Down edge Louth for second All-Ireland group stage win
Down made it two wins from two in the group stage of the All-Ireland series as they survived a late Louth fightback to win 0-25 to 0-24 at Pairc Esler.
After a delayed start to the game in Newry, Odhran Murdock kicked a fine two pointer a minute into the game to set Conor Laverty's men on their way.
Advertisement
They added two more points before a free from Sam Mulroy got Louth on the board after eight minutes.
Two two-pointers from Danny Magill and Murdock further stretched Down's lead and they eventually moved nine clear before Niall McDonnell was thwarted by Ryan McEvoy in front of goal.
Louth rattled off four points in a row to cut the gap, but a late scoring blitz helped Down to lead 0-16 to 0-7 at half-time.
Two two-pointer and another effort from Mulroy helped the Leinster champions to chip away at Down's lead, reducing it to six points, but three in a row from the hosts helped them to re-establish their advantage.
Advertisement
Donal McKenny hit the post for Louth with Mulroy, Craig Lennon and Tommy Durnin scoring three straight two-pointers for the visitors as they moved to within three points of the Mournemen.
Louth had the momentum and got back to within one, before Mulroy's attempt after the hooter was blocked as Down held on for a narrow win.
Having comfortably dispatched Clare in their first game, the Mournemen are in a commanding position ahead of facing Monaghan at a neutral venue in the final round of group games in a fortnight.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
"I had to go to the hospital for three days. I was just emotionally spent" - West said acquiring Kobe and Shaqal in the same offseason crushed his health
In the years following the Showtime era, the Los Angeles Lakers entered unfamiliar territory — irrelevance. The once-feared juggernaut, anchored by Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy, began fading into the background of NBA contention after their retirements. Pat Riley, the architect of the franchise's '80s dominance, had also moved on. By the mid-1990s, the Lakers were merely a shadow of what they once represented: a team struggling to maintain its identity in a league rapidly evolving around it. An exhausting summer For Jerry West, the late Hall of Fame player turned executive, it was a time for risk. In the summer of 1996, "The Logo" orchestrated one of the boldest double-moves in modern sports history, trading for the draft rights to 17-year-old Kobe Bryant and signing All-NBA center Shaquille O'Neal in free agency. Both acquisitions redefined the franchise for the next decade. But behind the scenes, the legendary general manager paid a steep price. Advertisement "After that was done and the draft was done, I had to go to the hospital for three days," West once said. "I was just emotionally spent and exhausted. I don't sleep. One day, I went to see the doctor, and he said the day after that, he said, 'we're going to have to put you in a hospital.' And I was there for three days." The legendary guard turned basketball executive had staked the Lakers' future on a high school prodigy and an unpredictable superstar center. The Charlotte Hornets selected Bryant 13th overall in the 1996 NBA Draft. The teenager from Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania had never played a second of college basketball. Yet West saw something. He'd spent countless hours evaluating Bryant's footwork, instincts, and innate competitiveness. When he envisioned the 6'6" guard alongside a dominant big man, the next chapter of the Lakers' greatness began to take shape in his mind. To complete the picture, he pursued O'Neal — a three-time All-Star in Orlando, a global sensation, and arguably the most physically dominant center since Wilt Chamberlain. Convincing "Big Diesel" to come to L.A. required navigating a minefield of salary cap intricacies, internal politics and frenzied media speculation. West absorbed it all. Advertisement Related: "You gonna be calling me Mr. Jordan before the night is up" - John Starks recalls how he tried to intimidate Michael Jordan in his Knicks debut Jerry's Lakers blueprint By the time the ink dried on the two deals, the toll on West's body and mind had reached its limit. "The Logo," normally composed and intensely focused, simply couldn't go any further. Months of stress, sleepless nights and high-stakes decisions had culminated in three days of hospitalization. "I have no energy at all and I've always been a high-energy person," West revealed. "But that was the start of another great run for the Lakers and two of the greatest players we ever had." Advertisement The price West paid soon became the foundation for the next Lakers dynasty. From 2000 to 2002, Los Angeles captured three consecutive NBA championships. O'Neal won Finals MVP each time, dominating the paint with a blend of brute strength and underrated finesse. Maturing into a lethal scorer and tireless competitor, Bryant evolved from a precocious rookie to one of the league's most feared guards. Their partnership wasn't always smooth. Egos clashed and philosophical differences festered, but the results were undeniable. During their peak, the Lakers were the NBA's gold standard — winning 67 games in the 1999–2000 season and sweeping through the 2001 playoffs with a 15-1 postseason record, a mark that stood untouched for nearly two decades. Together, Bryant and O'Neal formed the most formidable inside-out duo since Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar. They were transformative. On the court, they forced opponents into submission. Though no longer GM when their championship run peaked, West laid the cornerstone of that success. Advertisement His foresight in gambling on a teenager and pulling the league's most sought-after free agent to Los Angeles changed the NBA's landscape. The league, at the time, had never seen a high school guard drafted that high. But Bryant went on to play 20 seasons for the Lakers, becoming the franchise's all-time leading scorer. Related: "Well, basketball here is different" - Kobe Bryant remembered Italian kids telling him he would never be an NBA player
Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
UCLA baseball defeats UC Irvine to advance to NCAA super regionals
UCLA baseball is one step closer to earning a trip to Omaha. The Bruins continued to roll in every facet of the game in the Los Angeles Regional final, scoring early and trusting its bullpen to defeat UC Irvine 8-5 on Sunday night. The Bruins advance to the super regionals of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2019 and will host the Texas San Antonio at Jackie Robinson Stadium this week. UTSA defeated Texas 7-4 in the Austin Regional final, taking down the national second-seed Longhorns to advance to its first-ever super regional. If UCLA beats UTSA, it'll advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., for the first time since 2013. UCLA's offense was just as ready to explode — like they did against Fresno State and Arizona State — against a depleted UC Irvine pitching staff (with high-leverage bullpen arms Ricky Ojeda and David Utagawa unavailable after pitching earlier Sunday). Rallying for six hits across the first two innings, the Bruins put together three runs thanks to RBI singles from Roman Martin and Cashel Dugger, and a sacrifice fly from Roch Cholowsky. UCLA first baseman Mulivai Levu helped place the game in blowout territory — an 8-0 lead — when he connected for a three-run home run in a five-run fourth inning. Much like UCLA had done all weekend, the lineup kept on churning. Freshman right-hander Wylan Moss set the tone for UCLA's combined pitching effort. Moss, who entered the contest with a 2.25 earned-run average and an All-Big-Ten Freshman Team recognition, was as good as advertised to stymie UC Irvine, who came off an 11-run offensive showing earlier in the day. The six-foot-three righty struck out the top of the Anteaters lineup — Will Bermudez, Chase Call and Jacob McCombs — swinging on change ups. Moss, who had yet to pitch in the NCAA Tournament, was lying in wait for a game of magnitude. He pitched 3 ⅓ innings, giving up two runs and two hits, while walking three and striking out four. From there, a five-pitcher bullpen effort kept Irvine at bay, pitching 5 ⅔ innings of five-run ball the rest of the way to wrap up regional action in Westwood. Things got more complicated for UCLA in the sixth, when freshman right-hander Cal Randall gave up a solo home run to UC Irvine designated hitter Alonso Reyes to make it a three-run game, but right-hander Jack O'Connor entered to extinguish the threat — and set down UC Irvine outfielder Chase Call on a fielder's choice to close out the inning. It wasn't easy sailing for the Bruins in the late innings. Graduate student right-hander August Souza bailed UCLA out of a bases-loaded jam by freezing the potential go-ahead run, Blake Penso, on a full-count, 87-mph fastball in the seventh. When the Bruins needed it the most, Souza struck out two in a scoreless eighth, putting metaphorical champagne on ice in Westwood. Freshman right-hander Easton Hawk tossed a perfect ninth, striking out James Castagnola to end it, prompting the Bruins to run onto the field in celebration. UCLA owned the Los Angeles Regional title. Postseason baseball will remain in Jackie Robinson Stadium for at least one more weekend. Levu led all Bruins with three RBIs, while Cholowsky went one for three with two RBIs from sacrifice flies.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Saoirse Ronan expecting first child
Saoirse Ronan is reportedly pregnant with her first child. In photos obtained by The Daily Mail on Sunday, the Irish actress is seen with a baby bump while walking with her husband Jack Lowden in Islington, London. Wearing a black bodysuit and leggings, Ronan had a grey sweatshirt tied around her waist. The 31-year-old first sparked pregnancy rumours when she stepped out in a silk maxi dress with lace inserts at the Louis Vuitton cruise 2026 photocall in Cannes, France last month. Representatives for the couple have not yet commented on the news. However, a source recently told The Irish Independent that the pair was "thrilled" to be expanding their family. The Little Women star and Scottish actor Jack started dating in 2018 and married in a private ceremony in Edinburgh in July 2024. And while speaking to British Vogue for the November 2024 issue, Ronan noted she had "always wanted" to be a mother. "I became successful when I was quite young. So it meant that, actually, by the time I found my partner, I'm now at the stage where if it happened, I would like to have a kid," she shared. "I feel fortunate enough that if I step out of this for a minute, I'm hopefully not giving it up forever. But, yeah, I've always wanted that."
