The Schemozzle: Dominance of Dublin and Limerick may be over, but GAA anxious about lack of contenders

Irish Times

09-06-2025

Professor David Hassan, chair of the
GAA's
Amateur Status Review Committee, was interviewed on
RTÉ
radio's This Week show on Sunday. Prof Hassan explained his role and that of the committee.
'The association that is the GAA has been concerned for some time regarding, I suppose, symptoms of activity that would indicate some pressure being exercised upon its amateur status,' he said.
Responding to a question from host Cian McCormack about how money, or the lack of it, could afford some counties an unfair advantage, he agreed.
'I suppose that would be a concern also for the association, in so far as the competitive balance between counties has been itself under some scrutiny in recent years. Put simply, the concern is that a smaller number of counties are now realistic contenders for the All-Ireland senior football and hurling titles.'
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It's interesting that, even though
Limerick's hurlers
and
Dublin's footballers have come back to the pack
, the GAA are still hopeful their flagship championships will become more open.
In football, there have been four separate winners in as many years, which points to a competitive championship.
In hurling, seven different counties have played in the All-Ireland senior final in as many years, which compares quite favourably with previous eras. Even the 'revolution years' of the 1990s, famous for the novel final pairings produced, only saw eight different finalists in a decade.
Baptism of fire for talented goalkeeper
The sideshow around the
Galway
hurlers' goalkeeping situation took another twist on Sunday. The Tribesmen had submitted their official team sheet for the Leinster SHC final against
Kilkenny
, which was distributed by the GAA on Friday. Regular number one Darach Fahy was listed between the sticks despite being suspended.
In the end, Éanna Murphy lined out in goals but he picked up an injury when he tangled with Mossy Keoghan as the latter hit the net just before half-time.
Enter Darragh Walsh, a talented young goalkeeper from Turloughmore.
'Darragh was goalkeeper with the 20s last year,' said Joe Canning on the Sunday Game Live. 'Darragh is a brother of Conor. Seán Walsh of Galway Bay FM, everybody probably knows him, he's his son.
'Darragh is a good goalie but still, you're going down to your third-choice goalie so it's a big occasion for him.'
Co-commentator Michael Duignan chipped in.
'I think it's bigger than they're saying in the studio,' he said. 'It's huge for a young fella to come on and play his first championship game in the Leinster final.'
Unfortunately for the debutant, he spilled a tricky late ball which led to Kilkenny's third goal in a 3-22 to 1-20 win for the Cats.
Wexford's Jack Higgins fists a pass despite the attention of Antrim's Eoghan McCabe and Joseph Finnegan during the Tailteann Cup preliminary quarter-final at Wexford Park on Sunday. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho
Life gets harder after Tailteann Cup success
The curse of the Tailteann Cup continues. The first winners, in 2022, were Westmeath, who failed to win any of their next nine championship matches until, back in the Tailteann, they beat Antrim this year.
Meath won it in 2023. Within just over a year, they had parted company with their manager, Colm O'Rourke, after winning three of 11 matches in 2024. Last year's champions were Down, who were subsequently relegated to Division Three.
In fact, the form of last year's renewal looks generally suspect now. Runners-up were Laois, who finished in sixth place in Division Three and exited the Tailteann Cup with a heavy reversal against Westmeath on Saturday.
Antrim also made the semis last year. A very disappointing 2025 for them, which included relegation to Division Four, was wrapped up on Sunday when they lost by 11 points to Wexford in the preliminary quarter-final.
Camogie's gulf in class needs to be tackled
Going by the weekend's results, camogie has a problem which won't be as easily remedied as the skorts controversy. The one-sided nature of too many matches is a real issue. In the senior championship on Saturday, Tipperary beat Wexford by 32 points (7-18 to 0-7), which wasn't even in the top two most lopsided matches.
Elsewhere, Waterford defeated Derry by 43 points (5-30 to 0-2) while in the premier junior championship, Armagh were 58-point winners over Louth. Armagh led at half-time by 6-22 to 0-0 and added another 1-15 unanswered after the break for a 7-37 to 0-0 victory.
These results weren't outliers, either. Derry lost by 4-25 to 0-5 against Galway in the previous round, while Cork beat Limerick by 38 points (6-25 to 0-5) on the same weekend.
Quote
'Even at this early stage of the second half, it seems like it's game over.' – Darragh Maloney loses track of time as Kilkenny hurler TJ Reid hits the net in the 57th minute of the Leinster final against Galway.
Number: 1-12
Dylan Hyland's scoring return for Offaly in their Tailteann Cup win over New York.