THE main talking point this week is obviously Jim McGuinness’s return to the Donegal hot seat. Considering his recent involvement with Down and offer of support role with Donegal GAA last year, the appetite was certainly there on his side. You have to admire him in his pursuit of a career as a professional football […]
Shining lights of 2023
Teams of the Year are always up for debate with those that are close to selection. Michael McMullan makes his stab at it. 1 – Shane Ryan (Kerry) BEATEN by a deflected goal in the final, but had another solid season between the posts. Advertisement Make the game-winning save against Derry in the semi-final and […]
KEVIN CASSIDY: The stars of ‘23
NOW that the dust has settled and before we head into the club championship season, I took time out to reflect and here is my football team of the year. 1 Stephen Cluxton (Dublin) The single most important reason Dublin managed to win the All-Ireland. His calmness and kick-outs are a joy to watch. Nothing […]
STEVEN POACHER: One for the road?
THERE we have it, the end of the inter-county season and the Dubs are the 2023 All-Ireland champions for the 31st time. Not many would have envisaged this coming after a National League defeat in Celtic Park back at the start of March, 1-11 to 0-13, in a Division Two clash. When Dublin got relegated […]
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 […]
PAUDIE KISSANE: On another level
WHAT a game to look forward to this Sunday in Croke Park between the two heavyweights Dublin and Kerry. It promises to be a cracker of a game and hopefully the weather will hold up to ensure the best team wins on the day. There have been many ups and downs over the last few […]
All-Star ballers
1 Shane Ryan (Kerry) IN our book, Ryan has been the outstanding goalkeeper in this year’s championship. His kick-outs have been superb, he’s made some smart saves and he even scored a point from play against Derry (a controversial point, granted). A very assured goalkeeper indeed. 2 Tom O’Sullivan (Kerry) Advertisement TOM O’Sullivan missed […]
Kevin Cassidy: The day is here
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 […]
Litmus test for the Oak Leafers
ALL-IRELAND SFC SEMI-FINAL Derry v Kerry Sunday, Croke Park, 4pm Live on RTÉ and BBC By Niall Gartland Advertisement ECHOES of 2012? Recall the celebrations when Kerry beat their Tyrone, by then a pale shadow of the team that had won three All-Irelands, out the gate in Killarney. Paul Galvin was leaping around, Kieran Donaghy held the rather more […]
No minor matter: Derry and Kerry’s underage story
Sunday is a first meeting of Kerry and Derry at senior level since 2015. Since that, both counties laid strong foundations at underage level. Michael McMullan takes a look… “The transition talk…I think Joe Brolly…Joe Brolly told us the production line was finished in Kerry. Well, Joe Brolly….what d’ya think about that?” – Kieran Donaghy […]