Pat Ryan accentuates the Cork negatives
The league final is always a comma. Nobody had invested more than Cork and Tipperary in the competition this year, and neither of them felt foolish for reaching the final. But as soon as it was over there was a profit and loss account to be filed.
Pat Ryan, not unreasonably, spoke about the sharp drop in Cork’s standards in the second half - in which they added just eight points to their total and failed to threaten a fourth goal.
But that was the third game in a row that Cork had victory in the bag either by half-time or by five minutes after half-time and it was the third game in a row in which Ryan had bemoaned how poorly Cork had finished out the game. Since he has taken over as manager Ryan has constantly driven reform in Cork’s mentality.
“Our energy wasn’t good enough, our standards weren’t good enough and that’s probably the worst half of hurling I’d say that the lads have delivered since my time here,” he said. In his RTÉ interview, Ryan said that the second half performance had left him a little “deflated.”
Kerry football was blessed to have the likes of Mick O’Dwyer fanning the flames
Cork strive for perfection, and Donegal’s anger with history repeating − what we learned from the GAA weekend
Cork looking the part as they sharpen claws for a summer of promise
Start spreading the news, New York for the Lory Meagher Cup?
The other question about Cork is whether they’ve shown their hand. But does that matter? During their All-Ireland winning years Limerick were the most exposed team in the championship, and yet they kept winning in familiar ways. Teams knew what was coming but couldn’t do anything about it.
On Sunday Cork used Brian Hayes like a backboard in basketball for two or three long puck-outs, where he deflected the dropping ball with his up-stretched hurley into the path of support runners. Cork used the same gambit in their season-saving win against Limerick in Páirc Uí Chaoimh 11 months ago. By the All-Ireland final, it was no longer effective, but Cork are using this approach sparingly now and they have added other layers to their distribution.
And even though it was a league final, and Cork desperately needed to win a national title, it is unlikely that the same 15 will start against Clare in a fortnight. It would be no surprise if at least two from Mark Coleman, Declan Dalton and Seamus Harnedy make the starting line-up.
Liam Cahill promised that Tipperary will come to Páirc Uí Chaoimh with something different in three weeks’ time. After any league, that is exactly what you would expect. − Denis Walsh
How good Samaritans and The Irish Times helped Matt Hassett get his hands on (little) Liam
There were tributes paid before Sunday’s league final in Páirc Uí Chaoimh to both Kerry football icon Mick O’Dwyer and Matt Hassett of Tipperary, who captained his county to the 1961 double and died last week at the age of 93 after a lifetime of service to the GAA.
The league leg was won in Croke Park against Waterford in May that year and four months later, the MacCarthy Cup was added. That All-Ireland final was also memorable for being the closest Dublin have come in modern times to winning hurling’s biggest prize – a 1-12 to 0-16 defeat.
It also represented an at-the-time novel interaction between The Irish Times and the All-Ireland.
In the crowd scenes that followed the presentation of the cup, Matt Hassett lost the miniature replica of the trophy, then presented to the winning captain. Searches of the pitch failed to recover it and the disconsolate Hassett made his way to the team hotel.
Enter Thomas Flanagan and Tony Harris, two Dubliners. According to the former, they saw what happened afterwards.
“We were watching the scenes on the field when the cup fell out of the larger one. I saw it fall on the ground and I was nearly half killed by the crush when I stooped to pick it up. When I got it, Tony And I tried to catch an official’s attention but it was useless with the big crowds.”
So, they decided to entrust the replica to The Irish Times office later that evening and Tipperary were informed of its discovery.
A relieved Matt Hassett duly collected his memento the following day. “This is the first time I have really handled it. I am most grateful to the finders for taking care of it and handing it into this office. It was very honest of them and I am glad that it is not damaged in any way.” − Seán Moran
History repeats itself. But is anyone listening?
Just like last year, the Donegal v Derry fixture featured an example of the rule that forces a player to leave the pitch to get treatment for an injury. It just so happened that Donegal were the victims again – for Shaun Patton last year, see Caolan McGonagle this time around. They got away without any great damage in Celtic Park but ended up conceding a goal here.
Five minutes short of half-time, referee Brendan Cawley stopped the clock to go and check on McGonagle, who was down on his hunkers. The Donegal centre-back had felt a twinge in his calf that needed looking at. Cawley, as is his duty by the rule, pointed him towards the sideline.
While he was getting looked at, Derry scored their goal. It came right down McGonagle’s channel, with Ethan Doharty feeding Brendan Rodgers who slipped in Dan Higgins for the strike. Only then did McGonagle come back on.
“It’s very, very, very frustrating,” said Jim McGuinness afterwards. “It’s very frustrating and the same thing happened us last year. Games are defined by moments and we were in a situation where we were at an unfair [dis]advantage. For what? What did we do?
“A fella gets a pain in his calf and all of a sudden we’re a goal down. That could have killed us. That could have lost us the game. No matter how I feel now, I’ll tell you what, I’d be 10 times more annoyed tomorrow morning if that was the reason why we lost the game.”
It didn’t matter in the end because Donegal were the far superior team. But that won’t always be the case, clearly. That rule is going to decide a tight game somewhere down the line. It surely needs to be tidied up sooner rather than later. − Malachy Clerkin
Murphy follows his heart to Carlow
If chasing trophies was the immediate aim, Joe Murphy would have stayed with Naas but instead he chose to follow the road home.
Murphy managed Naas to three successive senior county titles between 2022-2024 but last Monday it emerged he was stepping away from the Kildare champions to take charge of his native Carlow on an interim basis.
Travelling to Navan last Sunday, he was on a hiding to nothing – and so it proved as Meath won by 14 points.
However, the former Éire Óg and Carlow player says getting the keys to his native county was the only gig that would have enticed him away from a Naas side hoping to win provincial honours this season.
“100 per cent,” he said. “There would be no other reason. It was one of the most difficult decisions I ever had to make. I have a great grá for Naas and they treated me very well up there, they have been successful and that but sometimes your heart can rule your head.”
Naas hit the headlines earlier this season when it emerged Rory Gallagher was poised to join Muphy’s backroom team – but the public reaction to that proposed move forced the Kildare champions to reconsider.
When the possibility of replacing Shane Curran emerged recently, Murphy first contemplated double-jobbing with Naas and Carlow but ultimately made the decision to go all in with the Barrowsiders.
“Naas is practically like an intercounty team really, it’s a vibrant spot and they have great ambition. Maybe initially there was a thought that way but when you got down to doing the maths on it, it wasn’t viable really, it was either one or the other and I decided to come home to Carlow.”
After having less than seven days to prepare for last weekend’s Leinster SFC opener, Murphy now has five weeks to get ready for the start of the Tailteann Cup.
And though he only took on the role for the rest of this season, Murphy clearly hopes to be on the Carlow sideline beyond the summer.
“We’ll see how the rest of the season plays out with the Tailteann and we’ll look forward to see what happens in the future
“Of course [it’s a position I would have always wanted] but you have to be ready for it. I probably hadn’t felt that I had developed enough as a manager until now, and I think I’m the right man at the right time in the right place.” − Gordon Manning
Wicklow to get their day in the sun
The last thing Oisín McConville was thinking about when his Wicklow team snatched a late, late equaliser was that this still gives them a chance to play Dublin. Sunday’s first round of the Leinster football championship was all about being in the moment, and the task of beating Longford on their own patch.
It proved to be a classic championship match too, not always high quality but with the momentum swinging like a pendulum on a chain, it was perhaps the most gripping game of the entire weekend – between championship football or indeed league hurling finals.
Pádraig O’Toole’s equaliser in the sixth minute of added time brought the game to extra-time, when Wicklow slowly and then suddenly found their groove. Kevin Quinn’s goal closed out the deal as Wicklow won 2-23 to 1-20, and it was only sometime after that when McConville’s thoughts would have turned to Dublin.
Dublin were awaiting the winners in this Sunday’s Leinster quarter-final, the team coming through also having home advantage. So the attention and focus will now turn to the old fortress Aughrim, with a capacity of just under 10,000, and if the fine weather continues it’s certainly another big day out in the sun for Wicklow – even if no one will give them any hope of actually beating Dublin.
Only two counties have never won a provincial football championship. Wicklow are one – can you guess the other?* – and they have also never beaten Dublin in either the league or the championship.
Still, Wicklow have enjoyed plenty of memorable days in Aughrim, a location always fun to find for the opposition team no matter what direction they are coming from. In 2017, Wicklow champions Rathnew took down the mighty St Vincent’s in the Leinster club quarter-final here, and pretty much all of Wicklow enjoyed that.
There is every chance that Sunday’s game in Aughrim will end up with a comfortable Dublin win, but that won’t take from the grand championship occasion it represents for Wicklow, unquestionably their biggest game of the year. And which would never have happened without the retention of the provincial football championship as we know it. − Ian O’Riordan
(*The other county is Fermanagh.)
