Leinster pales in comparison to spectacular Munster decider
Some weekend, that. Top billing? You'd be torn between Carlos and Cork, the former, Señor Alcaraz, for
his astounding comeback against Jannik Sinner
in the French Open final, the latter, the hurley-wielding Rebels, for their part in a Munster final that won't soon be forgotten.
'Everything about it was staggering,' writes Denis Walsh of the game at the Gaelic Grounds. '
The suffocating intensity, the twists, the spectacular scores
and the crazy misses.' It was, says Seán Moran in his match report,
'a smouldering, frantic affair'
, one that was decided by the first ever shoot-out in a provincial final.
As Ian O Riordan puts it in his
round-up of the weekend's hurling
, nothing Kilkenny and Galway could produce on Sunday was ever going to outdo what was served up the day before. Nicky English agrees. The Leinster decider was, he writes,
'a pale imitation of the Munster final'
, but while Kilkenny prevailed, he's not convinced they are contenders this year.
They did, though, survive a late Galway rally to win
their sixth successive Leinster title
, Ian in Croke Park to witness their triumph. Paul Keane heard from
Kilkenny manager Derek Lyng
after, and Paul was on hand too earlier in the day to see
Kildare produce a breathless second-half display
against Laois in the Joe McDonagh Cup.
READ MORE
There wasn't too much drama in the Tailteann Cup, the form guide holding as
Sligo, Wexford, Offaly and Westmeath all progressed
, but there was plenty of it on the opening weekend of the women's football All-Ireland championship, Dublin and Meath both needing last second equalisers against Waterford and Armagh, respectively. Kerry opened the defence of their crown with a win over Mayo in Tralee, while last year's runners-up Galway saw off Tipperary in Tuam.
Denis, meanwhile, previews
RTÉ's five-part series on the history and nature of Gaelic football
, the first episode of Hell for Leather airing tonight. Its timing, he says, 'couldn't have been more opportune because this has been the most spectacular football season in living memory' – thanks in no small part to the new rules.
In rugby, after enduring three straight URC semi-final defeats, Leinster finally broke the code,
comfortably beating Glasgow on Saturday
to set up a meeting with the Pretoria Bulls at Croke Park in next Saturday's final. Gerry Thornley reports on the game and hears from
Leo Cullen
and
Jack Conan
, while Johnny Watterson analyses
a performance that was far superior to Leinster's last outing
.
And in racing, Brian O'Connor looks back at
Lambourn's Epsom Derby success
, one that gave Aidan O'Brien a record-extending 11th win in the classic. Lambourn is now odds-on to become the 20th horse to complete the Epsom-Curragh Derby double at the end of this month.
TV Watch
: There are highlights from the GAA and rugby weekends on TG4 and RTÉ 2, respectively, at 8pm, while the pick of the night's football action is Wales' World Cup qualifier away to Belgium (Virgin Media Three, 7.45pm). And at 9.35pm, there's the first episode of Hell for Leather, a history of Gaelic football, on RTÉ One.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
29 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Michael Verney: Why are so many of the best GAA games no longer freely available on tv?
Apart from two of the trio being aptly-named in the context of this piece about the GAA's television scheduling fiasco, that is the programming featured across RTÉ One and RTÉ2 at the same time as the ball is being thrown in two blockbuster All-Ireland SFC clashes.
Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
Chrissy McKaigue: I still feel Derry are a contender for Sam Maguire
Former Derry captain Chrissy McKaigue says talk of them 'dropping off the edge of a cliff' in the last 12 months is misleading and inaccurate. Derry will face Dublin on Saturday evening in a crucial All-Ireland SFC Group 4 encounter, a repeat of the 2024 National League final. Derry won that league decider but have picked up just two wins from 16 league and championship outings since then, with one of those wins coming after a penalty shoot-out. Under Paddy Tally in 2025, Derry have yet to win a game with two draws - both against Galway - from 10 games, costing them their Division 1 place and leaving them scrapping now for their Championship survival. Ex-defender McKaigue, who retired last November, said the reality is that Derry are still 'a contender for Sam Maguire' though he acknowledged that it doesn't seem as likely now as it may have midway through 2024. Speaking at the launch of the Electric Ireland All-Ireland minor championships, McKaigue noted that all of Derry's games this year have been 'played against Division 1 standard teams, or actually Division 1 teams'. "It depends on your definition of dropping off the edge of a cliff," said McKaigue when asked if he could have imagined Derry's results plummeting as they have. Christopher McKaigue, Derry, in action against Paul Conroy, Galway in 2007. Pic: Brian Lawless / SPORTSFILE. "Expectation is a wonderful thing and it's often created by a world outside of the (team) bubble itself. "We won the National League title last year, Division 1, that was no mean feat in my opinion. Now did Derry fail in terms of expectation in the Championship? Absolutely, but there has been a narrative created that Derry's senior footballers had the worst season ever. "I can accurately remember many more poor years for Derry in the Championship than last year yet last year was sort of built up into this catastrophe of a year. It was moreso that we didn't meet expectations. "I'm not saying that everyone follows that narrative but it's amazing that narrative was sort of depicted in so many areas and I felt Mickey Harte got a lot of scrutiny that was a wee bit over the top at times. "To answer your question fully, I still feel that Derry are a contender for Sam Maguire. Maybe not this year in the same capacity as last year but do I feel that the Derry squad will have the potential to be a contender for Sam Maguire in the next number of years? I do." Slaughtneil man McKaigue said Derry deserved to have beaten Galway last time out, eventually finishing in stalemate. "Galway found a way to come back and, looking from the outside, you're thinking, 'Right, the performance was good, Niall Loughlin is back in contention again, a few other boys are very close to coming back, Odhran Lynch, so they could really push on'. "But the worrying thing for Derry still is that they have played seven games in the league, Donegal in the Ulster championship and two games in the round robin. That's 10 games and they still haven't won a game yet. "They'd want to be clearing that one out fairly soon."
The 42
3 hours ago
- The 42
Ireland suffer defeat against world number one side Netherlands
IRELAND SUFFERED a narrow 2-0 defeat against the world number one side Netherlands in Amstelveen this evening. Mark Tumilty's men created several chances against the Olympic gold medallists, but were on the back foot early on when defender Lee Cole had to clear the ball off the line to prevent the opening goal. Ireland then had a period in the ascendancy, with Alistair Empey seeing his goalbound shot blocked. Goalkeeper Jaime Carr was then forced into a good save before Thierry Brinkman thought he had given the Dutch the lead with a reverse stick shot, but it was ruled out after Ireland immediately opted to refer for backstick, which the video umpire agreed with. Advertisement Ireland continued to defend well in the second quarter, and down the other end, Empey won the first penalty corner of the contest, before Luke Madeley's effort on goal was blocked. It was the Dutch who then took the lead through a penalty corner of their own, as Luke Dommershuijzen registered his first senior goal. Some strong Irish defending, including a vital block by Matthew Nelson, ensured their opponents could not double their advantage before half-time. Yet the Netherlands made no mistake with their first chance after the break, as Steijn van Heijningen expertly deflected the ball into the net with a deft touch. Ireland continued to threaten, with the Dutch again keeping them at bay following the concession of another penalty corner, though the Irish defence also had plenty of work to do to prevent their rivals from adding to the scoreline. In the final quarter, Empey won Ireland's third penalty corner of the game, but Cole's resulting effort was saved and cleared. The Dutch saw the game out convincingly and consequently extended their lead at the top of the FIH Pro League table to seven points. The two sides meet again at the same venue tomorrow. The contest gets underway at 7pm Irish time and is available to watch live on the TG4 Player.
