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It's Costa del Cooley as Ace team sizzle!

It's Costa del Cooley as Ace team sizzle!

Amidst the heat and excitement, Ace AC athletes shone brightly, collecting an impressive haul of medals and setting personal bests.
The morning's action was dominated by sprint heats, semi-finals, and finals.
U10 runner Maeve Reynolds, competing despite carrying an injury, battled through to win her sprint heat and Smirthi Prasad and Farrah Smith both impressed, reaching the later rounds and narrowly missing out on medals.
Among the sprint medallists were Niamh Faulkner, who claimed her second gold of the championships with a commanding victory in the 100m. She had previously won the 200m on Day 1, marking a clean sweep in her sprint events.
Daniella Adebola mirrored that achievement, completing her own golden double by winning the U19 100m following her 200m victory seven days earlier. Bronze sprint medals went to Cathryn Cumming (U10) and Caoimhe Carolan (U13) in their respective finals.
U17 athlete Chloe Cooney, the current Leinster 1500m champion, decided to step out of her comfort zone and try the 400m for the first time in her life. She actually ran in the boys race and delivered a commanding performance, winning in 58 seconds and adding another gold to her club's medal tally!
Ace AC's field athletes also had a day to remember.
In the shot put Jaheim Humphrey (U17) not only secured a silver medal, but broke the championship record twice, culminating in a huge 11.42m final throw.
An Ardee athlete did edge ahead with his final throw, but Jaheim's performance signals strong form ahead of the All-Ireland Schools competition, where he will represent Balbriggan CC.
Aoife O'Connor also earned a silver medal, capping off a strong showing in the field for the club.
The latter part of the day saw a series of middle-distance races, where Ace AC athletes dominated across the age groups.
Saibh Jordan (U11) won her first individual medal for the club with a gutsy 600m run, claiming bronze in a large and competitive field.
Cathryn Cumming returned to the podium with gold in the U10 500m, leading from start to finish with a powerful display. Her teammate Millie Roche ran very well, finishing seventh in the very large field. Maeve Reynolds also ran strongly in the same event.
Caoimhe Carolan added to her sprint bronze with gold in the U13 600m in an impressive time of 1:46 and will be looking to secure a Leinster medal on this form.
Ruairi Cooney's U12 600m race was split into two heats due to high numbers, with the winners picked on times. Ruairi finished second but missed out on a medal, due to it being the slower of the two heats.
Felix Everettt and Tadgh Kelly continued their improvement with strong runs in the same race.
Tayo Lawrence impressed in the Boys U14 800m, moving from fourth to second in the final 50 metres to grab a thrilling silver medal.
His sister Sholah continued her strong return to fitness by winning gold in the U19 800m.
Taylor Gregory secured silver in the U15 Boys 800m, while Lauren Faulkner added a bronze in the U16 Girls 800m.
The U17 Boys 800m saw two Ace athletes medal as Daniel Hanley took silver and Liam Lynch bronze, with Killian Sheridan and Tadhg Forde Dunne also shining.
The final medal winning performance came from Jamie O'Reilly, who stormed to gold in the U19 800m with another new PB, with Christian Kelly taking silver.
Some of the other standout performers on the day came from Cathal Thompson, Hannah Black, Ollie Marron and Niamh Lynch.

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Hell for Leather: How we made RTÉ's epic new GAA series
Hell for Leather: How we made RTÉ's epic new GAA series

RTÉ News​

time33 minutes ago

  • RTÉ News​

Hell for Leather: How we made RTÉ's epic new GAA series

Colm O'Callaghan, RTÉ's Head of Specialist Factual Content, introduces Hell for Leather, an epic new 5-part RTÉ One series, delving into the role of Gaelic football in the sporting, cultural and social history of modern Ireland. RTÉ's history of hurling series The Game was first broadcast in May 2018. Made by Crossing the Line Productions and directed by Gerry Nelson, it was a cinematic and wide-ranging undertaking that, in its style, execution and ambition, resonated quickly. I've written previously here about why we commissioned it. As soon as the curtain came down on that series, our thoughts turned quickly to an obvious next step: a similar strand about Gaelic football. The seven years its taken to finally get that five-parter - Hell for Leather - to air, is worthy of a drama serial in itself and there were times when I felt we were never going to see it home at all. Needless to say, I'm glad we stayed the journey. As tends to be case with large-scale commissioned projects, I took many meetings and did an awful lot of talking before even formally asking RTÉ to consider supporting it. The primary issue was with what had just gone before it and with how effectively The Game had landed. Should we even bother, I asked the creative team at Crossing the Line, to attempt something similar with a sport often regarded by purists as the less aesthetic and less skilful of the family of national games? Any misgivings I had were quickly put to bed by a couple of trusted friends and regular sounding boards. Michael Moynihan and Diarmuid O'Donovan are fellow clubmen of mine from the fabled Glen Rovers on the northside of Cork city, even if Diarmuid is arguably better known for his involvement with the football side of that club, Saint Nicholas, and his work in a variety of roles at county level. Sharp, serious men both, they sketched out a provisional list of potential themes, topics, chapters and cast members for the team to chew over and flesh out. They didn't so much ease my mind as bend it in a variety of directions and, by doing so, turned much of what I'd ever thought about Gaelic football on its head. The game in Ulster, industry and All-Ireland success in the midlands, the eventual dawning of the women's game, Kerry's eternal majesty, the Jacks and the Culchies, Dulchies, Heffernan, Dwyer, the mighty men from Down, the mighty women of Cork. Seán Boylan, Mick O'Connell, the golden age of wireless, Sister Pauline Gibbons, Jim McGuinness and Jim Gavin. Bringing boardroom thinking to breeze-blocked dressing rooms. Renaissance, reformation, age of empires, true leaders and the days of our lives: it was up to director Gerry Nelson to shape the mine of history, some of it happening before him in real time, into tangible blocks. Sport is often seen as a reflection of life and, in this regard, its possible to trace the development of modern Ireland since way before independence through the prism of Gaelic football. Stitching this editorial thread into the heart of Hell for Leather was always a tall order but one that producers John Murray, Jessica McGurk and Siobhán Ward managed with typical elan. So in as much as the series tracks the evolution and history of the game as comprehensively as time allows, it also tells a story of Ireland. With The Game already under the belts of the production team – as well as 2020's one-off, Christy Ring: Man and Ball – the doors opened far more easily this time around. Jarlath Burns, who has since become the most recent Uachtarán of Cumann Lúthchleas Gael, was an enthusiastic voice from early on and helped unlock a variety of editorial lines. 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Many of those featured in the series are proud, fabled former players for whom modesty has long prevented them from opening up about their own heroics and the scale of their achievements. The likes of Mick O'Connell, Seán O'Neill, Jimmy Gray and Seán Murphy are among many who decorate this production but for whom numerous site visits and no little persuasion was necessary. Others, despite our best and enduring efforts, just couldn't or wouldn't commit. All history is contestable, of course, and this too is the case with Hell for Leather. How can one realistically do justice to such a varied and complicated past in just 250 minutes of airtime? It is, therefore, to the credit of Gerry Nelson and series editor Andrew Hearne that the series delivers far more than the sum of its parts and still stays true to its purpose as agreed way back at the start. 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'It was a whole new world for me': Limerick-Cork Munster final memories 50 years on
'It was a whole new world for me': Limerick-Cork Munster final memories 50 years on

The 42

timean hour ago

  • The 42

'It was a whole new world for me': Limerick-Cork Munster final memories 50 years on

50 YEARS AGO, they met in Limerick for a Munster final. Back when Limerick were recently-deposed All-Ireland champions, back when Cork were a team of flickering promise that threatened to become more. Two goals in as many minutes just before half-time from Charlie McCarthy and Willie Walsh left Cork in a commanding position. They came as a gut-punch to a Limerick side that had only been beaten once in two and a half years, and dominated the opening 20 minutes of the Munster final. Cork went on to win 3-14 to 0-12. Their young tearaways in Jimmy Barry Murphy – the other goalscorer – and John Fenton had a lot of stuff about them. Bertie Troy was busy blooding a lot of the successful U21s he had won All-Irelands with. He also had Justin McCarthy on the line alongside him. Official records would have them as a joint management team, but it was an eventful partnership. Even now, 50 years on, when you do a fact-check with Fenton on who was the manager that season, you sense he is being expertly political by feigning that it slips his mind. Either way, it was the start of five consecutive Munster titles for Cork, franked by a Liam MacCarthy three-in-a-row from 1976 onwards. The Irish Examiner report of the 1975 Munster hurling final. Irish News Archive Irish News Archive The past is a different country indeed. That summer, Limerick beat Tipperary in the Munster semi-final in the Gaelic Grounds. Ned Rea played the game, jumped into a fast car straight after the final whistle and was spirited to Parnell Park to play for his club in Dublin, Faughs, in a county semi-final where they lost by two points to Craobh Chiaráin. It was a time of gripping paranoia in the north. That very weekend, the Portadown and District Branch of the Ulster Special Constabulary Association – the former 'B Specials', issued a statement that the Irish Army were poised to 'invade' the north in early autumn. Which certainly didn't quell any tension. Advertisement The same weekend, Celtic came over to Donegal and drew 0-0 with Finn Harps who were bolstered by the inclusion of Mick Martin of Man United and Paddy Mulligan of Crystal Palace. Celtic had Danny McGrain and Kenny Daglish, with a young Tommy Burns coming off the bench. When the players of Cork and Limerick woke up on the morning of the Munster final, they did so in their own beds, in their own homes, getting their own breakfast sorted. 'We never used buses. I never used a bus in my time,' says John Fenton now. Instead, there was a family by the name of Roche in Carrigtwohill who had the contract for Cork hurling. They would gather Fenton and his fellow Midleton clubman, Cork selector Paddy Fitzgerald, along with Seanie O'Leary, Denis Coughlan and Pat O'Connor into a taxi and off to Limerick they would go. Off to a hotel for a cup of tea and the pre-match meal of a sandwich, a quick meeting, and to war. For Richie Bennis – who hit 0-6 from frees – in the Limerick camp, there was no taxi, no sandwich and certainly no meeting. Instead, their instructions were simple; get to the Gaelic Grounds one hour before throw-in. Richie Bennis celebrates after the 2007 Munster semi-final replay that saw Limerick defeat Tipperary. Lorraine O'Sullivan / INPHO Lorraine O'Sullivan / INPHO / INPHO 'It's completely different from now. There was a group of us around there on Monday night and they were showing us some clips of the Munster final in 1974 against Clare and we scored six goals. And we scored six goals in the Munster final of 1973 as well,' says Bennis. 'That would be unheard of now. 'Now, you are going to the pitch three hours before the match to have a small warm up. Then you go for a cup of tea and a warm up on the pitch before the match. 'We gathered an hour before the game. No pre-match anything, meal or meeting or anything.' The Irish Independent report of the 1975 Munster hurling final. Irish News Archive Irish News Archive Out there on the pitch, Fenton felt, to use a modern phrase, 'seen.' As a 19-year-old, he was on the county U21s and came on as a substitute. But he didn't feel he belonged in that company. 'It was a daunting prospect to be quite honest,' he says. 'I was young and Midleton would have been intermediate, we weren't at the top table of Cork hurling at the time. There was a massive gap between intermediate and senior hurling in Cork hurling and you had to jump a massive gap between senior hurling in Cork and senior intercounty hurling. That was two big steps. 'It took me a couple of years. To get up to the speed of the game was big for me. The likes of Jimmy Barry-Murphy and Tom Cashman, they were playing the top level of hurling in Cork at the time and those Cork teams were involved in Munster club and All-Ireland club series. 'I was two steps behind them. That's the big thing I found. I remember saying to myself that I had a lot to learn in the sense that I had the basics, but I didn't have the speed to do the basics well. Cork hurler John Fenton. 'You hear a lot of talk about the first touch now, but at the time my first touch wouldn't have been up to the level required. 'It was a whole new world for me. I had looked up to these guys all my life up to now and there I was, in the same dressing room. But the lads were great and they would give you great encouragement. Once you went onto the field, you were on your own then.' He got on for the last six minutes. It was his first Munster title of many. Surely as a teenager your stock is high in the after-party? 'There was none! No celebrations!' laughs Fenton. 'We were back to the hotel. We had a meal and the lads who were having a few drinks would do that, but basically we were back into the car and drove home and the following morning we were back at our work. There were no parades of anything like that. 'It was very low-key in one sense. A lot of those Cork lads had been there before, Gerald and Charlie McCarthy had been there in '66, in '70, there in '72. So they were used to the scene and they knew the Munster championship was a stepping stone in terms of an All-Ireland.' As much as it was another world away, some similarities can always be found in hurling. Related Reads 'That narrative has been debunked now' - Limerick boss hits back at end of an era talk Pat Ryan: 'Some of our own people writing off Limerick. Are they off their game?' The key areas where Cork must clean up house before facing Limerick again As ever, the price of everything was a hot topic. That year there were fears that the pricing structure of the All-Ireland hurling final might be increased from £3 for the Hogan Stand and £2.50 for the Cusack Stand. The Munster final took in £28,000 in Limerick with 46,851 in attendance, the largest attendance at a Munster final since the mind-boggling 62,175 in 1961 that came also to the Gaelic Grounds to see Tipperary beat Cork. You'll be delighted to hear that the Patrickswell crew of 1975 are still hale and hearty. 'I was out with Frankie Nolan last night, he was corner-forward on that team and scored two goals, I scored two goals, and Ned Rea and Eamonn Cregan scored the other (in the 1974 Munster final),' says Bennis. 'We are very close. Sean Foley as well. Frankie is only down the road from me here in Patrickswell. And of course my brother Phil was on that team. And there are four Patrickswell men on this team as well, three outfield and the sub goalie.' The Cork lads are spread out a bit thinner, but with the return of 1977 All-Ireland winning captain Martin O'Doherty last weekend from his residence in California, they gathered for the first time since 2001 in the South County pub in Douglas. 31 players from the three-in-a-row team, as well as the next-of-kin of those who have passed on, met up with the help of Dr Con Murphy as something of an event planner. Talking hurling, the three in a row, and the day it all started for that team in July, 1975. In the 50-year period since, they have only met in the Munster final at this venue once since – 2013. None of the Limerick players will be driving themselves up to the gates an hour before throw-in. None of the east Cork men will rely on the Roche family taxis to make it on time. But the blood and thunder remains. Back then. Now. Always.

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