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Dara Curran late point helps Roscommon minors find the extra in Louth win and seals All-Ireland semi-final

Dara Curran late point helps Roscommon minors find the extra in Louth win and seals All-Ireland semi-final

Roscommon reached their first All-Ireland minor football semi-final in five years, thanks to Dara Curran's late point in a pulsating contest that required extra-time at Kingspan Breffni.
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Ireland women's team end disappointing EuroHockey Championship with a tight game against England
Ireland women's team end disappointing EuroHockey Championship with a tight game against England

The Irish Sun

time18 minutes ago

  • The Irish Sun

Ireland women's team end disappointing EuroHockey Championship with a tight game against England

Ireland had put up a good fight against the eventual EuroHockey Championship winners IRELAND rounded off a disappointing off EuroHockey Championship with a 2-1 defeat by England in Monchengladbach. Gareth Grundie's side went behind to a Tess Howard goal but equalised through Katie Mullan. 2 Ireland only lost once by two goals or more despite finishing bottom in the Championships 2 Niamh Carey helped set up Ireland's equaliser but it wouldn't be enough for Ireland to get a point on the board Niamh Carey turned well at the top of the circle and found Mullan free with work still to do. The Olympian lifted the ball deftly over Sabbie Heesh to level the scores. The sides went into the break at 1-1. Ireland conceded soon into the second half after a lapse in defence forced Holly Micklem out of her goal to make a save. But Darcy Bourne pounced on the loose ball to fire to the empty net. The defeat ended a disappointing campaign for Ireland, who lost their pool games to the Netherlands and France and drew 0-0 with Germany. They then went down to Scotland in the fifth-place finish clash.

Michael Barrett: 'We're learning over the years. We're getting a bit wiser'
Michael Barrett: 'We're learning over the years. We're getting a bit wiser'

Irish Examiner

time2 hours ago

  • Irish Examiner

Michael Barrett: 'We're learning over the years. We're getting a bit wiser'

Cork SAHC Group 3 round 2: Blarney 3-24 Watergrasshill 0-12 Blarney have learned the lessons of previous campaigns to build a score-difference cushion while the going is good. Having entered this Cork SAHC encounter at risk of elimination, they left it with a 21-point boost after a dominant second-half showing against the wind at Grenagh. Approaching half-time, they were anything but safe. They led Watergrasshill by two, having played with a strong diagonal breeze, but finished with a 1-2 burst. The conditions brought no benefit to the Hill after the break. Blarney broke down their long puck-outs and held them scoreless from play for the entire half. Mark Coleman was everywhere, accumulating 0-9 (three from play), while Cathal McCarthy poached 2-3. The second half finished 2-11 to 0-3 in their favour. 'We're learning over the years. We're getting a bit wiser,' said Blarney boss Michael Barrett. 'It's very easy to sit back and do a bit of showboating, but we realise that when you have a chance (to build score difference), our attitude is drive on.' A win against Courcey Rovers would guarantee Blarney's progress. Having seen their 10-game winning streak snapped, the Hill require an upset against Bride Rovers. Both teams were missing big talents in Dáire O'Leary and Pádraig Power, but in Cian Barrett and Conor Power, Blarney had a couple more players coming right after their first-round loss. On the other side, Kevin O'Neill manfully kept tabs on Shane Barrett, but was visibly hampered from midway through the first half, while Seán Desmond took a heavy blow later on. 'The more games we can get into these fellas, the better. That's the bottom line,' Barrett added. 'They have a three-week break now. That's going to bring them on more. 'The first game out is always a dodgy one. That's the one you want to win. But if it doesn't happen, like two years ago, we lost our first game to Newcestown and ended up in the county final. We gained momentum. 'It's all about getting the result, and we got one here this evening.' Adam Murphy put in a major shift in the first half for the All-Ireland intermediate champions. He got off 11 shots into the tricky wind, converting eight, with five from play. However, he lacked support. Desmond's point was their only other from play. Amid a clap of thunder and a flash of lightning in the distance, Blarney slowly established an upper hand in the opening quarter to construct a five-point gap. Coleman had an early pair from play, while influential wing-backs Alan McEvoy and Conor Power came forward to score. Murphy reeled off four quickfire points, including a fabulous score from the sideline where he juggled the sliotar back over his head to escape a tackle. Leading 0-11 to 0-9, Blarney brought Shane Barrett out to centre-forward. He flashed over a low-trajectory point before Eoghan Kirby's second. Then, in the second added minute, Denis McSweeney swooped upon a dropped puck-out and fed McCarthy, who handpassed to Cian Barrett for the tap-in finish. 1-13 to 0-9 at half-time. A Murphy free from the throw-in opened the second-half scoring, but his side wouldn't raise another flag until the 50th minute. They withdrew the full-forward line to target the space behind with long puck-outs. It worked to good effect against Courceys, but Stephen Mullane and Patrick Crowley kept bringing the ball to ground and gobbling up the supply. Blarney reeled off 1-5 without reply, including a crisply-struck Coleman brace from distance. Substitute Jerry Murphy made a swift impact, laying on McCarthy's first goal, finished with a deft sidestep, and tapping over two points. The Hill had converted just one of seven shots in the half until goalkeeper Aidan Foley landed a long-range free. But Blarney hit another 1-5 without reply, crowned by McCarthy's goal in the first added minute. Coleman even went for goal from a late 21-yard free. Foley saved, but the countyman slotted the 65. The 2023 and '24 runners-up are back up and running. Scorers for Blarney: C McCarthy (2-3); M Coleman (0-9, 4 frees, 2 65s); C Barrett (1-0); D McSweeney, S Barrett (2 frees) (0-3 each); E Kirby, J Murphy (0-2 each); A McEvoy, C Power (0-1 each). Scorers for Watergrasshill: A Murphy (0-9, 4 frees); A Foley (free), S O'Regan (65), S Desmond (0-1 each). BLARNEY: P Hallissey; S Mullane, S Crowley, D Murphy; C Power, P Crowley, A McEvoy; O Hegarty, M Coleman; S Mulcahy, D McSweeney, E Kirby; C McCarthy, S Barrett, C Barrett. Subs: J Murphy for Kirby (43), C Hegarty for C Barrett (52), D Hanlon for Mullane (53), W Crowley for McSweeney (55). WATERGRASSHILL: A Foley; D Roche, K O'Neill, D McCarthy; J Gowen, I O'Callaghan, S O'Regan; C O'Leary, A Spriggs; P Cronin, B Lehane, L Foley; A Murphy, S Desmond (capt), P O'Leary. Subs: A Cronin for L Foley (h-t), C Healy for Gowen, C Cronin for P Cronin, R Loftus for P O'Leary (all 43), L Foley for O'Neill (60, inj). Referee: I McCarthy (Bandon).

‘When it comes to supporting club football, Liverpool don't really count as an English team'
‘When it comes to supporting club football, Liverpool don't really count as an English team'

Irish Times

time4 hours ago

  • Irish Times

‘When it comes to supporting club football, Liverpool don't really count as an English team'

You carry them. You birth them. You do your best to raise them well. And then one of them grows up and buys a Carlow GAA jersey. For a moment, I had a small insight into what life must have been like for my lifelong Leeds United supporting dad. He had such high hopes for me, the only one of his children to love sport. But alas. READ MORE In my case, it started with Ray Houghton . Well, specifically, his putting the ball in the English net in Stuttgart in 1988. I needed a team to support, so it was always going to be his. I mean, he scored against England, after all. And so another Liverpool fan was born. My life as a football supporting neutral was over. I should prepare you for some of the hypocrisy that will flood parts of this column. I will support whatever team is playing England. Just like the ABDs, (anyone but Dublin supporters) in this country, every time Dublin is playing. I know they exist. They're often in my Twitter mentions and my Instagram private messages. Sometimes, they're even married to Dubs and have seven Dublin-born and reared children. I've never subscribed to this, 'let's put the past behind us and support our nearest neighbours', nonsense when it comes to England. It's a sport. Sporting rivalry should be lifelong. Yes, of course, I love my English family and friends and want the best for them as people. So do I want their national team to lose miserably? Also, yes. I'm an ABE. But when it comes to supporting club football, Liverpool don't really count as an English team, I tell myself. To get around the hypocrisy, like. Plus, we as a family regularly attend League of Ireland matches, so it's grand. Anyway, back to Liverpool. Or off to Liverpool as it was. I wanted to be a sports journalist growing up. Well, really, I wanted to play for Liverpool. But I couldn't, largely on account of being brutal at football, much as I loved to play it. So I devoted myself to consuming everything I could about football instead. Ireland and Liverpool posters adorned my bedroom wall. Liverpool curtains and duvet covers were my decor of choice. And I was suitably distraught when my mam drew the line at me getting an Ireland football shell suit. I was committed fully to the cause. So, on the August bank holiday, as I flew out to see Liverpool at Anfield in their preseason friendly against Athletic Bilbao, I'm not sure who was more excited, me or the mini-mes who had been reared in the spirit of being Liverpool fans, as the good Lord intended. As is common practice, when I'm flying, I contact the eldest from the plane, just before take-off, to tell her I loved her and where she could find the latest version of my will. I'd scribbled it quickly on a piece of printer paper on the way to the airport and shoved it in the car's glove compartment. I also told her where the car was parked, because that was a headache she could do without, if the plane went down. She questioned the potential legality of the whole thing. But anyway. And off we went to Liverpool. The club shop was the first stop where two eager beavers were keen to get their hands on the new jersey. I could sense my credit card flinch as we walked in the door. And I winced when I saw the price tag. Decisions were made about which player's name would go on the back of their jerseys, and I considered which vital organ I might need to sell to support my children's growing football obsessions, going forward. We'd secured seats in the Kop, this particular adult fulfilling a lifelong dream. And we belted out You'll Never Walk Alone with the best of them. Twenty minutes in, the fans and the players stopped to pay tribute to Liverpool's forever number 20, Diogo Jota, who had died in a car crash alongside his brother André Silva the previous month. It was Liverpool's first home game since his death. A flag hung from another stand commemorating the brothers. Liverpool won their matches. And, to top off the whole experience, we even got to celebrate seven goals (in the Kop!) over the course of the two games. On the way home, little boys chatted about potential future careers as professional footballers, and I explained that while MumBappe may never have got to play football for Liverpool herself, I did once interview Jason McAteer for the paper. Which is kind of the same as being a sports journalist, right?

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