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RTÉ News
08-05-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Glorious opportunity awaits in novel Leinster decider
Long live the provincial championships. People thought they were dead and waiting to be put out of their misery. But they've come roaring back to life in 2025. And now look, we've two provincial deciders this weekend where pundits can barely put a sheet of paper between the teams. The mood in Mayo is still sombre after last Sunday. For the second year in succession, they've blown a Connacht title that was there for them on a platter. Level in the game with 18 minutes left and a huge gale behind them. It seemed hard to see how they weren't going to get it done at that point. Then the Mayo of 2024 re-appeared. The wides started to mount, balls were dropped short. Galway's leaders like Cillian McDaid and Liam Silke came to the fore. Looking back, you're left with a few 'whys'. Why were Davitt Neary and Darren McHale taken off when they were the sharpest forwards? Why was Paddy Durcan left on the bench? Why did Colm Reape go short? The last one was especially costly, leaving them with 14 for the rest of the game. With that wind, the ball should be landed on the opposition 45. I appreciate Galway had the edge at midfield at that stage - though Mayo competed fairly well there for a lot of the game. But even when Galway were winning primary possession, Mayo's pressing and intensity was forcing loads of turnovers and the refereeing overall was tilted in favour of the tackling team. Paddy Neilan was allowing a good deal of contact - except in one incident - and the ball carrier was getting done for over-carrying. The short kickout debacle had huge implications. Galway got a handy score at a time when they were hard to come by and their numerical advantage countered Mayo's wind advantage down the stretch. And again, the lack of a left-footed free-taker haunted us in the closing stages. Aidan O'Shea did go close with one from a tight angle but he's not a dead-ball specialist, nor would he claim to be. Watching Galway rattle off four Connachts in a row is not a pleasant sight from a Mayo perspective, less so when we've gifted them a couple of them. Pádraic Joyce will derive particular satisfaction from winning Connacht without his two most high profile forwards. Their reward is this ridiculous Group of Death but they'll go into with huge confidence. The one thing we can all take from the day is that it was a cracking occasion. Almost a throwback - 27,000 plus in attendance and a rip-roaring atmosphere from start to finish. And it gave a lie to all the bulls**t talked in the build-up that the teams wouldn't be going all out for the Connacht title in light of the round robin draw. Nerves a jangle on Jones's Road We can probably anticipate something similar in Clones and Croke Park this weekend. We haven't been able to say that about Leinster final day for some time. The buzz around Jones's Road will be enormous on Sunday. Both teams know this is a massive opportunity. It's a hard one to call. Louth won the final league game between the sides comfortably but Meath had a better campaign overall. They went into that one looking for promotion rather than seeking to avoid relegation. The latter was probably stronger motivation. For me, one of the central questions is whether Meath have come down to earth after the Dublin victory in time to really focus in on this game. We've seen it plenty over the years, in multiple sports. Teams who land a momentous win in a semi-final and then struggled to replicate the same 'emotional energy' the next day out. The 2019 Rugby World Cup being a prime example, where England beat New Zealand and then didn't show up at all for the final against South Africa. In football, there's a parallel with Cork in 2020, pipping Kerry at the death and then losing the Munster final to Tipperary. It's a tricky psychological challenge for Meath. By contrast, Louth's progression has been more business-like. They ground out a big win in a really high pressured semi-final against Kildare, which had Sam Maguire participation riding on it. They've been boosted by the return of Sam Mulroy and Craig Lennon - the latter was superb the last day even if he narrowly avoided serious embarassment at full-time... They're well used to this terrain, having made the last two Leinster finals. They got pummelled in 2023 but last year was a very creditable showing, The county is on a crest of a wave after their first Leinster Under-20 title since 1981. The experienced Meath players, who've suffered through so many tough days, will be desperate to get their hands on provincial silverware. I'd imagine the nervous tension during the game will be extreme. But Louth have had a knack of getting over Meath in recent years. They've found a way to win in big do-or-die games under Ger Brennan. I'd give them the nod to shade it this Sunday and claim a first Leinster title in 65 years. Take your two-pointers and the goal will come If that wasn't enough, we've another coin flip in Ulster. What odds another penalty shootout? Armagh's showing so far in 2025 has been enormously impressive. There seems to be no lack of hunger after winning the All-Ireland last year. Instead, they've developed even more composure and look really comfortable in pressure situations. They were missing Rian O'Neill and had only six starters from the 2024 All-Ireland final against Tyrone and they still managed to squeeze out of their with a win. And they still have unfinished business in Ulster. A provincial title, after so many heartaches, would copper-fasten their legacy. But they're taking on bonafide fellow All-Ireland contenders. Donegal weren't at their most thrilling against Down but got the job done with minimal fuss. Jim McGuinness hasn't been afraid to change around his team. Oisín Gallen had been kept in reserve but was thrown into the side the last day. Michael Murphy has looked sharp and imposing since returning to the fray. The threat they pose with their runners from deep is lethal, Peadar Mogan running amok down the wings. Daire Ó Baoill has been rampant, especially the first day out against Derry. We saw the importance of Paul Conroy's two-point shooting in giving Galway a foothold in Castlebar. I'm anticipating a clinic in two-point shooting in Clones. Last year's Ulster final gave us an exhibition of long-range scoring. With the reward doubled this year and an abundance of excellent kickers on either team, I'd expect more of the same on Saturday. Neither team has been burying many goals. Armagh didn't score one the last day and Donegal have only four in 10 matches - though they have been creating enough chances. If one team can manufacture a goal, that could swing the game. Otherwise, it will be determined by accuracy from two-point range. The two teams know each other so well and the threats the other carries. If Donegal can shackle Oisín Conaty, that could be the winning of it. Armagh are hungry for a first Ulster title in 17 years but McGuinness doesn't tend to lose games in the province. Narrowly, I'd give the nod to Donegal but they may need extra-time again.
RTÉ News
04-05-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Cillian McDaid hails Galway's defensive heroes
Galway's Cillian McDaid praised his side's defensive work, singling out Dylan McHugh and goalkeeper Connor Gleeson as his side's match-winners as they claimed a fourth consecutive Connacht SFC title. The Tribesmen got the better of fierce rivals Mayo, running out 1-17 to 1-15 winners in a pulsating encounter at MacHale Park. The visitors recovered from a bright Mayo start to take control of the game and had amassed and eight-point lead by the halfway mark. However Mayo sprung out of the traps in the second half, eating into the Galway lead and by the 53rd minute the sides were level at 1-13 apiece. Galway edged back in front but with just two minutes to go the game was in the balance as first Gleeson produced a stunning save to deny Enda Hession a certain goal before defender McHugh's incredible diving block prevented Paul Towey from scoring what would have been an equalising point. Speaking to RTÉ Sport afterwards, McDaid pointed to those two moments as the deciding factor in the game. "I know you've probably seen it but Dylan McHugh's block, that's the Connacht Championship," McDaid said. "It's not a score obviously but it was a massive moment and that's the winning and losing of the game I think, that and Conor Gleeson's save obviously too. "Connor Gleeson, for a goalkeeper, last year he kicked the winner for us and between the two lads, that's the winning of the game. "We're always quick to praise the guys who put the ball over the bar, but they were incredible." Victory in MacHale Park further underlines Galway's status as one of the favourites for Sam Maguire as they seek to go one better than last year when they fell at the final hurdle. The Tribesmen are still far from being at full strength, with several key players to return from injury and when they do return, McDaid believes that being able to win without them is a sign of just how strong the squad is. " We're obviously missing a couple of our, our forwards today, like in Damien [Comer], Shane [Walsh] and Johnny Heaney," he said. "We love when they're fit and available, but I suppose the team is changing and no more than myself, we won't all be around forever. "Mattie Thompson was unreal today as a young fella playing is his first really big championship game, so the panel keeps evolving and we just keep blooding new players. "It's tough to see when they keep getting knocks and niggles. But we faith that they will get themselves right and when they're available then hopefully we'll find a place for them again." Galway's Cillian McDaid, fresh from helping his side to victory over Mayo, joins the Sunday Game panel to give his immediate reaction to a fourth consecutive Connacht title. #RTEGAA #TheSundayGame — The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) May 4, 2025
Irish Examiner
02-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Cillian McDaid: 'It's been great to get a full batch of training and games during the league'
An insignificant and unremarkable happening to everyone else. A massively significant milestone for Cillian McDaid. On the second last Sunday of March, McDaid lined out at Pearse Stadium against the green and gold. It was the first time in his eight-season Galway existence that he started the county's final round-robin League outing. It was the first time in eight maroon seasons that his number of League starts climbed as high as five. McDaid's spring has always been one of chasing. Chasing fitness, chasing injury-free status. Even during his AFL stint with Carlton in 2018, he was trapped in the same injury and catch-up cycle. There's been no chasing in 2025. He came into the year nursing no complaints and so he headed into championship with as sizable a body of work under the bonnet as he'd ever put together. We point out to McDaid that he had enjoyed a similar run in the spring of 2022 and how that season finished with him as one of the three nominees for footballer of the year. But McDaid offers the correction that he missed a portion of games in the middle of the 2022 League and so his spring appearance count on that occasion only went as high as four. Even within that All-Star season, there was chasing. 'We've been in three or four league finals, and I never played in any of them. So, yeah, it's been great to get a full batch of training and games during the league,' begins the 27-year-old. 'It gives you a bit of confidence that you've done the work. Other years you're kind of trying to come back in the middle of a championship when the pace is quick and there's lads who've trained for six, seven, eight months straight. So, you're playing catch up. 'But at least when you have that training done and banked early, you kind of know deep down that you can last a full game or you can play two weeks in-a-row, three weeks in-a-row. It's just a bit of confidence it gives you.' His medical history reads busy. Stress fracture in the left foot, groin issues, knee issues. The last significant input was the fractured tibia he endured while lining out for adopted club, Monivea/Abbey, in the 2023 Galway intermediate semi-final. The leg break delayed his 2024 inter-county season until the first round of the Sam Maguire series on May 18. For a good while before that, he wasn't sure if he and the 2024 season would ever cross paths. 'It definitely wasn't clearing up as fast as I'd wanted. Where I broke the leg was just very sore and it was hard to push through it. I was afraid it was going to damage it more. Despite all the reassurances, I still was hesitant. 'The medical team, at the end of the day, got me there. But there was a stage when we kind of thought it was time to just put it on ice and wait for next year. So, it was worth pushing through.' Of course, he'd have preferred a different ending. As did they all in maroon last July. McDaid's 63rd minute wide was among a succession of second-half scoring opportunities Galway left behind in the All-Ireland final. It was he who was turned over in the final play as they chased a levelling score. 'It's a tough one to get over and you might never really get over it,' the Bank of Ireland employee continued. 'I'd say it did,' he added when asked if last year's defeat brought greater pain than the final loss of two years earlier. 'They were both pretty bad, pretty tough, but maybe the second time around, having been there before, maybe the distractions leading up to it that people would say, we didn't really have that, and we were very focused on the game. But at the end of the day, if you don't take your chances, you won't win the game. That's what happened.' The case they're building to get over the line in 2025 is all the time strengthening. Peter Cooke's recent return bolsters a middle-third department the envy of almost every other county. A who's who: Paul Conroy, Cein Darcy, John Maher, Seán Kelly, Matthew Tierney, and McDaid himself. 'Definitely, physically, the strongest [it has been in my time there]. I'm probably one of the smaller lads out there now. So, yeah, it's a lot of height, a lot of strength. Look, it's great. We just have everyone in that area fit and available at the minute. For the last couple of years, players have been there, but, you know, maybe through form and injuries, whereas at the minute, we're very close to full strength out in that area.'
Irish Times
02-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Galway must reconcile painful final defeats by lifting Sam Maguire, says Cillian McDaid
The pain of losing an All-Ireland final doesn't go away. Cillian McDaid frames it as something his Galway side must endure in order to get over the line next time. Their first showpiece defeat to Kerry in 2022 felt bad. The one-point loss to Armagh last year was worse again. But the Orchard's experience of braving four penalty shoot-out beatings, including one against the Tribesmen, offers a lesson in perseverance. Until they obtain Sam Maguire, that defeat won't be reconciled. READ MORE 'It'll be there forever,' says McDaid. 'It's a tough one to get over and you might never really get over it. 'We reviewed it as a team. You have to park it then. Once you know where you went wrong and where you need to improve, that's enough. 'It was tough at the time. Definitely, it was a tough room to be in, but that's just it. To try and win it, you have to be willing to go through losing and the pain. 'We've gone through it a couple of times and we'll go through it again. We just want to win one so you have to be willing to go through the other side of it. 'We've bounced back very well. We know it's very difficult to get there, for sure, but we're up for the fight and we want to get back there. 'We're ready for that again and we'll try our best to get there, no matter what the route.' Galway's Cillian McDaid is tackled. Photograph: Emily Harney/Inpho Every year you don't win, McDaid reckons, there'll always be a painful defeat to agonise over. In 2023, that loss was the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final at home to Sunday's Connacht final opponents, Mayo. In 2024, the Maroon men kicked three consecutive stoppage-time frees to pip Mayo for provincial honours. McDaid cites that victory as a turning point for their season following their great escape against Sligo. 'It kick-started our season. It was a big win for us at home and it just showed us that we were on the right track despite what happened a few weeks before in Sligo.' McDaid didn't play in either of those games as he recuperated from a broken leg and groin surgery during an eight-month lay-off. He increased his minutes throughout the group stage before completing his first 70 with a man of the match award and the scalp of Dublin. Injuries have haunted the 2022 All-Star all too regularly. Broken fingers disrupted his brief Galway hurling career, recovering to feature off the bench to win an All-Ireland minor title in 2015. A stress fracture in his foot ended his time in Australia with AFL side Carlton. A recurring knee problem saw him step away from the Galway panel in 2021. Given such rotten luck, did he ever doubt he would make it back to play a role last year? 'Definitely. It wasn't clearing up as fast as I'd want. Like, the injuries were fine. It was more just a bit of pain. Dublin's Killian McGinnis and Cian Murphy with Cillian McDaid of Galway. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho 'Where I broke the leg was very sore and I couldn't ... it was hard to push through it. I was afraid it was going to damage it more. 'Despite all the reassurances, I still was hesitant but, in fairness, I did what I was told. The medical team got me there. 'There was a stage when we thought it was time to put it on ice and wait for next year. So it was worth pushing through.' McDaid's injury disruption has been such that 2025 was his first time completing the final round of the League. Galway have bounced back well and so, too, has the Monivea-Abbey midfielder. 'It gives you a bit of confidence that you've done the work. Other years, you're trying to come back in the middle of a championship when the pace is quick and there's lads who've trained for six, seven, eight months straight. You're just playing catch-up. 'At least when you have that training done and banked early, you know deep down that you can last a full game or you can play two weeks in a row, three weeks in a row.' With injury worries behind him, this Connacht decider is all about Galway's bid for four in a row.
Irish Daily Mirror
02-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
'You might never really get over it' Galway star on All-Ireland final loss
Cillian McDaid has processed last year's All-Ireland final loss, but he's not sure he'll ever get over it. Having won three-in-a-row in Connacht, scored a first Championship win over Dublin in 90 years and seen off a fancied Donegal side to reach a second final in three years, Galway were fancied only to be edged out in an extremely tight final by Armagh. In the close season, the panel sat down collectively to go through the game and they took whatever lessons they could from it. But there was nothing in that exercise to dull the pain. "Look, I suppose it'll be there forever,' said McDaid. 'It's a tough one to get over and you might never really get over it. 'It's one of those big games where you didn't get over the line but we reviewed it and we went through it as a team. You kind of have to park it then. 'Once you're happy and you know where you went wrong and you know where you need to improve, I think that's enough. The year before, we were knocked out by Mayo in a preliminary quarter-final. That's a tough one to deal with too, at home in a game like that. 'I suppose every year you don't win it, there's a big game you've lost that's tough to get over and you deal with it at the time. Games come around quickly so there are plenty of other things to be disappointed about this year already." Staying with All-Ireland final defeats for a moment, however, McDaid said that last year's loss cut deeper than the one to Kerry two years earlier. "Yeah, I'd say it did. They were both pretty bad, pretty tough, but maybe the second time around, having been there before, maybe the distractions leading up to it that people would say, we didn't really have that and we were very focused on the game. 'But at the end of the day, if you don't take your chances, you won't win the game. That's kind of what happened." Still, albeit he's had more than his fair share of injury problems over the years and this year enjoyed the rarity of a clean run at the League, he's still sampled some big days playing with Galway in recent years, which leaves him with no regrets over his decision to return from Australia in 2018 after a stint with AFL club, Carlton. 'No, no regrets, like. No, look, it probably took to go out there to realise how much I want to play for Galway and when I came back Galway probably weren't competing in the latter stages of the Championships so the best days of my life so far have been playing for Galway in Championship games so there's not really anything that can replace that at the minute anyway.' There's another big day coming this weekend as Galway face Mayo in the Connacht final. McDaid had yet to return from long-term injury for the corresponding fixture in Salthill last year but he says the dramatic fashion in which they won the game was the turning point in their season. 'Going into injury time I think we were three points down so the writing was on the wall. We were going to lose a Connacht final at home to probably our biggest rivals and it kickstarted our season. 'I think that day Shane [Walsh], John Maher and Mattie Tierney all came off the bench so we were starting to get a few bodies back and starting to really strengthen up our team and our panel. So it was a bit of a kickstart for us. 'Mayo are always going to be there or thereabouts in every Championship and every league campaign, so if you're able to beat them in a Championship game especially, you're never going to be far off.' There's plenty of history at stake this Sunday as Galway chase a first Connacht four-in-a-row since the county's most celebrated team achieved it from 1963-66, while they haven't lost to Mayo in Castlebar in the Championship in 11 years now. 'But we've been beaten at home a few times,' McDaid countered. 'We've lost Connacht finals in 2017, '19, and '20 at home, and '21 in Croke Park, and we've lost at home to them last year in the League so, look, anywhere you play them it'll be tough. 'You remember when you lose at home, I tell you that. You remember them well.'
