JOE BROLLY: Recovery plan


DERRY only know now that Dublin are not superhuman. Brian Mullins was giving us one of his intense team talks in the changing room after training one night and said: “Every sportsperson is only human. They only have two arms and two legs like you.” I said, “What about Maradona?” “F**k off Joe” he said. […]


JOE BROLLY: Accept the inevitable


THE bad news for the rest of us is that the conservatism that threatened to bring an end to Dublin’s dynasty has been replaced with the adventure that created it in the first place. “Balls out football,” as Pat Gilroy calls it. As we saw on Sunday against Tyrone, Dublin are in annihilation mode. I predicted […]


JOE BROLLY: Derry not for Sam


DUBLIN’S opening two boring defeats in the league prompted me to ask the question, “Why won’t they kick the ball in to Con O’Callaghan?” For those games, he was a peripheral presence, traking back and tackling round the middle third, taking a handpass at the last minute in a crowded defence. What a waste. Like […]


“It felt as though the whole of Donegal was in Croke Park”


FORMER Donegal star Martin McElhinney looks back at some of the big moments from his player career and games he has watched down the years… Name: Martin McElhinney Teams played for: Naomh Micheal, Donegal, DCU, Queens University. Current involvement: Still playing with my club Naomh Michael, managing our u-14 team too. Advertisement Which club game, […]


At the ‘Hub’ of the action


By Alan Rodgers TWO decades on and the scene which greeted Kevin Hughes in the immediate aftermath of the final whistle on that fateful day in September 2003 is still etched on his memory. Thousands of fans were converging onto the Croke Park pitch. The Killeeshil clubman managed to get the ideal vantage point to […]


Cormac McAnallen: The Brantry Boy will remain forever young


By Niall Gartland CORMAC McAnallen is forever young. The Brantry Boy is immortalised in the mind’s eye as the fiercely determined Tyrone footballer whose mid-season reinvention as a full-back was the missing piece of the jigsaw in 2003. Four games was all it took for Cormac to nail down the All-Star full-back position. Tyrone’s calamitous […]


Derry devastation as Kerry pull clear in closing stages


All-Ireland SFC semi-final Kerry 1-17 Derry 1-15 By Michael McMullan DERRY’S hopes of a second All-Ireland title ewere dashed at the semi-final stage for the second year in a row after Sunday’s defeat to reigning champions Kerry at Croke Park. Advertisement The Oakleafers led 1-14 to 1-12 as the game headed for the final turn […]


All-Ireland quarter-final draws


By Michael McMullan THE draws for this weekend’s All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals has been made as the race for Sam Maguire hots up even more. There will a repeat of the 2021 final with champions Kerry set to face Tyrone. Armagh and Monaghan are set for an all-Ulster derby with Ulster champions Derry out against Cork […]


GAA football championship Team of the Week


THERE are seven Ulster players on the latest GAA SFC Team of the Week. Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription. Any time | Any place | Anywhere Subscribe to current edition today and get access to our […]


GERARD O’KANE: Mayo have the depth for Sam


In my last column four weeks ago, I remarked how the upcoming National League games at that time could be compared to ‘moving day’ in the golf majors. Since that weekend there has been another two rounds of the National League with another one left. As it stands now, there is still plenty to play […]