WE had hoped for a super Saturday and super Sunday type situation this weekend where a close eye would be kept on all scores to see who might make the drop and who would potentially make the finals. However, the way the games have gone to date, we know a lot of what will potentially […]
Farrell understands Derry’s selection policy for Celtic Park showdown
By Michael McMullan DUBLIN manager Dessie Farrell said he can understand Derry’s stance not to go with a full-strength line-up for Saturday’s Celtic Park showdown. The Oakleafers fell to their first defeat of the season after securing their Division One status six days earlier in Salthill. Mickey Harte made seven changes for the visit of […]
KEVIN CASSIDY: An early litmus test for Donegal
BASED on the games that we have seen to date, I don’t think this year’s National Football League has fully caught fire yet. Having said that, it does continue to throw us up blockbusters on a weekly basis. As I glance through the fixtures this weekend, the ones to catch my eye are undoubtedly the clash of […]
PATRICK MORRISON: It’s important to box out
By Patrick Morrison IT was back in the early ‘90s that I first experienced the game of basketball. As a tall primary six student I was afforded a place on the school basketball team. We were coached by Jimmy McKee (Pearse Ógs) in the Christian Brothers PS and competed in a few competitions throughout the […]
JOE BROLLY: Boring Dublin
I WATCHED the Derry game in Smyths in Ranelagh with Sean Muldoon from the Loup. Three Englishmen were in the booth with us and were intrigued by the game. We explained the rules to them – three points for a goal, a point for a point, the solo, the bounce, the tackle. They could not […]
Farney out to ease last year’s Dubs heartache
By Shaun Casey IT’S back to the scene of the crime for Vinny Corey and his Monaghan men as they return to Croke Park with last year’s All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Dublin still fresh in their minds. Everyone had Monaghan written off as they contested for a spot in the All-Ireland final, not that there’s […]
JOE BROLLY: Time for change
DAVID Clifford is almost single-handedly keeping the game watchable. At the weekend, he did it again. In the intermediate championship semi-final against Austin Stacks, Fossa were a point behind with 30 seconds of injury time left in extra time. It was at this moment Clifford went looking for the ball. Like all the greats, what […]
KEVIN CLIFFORD: Clifford had decent game by the standards of mere mortals
THE first thing to do is to applaud both sets of players for serving up a game for the ages last weekend. It was absorbing, exhilarating and full of incident from the first whistle to the last. Both teams gave absolutely everything out there and died with their boots on. We knew going into the […]
All-Ireland 7s glory for Belnaleck
FERMANAGH club Belnaleck were crowned Beacon Hospital All-Ireland Football 7s champions on Saturday after a two-point win over Trillick, St Macartan’s in the Kilmacud Crokes tournament. Teams from all across the country competed for the coveted title and it was the Fermanagh side that came out on top after a 1-11 to 1-9 win over the Tyrone team in […]
Michael Kennedy: The Red Hand and the Blue Wave
By Niall Gartland THE Sperrin Mountains – a remote sort of place even by the standards of rural Ireland. It’s also where Michael Kennedy spent his childhood and early adult years before picking up sticks and moving to Dublin. The Glenelly and Tyrone native probably didn’t envision at that stage that he would play his […]