KEVIN CASSIDY – Festive thoughts


T’S mad to think that we are turning towards the end of another GAA season. Time seems to be passing more rapidly as the years progress. Nonetheless, we have had a fantastic season when we look back on our Gaelic Games. Limerick’s juggernaut continues in the hurling. The Dubs are back on top in the […]


JOE BROLLY: Dr Joseph P Brolly, motivational guru


WHEN Glen, Maghera played Dungiven in the first round of the championship last week, Fergal McCusker and Enda Gormley took up position on either side of the ground with an abacus, to count the opposition players. They are believed to be the first tally men appointed to a backroom team. Dublin won again and will […]


JACK MADDEN: The imbalance of power


By Jack Madden PATRICK McCarry of Sports Joe summated what has become an alternate dimension. “Manchester United take the money and run on distasteful visit to Dublin.” Too many shirts and ties. Elite level soccer is no longer a game of the people. The RTÉ Kevin Moran documentary a few months back was an insight […]


PATRICK MORRISON: Restarts – they’re a team thing!


THE kickout has changed so much tactically over the past thirty years. So much so, that the name has been changed along with it. From punting the ball out to the midfield areas where players would compete for the ball in 50/50 challenges to try and catch, break or attain possession; they have now evolved […]


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 […]


JACK MADDEN: The holy trinity


Kerry and Dublin, the much anticipated tussle. For a while it was anti climatic. With the game in the melting pot and the last blast of the whistling drawing ever and inevitably nearer, it was anything but. Kerry downed, the Dubs crowned. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done. 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, […]


Steven Poacher: Risk versus reward


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


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


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 […]