Donegal go back to back with Ulster titles after a Clones thriller
Donegal 2-23
Armagh 0-28
DONEGAL HAVE RETAINED their Ulster title after an incredible contest that came down to the final play of an exhausting 90 minutes of football.
A goal from Ciaran Moore in the third minute of the second period of extra time put them into a two-point lead after it looked like they were completely punched out. Armagh goalkeeper Ethan Rafferty levelled it then with a two-point free from 45 metres out.
But Niall O'Donnell was to have the final say to bring the Anglo-Celt back to the Hills with a late winner.
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Irish Independent
44 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Tredagh Boxing Academy enjoy gold rush up North at Armagh/Down Championships
Three of their fighters saw Friday night action at the Armagh/Down Open Championships in Craigavon where Daniel Mathews boxed very well in his semi-final against Dundalk opposition and was unlucky to be edged out on a split decision. Daniel, only back from a long injury, was very impressive in the first half of the bout but lost the last round, with his inactivity for the past two months a key factor. Callum Carragher boxed his final against a very sharp Jake Daly from D Box. This was in the senior section and it was Callum's first experience of three rounds of three minutes duration, with no headguard. This was undoubtedly the fight of the night as it showcased two very talented boxers. Callum's advanced technical combinations and hard-hitting backhands were very impressive in a high-tempo contest and he was crowned as an Armagh/Down Open senior champion by unanimous decision. Darragh Smyth was in action against a very strong, game boxer Christian Mc Masters from Portavogie Boxing Club and this was another high-tempo, tough bout. Darragh's skillset has really improved over the past year and this, mixed with his natural strength and hard-hitting backhand, was the difference as he was also crowned as an Armagh/Down Open champion. The Saturday was another busy day as boxers and coaches from Tredagh Academy took off in different directions. At the All-Ireland Cadet Championships in the National Stadium both Cian Smyth and Charlie Flanagan were in action again after their impressive wins in the same competition the weekend before. Cian Smyth was up first and he faced Se O'Neill from St Janice's Boxing Club in what turned out to be another fantastic bout. The Tredagh fighter was particularly impressive in rounds two and three but lost out on the dreaded split decision. Nevertheless, there was plenty to admire about Cian who is technically still a novice and yet won one bout on his National Stadium debut and very nearly progressed to the semi-finals. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more Charlie Flanagan from Tredagh faced the current All-Ireland champion from Avona, took the first round and was winning the second when he tripped and injured his knee. Unfortunately, Charlie had to retire and is having the issue medically addressed. Like young Cian, Charlie really excelled in this competition, coming through two rounds, and it didn't go unnoticed as he was invited onto the coveted Leinster Development Squad. The same weekend Tredagh also sent a number of boxers to Craigavon for their respective Armagh/Down finals. Kailin Morris had a cracking contest with Ethan Mulligan (Camlough) and lost narrowly, while James Hackett also fought opposition from Camlough, boxed very well at range and triggered his aggressive, hard-hitting backhand to become an Armagh/Down Open champion by unanimous decision. Jamie Campbell was also involved in a tough three-round battle against a strong lad in Toryn Simpson (SOTS BC). Jamie bit down on his gumshield hard and showed great determination and will to earn the decision and get crowned as an Armagh/Down Open champion. Emma O'Gorman had a repeat of her All-Ireland final against an opponent from Castleblayney and raised her game. So much son that the Tredagh corner felt she had won, but the outcome went the other way on a split decision. There was better fortune for Keith Muma who gave a technical masterclass with aggression to beat Eoin Bennett (John McCoy BC) by unanimous decision and win another Armagh/Down title. Meanwhile, Ceejay Sheelan and Andrew Mathews attended Leinster Development Squad training in Carlow recently, while Michael James McDonagh and Simon McDonagh boxed at the exhibition show in Bay City BC in Dublin. Tredagh's head coach Padraig McCullough attended weekend four of the Sport Ireland Coach Developer Course in Limerick University. Overall, in the past few weeks Tredagh Academy have won seven golds and three silvers in the senior Armagh/Down Championships and seven golds and one silver at the equivalent junior competition - the club's biggest ever number of champions in those two tournaments.
Extra.ie
2 days ago
- Extra.ie
Dessie Farrell reaches his breaking point
Sideline cool has been the hallmark of Dublin leaders in the years of plenty. Pat Gilroy was animated in starting the revolution, but Jim Gavin, whatever his demeanour behind the walls of the training ground, was in public the Zen face of the greatest team in Irish sport. This was most famously shown during a League game in Tralee in early 2019. Pat Gilroy. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile At the half-time whistle, there was an outbreak of shaping, pulling and dragging between the Kerry and Dublin players. As the TV cameras zoomed in, Gavin walked into shot, making his way across the pitch to the dressing rooms. And he didn't break stride as he approached the rows breaking out all around him, instead stepping briskly past them and continuing on his way. Dessie Farrell brought a similar steadiness in public on succeeding Gavin. Like his old team-mate, he is measured and not given to histrionics on the line. Dublin manager Dessie Farrell. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile But every man has his breaking point, and Farrell reached his on Sunday in Croke Park. As he watched his team concede five points to technical breaches in their bleak defeat to Armagh, Farrell took off his baseball cap at one point and threw it to the ground. He quickly picked it up and put it back on, but his reaction was as eloquent a commentary on Dublin's performance as the grim statistic of 17 wides. Dublin vs Armagh, June 1, 2025. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile Little wonder that Farrell talked of 'sloppy' play, and he was, understandably, exercised by those needless rule breaches. Three of them were for breaking the 4v3 rule, which handed Armagh three simple second-half points, while an infraction on an Armagh mark in the first half gave Rory Grugan the chance to land a two-point free, which he duly did. Almost as bad were the wild two-point attempts in the second half as Dublin chased the game. Armagh had taken control of the match thanks to two-pointers, with Grugan landing a rallying score when his team trailed by three early on. Rian O'Neill. Pic: ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo Then Rian O'Neill brought a dazzling edge to his return, scoring three booming two-pointers, one from a free, one from what seemed near the middle of the field, and one shortly after half-time that appeared to have a demoralising effect on Dublin. It looked as if Dublin players saw what the opposition were doing and tried to ape it, but to muddled effect. They managed three two-pointers but only by squandering a host of other chances; teams rarely thrive on a tactic of throwing everything at the wall and hoping enough of it sticks. With a return to characteristic understatement, Farrell suggested after the match that players might 'regret' some of their shooting choices. The live danger is that Dublin's regret is only beginning. Dublin manager Dessie Farrell. Pic: INPHO/Ryan Byrne The draw for the final round of group matches obliges them to play Derry in Páirc Esler on Saturday week. It looks a winnable match for Farrell's team, who are second in Group 4 on two points. However, Derry showed enough in their rip-roaring draw with Galway in Celtic Park to encourage the belief that they haven't been far away from a win this season, undone by a wretched run of tough fixtures, and the degenerative effect loss after loss has on players' belief. That latter problem became particularly obvious when allowing Galway back into a contest that should have been well beyond them. But there is quality still in the team, from the inspirational Brendan Rogers and Conor Glass to, significantly, a marked uptick in the performance of Shane McGuigan at the weekend. A venue that will be alien territory for Dublin but well known to Derry could also be a factor, but last Sunday's performance, in front of a half-full crowd, suggested that the importance of Croke Park is declining as Dublin becomes diminished, too. There will be consolation for Farrell and Dublin supporters in the memory of the team producing their best performance of the year in Salthill in round one of the group series. That match, crucially, featured a fit Con O'Callaghan, for 45 minutes, anyway. He departed early with an injury that kept him out for the Armagh match. O'Callaghan offers a luxurious spread of services, from ball-winning to point-scoring, from two-pointers to focal point. It seems crucial to get him fit for Saturday week. Even then, though, Dublin's reliance on so many facets of O'Callaghan's game is also a reflection on the thin spread of quality elsewhere in the attack. The exception to that is Ciarán Kilkenny, but, like O'Callaghan, he fulfils many roles. There is only so much a veteran can do, though, and Kilkenny looked worn out by the end of Sunday's game. His frustrated attempt at a two-pointer was the last action of the game, which was an apt conShackled: clusion ? Cofaig,h given the team-wide carelessness, if not fairly capturing how hard the player himself had tried. What Farrell needs is for support players to become leaders, but if experienced picks haven't done it by now, they're unlikely to discover their inner James McCarthy in the next fortnight. And in the case of others, they don't yet have the experience to inspire a team struggling with a transition between one era and the next one. Beating a winless Derry isn't beyond this side, as there is enough talent and application in the team to follow a clever plan to a happy conclusion. But Armagh's superiority was at times painfully obvious in Croke Park. Donegal also looks a standard above, as potentially do Kerry and Tyrone. This makes a stark contrast with the hysteria around Dublin dominance when they were winning six in a row. They were better than the rest of the country then, but fears about an unending age of blue rule were silly, based on little evidence. The bruising reality of today makes that doom-mongering seem even dafter. Dublin are back among the pack, not so far behind that they give up hope, but with the gap between them and the best more pronounced than it's been in almost two decades.
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Galway performance can be start of needed Derry change, insists McKaigue
Former Derry captain Chrissy McKaigue says the team's 'frightening' intensity against Galway was badly needed and, potentially, a 'turning point' for the beleaguered group. Last year's National League winners haven't won a game in 2025 with ex-coach Gavin Devlin claiming that Paddy Tally, who took over from Mickey Harte as manager, should have 'run a million miles away from the job'. Devlin, who was Harte's right-hand man, made the comments in April after Derry's heavy Ulster SFC loss to Donegal. He claimed that the players are still pining for former manager Rory Gallagher and said it looked as if they were 'sulking' at times against Donegal. McKaigue is a close friend of Devlin's and, speaking at the 2025 Electric Ireland All-Ireland MFC launch, said he was greatly encouraged by the draw with Galway. "At times he wouldn't pull any punches, as that interview showed," said McKaigue of Devlin. "What I would go back and say to that comment is that watching Derry at the weekend, it was a really strong performance from Derry in terms of attitude, their application, their intensity. "It was frightening the intensity Derry brought to that game. Sitting in Celtic Park in the stand watching the intensity they brought, it was probably a chip off the old block. "For Derry now it's the consistency in that, can they back that up like the best teams do, week-in and week-out, game-in, game-out? "Gavin's comments, he obviously made that comment, we all heard that comment. But if you were at the game at the weekend, you would say to yourself, hopefully this is the real turning point for that Derry group because no-one really gave them a chance against Galway, let's be honest. "I think Galway themselves were taken back by the intensity, the physicality that Derry brought."
