A day to remember for Armagh in Croke Park


Lidl National Football League Division 1 final Armagh 2-12 Kerry 2-9  By Daire Walsh AIMEE Mackin and Kelly Mallon combined for 1-9 at Croke Park on Sunday as Armagh got the better of defending champions Kerry to claim the Lidl National Football League Division 1 title for the very first time. Advertisement Having lost out by three […]


KEVIN CASSIDY: Setting down a marker


DO away with the league finals they said. Nobody wants them they said. There is no room in the calendar they said. Well, anyone who was of that opinion before last weekend’s games will certainly have changed their tune on Monday morning. What we witnessed in Croke Park is everything that is good about our […]


Glass: Teams must meet Dubs head on


By Michael McMullan DERRY captain Conor Glass believes teams must go “head-to-head” with Dublin as opposed to any cautious approach of sitting back. Speaking after Sunday’s dramatic penalty shootout win over the All-Ireland champions secured a first league title since 2008, Glass commented about the enjoyable nature of the blockbuster. In a week when former […]


Derry v Dublin preview: A marker for summer


NFL Division One final Derry v Dublin Sunday, Croke Park, 4pm By Michael McMullan FROM the moment Derry decided to make seven changes to their team ahead of the Dubs’ visit to Celtic Park the interest in a potential rematch in the final ramped up. Now it’s here, when you delve through the noise of […]


Team news for Down’s Croke Park clash with Westmeath


By Michael McMullan CONOR Laverty has named an unchanged team for Saturday’s National League final against Westmeath at Croke Park (7.15pm). It’s a rematch of the recent drawn encounter in Mullingar when a late Ryan McEvoy points earned Down a share of the spoils. McEvoy is one of seven players to have started all of […]


Harte fully checked into Derry’s Croker test


By Michael McMullan SECONDS into his post-game comments following Sunday’s win over Roscommon, Derry manager Mickey Harte set the scene for their league final showdown with Dublin this weekend. With news of the All-Ireland champions posting 5-18 against his native Tyrone, Harte used the ‘J’ word. “Any day you get to the Division One final, […]


Patience paying off for Farry


By Niall Gartland ALL the hard work is paying off for Omagh CBS half-back Nathan Farry, an immensely skilled footballer who hasn’t had it all his own way in this year’s campaign. Farry suffered a significant sprain to his ACL last autumn that ruled him out of the MacRory Cup group stages, but he bided […]


Croker the perfect place to start says Mone


By Shaun Casey THERE’S nowhere else in the country Monaghan would rather start their National League campaign than in Croke Park, insists former Farney football Dessie Mone, speaking on this week’s Gaelic Lives Podcast. Monaghan kick-start their tenth successive season in the topflight, while Dublin return to Division One football having claimed the Division Two league […]