Latest news with #JimmyMcGuinness
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Johnno was on the money about Donegal back in 2011
Michael Murphy's fourth All-Ireland SFC semi-final, 14 years after his first, saw him make way with 25 minutes left, the job done. In his first appearance at that stage in 2011 (which, amazingly, was Murphy's fifth season on the Donegal squad), he operated a long way from goal in the infamous 0-8 to 0-6 defeat to Dublin. 'I was very surprised,' noted Irish Times columnist John O'Keeffe the next day, 'we didn't see Michael Murphy as a target man at any stage ... That told me they had no idea how to win the game.' O'Keeffe's analysis of Donegal has aged very well in general. In the hysteria surrounding that uber-defensive performance, the Kerry icon called it astutely. 'As for Donegal, we shouldn't be too hard on them. Jimmy McGuinness will take a lot of flak after this but we have to remember that this is year one of what he's trying to achieve up there. He's going to find an awful lot of people who don't agree with what he sent his team out to do yesterday but, as a starting point, this is exactly the kind of year he would have sought,' he wrote. READ MORE 'They will learn from this ... But the reality is they're going to need a better attacking strategy if they're going to win an All-Ireland title.' A year later, Murphy was devastating at full forward in the final and Sam was for the hills. Kilmainhamwood's Chappell Roan unleashes a hit It had to happen – the first viral GAA-themed song of the summer hit the airwaves during the week and it's a classic of the genre. The track, Hot For Meath (with apologies to Chappell Roan's Hot To Go) was written and performed by Kilmainhamwood GFC chairman, and player, Richard Corbally. A video of Corbally singing the chorus in a bar after the quarter-final win over Galway was shared by the local We Are Meath podcast and took off; Corbally roped in producer Donal Bowens and recorded it professionally, also filming a video. 🟢 𝗛𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 🟡 In 2025 the Royals are back! What a production from Donal Bowens starring Kilmainhamwood Chairperson Richard Corbally. — We Are Meath (@wearemeath) The synth-pop belter is an infuriatingly catchy earworm which leans into the cheesiness; social media reviews have been mixed (when are they ever not?) but at the time of writing, it has amassed close to half a million views online. 'Meath are winning games with Robbie Brennan/First thing that he did was bring back Menton,' begins Corbally, with the chorus continuing in the same vein: 'M-A-T-T Costello/Jordan Morris scoring goals/Duke and Hickey on the wing/Donal Keogan still the king.' Unfortunately for Richard, as one tweeter rather unkindly pointed out, Meath were hot to go – out of the championship. Ouch. Kerry's David Clifford celebrates scoring the first goal of Saturday's semi-final against Tyrone. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho David's stats are Goliath-like David Clifford is unsurprisingly the betting favourite to be crowned Footballer of the Year for the third time in four years, having struck 4-23 in the knock-out stages of this year's All-Ireland SFC alone. His stats are eye-watering and approaching prime Tiger Woods levels now in terms of sheer outlandishness. Both were prodigies (in his last two minor matches for the Kingdom, Clifford scored a combined 5-15) and both managed the difficult feat of actually surpassing the hype at the top level. Clifford's average score per game at senior is 5.73 points; his 2025 average is 8.29. Within that, he has landed 12 two-pointers but even adjusted for that his average this year is 7.43 points per game. In 90 senior matches, he has scored 41-393, 35-293 coming from open play. Woods had won eight Majors by the time he was 26; Clifford has just one to date. Century not out for McGuinness – sort of Sunday marked Jim McGuinness's 100th senior match in charge of Donegal – sort of. After the county won the All-Ireland in 2012, they decamped to Dubai for a team holiday, with then under-21 manager Maxie Curran given charge of the team for the McKenna Cup, which threw in on January 9th that year. McGuinness had returned in time for that match (against Fermanagh) and the two which followed in the competition against Monaghan and St Mary's College but sat in the stand for all three and had no involvement in the team on match day. So, while there have technically been 103 senior matches during his two terms as manager, McGuinness has managed the team himself on exactly 100 occasions. Not a bad way to mark the century, to be fair. Quote 'There's a massive smell of Meath '96 about this.' – Former Meath star Paul Shankey , who has recently stepped down as Waterford senior football manager, was bullish on RTÉ about the Royals' chances. Number: 135 Senior appearances for Kildare stalwart Mick O'Grady, who got his hands on some long-awaited silverware as the Lilywhites claimed the Tailteann Cup.
RTÉ News
10-05-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Clones - Ulster's capital for one day of the year
Clones. Full house. Sun shining. Ulster Championship. This is literally what my childhood memories are made of. To say these are extra-special occasions only scratches the surface. The memories of long walks along the car-lined rural roads around Clones as throngs of people make their way to Ulster's mecca are as vivid a part of my early years as the memories of Christmas or summer holidays. Be there in the winter and it's a glum looking place but, in the sun, on a championship day, Croke Park itself would struggle to hold a candle to it. Future generations may hopefully enjoy a new Casement Park, but as they do, for all of us that have savoured the alternative, we'll know they are missing out on something inexplicably special too. I've been lucky enough to have played there many times, yet Clones, as a supporter, made the bigger and more lasting impact. Against the romanticism of the crowd, drinking in the colour (as well as plenty else), the occasion and the ground itself, resplendent as it will be in the early summer sun, on the sideline, are two of the most pragmatic managers in the game. Jimmy McGuinness and Kieran McGeeney are men apart. Their teams are so enthralling that you cannot separate team and manager – they feel one and the same. Driven winners, hard task managers, meticulous planners. They are not out to entertain, to 'make statements' or to make history. They just want to win. The colder the better. It could be said that this final, in reality, shouldn't carry massive value to either. Armagh are sitting with the All-Ireland title and look well placed to launch their bid to retain it. Donegal are sitting with multiple Ulster titles and are clearly on an All-Ireland push. A win or loss alters only slightly the difficulty of the group stage they would enter into, not, as the Connacht final showed us, that matters a jot anyway. Yet, we all know, both managers are dying for this one. It's class to see. That human trait to allow a disagreement or competition over something relatively minor and yet it ends up with two parties going toe to toe and the issue blown out of all semblances of perspective. Such scenarios never show us in our best light yet, today, sum up just why this is so special. It shouldn't matter, but it does – a lot! The game itself couldn't be more evenly balanced. I find it impossible to choose between the two teams. Multiple strengths are present across the two, with more than a passing similarity. Kickout games, strong midfields, deep-lying defence and attacks that are much more about the collective than individual brilliance of a few star men. Both teams have experienced household names throughout the pitch and even on the bench. Donegal didn't set the world alight against Down and there are some spaces which open up when their blitzkrieg defensive plays don't come off. Armagh owned the ball against Tyrone but had poor shooting efficiency, giving the Red Hands a lifeline. For me, both are top four in the country, alongside Kerry and Galway. So what will we see? Well, we are unlikely to see any further flag incidents anyway! I see a potential real slow-burn of a game. A game with way more in common with pre-FRC era game. Defences sitting deep, allowing the opposition to play around the outside. Prolonged, slow attacks. All the things we thought we'd gotten rid off and unlikely to have the heart racing! But take your eyes off it at your peril. This will be a game of tiny margins and come the final stretch, it seems a sure bet that it will still be up for grabs. By that stage the rocket-fuelled madness that has marked the finale's of the past two Ulster finals will likely return. Armagh are desperate for this title. No matter how much McGuinness talks of it, I just can't see Armagh coming out shy on that front. The nearly men have learnt how to close the deal. The Tyrone result was as a perfect example of it – two years ago they would have lost that game but they never put a foot wrong. It's a 50:50 tie that won't matter much in about a month's time. Yet today, it'll feel like the biggest sporting prize in the world! We are a unique people. How we can get ourselves so wound up for a game like this is brilliant. Nuts but brilliant. And as for the ground, the Clones Cauldron will be out. It has woven some magical spells over the years but the ingredients for this one are so good it'll have to do very little. Like the rest of us, it can just sit back, let the heat build slowly and then enjoy the fireworks. As for me, well I can't wait to take in the walk to the ground with my son.
