Tyrone take major step, dominant Donegal, Monaghan's second-half struggles
1. Tyrone take major step
It was far from a freewheeling classic of a football game, but at this stage of the season the outcome is the only real currency. Tyrone had already lost twice in this summer's championship before they arrived in Croke Park last night. If Dublin joined Armagh and Mayo in that list of conquerors, then Malachy O'Rourke's side were bound for the exit door.
Instead they took a major step forward. For the first time since 2021 when they lifted Sam, they will contest on the last four stage. Their performance was pockmarked by errors, the match was nervy and anxious for long stretches, but Tyrone cleared their minds and pushed on confidently at the decisive phase.
They looked at Luke Breathnach pointing in the 64th minute to pull Dublin within one, and then struck 0-7 without reply in the remainder of the game. Four of those were supplied by substittutes. The electricity provided by Eoin McElholm and Ruairi Canavan suggested Tyrone have the depth and attacking range to trouble anyone. There was a few moments of brilliance by Darragh Canavan as he hit three points from play over the course of the game.
And the big moments by their experienced core of Peter Harte, Mattie Donnelly, Niall Morgan, and man-of-the-match Kieran McGeary, illustrated that they remain a team with a lot of big game know-how.
'You talk about the skill and the work but it is that raw bite and fight for the jersey,' remarked Malachy O'Rourke afterwards.
Advertisement
'That's probably the most pleasing thing of all. You're obviously looking at quality and a good high skill level and everything else.
'But if you don't have that bite and you don't have that, the fellas prepared to work really hard for each other and there's no such thing as a lost cause, you're not going to win. So really delighted with that. In fairness to the boys, they've shown great application all year.'
Tyrone's Kieran McGeary is hugged by her mother Kathleen after the game. Tom Maher / INPHO Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO
2. Dominant Donegal
'Donegal, Donegal' rang out around Croke Park down the stretch yesterday evening.
The Tír Chonaill faithful headed for the Hills happy, McGuinness and co set for their second All-Ireland semi-final on the bounce.
They had to dig deep to overcome Monaghan at Croke Park yesterday, Donegal trailing by seven points at half time, 1-15 to 0-11. They looked leggy, the six-day turnaround and hectic schedule appearing like it may catch up with them. But they found another gear in the second period, outscoring their opponents 1-15 to 0-5 — and 0-11 to 0-0 from the 46th to 68th minutes.
In all, they scored 1-26 from 26 scoring chances and hit just four wides, three of those from Michael Murphy. He finished with 0-4, split evenly between play and wides. Donegal had nine different scorers, all but one hitting more than a point. Michael Langan led the charge with 1-3 on his 100th appearance for the county, while himself, Murphy, Conor O'Donnell, Ciarán Thompson, Oisín Gallen and Shane O'Donnell all clipped 0-3 or more.
This, of course, all stemmed from defensive solidity, goalkeeper Shaun Patton bouncing back after a nervy opening period. Their bench press was key too, with Patrick McBrearty kicking two big scores which encapsulated their experience and composure through the endgame.
The substitute clenched his first and let out a roar after raising his first white flag through the blitz, himself and the Donegal faithful loving it and hoping there is more to come.
McBrearty celebrates. Tom Maher / INPHO Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO
3. Monaghan's second-half struggles
Rory Beggan landed a mammoth two-pointer after the first-half buzzer and Monaghan headed for the dressing room seven points up. They will have been pleased with their 35 minutes' work.
Gabriel Bannigan's side had Donegal on the ropes. His nephew, Míchéal, was the goalscorer, while they kicked four two-pointers, with brilliant Beggan and Andrew Woods on song. There was room for improvement too, with a fair share of wides recorded.
But Donegal utterly outplayed them from there. Monaghan failed to score for 22 minutes. They tried to force matters down the stretch, often overcomplicating things as they desperately tried to stop the rot, and finished with 12 wides in all.
This was a puzzling collapse, a limp exit.
Related Reads
Dessie Farrell steps down as manager of Dublin footballers
Jim McGuinness: 'We, the management and the players, had nothing to do with the statement'
Donegal dominate in second half against Monaghan to reach All-Ireland last four
'It was definitely a game of two halves,' Bannigan said afterwards. 'The first-half performance from Monaghan, to me, gives you a glimpse of what this team is capable of. But we need to be able to put two halves like that together if we're going to take out a team like Donegal.'
Struggling to put his finger on it all, he added: 'The things that we were doing brilliantly in the first half, we just weren't able to replicate them in the second half.
'There were handling errors, there were poor options taken, we were getting shots blocked down, we kicked more wides. We didn't seem to have the same hunger around the breaking ball. All of those things just went against us.'
*****
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
‘Where in the name of God have these Meath players come from?' asks Tomás Ó Sé before witnessing Kerry miracle
Well, isn't it a good thing that the resurgences of two of Gaelic football's superpowers were live and free on RTÉ, with none of that GAA+ lark. That meant everyone could witness the rebirth of Meath or, as Marty Morrissey put it, 'The Royals are back in football. BIG. TIME.'. And then came Kerry's miracle-like second half as they ended Armagh's reign as custodians of the Sam Maguire. The intercounty GAA season has been changed utterly these past few years, squeezing matches thick and fast into the calendar, but there's little doubt that the new football rules in play have transformed the big-ball game into one high on energy and where the skills of forwards, especially, have been given new life. Whereas Saturday's two football quarter-finals were hidden behind a paywall – unless you watched it on the radio or paid the schillings – the Sunday Game Live fare brought the traditional screening into the livingrooms and bars, and you can be sure that many a Meath fan will be, as Royals manager Robbie Brennan observed after the win over Galway, 'changing holiday plans'. Before the match, the RTÉ punditry trio of Tomás Ó Sé, Conor Glass and Lee Keegan and presenter Joanne Cantwell had gone into the ins and outs and maybes of what lay ahead but with the sense that Galway, last year's beaten finalists, would advance. READ MORE In fairness, there were words of caution from the three wise men. 'It's an extremely dangerous game for Galway. If they disrespect or don't show up in the first half, then Meath will more than likely take advantage,' suggested Ó Sé. As the half-time whistle sounded with a kick of the ball between the team in a low scoring first-half, Morrissey referred to it being a 'pulsating' game, which, let's be honest, was using hyperbolic language that none of those steaming under the heat pitchside fell for. Keegan offered the opinion that Galway manager Pádraic Joyce would be giving the 'hairdryer treatment' to his team in the dressingroom during the break. It turned out Marty had a crystal ball with him in the commentary booth because the second-half was indeed a pulsating affair, with Meath's young hardy bucks playing some brilliant football to move onwards into what used to be familiar territory back in the day, now having an All-Ireland semi-final to look forward to in a fortnight's time. 'Where in the name of God have these Meath players come from?' wondered Ó Sé, marvelling at how boys had turned into men in the short time since Brennan assumed the managerial role. Ciarán Caulfield, at 21, one of those young men and vice-captain to boot, coolly and calmly strolled over and joined the pundits at their perch in the corner and talked in measured terms about Meath's return to the big time (which in its own way showed all that needed to be shown of the type of player that Brennan has taken under his wing). Meath's Ciarán Caulfield coolly measures out a pass during the win over Galway. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho The show was only half-over, though. Even if Meath's breathtaking second-half display would surely be hard to match. Indeed, at half-time in the Kerry-Armagh match, there was a sense among some of the RTÉ pundits that there was an inevitability about what was coming. 'My worry is how much energy they [Kerry] are using to try to stop Armagh,' said Keegan. But Ó Sé had his doubts. 'Everyone says Armagh are the top team in the country. Eh, I don't know,' said the Kerryman. 'Absolutely [they are],' said Glass. 'They are still number one until they are beaten,' added Keegan in the sort of tone that suggested it wasn't going to be any time soon. Who knew? In the commentary booth, both Morrissey and the co-commentator sought to understand what was happening in front of their eyes in a second-half where Armagh's kickouts malfunctioned and Kerry ran riot. 'They're still alive,' said Marty in a hopeful sort of way after Armagh ended what seemed like an age without a score. Followed, soon after, by: 'Is there any way back for the champions? They're 10 behind.' There was, as everyone could see on actual terrestrial telly, no way back for Armagh. 'They do vengeance really well,' remarked Enda McGinley of Kerry. He wasn't wrong.
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Rory Beggan's Monaghan season ends having scored 26 two-pointers
Beggan tops Monaghan's scoring charts from goalkeeper One of the best online resources for Gaelic football statistics at present is X account @TheNumbersGael, collated by journalist John Hughes. Hughes publishes teams' statistics for the season , unearthing interesting nuggets. For example, Brian Howard, David Byrne and Ciaran Kilkenny were the only three players to start every league and championship match (14 in total) for Dublin this year. Dessie Farrell's win percentage as manager was 69.32 per cent over 88 games; for context, predecessor Jim Gavin's was an astonishing 76.69 per cent over 133 matches. Outgoing Roscommon manager Davy Burke's record, per Hughes' research, was 40.91 per cent over 44 matches. Hughes also totted up the percentage of scores contributed by a single player. Waterford's Jason Curry leads the way with a sensational 39.15 per cent of the Déise's total in 2025, followed by Sam Mulroy of Louth (36.11 per cent), Limerick attacker James Naughton (35.07 per cent), Pat Havern of Down (33.45 per cent) and Westmeath's Luke Loughlin (33.33 per cent). READ MORE What may be the most impressive stat, however, is Rory Beggan contributing 0-59 across 13 Monaghan matches, 0-54 from placed balls. That tally, including 26 two-pointers, makes him the Farney's leading scorer and surely marks the first time a goalkeeper has ever topped a county's scoring charts. Eamonn Fitzmaurice's theory does not hold water 'Galway,' opined co-commentator Eamonn Fitzmaurice 32 minutes into yesterday's clash, 'will be happy enough, they're not playing with much explosiveness yet playing for the third week in a row, it's the second half before you really get going.' That was certainly the case on the previous evening as Donegal, noticeably flat in the first half in what was their third match in two weeks, powered on after the break, winning the second half by 1-15 to 0-5, having trailed by seven. Fitzmaurice's own Kerry also backed it up emphatically afterwards but overall, results do not fully back up his theory. For example, in 2023, just a point separated Dublin and Mayo at half-time in the quarter-final but the Dubs, who'd had two weeks off, won by 12. Also that year, a rested Kerry were three up at half-time and won the second half by nine against Tyrone; Cork vs Dery was a one-point game at the midway point before the Rebels wilted, losing by four. Monaghan were the outliers in 2023 but just about – they trailed by one at half-time against Armagh, were level at full-time and only won on penalties. Last year, of the four quarter-finalists playing three weeks on the bounce, Derry, Louth and Roscommon were all competitive in the first half and lost the second by five, eight and four points respectively, with Galway (against Dublin) the only ones to buck the trend. Seán O'Shea of Kerry kicks a two-pointer. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho Quote 'So there it is. Armagh v David Clifford. The only Kerry footballer worthy of the name ...' Columnist Joe Brolly didn't count on a Man of the Match display from Sean O'Shea ... Improving as they go along is Meath's heritage Meath, it's fair to say, have generally got better and better as this year has gone on, having toiled in Division 2 of the league. Then again, maybe it was always thus. The Royals' last win over Galway at Croke Park was the 1970 All-Ireland semi-final. Writing on these pages that morning, Paddy Downey noted Meath's 'capacity for enormous improvement in each successive game'. 'While hardly a phenomenon, it has confounded the critics many times in the past, most noticeably in 1964 when they also played Galway in a semi-final, in 1966, when the counties met in the final and again in the following year, when the team led by Peter Darby won the Sam Maguire Cup.' Meath's levels have escalated in a similar manner this year. Downey, for the record, was the only journo to tip Meath; Mick Dunne in the Press and the Independent's John D Hickey both plumped for the Tribesmen. Number: 3 Donegal wides against Monaghan; amazingly, Michael Murphy registered them all. Monaghan's Kieran Duffy and Michael Murphy of Donegal. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho Jordan Morris leaves Cavan wondering what could have been Meath's Man of the Match, Jordan Morris, was beaming as he accepted his award after the win over Galway, concluding his interview with a rousing – and loud – 'Up the Royallll!' Ironically, the sharpshooter plays his club football just across the county boundary in Cavan. Morris began his career with the Kingscourt Stars club before transferring to Nobber in Meath in his teens. Morris scored 2-6 as the club won a long-awaited Intermediate Championship title in Meath in 2019 but transferred back to the Stars, one of the giants of senior football in Cavan, in early 2022, helping them to the Senior Championship final the following year. Breffni fans had hoped the now 25-year-old would switch county allegiances too but he quickly ruled that out (and more's the pity, says this column).
The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
Padraic Joyce won't rush Galway decision after shock All-Ireland exit to Meath
PADRAIC Joyce says he won't be making any rash decisions about his Galway future. Joyce collected his last All-Ireland as a player in 2001, when he blasted 10 points in a final win over Meath. 2 Galway were left shocked after their defeat to Meath on Sunday afternoon 2 Galway manager Pádraic Joyce says he will not make a hasty decision on his future But his six-year spell as boss could now be over after Dessie Farrell announced his departure from Dublin immediately after their defeat on Saturday and it was thought that Joyce might do the same. But the Galway manager said: "We've just gone out of the Championship so I'm not going to make any rash decisions. We'll sit and chat with the county board. "There's a lot of lads in that dressing-room with decisions to make about next year as well, as we have as a management team, so we will do that in due course. READ MORE ON GAA "The county board have always been very supportive of me and the players so we will sit down and get things properly organised. Whatever will be will be. "There will be no statements or no rushed announcements coming out in the next day or two anyway." And yet Joyce conceded that it looked good for the 2022 and 2024 All-Ireland runners-up when they led by three with 10 minutes left. He agreed that they looked to be in a good position but conceded they were second best in many areas of the game overall. Most read in GAA Football Joyce said: "We made life very hard on ourselves. You have to give credit to Meath as well. "They were up for the game. They won the breaking ball battle all day out in the middle of the pitch. 'So much integrity' - RTE viewers hail Stephen Cluxton for 'principled stand' Dublin GAA icon took during Parnells saga "They were very sharp inside as well. We didn't really get enough to put them away. "They hung in the game very well and congratulations to them. We just didn't really finish the game out, very disappointing from our side, no doubt about it. But the lads will regroup and go again." Galway fans roared their disapproval at a number of big calls from ref Martin McNally. Joyce was dubious about a number of them too, wondering just how Meath were able to run down the clock in the final moments. He said: "Connor (Gleeson) had a ball thrown down to kick it in the last two seconds and he just blew it up. "I don't know, he kicked it short to himself. Just frustrated with a few decisions that went against us. That happens, we have to move on and take it." Joyce said the bottom line was that Galway 'didn't get to the energy levels of the game'. He said: "I think we conceded 2-6 or 2-7 in turnovers. I thought it was a harsh free given against Dan O'Flaherty which resulted in Meath's goal as well. "Some days you get them, some days you don't. Today, we didn't."
