Storming second half sees Westmeath past Carlow and into Leinster MFC quarter-final
Westmeath 2-12 Carlow 2-9
A superb second half performance at Netwatch Cullen Park swept aside the Carlow challenge in this Leinster Minor Football Championship preliminary quarter-final as Westmeath advanced to play Louth in the next round.
The home side got off to a great start when an attempt at a two-pointer by Mark Buggy dropped under the crossbar. The Westmeath keeper failed to take control and as the ball spilled from his grasp, Ronan Dooley was on hand to force it over the line.
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RTÉ News
7 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Tailteann Cup Preliminary Quarter-Finals: All you need to know
SATURDAY, 7 JUNE Offaly v New York, Glenisk O'Connor Park, 2pm Westmeath v Laois, TEG Cusack Park, 5pm SUNDAY, 8 JUNE Wexford v Antrim, Chadwicks Wexford Park, 1.30pm Sligo v Carlow, Kilcoyne Park, Tubbercurry, 2pm ONLINE Live scoring on RTÉ.ie and the RTÉ News app. Highlights also available across the weekend. TV Offaly v New York and Westmeath v Laois will be streamed live on GAA+. Highlights of all the weekend's action on The Sunday Game, RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player, from 9.30pm. RADIO Live updates on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport and Sunday Sport - and RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta's Spórt an tSathairn and Spórt an Lae. WEATHER Saturday: After a wet start to the day, cloud and rain will gradually clear eastwards leaving a mix of showers and sunny spells for Saturday. Highest temperatures of 12 to 15 degrees in moderate to fresh and occasionally strong northwest winds. Sunday: A mix of sunshine and showers, with cloud increasing in the west through the afternoon, before brightening again by the evening. Highest temperatures of just 13 to 16 degrees in moderate westerly winds. For more go to We welcome New York And so 16 became 11+1. The add-on, the footballers of New York, who again enter the competition at this stage. Perhaps, supporters in Leitrim are cursing their arrival, as they were the third-placed side to lose out after the regulation phase. A crumb of comfort for Stephen Poacher's side is that they finished a difficult year on a high with that win over Tipperary. Poacher is already looking towards next January, plotting Leitrim's escape from Division 4, no doubt. New York have been preparing for this weekend since their Connacht exit at the hands of Galway on 6 April. More time to get used to the new playing rules. That said, the Exiles looked more than assured in adjusting to the changes, with Frank O'Reilly, Bobby O'Regan and James Walsh catching the eye with their two-pointers. New York certainly put it up to the Tribes in the opening half, trailing only by three points at the break. They gave as good as they got, before being overpowered 2-18 to 0-06 by the Connacht champions on the resumption. They will obviously hope to stay in the game longer when taking on Offaly at Glenisk O'Connor Park. The counties previously met at the quarter-final stage in 2022. A point that New York forward Shane Brosnan alluded to, when speaking to RTÉ Sport last month. "We were very good for 35 minutes, we know we need to probably add on another bit of fitness and hopefully complete that performance that we had in the first-half for a full 70-minute game, he said. "We probably just didn't have the legs to keep going in the second-half, but it was good to get the game against a team like Galway." Preliminary and onto quarter-finals proper So we have our pairings this weekend: Offaly v New York, Westmeath v Laois, Wexford v Antrim and Sligo v Carlow. Watching on with their quarter-final spots guaranteed after topping their groups are Kildare, Limerick, Fermanagh and Wicklow. This quartet will have home advantage in the last eight, where the draw, live on Morning Ireland, RTÉ Radio 1 from 8.35am on Monday, shall be subject to the avoidance of repeat pairings from the group stage where possible. Pairings that can't happen: Kildare v Sligo, Wicklow v Offaly, Wicklow v Laois, Limerick v Westmeath, Limerick v Antrim, Fermanagh v Wexford, Fermanagh v Carlow. The quarter-finals are scheduled across the weekend of 14/15 June. Surprise participants at this juncture Ahead of the concluding round, both Westmeath and Offaly were favoured to secure their quarter-final berths. The same could be said of Carlow, who faced the already eliminated Longford. But the trio suffered defeats: Westmeath and Offaly by the bare minimum against Limerick and Laois respectively, the classic sucker-punch in both cases, while Carlow were well off it against their Leinster opponents and were somewhat flattered with the five-point difference in the end. Now it's a case of picking up the pieces. For Declan Kelly and Mickey Harte (above), New York are something of an unknown quantity, as they look to get the Faithful ship back on course. Losing to a 75th-minute penalty against their neighbours was a jolt. In truth, they would have expected this week off. That said, you'd fancy them too see off their overseas visitors here, where Ruairi McNamee will surely get another chance to impress after kicking some fine scores when introduced last weekend. Westmeath v Laois, on paper, is the game of the weekend. A clash of the maiden winners and last year's finalists. For the Lake County, 2025 has so far been a year of agonising defeats, most notably during their Division 2 campaign. Relegation was the outcome there. More heartache last weekend when Emmett Rigter's point at the death denied Dermot McCabe's men a last-eight berth. It was a nip and tuck affair in Portlaoise, where both teams had periods of ascendancy, one such period saw Westmeath score seven points on the spin in the second half to re-establish the lead. They couldn't push that out and were caught in the end by an improving Limerick side. Laois' victory over Offaly was characterised by a decent spread of scorers across their starting XV and substitutes. Brian Byrne, in the full-forward line, was excellent throughout, while Mark Barry was coolness personified in slotting home the winning penalty. Justin McNulty really got a tune out of Laois throughout the knockout phase last year. That took them all the way to the final. Accounting for another of the pre-competition favourites should set them up nicely again, though the slight nod here is in the direction of Westmeath. First up on Sunday is the clash of Wexford v Antrim. The Slaneysiders could not live with Fermanagh's second-half onslaught at Croker and dropped to second in their group. They can have no complaints in what was their second defeat at GAA HQ this season after losing the Division 4 final to Limerick. Antrim squeezed through in third spot in their group, when seeing off London by eight points. The margin of victory was significant in just edging out Leitrim for that remaining place. Late scores from Marc Jordan and Dominic McEnhill were crucial to give Andy McEntee's men another day out. Wexford, on their home patch, should have enough to advance. With Markievicz Park having work done on its surface, Kilcoyne Park in Tubbercurry will stage Sligo v Carlow. A fair assessment of the Yeats County so far would suggest they have not quite hit the same levels reached reached in 2024 where they nearly took Galway's scalp in Connacht and then lost narrowly to eventual winners Down in the semi-finals of this competition. They were expected to push for promotion from Division 3. That never materialised and they were far from impressive in defeating Tipperary and Leitrim in the group stage. Fifteen points down against Kildare, they fought gamely to reduce the deficit, prompting manager Tony McEntee to hail a resilience that hasn't been in this team here before. Carlow, after that setback against Longford, will need to regroup. Manager Joe Murphy is accentuating the positives and speaking on local radio, said: "They're in a division higher than us and that, but you know, we travelled well before when we went to Fermanagh. We won't fear anyone and we will give it our all." Sligo, however, are the best bet to progress.
Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Irish Examiner
Drogheda confident of claiming Euro place despite uncertainty
Uncertainty over Drogheda United's place in the Uefa Conference League hasn't affected their players, according to assistant manager Daire Doyle. A first-ever FAI Cup success for the Louth club last November was decorated by qualification directly into the second round of Europe's third competition at the second round stage. That guaranteed minimum €525,000 windfall in prize-money and their participation in the draw on June 18 is in jeopardy due to rules around multi-club ownership. Uefa forbid clubs with the same owners facing each other in competition for sporting integrity purposes and the latest club in the stable of Trivela, Silkeborg IK, also recently qualified from the Danish league. Crystal Palace are facing similar obstacles due to John Textor's stakes in Lyon and the American is prepared to sell his 25% shareholding to facilitate the first foray into Europe for the FAI Cup holders. That isn't so simple in the case of Drogs, who are 100% owned by the American investors. They recently purchased 80% of Silkeborg IK, outlining the difficulty of divestment. 'I'm confident we'll be in the draw and get to play in Europe because the club deserves it,' said Kevin Doherty's assistant Doyle. 'I know club officials travelled to Uefa and they have proposed a solution. We're all hoping for a positive outcome. 'If something was to happen all of sudden, to be honest it could be up in the air. We'll have to deal with that if it arises over the next week but I'm confident.' Doyle was speaking at the draw for the second round of the FAI Cup, which pits the holders against non-league Crumlin United. A yearly improvement in Ireland's European coefficient means this year's winners will enter the Europa League, guaranteeing a backdoor into the Conference and a minimum prize pot of €700,000. Drogs are currently second behind Shamrock Rovers at the midway point but Doyle admits the new Cup bonus makes it most favourable. 'I suppose it is because the league runner-up only qualifies for the Conference,' he admitted. Meanwhile, Cork City will face non-league Leicester Celtic – one of Damien Duff's former clubs - in the second round to be played on the weekend of July 20. Newly crowned FAI senior player of the year Robbie Brady helped conduct the draw and pulled out a Premier Division tie for the St Mochta's team his brother Liam is part of. Fresh from winning the Leinster Senior League on Wednesday night, they will travel to face Waterford. Munster Senior League outfit University College Cork are also on the road, taking on 2023 winners St Patrick's Athletic. Cobh Ramblers make the trip to Leinster Senior League opposition in Bangor Celtic, as do Bohemians against Killester/Donnycarney. The final will take at Lansdowne Road on November 9. In the Women's FAI Cup, holders Shelbourne face a tricky tie against Galway United while there's another top-flight clash between Cork City and Peamount United. Men's FAI Cup draw: Shamrock Rovers v Wexford FC Dundalk v Sligo Rovers Fairview Rangers v Shelbourne Kerry FC v Athlone Town. Cork City v Leicester Celtic. Finn Harps v UCD. St Patrick's Athletic v University College Cork. Salthill Devon v St Michael's Tipperary. Galway United v Tolka Rovers. Bray Wanderers v Wayside Celtic. Bangor Celtic v Cobh Ramblers. Castlebar Celtic v Longford Town. Killester Donnycarney v Bohemians. Waterford v St Mochta's. Treaty United v Derry City. Drogheda United v Crumlin United. Women's FAI Cup first round draw: Wexford v Bohemians Cork City v Peamount United Treaty United v Ferns United Newbridge Town v Whitehall Rangers Shelbourne v Galway United Athlone Town v Terenure Rangers Shamrock Rovers v Waterford Sligo Rovers v DLR Waves Ties to be held the week-ending June 29
The 42
2 days ago
- The 42
Farewell to the format that sought to give Gaelic football the showcase it deserves
THEY SAY DETAILS make perfection and perfection is not a detail. This may be football's summer of love but it will also be the last one to be played to this beat as the concept of incorporating a league structure to championship football ends the weekend after next. It is likely that not too many will mourn its departure given that the relationship developed between supporters and championship structures tend to be about as sustainable, deep and meaningful as the ball on a tee is to a high-handicap golfer. And just like the latter, when it inevitably goes out of bounds or enters terrain where livestock could be lost, there is always a brand new shiny one to be pulled from the bag. If you think we are exaggerating here is a stat to chew on: since the introduction of the qualifiers 25 years ago, next year will see the ninth change to the format. We have seen it all: a reduction in the qualifier rounds to facilitate the Tommy Murphy Cup, splitting the qualifiers in two to create schedule breathing space, the introduction of the Super 8s, the return of the retro straight knock-out compliments of a global pandemic, the return of the qualifiers to kill time, the introduction of the Tailteann Cup and, of course, the soon to be departed All-Ireland series league format. Those who argue that the GAA have spent a quarter of a century chasing its tail have their case strengthened by the fact that the latest incarnation feels more like a tribute band to the original headline act back in 2001, with the tweak that there will be a second chance to the second chance. Eight first-round games will see the winners hit a second round where they will play off for four All-Ireland quarter-final berths, while the eight first-round losers will play off to make it into a preliminary quarter-final, where they will face the four first-round winners who did not make it to the quarter-finals. We hope you understand, but perhaps it is best that you don't because there will probably be another one coming down the track someday very soon, so it is advisable not to get too invested. Armagh's win over Dublin guaranteed their place in the All-Ireland quarter-finals. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO The one thing that has not changed are the provincial championships; a concept so flawed that they triggered the last quarter of a century of format meddling to try and bring balance and fairness to a system where there was none. Advertisement In truth, it is not quite right to say that they have not changed. In fact, they have become the antithesis of hiding in plain sight. They can't be missed to the naked eye, yet, in terms of their impact on the All-Ireland championship, they have never mattered less. In that way, they serve the best of both worlds – most pointedly given Louth's joy last month – but long-term, the game would be better served in their detachment as pre-championship standalone competitions. In the argument of geographical entitlement against sporting merit, the game as a competitive spectacle can only prosper when the latter wins out. And that is why as we wave off the league element of the All-Ireland series, we should do so with the expressed hope that we will see it back again some day soon. Because of all the format changes, it was the one that sought to give football the summer showcase it deserves. It was why the former GAA Director General Paraic Duffy came up with the Super 8s, inspired by the idea of importing the one competition that has worked – the Allianz League – to the summer to make up for a deficit in competitive and high-end games. The flaw in the Super 8s was that they were elitist, but that was always going to be addressed by ensuring that every team at every level would get to play games at their level. Cavan and Donegal are level on two points apiece heading into the final round of matches. Leah Scholes / INPHO Leah Scholes / INPHO / INPHO The irony is that as we say farewell to the group stages after their third and final season, they have never worked as well. Practically every team has something to play for in the final round: Donegal, Mayo, Tyrone and Cavan all grouped together on two points; Galway, Dublin and Derry are vying for two knock-out places in Group Four; Cork/Roscommon and Louth/Clare have been distilled down to knockout games; while Kerry/Meath and Down/Monaghan are playing for direct entry to the quarter-finals. The irony is that had that happened over the past two seasons, there would have been no move to shelve the league series but the truth is that the format just got lucky this time. But when you neglect detail, all you have left to lean on is luck and the thing about luck is that it lends, it does not give. The initial decision to allow three teams to advance from each group – thereby playing 24 games to eliminate four teams – was always going to feed the public perception of a lack of jeopardy. It was done to ensure that 'dead rubbers' would not feature in the final round, but not only did that kill the intrigue of the round robin series, the promise that the Sam Maguire would become more accessible by merit was not delivered on. One of the hooks was that it would be linked to league status – which will also apply to the new format – offering the incentive for teams promoted from Division 3 a shot at playing in the Sam Maguire. Over the past three seasons, Westmeath were the only one out of six teams promoted from Division 3 to be rewarded with a place in the Sam Maguire, with those places being taken by a team of lower league status that reached a provincial final. For the past two seasons, Clare have reached the Sam Maguire by beating Waterford and Tipperary. Last year, they lost to Down in a final-round promotion decider by 11 points, yet by virtue of beating the 32nd placed team in the league, they took Down's place in the Sam Maguire. That most likely would not have happened had the GAA legislated for provincial councils for their draws to be seeded by league status. More to the point, at a Central Council meeting last September, a decision was taken that the All-Ireland league series was not fit for purpose, but a decision was made to keep it for one more year. It begs a question as to why they did need not at least seek to address the flaws that were so evident for this season? Why did they not cut the number of teams to two emerging from the group stages, thereby eliminating the need for the preliminary quarter-finals that demands teams play three weekends in a row and allow the All-Ireland play-offs badly needed breathing space? Why did they not seek to curb the threat of dead rubbers by not pre-determining the sequence of fixtures in the groups to ensure that the two opening round winners met in the second round? Indeed, given that the link between league and championship has not worked, had the four bottom-placed teams faced playing in two relegation finals with both Tailteann Cup finalists getting promoted, there would be no dead rubbers and there would be clarity 12 months in advance as to what competition teams would be playing in. Instead, by not digging deep into the detail, they have buried the future. The irony is that as the game has never been easier to look at, we will get to see less of it. Go figure.
