there, they've looked really strong to me," said Cavanagh, when asked of Galway's chances. "I think personnel wise, it's still them and Armagh and I wouldn't be overly surprised to see another Armagh-Galway final. "The fact that (Matthew) Thompson's come in, and that forward line didn't really need much adding to, if I'm honest, and the likes of Céin Darcy around midfield has been incredible. Peter Cooke was a phenomenal player a few years ago, and he's now coming into the games now as well. "It feels to me that whoever beats Galway could win this All-Ireland. That's where my head's at right now. They'll take a fair bit of stopping." Cavanagh did not quite put his own county into the mix of winning this year's championship, however, he does feel that Tyrone might have a performance in them as they meet Dublin on Saturday, following the Monaghan versus Donegal encounter. Cavanagh feels that despite the relegation in the league, that football could be on the way up in Tyrone, backed up by the fact that their Under-20 side have won back-to-back championships, while the minors have reached this year's decider. "With the signs of life and energy that Malachy (O'Rourke) has injected back into the team, a few new faces and a bit of momentum with underage, it does feel that, as a county, we've got a bit of momentum heading back in the right direction," he said. "Dublin are the Man United of the GAA, they are the box office team, they have been an incredible team for so long now and they've been the benchmark. "But I think we're ready to stand up, and if we come on Saturday night and we beat the Dubs, and we make an All-Ireland semi-final. I think, as a county, we're back heading in the right direction."
Irish Daily Mirror
9 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Shane Walsh out to deliver knock-out to boss who delivered him top club title
A freakish performance - Robbie Brennan was blown away by Shane Walsh's comeback for Kilmacud Crokes. It was the night of September 21st in Parnell Park and the Crokes boss marvelled as Walsh fired 1-4 against Ballyboden St Endas on his return to action, having picked up ankle and hamstring injuries during Galway's run to the All-Ireland final and their defeat to Armagh. 'He hadn't trained properly since the Dublin game," said Brennan, referring to the Tribesmen's All-Ireland quarter-final victory in June. 'He trained during the week and you'd swear there was nothing wrong with him. He's a bit of a freak. I don't know how they make fellas like him." Fast forward nine months and, after three years working together, Walsh and Brennan are in direct opposition for a place in the All-Ireland semi-finals tomorrow as Galway and Meath clash in the championship for the first time in 14 years. Brennan was asked that same September night in Donnycarney about reports that he was to be Meath's new manager, taking up the position after Crokes' county campaign ended, but he wouldn't comment on the speculation. The position was his, however, with Crokes' All-Ireland club final triumph in 2023 ushering him to the front of potential targets for the Royals. Walsh had played a massive role in that success, the final and vital piece of the jigsaw for Brennan to achieve a lifelong dream with his own club. It was in late August of 2022 when the high-profile - and much debated -transfer finally went through as Walsh left his home club Kilkerrin/Clonberne for Crokes, citing the constant demands of travelling west as too much given that he was living and working in the capital. There were plenty who were unhappy with the move but Walsh got on with it and, after his coming off the bench in his first game for the big south Dublin outfit - a facile victory against Templeogue Synge Street - Brennan spoke about the qualities that were evident in his new player. 'No matter when he came, just the fact that who he was and the All-Ireland final and what he produced, and coming to us and the perceptions around us as a big club which isn't actually the case when you drill down into the numbers and that, but look, there was always going to be a bit of noise,' said Brennan. 'But it's done now and he's in and that was the first game to get out of the way and he did decent when he came in. What would we do, turn him away? There is a process in Kilmacud and just because you want to join doesn't mean you get to join. "There's plenty of guys who get turned away for different reasons but Shane ticked all the boxes. You're not going to say no, obviously, when he wants to come and join you. So just fitting him in now is the challenge for us." Brennan had been hugely impressed when Walsh spoke to his new team-mates a few days before the game. "He speaks brilliantly about the game, he sees it very clearly. He understands it as you'd expect from someone at that level," said the then Crokes supremo. 'I don't expect there's a whole lot of coaching on him, I'd say whatever has been done has been done at this stage, at 29. "I don't think we'll add a whole lot to his game. It's more just fitting him into the system and the way we try to play and what we'd like to do. But yeah, he's a big plus." The noise eventually died down and Walsh played a huge role for Brennan over the next three years. Crokes collected back to back Dublin SFC titles in 2022 and '23, successive Leinster club medals in that same period. And then came their crowning achievement, the All-Ireland club crown in January 2023, beating Derry champions Glen. Walsh scored 1-3 of his side's 1-11 total - his goal from the penalty spot bringing the Stillorgan outfit back into the game before half-time. He took an extended break in Dubai afterwards as controversy raged over Crokes fielding an extra player in the final moments of the final. "Things could have been handled better in that scene," said Walsh on his return. "I was probably in the right place at the right time in terms of being away from all the noise about it." He had told Brennan that he would return for a replay if required. "But it's great that there was a line drawn in the sand to it and it's great just to have that medal forever," added Walsh. "We enjoyed every minute of it (the celebrations), you can ask any of the lads and they'll tell you the same. "I hadn't been to an All-Ireland final with Galway and I hadn't been in one with the club, and to hit both in the same year, and just mentally I felt a lot different to how I feel now." Clearly their time together was mutually beneficial but, for Brennan and Walsh, friendship will be put aside for 70 minutes tomorrow afternoon.
Irish Examiner
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Colin Sheridan: A break away with the lads proved just the tonic
'Cast a cold Eye On Life, on Death. Horseman, pass by' — epitaph on the grave of WB Yeats, Drumcliff, Co Sligo The best ideas often happen by accident. A little over a year ago, a good friend of mine, who plays much more golf than I, suggested we go on a tour. Start small. Just four lads. None of this fancy Portugal nonsense, think the Donegal Riviera with a stop off in Sligo on the way home. A few hours drive up on a Friday, head back south on Sunday. Three rounds. A few pints. A couple of late night kebabs. No need to remortgage the house or get a series of inoculations for Dengue fever. One weekend. Nobody'd even know we were gone. Of course, the plan didn't survive first contact. Its architect was the first faller due to a scheduling conflict. With the programme in full swing (pardon the pun), it was too late for dates to be changed. Closer to launch, a second member of the party had to withdraw for some very legitimate personal reasons. Four had become two, and as much fun as that sounded, the surviving pair figured it best to broaden the church, as it were, lest we set tongues wagging. Bringing the craic By the time we set sail on a horribly wet June morning last summer, we had recruited an eclectic bunch from a variety of backgrounds. We could never have been mistaken for a boyband, but the craic was rich and varied, and anybody eavesdropping would've been at the very least highly entertained. As for myself, it was a formative experience. Watching Mayo exit the Gaelic Football championship surrounded by Galway men in a bar in Donegal Town after shooting 90 around Murvagh is character building in ways you can't imagine. Everybody, from the local press to the Donegal Chamber of Commerce, deemed last summer's trip a success — so much so that a resolution was passed that it should become an annual event, so long as nobody died in the meantime. It was even agreed that, should one of us sadly pass on, the trip should go ahead anyway. That caveat almost became a reality when two weekends ago, the original architect — back on track and ready to right the wrongs of his absence last year — ate raw broad beans while preparing dinner for his family. Just cracked a couple of those green bastards open and popped 'em, absolutely certain all he was doing was good for his body. Note to readers; consumption of raw broad beans can cause phytohaemagglutinin poisoning. I don't know what phytohaemagglutinin means, but I don't need to, because I absolutely know what 'poiosning' means. Under normal circumstances he might have died, but, given the humiliation that awaited him at his funeral had he fatally surrendered to his violent illness, he willed himself to recovery. At least two of the group — his older brother, and oldest friend — had relayed in no uncertain terms that should his burial coincide with the already arranged tee-time in Strandhill, they would be going golfing. And so we set off. A sociologist, a sparky, a gym owner, a writer, an entrepreneur, two entrepreneurs, an IT guy, a solicitor, an ex-banker, an ESB guy, a retired English teacher. All dads and a couple of granddads. Not exactly a group that would worry the local constabulary, but, given it was Donegal we were headed to, that was never going to be an issue as they seem to live according to a different set of rules to the rest of us anyway. How times have changed I was never a guy for lads holidays when I was younger, and I absolutely do not regret that. A career in the military meant there was enough toxic masculinity going around for the other 50 weeks of the year, so that the last place I wanted to spend the other two was knee deep in Joop, sweat, and vomit in an apartment complex in Magaluf. But, the age and stage I'm at now, I appreciate the company of close friends — and their close friends — in ways I couldn't have thought possible. Three of our group grew up together in South Africa, and, for a time, Gabon. Listening to their experiences of childhood, of education, of apartheid, their appreciation of their own history and genuine fascination with ours, was humbling. Golf courses too, especially links golf courses, are the perfect setting for such conversations to slowly evolve and unravel. If you wanted to think deep and be silent, you could. All you had to do was look west to the ocean to realise the insignificance of your taunting hangover. When that perspective became too overwhelming, the group was waiting to ground you again with a quip. We stopped at Yeats' grave on Sunday in Drumcliff, fulfilling a promise we had made when our moods were a little lighter two days before. It seemed a strange thing to do, to stand in the rain around a modest headstone; but somehow in the silence, something about the moment, the journey, the uncertainty of the destination, suddenly made sense. 'Cast a cold Eye On Life, on Death. Horseman, pass by' It was all there in those 11 words. The transience of our existence. The fickleness of our humanity. The tenuousness of human connection. It hung in the air like a seven iron battling the wind, and, at the risk of ridicule, I swear I felt the great poet linger alongside me. We left just as the Japanese tourists arrived. I think they expected a great mausoleum. What they discovered was a few vulnerable men gathered around a stone, each contemplating the meaning of life. I shot 78 on Sunday. Read More Colin Sheridan: The Lions as a modern concept is utterly idiotic
Irish Examiner
18 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
All-Ireland quarter-final head-to-head: Galway v Meath
HOW THEY GOT HERE Meath (W5 D1 L1) Leinster SFC first round: Meath 1-30 Carlow 0-19 Leinster SFC quarter-final: Meath 1-25 Offaly 0-21 Leinster SFC semi-final: Meath 0-23 Dublin 1-16 Leinster SFC final: Louth 3-14 Meath 1-18 All-Ireland SFC group phase: Meath 1-13 Cork 0-12, Roscommon 2-15 Meath 0-21, Meath 1-22 Kerry 0-16 Galway (W5 D1 L1) Connacht SFC prelim quarter-final: Galway 3-28 New York 0-20 Connacht SFC quarter-final: Galway 1-24 Roscommon 0-18 Connacht SFC final: Galway 1-17 Mayo 1-15 All-Ireland SFC group phase: Dublin 1-18 Galway 2-14, Derry 2-20 Galway 4-14, Galway 2-22 Armagh 0-27 All-Ireland SFC prelim quarter-final: Galway 2-26 Down 3-21 LAST FIVE 2011 All-Ireland qualifier: Meath 0-11 Galway 0-10 2007 All-Ireland qualifier: Meath 2-14 Galway 1-14 2001 All-Ireland final: Galway 0-17 Meath 0-9 1970 All-Ireland semi-final: Meath 0-15 Galway 0-11 1966 All-Ireland final: Galway 1-10 Meath 0-7 DID YOU KNOW *Galway are looking to reach the All-Ireland semi-finals for the third time in four seasons. *Meath were last in the All-Ireland semi-final in 2009 when they lost to Kerry. *Apart from Monaghan, who won all three games, Meath were the only unbeaten team in the All-Ireland group phase (two wins and a draw). *Galway manager Padraic Joyce played in the last three games between the two sides in 2001, 2007 (came on as a sub) and 2011 scoring 0-10 (0-5 from play) in the 2001 All-Ireland final victory.
The 42
a day ago
- Sport
- The 42
GAA announce referees for All-Ireland senior hurling semi-finals
THE REFEREES HAVE been announced for next weekend's All-Ireland senior hurling semi-finals. Limerick's Johnny Murphy will take charge of the Dublin-Cork game on Saturday 5 July, a game that has a 5pm throw-in at Croke Park. Murphy refereed the Leinster hurling final recently between Kilkenny and Galway. He been in charge for two of Cork's games this year, when they played Waterford and Tipperary in the Munster SHC, and he was also the referee for last year's All-Ireland final between Cork and Clare. Advertisement Then it's Wexford's James Owens who will be the referee for Tipperary-Kilkenny on Sunday 6 July, a game that starts at 4pm in Croke Park. James Owens before the 2019 All-Ireland hurling final. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO Owens was in charge for the 2019 All-Ireland final between the counties, the last time that Tipperary played in Croke Park in senior hurling championship action. He was the stand-in referee that took charge during the second half of the Munster final between Cork and Limerick, while he also officiated the Leinster SHC game in April between Offaly and Galway. The GAA have also announced today that Galway's Thomas Murphy will referee the All-Ireland minor football final between Kerry and Tyrone. That game takes place on Sunday 6 July in Cedral St Conleth's Park in Newbridge at 1.30pm. ******
