Latest news with #All-Irelands
The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
‘We air our dirty laundry' – RTE pundit doesn't pull any punches in cutting verdict of Mayo GAA county board
MAYO legend Lee Keegan has slammed the Mayo GAA county board for multiple decisions and actions. The five-time All-Star has vented his frustrations about the many issues within the Advertisement 2 Mayo failed to advance from the group stages of this year's championship 2 Keegan was very disappointed in Mayo GAA's statement when 'relieving' Kevin McStay of his duties at the time Credit: @talksportireland The Green and Red county failed to reach the knockout stages of this year's Championship after a Kevin Keegan has suggested that underlying issues within the county board have more to do with Mayo's lack of success than McStay. The Westport man said: "There's trust and loyalty issues. There's too much talking. The expectation for me is too much. Advertisement Read more on GAA "This is the problem like you know, we sometimes as players we get ridiculed and obviously we didn't get over the All-Ireland stuff but listen that's our fault I take that. "We are the only county I feel anyway that we air all our dirty laundry to everybody for good or bad. Like I mean from the the simplest stuff to the outrageous stuff, everything just gets out." Keegan also feels the expectation put on the current crop of Mayo players is far too high and needs to be more realistic after recent struggles in the All-Ireland series. Since Mayo's All-Ireland final loss to Tyrone in 2021, the Westerners have failed to pass the quarter-final stages of the Championship. Advertisement Most read in GAA Football Comment It was a stark demise for Mayo who suffered a Connacht quarter-final defeat to Galway in 2022, before being knocked out by Kerry at the same stage in the All-Ireland series. The following year brought another Connacht quarter-final exit, this time at the hands of Roscommon. A preliminary quarter-final win against provincial rivals Galway saw them reach the quarters yet again but a rampant Dublin team beat them by 12 points. David Clifford's son adorably hijacks RTE interview after dad dominates All-Ireland final A preliminary quarter-final The seven time Connacht champion added: "We probably get talked about more than most. We were in the conversation for the quarter-finals this year when we shouldn't have. Advertisement "I think in Mayo sometimes the expectation is way too high. I think we need to.. not lower, I mean you obviously want to win the big ones and stuff. "We haven't won a Connacht medal in a few years now, we won a league and got to a league final. That doesn't cut it. We need to win provincials, like Galway have won four-in-a-row. "That needs to be a realistic expectation, we are on about All-Irelands for the last few years. MCSTAY SYMPATHY Keegan also felt former Mayo manager Kevin McStay - who had to temporarily step away from the role due to health reasons - was hard done by by the Mayo GAA county board. Advertisement The RTÉ pundit sympatised: "I've felt really sorry for Kevin in particular. "We lost a lot of big figureheads of that group that didn't get over the line (2021), we went very close. It's very unfair to ask the same of the group that's in there now "I felt sorry for Kevin at times, I think his writing was on the wall this year because he didn't win the provincial. "Kevin is a great football man and a very proud Mayo man I thought it was really handled badly." Advertisement With the poor treatment of McStay and previous Mayo managers, Keegan has issued a warning to anyone thinking of taking up the vacant role. "I think whoever is going to go in there is going to have a tough job. That's just being straight up with you. And I wish them the best because they are going to be working with tough people. "They need to be given time to integrate as well, I think this whole thing about All-Irelands needs to be cut for now and start working on the short term and see where that brings us."
Irish Examiner
9 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Meath's Aoibhin Cleary chasing third All-Ireland medal before making AFLW switch
The next three weekends will present significant milestones in the life of Meath ladies football captain Aoibhín Cleary. First up on Sunday is the TG4 All-Ireland senior football final against Dublin and an opportunity to get her hands on the Brendan Martin Cup for a third time. Then, on Sunday week, her partner, Cork dual star Hannah Looney, will line out at Croke Park in the All-Ireland senior camogie final. Fast forward to the following Friday, August 15, and Cleary could very well make her AFLW debut for Richmond in Round 1 of the new season in Australia. Quite where a potential replay of this weekend's All-Ireland football final may fit into all of that remains to be seen. 'We'll definitely cross that bridge when it comes to it,' smiled Cleary. What about the other burning issue, whether she might get Looney to wear a Meath jersey this weekend? 'I reckon I might have a chance, yeah,' she grinned. It is a serious business, of course, trying to win All-Ireland titles and swapping codes to play another sport on the other side of the world, all in such a tight timeframe. Cleary is grateful for the support and experience of Looney. 'Yeah, it is great,' said the 26-year-old former All-Star. 'Obviously we're both very aware of all the emotions and stuff that you'll be going through. It's really exciting this weekend and it's really exciting for her in terms of next weekend as well. 'I suppose it is nice that we can feed off each other that little bit or just understand what each other is feeling at any given time.' Cleary's Meath colleague Vikki Wall will return to Australia for another AFLW season with North Melbourne, the reigning champions. 'I think me and Vikki will definitely look to go together if we can,' said the Donaghmore-Ashbourne player, eyeing next week's travel plans. Wall is a proven AFLW performer, while Cleary will be dipping her toe in the pond for the first time. She has been trying to balance her All-Ireland preparations with becoming more accustomed to the oval ball. 'I've been consistent over the last few months,' she said of AFLW training. 'Dad has been great out in the garden with me, kicking and trying to get to grips with some of the skills and stuff. Richmond as well have been great. 'We've had a lot of online communication and calls and stuff, so I've just been tipping away as much as I can. Obviously the full focus has been here, with Meath, but you still have to be tipping away at some of the AFLW stuff in the background as well, so that I'm a bit prepared heading over.' Repeating the 2021 final defeat of Dublin and clinching a third All-Ireland medal would be a nice way to sign off on the LGFA season. Truth be told, Meath weren't thinking about All-Irelands and Championship glory back in spring, particularly when they went through a shaky spell in the league, losing three of their seven games. 'We had ups and downs,' said Cleary, referencing their Leinster final defeat to Dublin. 'We had some good performances and some very disappointing ones. But I think even after all those losses, the belief never wavered. 'You just had to take a step back and really reflect and be like, 'What do we need to fix here?' I think the work ethic and the culture that we do have in the group is brilliant. 'Everyone really just put their heads down and worked on what we all needed to work on and fixed what we needed to fix. 'I think, over the year, we've eventually gotten to be more consistent in our performances. We were very up and down in the league. Same again in Leinster. Whereas I think over the last few weeks, we have been that bit more consistent, which has been very rewarding. 'It's definitely something we're going to have to take up another notch again now going into an All-Ireland final.'
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
‘My voice is gone' – Listen to ecstatic Radio Kerry commentary of David Clifford's best All-Ireland final moments
DAVID Clifford was a joy to watch on Sunday and Radio Kerry's commentary was almost as enjoyable to listen to. The Fossa phenom may not have been on the ball much for he was deadly accurate in making his touches county as Advertisement 2 Tim Moynihan embodies why local commentary is so often the best form of the art Credit: @radiokerrysport 2 Clifford scored three two-pointers to help fire them to their 39th crown Radio Kerry have released a near five-minute highlights package of their commentary duo Tim Moynihan and Ambrose O'Donovan calling the action from The whole video flies by with our personal favourite line describing the Kingdom's frenzied press being akin to "like wasps on cowdung". A close second is him branding the 26-year-old a mixture of a ballerina and a warrior owing to his balance as he rapidly sidestepped two despairing Donegal men before firing over with his right foot. There's also a nice additional bit of colour provided by Moynihan noting that Clifford's two-pointer on the cusp of half-time left Off the Ball double-act Paddy Andrews and Advertisement Read More On GAA For as much as the soon to be three-time Footballer of the Year was in God mode on the pitch, there was an amusing example of him still Paudie Clifford may have to look up to make eye contact with David but he very much lives up to the older brother stereotype. The older Clifford is the more verbose of the two and drove most of their Burlington Hotel interview Some of the highlights included him noting that they were on the same teams growing up despite the age gap as their community of Fossa is so small that playing numbers were often tight. Advertisement Most read in GAA Football The playmaker also joked about his 76 possessions over the course of Harking back to the widely lauded Football Review Committee, he quipped: "Jim Gavin and Eamon Fitzmaurice probably didn't envision me soloing the ball on the spot about 100 times when they drew up the new rules!" Paudie Clifford teases David over childhood nickname during hilarious RTE interview after All-Ireland heroics The best moment, however, was a classic case of a big brother slagging his younger sibling. Asked if they'd always had an innate on-pitch chemistry, Paudie shot back: "The chemistry wasn't great now, we fought every day for about two years straight! Advertisement "Mom was just sick of of dealing with David crying every two minutes. They actually used to call him 'Watery eyes' because he used to cry so much! So that was the chemistry now." AT THE RIGHT PITCH While Paudie was all smiles and in relaxed form by that stage of the day, his immediate post-match interview He vented: "I suppose as a team, we would feel disrespected because we were in three of the last four All-Irelands and we've won two of them now. "And to be called a one-man team when I see myself some of the work that our lads put in… Advertisement 'Like, Joe O'Connor, the turnovers, winning balls, scoring, Jason Foley, Brian Ó Beaglaioch, Gavin White – I'm only naming a few. I see the work that they put in every day. 'To be called a one-man team then, it's nearly like it's disrespectful. It's kind of personal. I suppose that's the angle we were coming from. 'We were close against Armagh last year and we'd be our own worst critics as well. We admitted that we've under-performed definitely as a team over some of the years. 'But I suppose with the work we put in and the players we have there, for them things to be said, it's not nice to hear it." Advertisement
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
‘I felt like packing it up' – Jack O'Connor reveals he thought about quitting Kerry job last year
FIVE-TIME All-Ireland-winning manager Jack O'Connor came close to quitting last year. The Kerry boss led the Munster giants to their 39th crown with 2 The 64-year-old has had three stints as Kerry manager as well as managing Kildare 2 Kerry were defeated 1-18 to 1-16 by Armagh after extra-time in last year's semi-final But last year's And the Dromid Pearses man admits he thought of stepping away before this Sam Maguire feat alongside new coaches Cian O'Neill and Aodán Mac Gearailt. He said: 'I did. I certainly did. I found the year in general tough because we suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Armagh in a game that we appeared to be in control of. 'Then I had my whole management break up. So I had to try and put the management together while I was dealing with the personal heartbreak of losing an All-Ireland semi-final. Read more on GAA 'That can be a tough, lonely place to be, when you're trying to do that. 'So right from this time last year I found the going tough and there were times when I felt like packing it up. 'I'm glad I stuck with it and saw the year out because, sure, we got the reward on Sunday. But it was a tough year.' Those painful memories are all in the past now as, in their thousands, the Kingdom welcomed home their heroes yesterday following their stunning 1-26 to 0-19 thumping of the Ulster champions. Most read in GAA Football The players were paraded through Tralee on an open-top bus before another welcome home in Killarney. Their philosophical boss though, admits he could not have envisaged last night's joyous scenes in his homeland without some heart-to-hearts with his family, players and coaching staff. David Clifford's son adorably hijacks RTE interview after dad dominates All-Ireland final O'Connor — who also claimed All-Irelands as Kingdom boss in 2004, 2006, 2009, 2022 — added: 'I would be conversing with some of the players and they would have said, 'Hang in there!' 'It's tough going when you lose your management team, lads that you soldier with and that you trust and confide in. 'Then you have to try and gel with a new management team. That can be tough at times. As it turned out the lads have been brilliant. 'Cian O'Neill, James Costello, Aodán Mac Gearailt and Pa McCarthy were absolutely brilliant. 'As it turned out they brought real freshness and real new ideas to the set-up. I think the players relished that.'
Irish Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Donegal have problems to solve but don't write them off yet
The scoreboard never lies. But sometimes it fails to tell the whole truth and nothing else but. And this was the situation after 56 minutes of Sunday's All-Ireland. On the giant screen above Hill 16, the bare details were outlined in big, bold print: Kerry 0-22, Donegal 0-18. There was no question over who had been the better team. The scoreboard doesn't lie, after all. READ MORE: Passionate Paudie Clifford fires back at Kerry's critics after All-Ireland final win READ MORE: David Clifford hailed as the 'greatest ever' as he wins second All-Ireland Football title But from time to time it does leave out details. And this was one. Across the previous 15 minutes, Donegal had outscored Kerry by eight points to three. Better again, they were just after thieving Shane Ryan's kick-out, the play transferred towards Paddy McBrearty, so often their hero, introduced here as a potential saviour. Except there was a problem. McBrearty is so long in the tooth that his debut came way back in 2011, during Jim McGuinness' first spell. Time, as has been proven repeatedly, always wins against an athlete. It affects the body, erodes pace, stops a footballer reproducing the things their younger self managed to effortlessly do. And that was the dilemma McBrearty was up against. As the ball edged towards the touchline, McBrearty had a choice. Bend low but risk allowing the ball creep over the sideline or kick it along the ground towards a colleague. He took the second option and chose wrong, losing possession and with it all the momentum Donegal had been carefully building over the previous 15 minutes. From the turnover, Sean O'Shea eventually scored a two-pointer. Donegal, meanwhile, scored just once more in the remaining 14 minutes, losing the endgame 1-4 to 0-1. It may not have seemed such a big deal at the time but in hindsight this was a seismic moment. And it led to the inevitable question after such a convincing defeat whether McBrearty and a few other Donegal players had taken too much physical pounding over the years. After all, Michael Murphy is about to turn 36. McBrearty, for his part, is only 31 but has just completed his 15th season as an inter-county player. Between this pair, and Ryan McHugh, there are 219 Championship appearances on their CVs. And it showed, McHugh forced off with an injury, Murphy pushing his body to extraordinary lengths to last the 70 minutes, McBrearty struggling in the 15 minutes he got on the park. What if this is it for all three players? What if they all go together over the winter? Or what if they stay but aren't able to reproduce the magic in 2026? Those are the questions that McGuinness will be thinking about on his long trip home today. From history's scrapbook, he'll know that sometimes a defeat becomes a stepping stone - Offaly in 1981, Cork in 1987/88 and The Rebels again in 2007/09. But unless you are Dublin or Kerry, winners of 70 All-Irelands between them, there are no guarantees or 'rite of passage' as McGuinness alluded to in advance of Sunday's final. For every Offaly story from 1982, there are tales of woe: Roscommon in '80, Galway in '83, and Tyrone in '86, Mayo countless times, Kildare in '98, Cork in '99, Down in 2010. Each county lost a final. On no occasion did it lead to something better which is something that often happens outside the Big Two. Teams emerge. Teams lose big games. Teams then disappear. Will this be the case for Donegal? Perhaps not because the evidence suggests Sunday was a blip rather than the start of a worrying trend. Following Sunday's 10-point defeat, it has been suggested that Donegal have a problem scoring goals. Yet only Kerry and Galway raised more green flags in this year's Championship. Then there is the accusation they don't have a marquee forward. And yet between them, Murphy, Conor O'Donnell and Oisin Langan scored nine points from play yesterday, Murphy finishing the season as the Championship's second highest scorer; O'Donnell and Langan as the summer's third and fourth top scorers from play. What if the younger two push on from here? What if Murphy hangs on? What if their messianic manager stays on? While he didn't have his best day on Sunday - failing to figure out that Paudie Clifford needed to be closed down - McGuinness has previously shown his capacity to recover from setbacks, the 2013 defeat to Mayo being way worse than Sunday's loss to Kerry. The following year they bounced back, defeated Dublin, made it an All-Ireland. This season too is an upgrade on last year - a fourth All-Ireland final coming on the back of a semi-final appearance in 2024. Continuing their upward trajectory will take nerve, not necessarily a change of manager but certainly change within the manager. Alex Ferguson constantly evolved, and frequently replaced his assistants. Bill Belichick was the same, likewise Brian Cody and Joe Schmidt. What McGuinness now needs is a fresh voice rather than a dissenting one, a person who can replicate the role Rory Gallagher provided in 2011 and 2012. Remember only one team in the country were better than them in 2025 and even if that was by a considerable margin, the reality remains that for Donegal to reach the top, evolution rather than revolution will get them there. Don't write them off just yet.
