Clare swat aside Galway to book All-Ireland MHC semi-final date with Cork
A dominant second-half performance ensured Clare prolonged their stay in the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship, as they ignored the setback of conceding a second goal to swat aside Galway in Thurles.
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Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
Sam O'Farrell grateful to Liam Cahill for supporting Tipp starlets' balancing act
Sam O'Farrell has thanked Tipperary manager Liam Cahill for the 'huge vote of confidence' by allowing his rising stars to juggle senior and U20 commitments. O'Farrell, Darragh McCarthy, and Oisín O'Donoghue have lined out for both teams in recent weeks, while Conor Martin and Aaron O'Halloran are also part of the senior squad. That jam-packed fixture run included a Munster U20 final victory sandwiched in an eight-day spell between must-win games against Clare and Waterford. The talented group added an All-Ireland U20 title to their medal haul at the weekend, and can now look forward to a preliminary quarter-final against the Joe McDonagh Cup runners-up. 'The communication between Liam and Brendan (Cummins) has been top class,' said O'Farrell. 'It would be remiss of me not to mention Liam and his backroom team, how good they've been to us. 'Even when you think about the Munster final, releasing us to play when we had a huge match to win against Waterford. 'From their point of view, they're looking at energy levels, but that was a huge vote of confidence in us to allow us to play whatever part we did in that Munster final. 'All five of us will dust ourselves down over the coming days, and look forward to now giving the senior a rattle for the next few weeks.' O'Farrell achieved a unique feat in the nine-point victory over Kilkenny at Nowlan Park. The Nenagh Éire Óg clubman became the first Premier player to captain their county to both All-Ireland minor and U20/21 titles. How much would he like to complete the set at senior level? 'That's a good bit down the line. There's a lot of lads ahead of me in that,' O'Farrell replied. 'In that senior team, the experience you got from even just playing under Ronan (Maher) as the team captain, and Jake (Morris) as vice-captain… All of them older lads, lads I would've went to matches watching when I was younger, it's just second-to-none the experience you get, and Ronan's awful good. 'After we lost to Limerick, we went back into the seniors the next night to train, and everyone to a man was there to offer a bit of advice. 'Darragh Stakelum was captain of the 20s. He had a lovely word with all of us, and just said, park it and move on, which we did. We were very grateful to them for that.' O'Farrell described his progression onto the senior team as living the dream. 'It's an absolute honour. You could talk about it all day, playing senior hurling with Tipp, playing with your heroes, going to training. 'It's pinch-me stuff, going and pucking balls with Noel McGrath, Ronan Maher, John McGrath. 'But we've been playing together since Primary Games, under-14, Tony Forristal winners, Minor All-Ireland winners, and 20 winners. It's just testament to the work that has been put into us individually in our clubs, but also from the coaches at county level. 'It would have felt wrong now if we lost today. It's an absolutely unbelievable feeling.'
The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
Pat Ryan vows redemption as Cork bid to bounce back from Limerick mauling in Munster final rematch
PAT RYAN felt the attitude of his players in their 'embarrassing' defeat to Limerick was unacceptable. And the Advertisement 2 Cork manager Pat Ryan has urged to bounce back in their rematch against Limerick 2 Cork and Limerick face one another in the Munster final on Saturday However, Ryan has vowed that the Rebels will give a much better account of themselves when the teams meet again in Saturday evening's Cork are set to contest their first provincial decider since 2018, despite being blown away during the round-robin phase by a Limerick side chasing a seventh straight Munster title. Reflecting on the 3-26 to 1-16 defeat, Ryan remarked: 'It was a puzzling one and I probably look back on my own role. Maybe I didn't go after them enough. 'Maybe I wasn't driving the standard over the last couple of weeks and maybe a small bit of complacency slipped in as regards we were kind of winning matches and going well enough. Advertisement READ MORE ON GAA 'But obviously Limerick were well prepared. They had a lot of stuff right on the day, as they always do. You could see that was a game they had really targeted since we beat them last year in the All-Ireland semi-final.' Cork, who romped to National League glory in April, were subjected to a sobering loss at the TUS Gaelic Grounds by a Limerick team who showed scant regard for the opposition's then-status as All-Ireland favourites. For John Kiely's men, who the bookies now fancy to reclaim the Liam MacCarthy Cup, it was sweet revenge for the defeat last summer that ruined their bid for an unprecedented five in a row. Acknowledging his team was 'ill-prepared to what we were facing', Ryan — whose side scored Cork's lowest Championship tally since 2016 that day. Advertisement Most read in GAA Football He said: 'Your standard has to be your standard around your attitude and your effort. "That wasn't what our standard has been over the last three years that we've been here. That was the most disappointing thing. 'Like something out of the French Revolution' - RTE GAA pundit Donal Og Cusack slams Dublin star's reckless swipe 'We let down our fans. Losing to Limerick is never embarrassing but losing to any team in that manner is embarrassing.' While a Limerick win was by no means an upset, the resounding manner in which they were beaten was an eye-opener for Cork. The manager is sure they will be far better this weekend. Advertisement Ryan added: 'We felt that we had got out of that situation where we wouldn't be putting in that kind of a bad performance. "Maybe I took my eye off the ball on that, but I can guarantee you we'll be able to perform. 'Complacency is probably the wrong word because there's never complacency against Limerick. 'It was more, 'Yeah, we're going grand' — that kind of attitude. Things are moving along grand and that kind of thing. Advertisement 'You need to be on it. We need to be physical, aggressive and really going at it and, in fairness, we weren't going at it that day.' Cork rebounded to beat Waterford and earn a chance to set the record straight this weekend. But significant improvement will be required if they are to collect their second piece of silverware in 2025. Ryan said: 'When you put on that Cork jersey, it has to mean something to you. We've been saying that all the time. From our point of view, it wasn't acceptable. Advertisement 'We talk about the fans all the time and that's one thing. But at the end of the day, it wasn't acceptable for our group, it wasn't acceptable for their parents, their families, their friends. 'They're the people you're playing for all the time. People are spending big money to get up there and support us and we need to make sure we're honouring that.' In the aftermath of the win over Waterford, Ryan expressed the belief that there were 'twisted' motives behind some of the pre-Championship hype around Cork. A series of impressive displays en route to claiming National League honours prompted some observers to suggest a first All-Ireland title in 20 years was becoming increasingly inevitable for Ryan's side. Advertisement ALL TALK Speaking at a press event arranged by Cork in advance of the Munster final, the gaffer said: 'We weren't talking about it inside here but it's hard because fellas are amateur athletes. "They're going into work, you're hearing it. 'I'm not on social media. Fellas are seeing it on social media. 'There are WhatsApp groups, text messages going around. There was even one that came to my phone about Saving Private Ryan. A fella sent that to me on the Sunday morning before the match. Advertisement 'And I was thinking, 'What the . . . ?' You just get on with that. 'Don't get me wrong, I know that's the game we're in now as well and it's brilliant. 'That's why we had a media night. Some people don't have it but we like to have it. I think we're here to promote the games. 'Fellas want to hear and read about the matches. I loved reading about the matches myself when I wasn't involved. That's why we do it but from my point of view, I thought some of it was rubbish. Advertisement "The really annoying thing was some of our own people writing off Limerick. Are they off their game? That's only setting us up for a fall. 'They're things that fellas pin to dressing rooms and that couldn't be further from the truth. We try to be as humble as we can.' Before Cork began their Championship campaign with a rematch of last year's All-Ireland final against Clare, one bookmaker even paid out on the 2024 runners-up going all the way in 2025. Ryan insisted: 'That was only a gimmick and a stunt and wrong for a betting company to be doing that to amateur athletes, putting them under that pressure.' Advertisement Twenty days removed from their 16-point hammering in Limerick, Cork will return to the same venue to face the only team ever to win six consecutive Munster crowns. When he reminds his players that to be forewarned is to be forearmed, Ryan knows that they cannot afford to allow the advice to fall on deaf ears. He added: 'I had told the lads we were going to get an unbelievable version of Limerick on that day. Maybe they didn't believe us –— but they know now.'
The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
Rory Grugan urges Armagh to push for more despite All-Ireland Championship quarter-final berth already secured
RORY GRUGAN reckons it is 'a bit bizarre' that Armagh are already into the All-Ireland last eight after just two group games. And the veteran captain conceded that 2 Armagh ace Rory Grugan urged his team-mates to kick on in the All-Ireland Championship 2 Armagh beat Dublin on Sunday in the All-Ireland Senior Championship Group 4 clash Grugan was man of the match in But the 34-year-old insists his side cannot relax against He said 'pride' would prevent them taking a backstep and pointed to the fact that they need to push for improvement. Grugan said: 'It's a bit bizarre. We are there with a game to go. It just means we have two weeks to get ready for Galway and see where that takes us. READ MORE ON GAA 'You know you are going to be back in Croke Park in four weeks for a quarter-final, which is where you want to be. 'But we need to improve. Did we hit our targets against Dublin? Not many of them. 'There's things you'd be pleased with, like fighting for break ball and winning scraps and stuff like that. 'But so much of what we did we wouldn't be happy with in terms of both our own possessions and the amount of chances we gave up. There were a lot of chances they missed. Most read in GAA Football 'Dublin could easily have been gone from us in the first half. There's so much we can improve on. That's not the worst way to be going into the next game.' Error-prone Dublin blasted 17 wides in Sunday's five-point loss to the Orchard. Tipperary GAA star 'had to do live apology on RTE' the day after cursing during All-Ireland interview - They also hit the post twice and dropped several attempts short. And Dessie Farrell's men gifted five points to Armagh from technical fouls. Throw in Armagh's own shortcomings and Grugan is glad just to have won without hitting enough of their 'key performance indicators'. He said: 'It was our highest turnover count all season. It's strange in a way to win a game knowing you didn't hit a lot of your KPIs, yet you are still coming out of Croke Park after beating Dublin. 'It's a good thing. It's a bit of a weird feeling but it's obviously a good one.' Grugan said that far from being a dead rubber for Armagh, the Galway game is a chance to chase those improvements. And he pointed to the value of momentum ahead of the quarter-finals. The Ballymacnab man said: 'I don't think at this level that taking a step back or having some sort of mindset of not being bothered about winning a game is a good thing. Momentum is a big thing. 'You have two weeks to Galway and two weeks then to an All-Ireland quarter-final. So we are going to be really going after the Galway game.' Grugan's strong form is a big boost to Armagh ahead of the business end of the campaign. On their All-Ireland win, he said: 'I was 33 at the time. There might be a perception on the outside that you'd walk away. It was honestly the opposite for me — you just wanted to go again."
