‘Battle-hardened' Galway weather Down storm to advance to All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals
After a game that ebbed and flowed and bobbed and weaved brilliantly throughout, the conclusion to this All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final in Newry could not have been more anti-climactic.
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RTÉ News
2 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Tomás Ó Sé: Kerry's support cast need to step up for 'defining' clash with Armagh
While the full draw for the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals is yet to take place, there's every chance the meeting of Kerry and Armagh next weekend will be top billing. The draw will take place live on Monday morning on RTÉ Radio 1 with the four preliminary quarter-final winners – Dublin, Kerry, Galway and Donegal – up against the winners of the four round-robin groups, Armagh, Monaghan, Tyrone and Meath. As Armagh have three possible repeat pairings, they are automatically matched with the Kingdom, a repeat of last year's All-Ireland semi-final where Kieran McGeeney's men emerged victorious en route to Sam Maguire glory. The Orchard County failed to add provincial silverware earlier this summer, but have at times looked in top form in the championship. Kerry, by contrast, laboured to victory over Cork and fell to a heavy defeat to Meath in the All-Ireland series before putting Cavan to the sword in their preliminary quarter-final as manager Jack O'Connor continues to battle an injury list, with Diarmuid O'Connor forced off and Mike Breen ruled out before throw-in. Speaking on The Sunday Game, former Kerry player and five-time All-Ireland winner Tomás Ó Sé says the win over Cavan was a "marked improvement" from a Kingdom perspective, led by the 3-07 haul of talisman David Clifford. Tomás Ó Sé expects the Armagh quarter-final to be Kerry's defining game of the championship, and they will have no fear, while adding that he could make an argument for six of the eight teams to win the All-Ireland. #TheSundayGame — The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 22, 2025 "David Clifford has been absolutely outstanding all season long and he gave a performance yesterday that was brilliant," he said. "The first ball he got, he made a statement. He got the ball in the corner, took on his man and buried the ball to the back of the net." Looking ahead to next weekend's quarter-final, Ó Sé believes the game will offer a true litmus test for O'Connor's side. "It's the defining game of the season," he said. "They won't fear it. Kerry are more than capable of showing up on the day, but they will have to offer more in scoring than David Clifford. "Kerry will need a full team back. Diarmuid O'Connor is a huge loss in the middle of the park and Paul Geaney is possibly gone as well, their second highest scorer. "Everybody is saying that Armagh, even though they didn't win Ulster, have been the team of the season so far. "It's going to be a cracker of a game."
Irish Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Shane Walsh 'nasty' shoulder injury, as Kerry, Armagh quarterfinal confirmed
Pádraic Joyce says Shane Walsh sustained a 'nasty looking' shoulder injury in today's Pairc Esler victory over Down, which sent Galway into next weekend's All-Ireland quarter-finals. With all four favourites winning their preliminary quarter-finals over the weekend, it means that Kerry and Armagh will go head to head in a repeat of last year's semi-final epic, which Armagh won on their way to the All-Ireland. That's because Armagh can't play any of the other preliminary round winners - Donegal, Galway and Dublin - as they've met them already in the provincial final or All-Ireland group stages. The draw takes place this morning, ive on RTE Radio, with Joyce's men set to play Monaghan, Meath or Tyrone. Whoever it is, Joyce will be hoping for an extra day's rest after yesterday's 2-26 to 3-21 victory in Newry. Two quarter-finals are set for next Saturday and two for Sunday - and with Galway having gone to Cavan and Newry over the past two weekends, and heading for Croke Park next weekend, it's a hectic schedule. Speaking about Walsh, Joyce said: 'He got a nasty injury. He fell forward and the Down player followed through with the knee on the shoulder so he's a bit of a bother there. 'We left him on for 10 minutes just to see how he got on but he's getting no better so we'll assess him here. We'll go back and see what it is. It looks a nasty injury. 'He was quite sharp after 15 minutes when he got into the game and got the shackles off a bit. He kicked a couple of great twos, kicked the free and kicked the goal.' On next weekend's scheduling, Joyce said: 'I'm not going to ask for anything but you'd be hoping you'd get a break somewhere. 'It would be brilliant if we got a Sunday fixture but again it's not my decision. Whatever's on, we'll show up and play it. 'It's massive. It's huge. But look, we put ourselves in that situation so we're not going to be complaining. We'll get on with it.' The weekend results mean the folllowing for the eight sides. Listed are the counties and who they can play next weekend with the draw due to take place on Monday morning on RTE radio. Kerry: Armagh Armagh: Kerry Dublin: Tyrone, Monaghan or Meath Galway: Tyrone, Monaghan or Meath Tyrone: Dublin or Galway Monaghan: Dublin, Galway or Donegal Donegal: Meath or Monaghan Meath: Dublin, Galway or Donegal.
The 42
3 hours ago
- The 42
Kildare and Limerick progress in Tailteann Cup semi-finals
Tailteann Cup semi-finals Kildare 1-13 Fermanagh 0-9 Limerick 2-18 Wicklow 1-17 KILDARE AND Limerick, the only two unbeaten teams left in the Tailteann Cup, will place their perfect records on the line when they meet in the final on 12 July. With almost matching final quarter performances in their respective semi-finals this afternoon, both teams finished strongly at Croke Park to keep alive their hopes of a golden ticket to the 2026 All-Ireland SFC. Limerick's four-point defeat of Wicklow was by far the more entertaining, with the Division 4 league champions looking down and out with less than 20 minutes to go. They trailed by seven points at that stage to an Oisin McConville-led Wicklow that had dominated the third quarter. Three Dean Healy points for Wicklow in that third quarter, along with a goal from Malachy Stone, had propelled the Garden County into a 1-16 to 1-9 lead. Oisin McGraynor punched the air in delight after his 50th-minute point left seven between them. Advertisement But Limerick's response was emphatic and decisive, a blistering 16-minute burst of scoring that yielded 1-9 in total. Rob Childs got the blitzkrieg underway with a Limerick fortuitous goal — or a victory for never giving up, depending on your attitude — as he dispossessed Wicklow goalkeeper Mark Jackson after a routine catch and kicked to an empty net. Limerick goalkeeper Josh Ryan then took centre stage with two brilliant long-range free-kick conversions, amounting to 0-4 for his team, while Danny Neville added a point to bring his tally to 1-2 for the day. It was an unlikely scoring burst from a Limerick side that took off prolific forward James Naughton due to an apparent knock early in the second half. Wicklow's agony was compounded by a wasted penalty kick in the 57th minute, goalkeeper Ryan turning McGraynor's kick onto the post and away to safety. It was Limerick's fifth win in a row in the competition, though they will still go into the final as underdogs against a Kildare side that started the summer as tier two favourites. They too lived on their wits for three quarters of their semi-final against Fermanagh, and the scores were tied at 0-8 apiece with just 15 minutes to go. At that stage, it looked as if Kildare might extend their terrible Croke Park record having lost their previous five games there. But substitute Brian Flanagan made a huge impact, reeling off four points in a row to give his team a vital cushion in a low-scoring game affected by long spells of torrential rain. McLoughlin's third score was a two-pointer, and he drilled over another single late on to bring his tally to 0-5, enough to claim the Man of the Match award. There was a late cameo too from James McGrath, who got forward to score a goal for the third game in a row. The seven-point win flattered Kildare as they'd only led by 0-7 to 0-6 at half-time and added just a single point in the first 20 minutes of the second half. But with 14 wides overall, and four decent goal chances created aside from the one that McGrath converted, they were full value for the win.
