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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
