Kerry had to win this one to keep the show on the road, writes Darragh O’Sé in today’s subscriber only article, as it was crucial for the Kerry players to beat Galway in the All-Ireland final as “they needed the win to develop and there’s a number of players will come away better players and it puts Kerry into such a stronger position for next year.” O’Sé thinks it was a good football championship but it felt very rushed. “The GAA had August and September every year, prime months, and now we’re throwing them up for somebody else to take them unless we grab them back. The GAA has tried it and, no, I don’t think it has worked.” Seán Moran praises Kerry manager Jack O’Connor in his column today, writing “It’s the mark of management to take the same personnel and get better results and acknowledging the contrasting breaks in either year”. Kerry’s long-standing central character notches another mark, as neither injuries nor illness have been able to derail David Moran’s resilient longevity.
Next on show for Kerry is the women’s final against Meath and Declan Quill’s confidence in Kerry’s potential proving well-founded as the joint-manager is one of the few to envisage the Kingdom women reaching an All-Ireland final. Win or lose, could this All-Ireland weekend be a final chapter for Meath, asks Paul Keane, as the champion’s back room team is about to break up, according to manager Eamonn Murray. “On the playing front, Vikki Wall, the reigning ladies’ player of the year, will shortly head to the AFLW and North Melbourne while midfielder Orlagh Lally is destined for the Fremantle Dockers. Emma Troy is set to take an extended non-playing break in Australia. All of which could mean that the present group has just one more game together. A last dance”.
An impressive Shamrock Rovers display made Ludogorets earn their passage to the next round of the Champions League qualifiers, as they beat the Bulgarian champions 2-1 on the night but ultimately came up short 4-2 on aggregate. The result means Rovers are rerouted to a Europa League qualifier at home next Thursday to North Macedonian champions Shkupi. In the women’s Euros, England turned on the style to rout Sweden and seal place in the final, a nervous start making way for fine display capped by audacious back-heel goal from Alessia Russo at Bramall Lane. They will play Germany or France in the final, with first-time European semi-finalists France facing an acid test against a traditional continental powerhouse.
The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) will be part of a class action taken by former players who claim they suffered serious brain injury while playing the sport. This week it was reported that proceedings are to be issued by UK-based legal firm Rylands Law on behalf of a group of professional and semi-professional players against World Rugby, the English Rugby Football Union (RFU) and the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU). In horse racing, Early Doors returns to try to regain the Galway Plate crown, with Emmet Mullins pair Cape Gentleman and The Shunter among the market leaders for biggest steeplechase of the summer, after Magic Chegaga overcame traffic problems of a different sort to land a fairy-tale success in Tuesday evening’s Galway feature, the €120,000 Colin Quinn BMW Mile at the Galway races.
