Latest news with #UlsterChampionshipPreliminary
Irish Daily Mirror
28-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Jim McGuinness distances himself from Donegal GAA statement after Monaghan win
Jim McGuinness said Donegal's management and players knew nothing about a statement put out by the county board ahead of their All-Ireland quarter-final victory over Monaghan. Donegal booked their place in the last four of the Championship with a 1-26 to 1-20 victory over Gabriel Bannigan's men at Croke Park on Saturday. However, the build-up to the game was dominated by a statement released on Monday, slamming the GAA's decision to fix Donegal's game with Monaghan for Saturday rather than Sunday, given that McGuinness' side played Louth in the last of the previous weekend's games. The statement read: 'No other county has played as many matches as Donegal in this year's championship. "To compound the physical and mental demands, those eight games have been played within an 11 week window. Match number nine comes this Saturday, less than 12 weeks after playing Derry in the Ulster Championship Preliminary round on April 6th. "On that basis, we thought it wholly reasonable and fully justified to seek an extra day recovery time for our players this weekend. "Coiste Chontae Dhún na nGall concludes that it is most regrettable, and very disappointing, that our request has been turned down. We feel the welfare of our players was not adequately considered in the decision making process.' At his post-match press conference following the first of Saturday's quarter-finals, McGuinness was eager to state Donegal's management and players had nothing to do with the statement. 'We didn't know the statement was going to be put out," he said. 'There was an awful lot of noise, and awful lot of articles and awful lot of stories about that statement and that we weren't happy and that we were disappointed or annoyed. 'The management and players knew once we got beat by Tyrone that we were going to be facing into three games in three weeks, and that was the way it was. 'The statement was released by the county board I think on the back of people in Donegal and clubs in Donegal not being happy. 'But as a management team we were okay with the game. From my own personal point of view, you should never ever make an excuse for a game before the game is played. 'I have never done that in my life and so I want to make sure that distance is there because it's disrespectful to Monaghan. "If we got beat today and that first half performance followed through to the second half and we got beat then people would be saying that he was saying that during the week. 'We had nothing to do with it nor did we know it was going to be put out into the until I read it myself on the phone so that is very important from a management and from the players point of view. "We were happy to be here today because we were beat against Tyrone and it was always going to be that way. It was always going to be three games in three weekends and suck it up and lets get on with it."
Irish Daily Mirror
28-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Monaghan v Donegal live stream: How to watch the All-Ireland quarter-final
Monaghan and Donegal meet in the first of this weekend's All-Ireland Senior Football Championship quarter-finals. The sides clash at Croke Park, with throw-in scheduled for 4pm, ahead of the evening meeting between Dublin and Tyrone. Donegal released a statement earlier this week, expressing their anger at playing first this weekend, having faced Louth in Ballybofey in a preliminary quarter-final last Sunday. It read: 'No other county has played as many matches as Donegal in this year's championship. "To compound the physical and mental demands, those eight games have been played within an 11 week window. Match number nine comes this Saturday, less than 12 weeks after playing Derry in the Ulster Championship Preliminary round on April 6th. "On that basis, we thought it wholly reasonable and fully justified to seek an extra day recovery time for our players this weekend. "Coiste Chontae Dhún na nGall concludes that it is most regrettable, and very disappointing, that our request has been turned down. We feel the welfare of our players was not adequately considered in the decision making process.' Monaghan v Donegal is only being shown live on GAA+ and can be purchased for €12 on the streaming service.
Irish Examiner
25-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Donegal have cause - if not a case - to defy gauntlet as Monaghan fixture adds insult to injury
In the opinion of Donegal, the Central Competitions Controls Committee's (CCCC) decision to arrange their All-Ireland SFC quarter-final against Monaghan on Saturday has added insult to injury. Following on from arranging their neutral final round game against Mayo for King & Moffatt Hyde Park, that they are the only preliminary quarter-final winners with a six-day turnaround will underline manager Jim McGuinness's claim that these things "only happen" to Donegal "because it's us.' McGuinness had some valid points about the round game being arranged for Roscommon town but his argument was weakened by claims that other counties had 'a fair shake'. Kerry having to go to Tullamore and Galway travelling to Breffni for their neutral matches against Meath and Armagh made Swiss cheese of that claim. Nevertheless, coming so soon after the sense of grievance the six-day turnaround between the Louth and Monaghan games, a scheduling that the CCCC has strived to avoid for several years, will have only fortified the siege mentality in Donegal. McGuinness would likely have signed off on the statement that the Donegal County Board released late on Monday night about the Monaghan fixture. 'No other county has played as many matches as Donegal in this year's championship,' it read. 'To compound the physical and mental demands, those eight games have been played within an 11-week window. Match number nine comes this Saturday, less than 12 weeks after playing Derry in the Ulster Championship Preliminary round on April 6. "On that basis, we thought it wholly reasonable and fully justified to seek an extra day recovery time for our players this weekend. Coiste Chontae Dhun na nGall concludes that it is most regrettable, and very disappointing, that our request has been turned down. We feel the welfare of our players was not adequately considered in the decision making process." Donegal are the only preliminary quarter-final winners with a six-day turnaround. File picture: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile Some other facts have to be pointed out here. Donegal's schedule obviously wouldn't be so taxing, i.e. a game less, were it not for the fact that they didn't top the group and lost their home game against Tyrone last month. As the Ulster championship is now seeded to avoid the same team(s) playing in the preliminary round of the competition and thus facing four games to reach the provincial final, their chances of being drawn in the first hurdle for the first time since 2021 had been greater. In the last two years of this format, three of the four preliminary All-Ireland quarter-finals were played on a Saturday and each time all four counties had at least seven-day gaps to their quarter-finals. However, this year the preliminary games were evenly split across their weekend thus precipitating to this disagreement between Donegal and the CCCC. As for the horse-trading that went on to finalise this weekend's programme of quarter-finals, Galway's third consecutive 'away' trip in Newry last Sunday as opposed to Donegal playing at home would have been taken into consideration. As would the broadcasters's requests. Armagh v Kerry had been the top preference of RTÉ, who were showing the two Sunday games, but ultimately the decision lay with the CCCC. Had the two major quarter-finals – Armagh v Kerry and Tyrone v Dublin – been staged on Saturday and therefore streamed on GAA+, there would have been uproar. Although, could there have been some flexibility shown to allow both RTÉ and the GAA's own platform cover a quarter-final on each day? After McGuinness's Dr Hyde Park remarks, Donegal might feel they poked the bear when GAA president Jarlath Burns twice defended the CCCC in the wake of them, both at last Tuesday's All-Ireland SFC launch and again in his match programme notes for the preliminary quarter-finals this past weekend. Could there have been some flexibility shown to allow both RTÉ and GAA+ to cover a quarter-final on each day? File picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile But Donegal can't say the CCCC has done nothing for them. In January, the body postponed their opening Division 1 fixture against Kerry in Killarney due to snow in Donegal and in the interests of safety. That was in spite of the county's hurlers's game going ahead the same day in Trim and their ladies footballers taking on Clare the following day in Doonbeg. The hurlers had travelled Friday. That decision upset some in Kerry especially as word had spread around Donegal on the day before the game that it had been called off. So strong was the speculation that Donegal County Board even released a statement claiming such reports were untrue only for the CCCC to later confirm it had been called off 'due to weather conditions preventing Donegal from travelling'. At the same time, that decision meant both they and Kerry had to play five of their seven rounds over five consecutive weekends. That was a brutal schedule similar enough to what Donegal are enduring right now - Saturday will be their ninth championship game in 83 days. It's a programme that would test even the strongest of panels but then Donegal's preparations have extensive to say the least. In December, they took the unprecedented step of having a warm weather training camp in the United Arab Emirates having partaken in a similar venture in The Canaries 12 months previously. Donegal mightn't so far as to admit like Waterford senior hurling manager Peter Queally that they were training in October but they had been holding 'trials'. Claims now about the GAA 'not being adequately considered' will be viewed dimly in some quarters. The truth is Donegal are running a gauntlet but in doing so they have a cause to defy it.
Irish Daily Mirror
24-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Dublin v Tyrone and Monaghan v Donegal tickets: How to buy for double header
This weekend's All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-finals start with an intriguing double header at Croke Park on Saturday. Donegal, much to their county board and supporters' anger, play in the first game of the weekend, facing Monaghan at 4pm on Saturday before Dublin and Tyrone clash later that evening at 6.15pm. No county has played more Championship games this year than Donegal and they will face Monaghan six days after beating Louth in Ballybofey. Meanwhile, Kerry have an eight-day break after beating Cavan last Saturday. They face Meath on Sunday. 'No other county has played as many matches as Donegal in this year's championship," the Donegal county board said in a statement released on Monday night. "To compound the physical and mental demands, those eight games have been played within an 11 week window. Match number nine comes this Saturday, less than 12 weeks after playing Derry in the Ulster Championship Preliminary round on April 6th. "On that basis, we thought it wholly reasonable and fully justified to seek an extra day recovery time for our players this weekend. "Coiste Chontae Dhún na nGall concludes that it is most regrettable, and very disappointing, that our request has been turned down. We feel the welfare of our players was not adequately considered in the decision making process.' Tickets for Saturday's double header are on sale now and can be purchased on Ticketmaster here. A ticket for Hill 16 costs €35, while it is €45 to sit in the stand.
Irish Daily Mirror
24-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Armagh v Kerry and Meath v Galway tickets: How to secure a seat
The second of this weekend's Croke Park double headers sees two more fascinating All-Ireland Senior Football Championship quarter-finals take place at GAA Headquarters. The opening game on Sunday sees Meath face Galway at 1.45pm before Armagh and Kerry collide in a repeat of one of last year's semi-final clashes at 4pm. The Royals and Kieran McGeeney's side enjoyed a weekend off after topping their respective groups, while Galway edged out Down in a ferociously fought battle one day after Kerry comfortably defeated Cavan by nine points. Tickets for Sunday's double header are now on sale through Ticketmaster and can be purchased here. They went on general sale at 1pm on Tuesday. Donegal released a statement on Monday expressing their disappointment with the scheduling of this weekend's games. Jim McGuinness' side face Monaghan on Saturday, six days after beating Louth, while Kerry have an eight-day break between games. It read: 'No other county has played as many matches as Donegal in this year's championship. "To compound the physical and mental demands, those eight games have been played within an 11 week window. Match number nine comes this Saturday, less than 12 weeks after playing Derry in the Ulster Championship Preliminary round on April 6th. "On that basis, we thought it wholly reasonable and fully justified to seek an extra day recovery time for our players this weekend. "Coiste Chontae Dhún na nGall concludes that it is most regrettable, and very disappointing, that our request has been turned down. We feel the welfare of our players was not adequately considered in the decision making process.'
