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RTÉ News
9 hours ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Davy Burke steps down as Roscommon manager
Davy Burke has opted to vacate the Roscommon hot seat after the conclusion of his three-year term as manager of the county's senior inter-county footballers. Burke, who became the youngest inter-county manager in history when he took the reigns at Wicklow as a 31-year-old in 2019, succeeded Anthony Cunningham as Rossies boss in October 2022. Confey native Burke also led his native Kildare to All-Ireland Under-20 glory in 2018. Roscommon bowed out of last year's All-Ireland at the quarter-final stage to eventual champions Armagh and, after sealing promotion from Division 2 in the league, failed to reach the All-Ireland series this year. In a statement released via Roscommon GAA, Burke said: After careful consideration, I have decided to step down as Roscommon senior football manager, bringing an end to my three-year term. "I would like to thank the Roscommon County Board, in particular county chairperson Brian Carroll for his unwavering support and loyalty through the highs and lows over the last three years. I appreciated it more than you will know." Brian Carroll said of the departing Burke: "I have witnessed first hand the effort, dedication and commitment Davy has put in since his appointment in October 2022. "I want to thank Davy most sincerely for everything he has done for Roscommon GAA. "We have had highs and lows over the three years but Davy's ambitions and goals for our players, supporters and our county was always to be the very best we could possibly be." Follow a live blog on the All-Ireland Football Championship quarter-finals on Saturday on and the RTÉ News app. Listen to commentaries on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Saturday Game at 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Watch two All-Ireland Football Championship quarter-finals, Meath v Galway and Armagh v Kerry, from 1.15pm on Sunday on RTÉ2 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.
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Andy McEntee steps down as Antrim manager at end of three-year tenure
The Antrim senior footballers are on the search for a new manager after Andy McEntee stepped down from the role. The Meath native had spent three years at Antrim after was appointed to the role in 2022 following his spell as Meath manager. The former Royal County boss enjoyed successive Tailteann Cup semi-final appearances in 2023 and 2024 with The Saffrons. "We would sincerely like to thank Andy and his entire backroom team for their service and commitment to our senior footballers during their term," a short county board statement said. McEntee also helped develop a raft of U20 talent and successfully integrated them into the senior panel. He said: "Having finished our Tailteann Cup campaign, my three-year tenure as Antrim manager has come to an end. "There are a lot of people that I would like to thank for the past three years. Firstly, I would like to thank Donal Murphy for making that first call and persevering to convince me to make the trip up the M1. "I would also like to thank the County Board Chairman at the time, Ciarán McCavana and the current Chairman, Seámus McMullan who ensured that we had the continuous support of the county board over the last three years." Watch two All-Ireland Football Championship quarter-finals, Meath v Galway and Armagh v Kerry, from 1.15pm on Sunday on RTÉ2 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.
RTÉ News
4 days ago
- 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.
Irish Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Key Meath star poised for return for All-Ireland quarter-final clash with Galway
Mathew Costello is poised to hand Meath a massive boost by returning in time for the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final clash with Galway. Costello missed the shock group victory over Kerry that earned the Royals their place in the last eight of the championship due to a hamstring injury. The key forward had already missed a chunk of the league campaign due to hamstring issues. "Mat's just about coming back, he should be alright to go," said Meath skipper Mathew Frayne. The Summerhill man is relishing the prospect of facing Galway. It is the eighth championship meeting of the counties in total, and the first in 14 years. Meath, in fact, have won their last two meetings - in the 2007 and 2011 All-Ireland qualifiers. "Yeah, it's a good draw," Frayne said. "We're happy enough. It's going to be a tough game. "I don't think there's any easy games no matter what draw you got. We haven't obviously been in an All-Ireland quarter-final in a good few years so we're really looking forward to it now." He has already watched the highlights of Galway's preliminary quarter-final win against Down on The Sunday Game. "I haven't fully looked into it yet. We'll get stuck into them this week and look over them and see what we can do," Frayne remarked. "We kind of would have taken anyone. I don't think there's much between any of the teams that are left. It's harder to call games now with the new rules than it was before. I think it's kind of brought teams down to an equal level. "But yeah, it's obviously exciting times for us. It's great to be in an All-Ireland quarter-final." RTÉ launches over 90 days of national and international Sport: Women's Euros, Women's Rugby World Cup, European Hockey Championships, GAA Championships, World Athletics Championships, Irish Open, Horse Racing and much more free-to-air on RTÉ across all platforms
RTÉ News
5 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
RTÉ GAA Podcast: Football quarter-finals draw, Dublin blow hurling championship wide open
Ciarán Whelan and Davy Burke join Jacqui Hurley and Rory O'Neill to look back on the weekend where the football quarter-final teams were decided. Kerry, Dublin, Galway and Donegal progressed, and will now play Armagh, Tyrone, Meath and Monaghan, respectively, this weekend. Shane McGrath joins for the hurling to reflect on the greatest shock of the 21st century as Dublin downed Limerick at Croke Park. And they'll have to pull off a similarly seismic shock in the last four when the face Cork. Tipperary also secured their All-Ireland semi-final spot, leaving them with a clash against neighbours and old foes Kilkenny. Watch two All-Ireland Football Championship quarter-finals, Meath v Galway and Armagh v Kerry, from 1.15pm on Sunday on RTÉ2 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
