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 […]
Steven Poacher: Risk versus reward
July 28, 2023
THIS weekend sees the showpiece in our football calendar: the All-Ireland SFC final and what is perceived to be the rivalry of all rivalries, 30-time winners Dublin versus 38-time winners Kerry. There are so many facets to this game that make it intriguing and we will have the usual preview talk of key match ups, potential […]
Kevin Cassidy: The day is here
July 28, 2023
ALL the pretenders to the throne have fallen. All of those teams who thought that this was their year have fallen in their quest. We are now we are left with the best two teams in the country and what a spectacle it should be. At the start of the year Kerry would definitely be […]
JACK MADDEN: Finish line in sight
July 14, 2023
Weekends don’t really exist when you’re busy. May, June, July are all the same really, and the world keeps spinning for those who don’t fall off. The visual definition of a weekend inhabits a hot tub, enjoying the effortless transition from Friday evening to Monday morning. For the disinterested, deluded, or nonplussed, life goes on […]
Chance to upset the applecart
July 14, 2023
ALL-IRELAND SFC SEMI-FINAL Dublin v Monaghan Saturday, Croke Park, 5.30pm Live on BBC and RTE By Niall Gartland Advertisement THERE was an uncanny feel to Dublin’s second-half steamrolling of Mayo a fortnight ago. For the last few years there’s been a stange listlessness to the Dubs – comparatively speaking of course – but when they tore into Mayo […]
The leading contenders
May 26, 2023
1 Dublin Right, they played in Division Two and haven’t been as formidable looking since Jim Gavin set sail a few years ago, but I’m still tipping Dublin to take home the big one at the end of the season. You get the sense that the old heads on the Dublin team are determined to […]
Meenagh feels O’Hanlon will keep his spot over returning Cluxton
March 30, 2023
By Michael McMullan DERRY assistant manager Ciaran Meenagh isn’t expecting eight-time All-Ireland winning goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton to dislodge David O’Hanlon ahead of Sunday’s Division Two league final. The 41-year-old made a surprise return to ease a goalkeeping injury crisis in Dessie Farrell’s squad, news that filtered into the Derry camp before their draw with Cork. […]
A league of their own
March 4, 2023
2022: Kerry 3-19 Mayo 0-13 A SIGN of things to come, you might say. Kerry completed the league and championship double last season, and while they were pushed all the way by Galway in the All-Ireland final, they had a much easier time of it at Croke Park against Mayo. David Clifford led the rout […]
PATRICK MORRISON: Six steps to one-to-one coaching
January 17, 2023
By Patrick Morrison IN 2015, my first year with the Armagh team, we played a challenge game against Dublin down in the DCU sports complex. This was the first year of their five in-a-row dominance. We had started with a strong team with a handful of our regular starters rested. Dublin on the other hand, […]
PATRICK MORRISON: The Goalkeeping Spectrum
July 26, 2022
By Patrick Morrison OVER the past 20 years, we have really seen the evolution of the goalkeeping position in Gaelic football. We have seen possibly the greatest ever in Stephen Cluxton to the newest modern phenomenon of ‘keepers joining the fray out the field. Over the past 20 years, and even before that, we have […]