Cork Football Leagues: Top of table crackers expected this weekend
Clashes between Clonakilty and St Finbarrs, Buttevant and Aghabullogue the clear stand-outs from this weekend's fixtures
Corkman
The McCarthy Insurance Group County Football Leagues return this week with clear patterns emerging from all seven divisions.
Promotion and relegation will become a priority over the weeks ahead, some clubs boosted by the return of players involved with the Cork Under 20 side defeated by Kerry in the Munster decider.
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The Irish Sun
8 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Brian Dowling leads Kildare to Joe McDonagh Cup glory against Laois after questioning his own ability
BRIAN DOWLING said he questioned his own ability to manage Kildare at the start of this season's Joe McDonagh Cup. Now he's celebrating his greatest achievement in management after winning the competition and getting Kildare back into the Leinster SHC. 2 The Kildare team celebrate after they claimed their first ever Joe McDonagh Cup against Laois on Sunday 2 Kildare manager Brian Dowling admitted he questioned his own ability at the start of the 2025 campaign The Lilywhites produced a stunning second-half performance to see off favourites Laois and capture a first ever Joe McDonagh Cup title. Sub Jack Travers and Jack Sheridan grabbed the goals while free-taker David Qualter finished with 0-13. It was a giant collective effort from a team that appeared noticeably fitter as the game wore on. Cian Boran stood tall at the centre of a brilliant defensive effort. Kildare's immediate reward for the landmark win is an All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final clash with Dublin next weekend. read more on gaa And they will spend the winter months preparing to return to the Leinster SHC after a 22-year absence. All of which seemed highly unlikely after Kildare's Round 1 defeat to Kerry only seven weeks ago. That was the county's ninth defeat in the McDonagh Cup from nine games across three different campaigns. Kerry ended up being relegated while Kildare went on to win the title though a few 'home truths' needed to be dished out first. Most read in GAA Hurling Dowling, who previously managed Kilkenny to two All-Ireland camogie titles, said: "It's incredible, I can't describe the dressing-room after that Kerry match. "I've been in a lot of dressing-rooms down the years, losing All-Ireland finals and stuff, but that honestly was one of the worst I've ever been in. RTE GAA pundits argue over who started halftime row as Cork eventually topple Limerick in Munster epic final "I didn't know what to say to the lads. It was hard to say anything. I questioned my own ability as a manager, you know, where do you go? What do you do? "We actually met the lads on the Tuesday night and we did no video analysis, like we normally would. We just had a hard chat. "We told a few home truths between ourselves, as players and management. Then we just went back at it. "We actually trained hard afterwards that night and it was the best thing that ever happened." Five wins later - including two against 2024 runners-up Laois - Kildare have achieved one of the greatest triumphs in the county's hurling history. They were actually fortunate to be level with Laois at half-time, 0-11 to 0-11, considering all the point attempts that favourites Laois butchered. And when Ben Conroy bundled home a Laois goal seconds after the restart, leaving the 2024 runners-up three points ahead, and with momentum on their side, it all looked ominous. Kildare's response, just like that turnaround after the Kerry game, was truly impressive, outscoring Laois by 2-15 to 0-8 from there on to win by a 10-point margin. The Travers goal in the 60th minute summed up all that was good about Kildare on the day. Darragh Melville stripped a Laois defender of possession after a short puck-out and worked the ball across to Sheridan whose blocked shot was slammed home by Travers. Sheridan netted himself five minutes later, shrugging off a jersey pull as he darted by Laois defender Ryan Mullaney and shot low past Cathal Dunne. Only for goalkeeper Dunne's excellence earlier, it would have been three goals for Kildare. Dunne pulled off a brilliant double save to thwart firstly Cathal McCabe and then, somehow, Sheridan. Kildare sub Muiris Curtin punched the air in delight when he fired over in the 68th minute, sensing the job was done. Only once has a side coming from the Joe McDonagh Cup won an All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final - when Laois beat Dublin in 2019. But if Kildare can repeat this wholehearted performance in Newbridge next Saturday, they'll have a chance. Dowling said: "We'll do everything we can to be ready for it. But look, obviously six days is difficult. If you had two weeks that would be a lot better and would give lads a chance. "These lads are going to be very sore. There were a couple of them, I won't name names, but how they got on the pitch at all I don't know. "We really had to patch them up. We had serious injuries coming into this game but we got through it." Kildare 2-26 Laois 1-19 Kildare: P McKenna; R Hogan, R Boran, D O'Meara; P Dolan 0-1, C Boran, S Leacy 0-1; D Guerin, C McCabe; C Dowling, J Sheridan 1-4, D Qualter 0-13, 11f, 1 65; D Melville, J Burke 0-2, G Keegan 0-3. Subs: J Travers 1-1 for Dowling 59, M Curtin 0-1 for McCabe 64, C Kehoe for Melville 69, L O'Reilly for Dolan 69, O Lynam for Keegan 72. Laois: C Dunne; F C Fennell 0-1, J Walshe, C Comerford; P Delaney 0-2, 2f, L Cleere 0-1, D Conway; A Corby, J Keyes 0-2; P Purcell 0-2, T Keyes 0-6, 5f, D Dooley; M Dowling, J Quinlan, B Conroy 1-2. Subs: A Dunphy for T Keyes 54, P Dunne for Comerford 60, J Duggan 0-1 for Dowling 62, R Mullaney for Walsh 64, PJ Scully 0-2, 1f for Conroy 66.
Irish Times
10 hours ago
- Irish Times
All Ireland MFC round-up: Roscommon, Kerry, Tyrone and Mayo secure semi-final places
Provincial champions Roscommon, Kerry and Tyrone all booked their places in the semi-finals of the All-Ireland minor football championship on Saturday, while Mayo ensured that one of the champions, Offaly, bowed out with a dramatic win at Dr Hyde Park in Roscommon on Sunday. It leaves the All-Ireland semi-final pairings of Kerry v Mayo and Roscommon v Tyrone, down for decision in two weeks time. Mayo had to rally late to beat Leinster champions Offaly by 3-13 to 4-7, kicking the final four points after trailing by a point with eight minutes left. Mayo were in bother early on with the wind on their back and Offaly deservedly led by 1-4 to 1-1 after 12 minutes, with Conor Hession and Ruarí Woods exchanging the goals. The Leinster side, however, didn't score again in the first half as goals from Dara Flanagan and Conor Caghill helped Mayo to a 3-7 to 1-4 half-time lead. READ MORE Second-half goals from Tony Furey, Cian McNamee and Dylan Dunne put Offaly on the cusp of a win but a two-point free from Conor Hession and injury-time kicks from Ben Joyce and Oran Murphy saw Mayo home. The game of the weekend was the clash of Connacht champions Roscommon and Leinster runners-up Louth in Cavan on Saturday. This went right down to the wire with extra-time required before Roscommon survived by the tightest of margins, 1-19 to 2-15. Penalties were looming until Dan Curran kicked the winning point for Roscommon right at the end, breaking the hearts of a very gallant Louth team who were bidding to reach their first All-Ireland semi-final since 1953. Roscommon trailed by 0-8 to 0-6 at half-time after playing against the breeze but Louth played very well in the second half and it took late points from Shay McGuinness and a Dan Curran free to force extra-time. A black card for emerging midfield star Tom Maguire dealt Louth a big blow just before the end of normal-time but they made a dream start to extra-time with a Michael McGlew goal. Roscommon recovered well and a Luke Shally goal helped them to a 1-16 to 1-14 lead at the break. They crept across the line in the end after Jack Martin got a second Louth goal at the start of the second period. Kerry were forced to dig deep before edging out a very brave Cavan in Portlaoise, 0-14 to 1-9. A point up at half-time, Kerry got on top in the second half and it took a Matthew Duffy goal to keep Cavan alive. Kerry were 0-13 to 1-5 ahead heading into the last 10 minutes and Cavan rallied powerfully before a late Liam O'Brien point helped the winners home. Tyrone showed why they are so fancied with an impressive 1-21 to 1-12 win over Cork in Portlaoise. They made a flying start as Cathal Farley got in for an early goal, led by 1-13 to 1-7 at the break with Ben Corkery getting the Cork goal, victory for the Ulster side never in doubt.
Irish Examiner
10 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Mayo set up All-Ireland minor semi-final with Kerry after goalfest victory over Offaly
Electric Ireland All-Ireland MFC Quarter-Final Mayo 3-13 (3-2-9) Offaly 4-7 (4-0-7) Mayo will be Kerry's opponents in the All-Ireland minor semi-final in a fortnight after they just about held off a powerful second half-surge from Offaly in Roscommon this afternoon, kicking the last three scores to secure the win just when it looked like the Faithful County had produced yet another miracle comeback. Over the course of the hour, Mayo were marginally the better team, despite the absence of leading corner forward Tony Carey and midfielder Cian May - though they came dangerously close to losing their way when they tried to defend their lead rather than pushing on and driving home their advantage in the second half. With Offaly supporters outnumbering their Mayo counterparts by nearly ten to one, it was easy to see why they would try and stifle the midlanders and defend their nine-point interval advantage, though when Mayo were at their best, they were scintillating. They ransacked the Offaly defence to score 2-6 unanswered in the 20 minutes before half-time. In every aspect of play, they were running riot, and causing Offaly a world of problems. The start of the game saw Ben Holmes set up Conor Hession for a goal, but Offaly replied well, employing an all-out attack approach. Every free was tapped and run at the Mayo defence, every attacker wanted to take on and beat his man, and that yielded a fine goal for Ruairí Woods and some well-taken points from Tony Furey, Dylan Dunne and Cathal Weldon. However throughout the year, long spells of playing second fiddle in the kickout battle have haunted Offaly, and that again was to come to the fore here as Mayo starved the Offaly attack of ball and unleashed wave after wave of their own attacks. Adam Kelly, an injury doubt leading up to the game, was dominant in the middle but the real star of the show was Dara Flanagan, operating at centre-forward. The Eastern Gaels man scored 1-3 in all, 1-2 in the first half, and created real danger every time he took possession. His tap and go free down the right set up another goal for Conor Coghill through the middle of the Offaly defence, and Mayo could easily have added to their 3-7 to 1-4 half-time lead, with Rhys Neary firing over the bar with the goal at his mercy and three wides in the closing minutes keeping the lead down to single digits. The physical presence of Hession and Ben Holmes was also a threat, and when Mayo used the breeze to hit their two big men, they created chaos and chances, with Holmes adding two points of his own. However that threat was removed for the second half, and Mayo's running game also dried up. As they did for the Leinster final, the Offaly supporters travelled in big numbers for this fixture and a crucial part of Mayo's gameplan for the second half would have been to remove the crowd as a factor in the contest. A goal from Furey at the start of the second half threatened to throw that plan out the window but Mayo overcame that setback and monopolised possession for long stretches, holding the ball for two and three minutes at a time on several occasions. More often than not however, no scoring chances materialised at the end of those possessions, albeit that didn't matter as long as Offaly weren't scoring at the other end. Then the midlanders won a turnover, Caden O'Beirne played the ball down the line to Cian McNamee, and the Rhode man beat his marker along the end line and squeezed in a goal from an impossible angle. The crowd came alive, and after the two sides traded points, another goal, this time from Dylan Dunne, sent the Faithful into raptures. They had the wind at their backs, the nine-point lead was fully wiped out, and after Eamon Maher made an incredible mark, he was dragged down, Tony Furey tapped over the free, and they had all the momentum and energy. That all changed on the next kickout when Eoghan Dever fielded the ball, he too was tackled, and Conor Hession traversed the black spot on the crossbar with as important a kick as he'll ever have taken in his young career so far. Offaly still had to chase the game and they did exactly that, but three chances went astray, the closest being Aaron Daly hitting the post from 35 metres out, and as they grew increasingly desperate, gaps opened up at the other end for Ben Joyce and Oran Murphy to add the insurance points and see Mayo through to a semi-final clash with the Kingdom. Scorers for Mayo: C Hession 1-5 (2tpf, 0-1f), D Flanagan 1-3, C Coghill 1-0, B Holmes 0-2 (0-1m, 0-1f), R Neary 0-1, B Joyce 0-1, O Murphy 0-1. Scorers for Offaly: T Furey 1-4 (0-2f), R Woods 1-1, D Dunne 1-1, C McNamee 1-0, C Weldon 0-1. MAYO: T Williams; C Coghill, B Langan, C Tighe; R O'Donnell, D Duffy, E Dever; A Kelly, P Garvey; R Neary, D Flanagan, C Jordan; F Ó Cinnseala, B Holmes, C Hession. Subs: O Murphy for Holmes (40), F Ó Cinnseala for Neary (47), O McCann for Fiachra Ó Cinnseala (51), B Joyce for Garvey (54) OFFALY: J Ryan; C O'Beirne, T Carroll, C Farrell; P Duffy, T Kelly, E Rouse; E Maher, C Duffy; C Weldon, D Dunne, A Daly; T Furey, C McNamee, R Woods. Subs: D Stewart for Weldon (47), C Duffy for Furey (54), D Stoyanov for Carroll (57) Referee: Alan Coyne (Westmeath).
