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RTÉ News
20-07-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Cork ratings: Second half to forget for the Rebels
It wasn't to be for the Rebels today as a stunning second-half comeback from Tipp demolished Cork's Liam MacCarthy dreams. Here's how we rated the Munster champions. Patrick Collins - 5 One of those nightmare days for the Cork 'keeper who will feel he could have done better for the first and third goal concessions, two high deliveries that weren't dealt with. Cork got plenty of joy off his puck-outs in the first-half, with 17 of them finding a red jersey. But it all went south after that. 5 Sean O'Donoghue - 5 Picked up Jason Forde and ensured that the experienced attacker was perhaps Tipp's least effective forward. Got on plenty of puck-outs but with mixed results distribution-wise and Forde did still get two points. Eoin Downey - 5 A day to consign to a folder marked 'forgotten' for the Glen Rovers man who was booked twice and sent off. Fouled John McGrath for two first-half frees that were converted. Fouled him again for the penalty which Darragh McCarthy also converted. That was Downey's last act before exiting on the red card. Niall O'Leary - 5 Scored a 14th minute point after a fine solo run. He was marking Darragh McCarthy and at that stage they'd scored one from play each. But McCarthy took off as the game went on and O'Leary couldn't handle the U-20 star. Ciaran Joyce - 6 Kept tabs on Jake Morris and didn't have the worst afternoon, holding the Nenagh man to two points. Kept up the fight even when things were going badly against Cork. Robert Downey - 6 Played a big part in the Cork goal, beginning the move in the same spot where his own solo run started for the goal in last year's final. Decent overall in the first-half but, like the rest of the Cork defence, found himself under siege after the break. Mark Coleman - 6 Played the final ball for the Cork goal and was a lively performer in the first-half. But when Sam O'Farrell cut inside him at the start of the second-half and fed Andrew Ormond for a crucial point, the game started to get away from him and Cork. Tim O'Mahony - 5 Brilliant against Dublin in the semi-final but couldn't match that performance on the grandest stage. Found himself up against Conor Stakelum and never really got into the game. Darragh Fitzgibbon - 6.5 The first man to break away when the national anthem was complete and certainly looked fired up for action. The midfielder hit two first-half points but also registered two-wides overall. To his credit, never gave up. Declan Dalton - 5 Won a free and converted it to put Cork five points ahead after 26 minutes. Wasn't nearly as influential as he was against Dublin in the semi-final, however, and was eventually the first player taken off after 44 minutes. Should have perhaps taken the long-range free that Pat Horgan missed early in the second-half. Shane Barrett - 7.5 At half-time, with Cork leading by six, it looked as if Barrett was a decent shout for Man of the Match. He was sitting on 1-3 at that stage and finished with 1-4. He took his goal well and also set up Pat Horgan for an earlier score. But it all turned sour after the break. Cork's best player at least. Diarmuid Healy - 6.5 Hit the game's opening point just seconds into the contest and three in total in the first-half. That was as good as he could have hoped for but he was peripheral after the break and was replaced midway through the second-half. Patrick Horgan - 5 The 37-year-old hoped to cap a glorious career with the All-Ireland win he craves. But he never really got it going, scoring just once from play, albeit an excellent point off his backfoot. He struck two wides and was generally shackled expertly by Michael Breen before being taken off. Alan Connolly - 5 For Cork to win, a goal or two from Connolly was a must but it never looked like materialising. He butchered a hand-pass intended for Brian Hayes late on when a goal was a possibility. Held to a single point overall and dominated by Robert Doyle. Brian Hayes - 5.5 The Hurler of the Year favourite heading into the game didn't do his prospects much good. Only scored the one point and found Ronan Maher to be a limpet-like presence that he couldn't shake off. Did win two frees that Patrick Horgan converted. Substitutes Seamus Harnedy - 6.5 Fit again and brought on as Cork's first sub in the 44th minute. Hit the woodwork, as well as a wide though did grab one of their two second-half points. Damien Cahalane - 6 Coughed up a foul but did his best when thrown into the maelstrom. Conor Lehane - 5 His 60th Championship appearance was one to forget, coming on and having a penalty saved by Rhys Shelly. Shane Kingston - 5 Took on two shots that were blocked as he chased goals late on. Tommy O'Connell
The 42
19-07-2025
- Sport
- The 42
Jason Forde: Schoolboy prodigy, senior perseverance, and All-Star form
THERE'S A STORY from Jason Forde's schooldays which underlines the shatterproof self-belief and prodigious talent that have seen him reach his peak form at 31. Back in 2012, the Silvermines star was due to play the biggest game of his young hurling life, a Harty Cup quarter-final against local rivals Thurles CBS. The evening before that derby clash, he rang up one of the coaches. What followed wasn't so much a discussion as an alert from their mild-mannered captain. Nenagh CBS manager Donach O'Donnell takes up the story. 'He rang Niall Quigley the night before the Thurles game to tell him, listen, I'm going to take my frees off the left side tomorrow, just in case you're wondering what's going on. He was that comfortable shooting off both sides, and he just felt, when he was practising, he was more comfortable with it. I mean, it's a phenomenal feat really. 'The coach rang me, we were discussing it, a bit worried about it, but look, if he feels he can do it, let him off.' It wasn't as if his free-taking had been a problem. Indeed, Forde takes them off his right to this day. The frees he slotted down the stretch against Kilkenny from either sideline were all struck off his right. His 1-5 total was mined from six shots. They could've as easily been taken off his left. In that Thurles CBS encounter, he struck 1-14 between the drawn game and replay. He stuck with the citóg approach for the remainder of the campaign. The semi-final against champions Ardscoil Rís also went to a second day, with Forde scoring 1-17 across those games. In the replay, he accounted for 1-10 of their 1-11 total, including a spectacular stoppage-time winner. They lost the Harty final to the Coláiste na nDéise combination, but Forde scored 14 of Nenagh's 17 points to defeat St Kieran's in the Croke Cup semi-final. Forde was taken down by illness before the final against Kilkenny CBS. If he wasn't moving with his usual energy at centre-forward, he turned the game when switched inside, burying two goals and laying on a third for Nenagh's All-Ireland breakthrough. Nenagh CBS captain Jason Forde lifts the Croke Cup. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO He actually wore the No 6 jersey for that campaign. It was a legacy from his origins, starting off hurling with a small, rural club. Forde was often cast into the centre-back slot for maximum effect. That was where he first caught the eye. He hurled there for Tipperary underage sides up to minor level, before slowly moving upfield. Nenagh left him in that jersey to take the pressure off his shoulders. After defeating Galway last month, Forde spoke about the vitality passed on by the youthful exuberance of Darragh McCarthy, Sam O'Farrell and Oisín O'Donoghue. Advertisement 'They've no baggage. They just love hurling, love training, and we're all feeding off that energy,' he told RTÉ. In many ways, McCarthy has mirrored Forde's rise. Where Forde captained the CBS to their Croke Cup breakthrough, McCarthy came along to lead them to a historic Harty Cup after four final defeats. 'I think he sees Darragh McCarthy particularly as the young fella who's followed in his footsteps,' says O'Donnell, who guided both through their school years. 'They were both captains of successful CBS teams, they're both good leaders, free-takers, top scorers most of the time. I'd say he sees that in Darragh. 'And Jason was like that when he was back in school. He never had a hurley out of his hand. He was permanently tipping away after training, before training, and on his own as well. Darragh was very much like that too. Tipperary's Jason Forde consoles Darragh McCarthy after he was sent off against Kilkenny. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO 'They both really wanted it. They really, really pushed other guys around them as well. They understood that for the team to be successful, other guys had to come with them, play their part, and improve. They both drove that mentality, that work ethic.' There was never any questioning his hurling, right from the days when he finished as runner-up in the national Féile na nGael skills final to Shane Dowling. Nor his drive, having led Silvermines to a Munster Intermediate title while still aged 18. But Forde's rise from those schooldays wasn't all plain sailing. Not that it was ever going to be easy to infiltrate an attack where Eoin Kelly and Lar Corbett were passing the baton onto Séamus Callanan and Noel McGrath. He captained the county minors and U21s, but despite some remarkable scoring returns, Tony Kelly's Clare knocked them out every year from 2010 to 2014 en route to five successive Munsters and three All-Irelands across those grades. Eamon O'Shea named Forde to start for his championship debut against an O'Donnell-coached Limerick side in 2013, but illness scuppered that reunion. Forde appeared off the bench for their infamous Nowlan Park elimination, but had to wait two more years for that first championship start to come around again. When it did, he bagged 1-3 in a statement performance against Limerick in 2015. He also scored off the bench in the 2014 drawn final and 2016 victory. There were other tough days too, mainly in semi-finals against Galway. He was taken off at half-time in 2015 and came on as a sub in 2017, only to be removed before the finish. Wexford manager Davy Fitzgerald and Aidan Nolan clash with Jason Forde of Tipperary. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO In the latter year, a harsh one-match suspension when Davy Fitzgerald entered the field during a league semi-final cost Forde his place in Tipp's championship opener. 'I was probably at the lowest I was ever at after 2017,' Forde would reflect. 'I got brought on and taken off in the same game, that wasn't easy to deal with. If I was to go back in 2018, I knew there was no point in going back to do the same thing — you'd only end up with the same result.' He took up personal training in the off-season, and that lit a fire to complete a strength and conditioning diploma at Setanta College, over the road from Semple Stadium. During a career break from his teaching post at Nenagh College, he launched a new business, JF Performance, in January 2023. Asked if he was looking to mirror other gym owners, TJ Reid and Andy Moran, who excelled well into their 30s, Forde replied: 'You'd be hoping so.' When Séamus Callanan missed the league in 2018, Forde grabbed his opportunity with both hands. Filled with confidence from a second Fitzgibbon Cup with UL and installed as the focal point of the attack at full-forward, he blasted 7-72 across seven games; an average of 1-10 per match. Forde scored 2-11 in the semi-final against Limerick and 2-12 in the final defeat to Kilkenny. He finished April as GAA/GPA Player of the Month. He carried that form into championship, scoring 3-39 in four games, but Tipp didn't win any as they dropped out of the Munster round-robin. When his first All-Star nomination came, Forde was the only Premier hurler on the shortlist. Liam Sheedy kept Forde as his free-taker in 2019 as the Premier won their second All-Ireland in four seasons. Forde landed 0-7 from play in a remarkable Munster final defeat to Limerick in 2021, earning his third All-Star nomination. Jason Forde scores Tipperary's third goal of the All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO If there's a sense that Forde is overdue an All-Star for his talent, he could be on the cusp of reaching that milestone. While Cork are favourites, Forde is Tipp's front-runner for Hurler of the Year honours. As per Gaelic Statsman on X, Forde has converted 80% of his shots at the posts in 2025, the highest of the inside forwards on either side this year. His tally of 3-44 from 59 shots includes 3-14 from play. In an era where shooting from a sideline cut has fallen out of fashion as the low-percentage play, Forde has slotted all four from four attempts this summer. His flicked goal against Kilkenny was the reward for all those years of pucking around before and after training, as he came up trumps in those championship moments. In a final against Cork, they once again need Forde to be at his efficient best. Tipp know they can count on him. Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
The 42
16-07-2025
- Sport
- The 42
Jake Morris: 'It's just really sweet. It will bring the group on a massive amount'
JAKE MORRIS attributes the best year of his career to being granted greater freedom to roam. The Tipperary vice-captain references the long history of Premier forwards interchanging positions to create space and slip defenders. But for Morris, the key detail is being more consistently involved in the play around the half-forward line. 'Predominantly, I have been playing inside since I came on the scene,' he says. 'After a chat with the management, they said I'd be deployed a bit further away from goal, and that has helped my game. 'I am enjoying it out there, but also being able to go back inside as well. 'There is a bit more freedom to get on the ball and use your legs more than inside, where you could be waiting five or 10 minutes for a ball to come in, and you have to make hay with it. 'Just being involved in the game more is helping my game.' Morris had been positioned at centre-forward throughout the spring, but, if anything, the emergence of Andrew Ormond has enabled him to play an even freer role drifting from the wing. 'Historically, Tipperary have always had forwards rotating,' the Nenagh Éire Óg man adds. 'It's really what you have to do because it's easier to get a handle on a fella when you stay in one position all game. Advertisement 'Moving around and taking a lad into different positions, you find yourself on ball in different places. 'It makes our team tick a little better when we are rotating, especially with Darragh (McCarthy) going out to take frees. We like to make sure we set up well, so someone slips into the full-forward line to cover him.' After McCarthy's semi-final red card, Morris switched inside for the next 10 minutes to help make the ball stick and occupy the spare man. He was also the first man over to shepherd the Toomevara teenager off the field. 'It was really about switching back on and getting the lads set up well with the two inside and everyone else back out the field and getting your shape again because we didn't have time to feel sorry for ourselves in the moment,' he reflects. 'It's just really sweet. It will bring the group on a massive amount to get through that battle with 14 men. 'It was really satisfying, but that is down to the hard work the group has put in all year long and how honest it is.' Morris played his part in the 2019 All-Ireland final, but for plenty of his teammates, that most recent Kilkenny game was their first experience of Croke Park. 'We left no stone unturned in terms of preparation, going through all the scenarios, how big the stadium is, the noise and the communication, not being able to hear each other properly, and the slipping from the football the previous week. 'It is a different pitch, the whole atmosphere, the size of the whole place, so the management had us well prepped for that, and it helped us. When we went out, we had full clarity of what we were facing into.' While Morris already has a Celtic Cross to his name, he feels more integral to the development of the current team. 'It's a different group, a different crop. 'For me, I was on the periphery, coming on and learning my trade. Whereas now, this team is one I have been playing with a lot of lads I came up along with from minor and U20, which feels nicer. Especially being part of the leadership group of the team, taking more of an onus on yourself. 'The 2019 semi-final had a lot of similarities in it, the feeling at the end of pure satisfaction. 'We have lost a lot of leaders since then, and it is a really good feeling to be with this team.' Morris has previously spoken about feeling 'embarrassed' by the contrast between Tipp's 13-man All-Ireland minor champions and the seniors' winless campaign last year. He adds: 'We want the leadership to come from the top down, rather than 16- and 17-year-olds showing us the way, and how Tipperary should be hurling.' Morris has been that leader against Cork in previous clashes. He scored the levelling point in 2018, his debut year, and the clinching goal in their 2020 qualifier. He has never left with less than 0-3 in their last six meetings. 'It's down to the free-flowing, good games of hurling,' says Morris. 'Cork have some serious forwards, and I am sure some of their forwards like to play us as well. 'Alan (Connolly), in particular, has gotten good scores against us over the last couple of years. 'It's probably the way games go, but we are looking forward to taking them on again.'
Irish Times
15-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Liam Cahill and Tipperary target total vindication against Cork
Liam Cahill can't pretend it doesn't matter. When it comes to Tipperary hurling – the highs, the lows – he continues to puck every ball. The blue and gold flags and bunting are flying again around Thurles and Nenagh and beyond, but only a few months ago it seemed the wind had gone out of Tipp's sails. It wasn't quite a winter of discontent but few around the county believed they'd be scrambling for All-Ireland final tickets come July. Cahill's first two years at the helm of his native county were challenging – from eight championship games over 2023 and 2024 they managed just one win, losing four and drawing three. READ MORE When asked at the end of the 2024 championship whether he believed he was the right man to take Tipperary forward, Cahill defended himself robustly. Now, the difficult graft of three years is starting to play out for all to see inside the white lines. 'You have to understand that these questions have to be asked, too, when the performances aren't there,' concedes Cahill. 'It probably was warranted at the time. The reality of it is the county board had given me a three-year term to try to fix this thing the best I could. 'Yes, there was not much of a ship sticking out of the water and it didn't look like it was going to come back up any time soon, but I had huge belief in my ability to turn it around. 'I had huge belief in my coaching system, Mikey Bevans and Declan Laffan. I knew I had the right people around me, so it was a case of getting it fixed.' Liam Cahill with Noel McGrath after Tipperary's win over Kilkenny. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho Despite his unwavering belief, some of the criticism and barstool chattering doing the rounds did sting the man, who has managed the county to All-Ireland minor, under-21 and under-20 titles. 'I suppose the ones around that 'Cahill flogs his teams, his excruciating training sessions'. I felt it was disingenuous. Liam Cahill doesn't make it up as he goes along,' he says. 'People commenting on stuff like that, not knowing what exactly is going on behind the scenes is lazy and ill-informed. I felt, maybe not annoyed over it, but a little bit aggrieved that something so loose like that creates so much traction. 'There were other things such as 'Cahill plays with a sweeper'. Liam Cahill never played with a sweeper on his team in his life, ever. If it materialises it is because of the opposition forcing it. When you hear people talking about that, and 'Cahill's teams are not coached right'. I got really annoyed over that. 'It's hard not to, but it does give you the motivation to go ahead and try to prove people wrong.' Tipperary have been proving many of the doubters wrong this season. They contested the National League final in April and on Sunday will face Cork in the first ever All-Ireland SHC final between the counties. But some difficult decisions had to be made along the path to this stage: several experienced players either stepped away or were moved on while new players were introduced and given a shake. 'The reality of it is at the time I came in in 2023 most people in Tipperary knew that there was a big change coming. Unfortunately, we had a number of really top-class players for the last decade who were just coming towards the end of their intercounty careers, and the gap between what was needed to come in and replace them wasn't maybe fully ready at the time. Dáire English and Owen O'Dwyer helping Tipperary to an inspirational win over Kilkenny in last year's All-Ireland minor final. Photograph: Ken Sutton/Inpho 'The meetings I had, and the discussions I had, when I accepted the role would have been around absolutely having time, to be given an opportunity and a chance and having patience. But unfortunately when you're in a county as demanding as Tipperary not everybody sees that and understands that. 'It's not too different to Kerry from a football perspective, the demands are really high, so that brings added pressure as well. The county board agreed a three-year term initially and in fairness to them they stood by me and backed me.' Cahill previously referenced the inspiration taken from watching 13-man Tipperary beat Kilkenny in last year's All-Ireland minor final at Nowlan Park. He wanted his team to harness that spirit, and it manifested itself in the manner of their semi-final victory over Kilkenny two weeks ago. 'The minor win gave us a great sense of pride, but also a great sense of realisation as a senior squad and senior management team that we need to be doing that from where we're at, and the responsibility we have to the jersey. 'That has to come from the top down, we should be inspiring young fellows rather than they inspiring us. The players have seen what's now required, and have committed to it, and thankfully we're bringing it out ourselves in our performances to date. 'We've come through some really tough games with big performances and big moments in matches. So, this is not a flash in the pan from this group of players, they're doing it consistently throughout the 2025 season. I think we'll gain huge encouragement from that. 'It will be something important for us if we can bring this thing down to the last five or 10 minutes of the All-Ireland final and we're still in the hunt, I think we will have huge resilience and belief in our ability to get the job done.'
Irish Times
03-07-2025
- Irish Times
Man arrested in connection with death of Nenagh woman (89) in 2024
A man in his 50s has been arrested in connection with the death of an woman in Co Tipperary last summer. Josephine 'Joan' Ray (89) was found dead in her home at St Joseph's Park in Nenagh on August 4th of last year. She was last seen alive the previous day. In a statement on Thursday, gardaí said a man had been arrested in relation to the investigation. He is being detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act. Gardaí said their investigations are ongoing. READ MORE At the time of her death, Ms Ray was predeceased by her husband Paddy and daughter Joan. She was survived by her daughters Sarah, Frances, Mary and Carmel, as well as extended family. Gardaí immediately preserved the scene following the discovery of Ms Ray's body and members of the Garda National Technical Bureau travelled from Dublin to examine the scene. A senior investigating officer was appointed to lead the investigation, while a Garda family liaison officer was also assigned to support the family. Ms Ray was a native of Carney, 15km north of Nenagh. Paying tribute at the time, Tipperary Independent councillor Seamie Morris said she was 'a real character, who loved her fashion'. Ms Ray's neighbour, Michael O'Brien, described her as having a 'heart of gold, and I will dearly miss her and so will her many friends in St Joseph's Park and beyond'.
