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Irish Examiner
04-08-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
How Kerry's kickout clinic overwhelmed Donegal
Everything felt different. David Clifford stood in the parade like a caged bull, ready to be unleashed. The start was delayed by drawn-out formalities, while in the Kerry warm-up, Shane Ryan was the one practising frees off the ground. For a team that contains one of the purest ball strikers in the country, it was a curious sight. Seán O'Shea was immense in the decider, but it was noticeable that throughout the second half, he was down stretching his calves and seeking energy shots from the sideline. When they earned their first two-point free of the second half, Ryan came forward to take it. He slipped and it dropped short. O'Shea took over and slotted the next one from his hands. It was demonstrative of Kerry's steely determination and composure throughout. Thankfully for Kerry, it was one of the few Ryan slips all afternoon. The Rathmore man finished with 71% retention. Remarkably, they retained as many long restarts as they did short. One clipped kickout to the corner was too short but Paul Murphy showed how this side has developed throughout the championship. In a similar scenario in the quarter-final, Dylan Casey paused and allowed Rory Grugan to dart in for a goal. This time Murphy accepted a small loss and conceded the free, catching the ball inside the arc. They won 17 kickouts in total and turned that into 12 points. Their break ball structure was sheer coaching brilliance. Of the 10 Shaun Patton kickouts they stole, eight were on breaking ball. McGuinness singled out Gavin White for specific praise in that element of the tie. Too often in Gaelic football, hunger is offered as the sole determining factor on breaking ball. Kerry's improvement in this regard since the Meath defeat in the Sam Maguire series has been immense. They routinely gambled on Ryan's kickout, with defenders positioning themselves on the other side of the forward to ensure they were ball side on the break. Their variety and creativity in short kickouts was strikingly clever. On several occasions, Jason Foley or Paul Murphy matched up with Michael Murphy on the arc and took off in a foot race. The rest of their defence created space on either side for them to prosper. Shaun Patton, to his credit, tried to get creative. His first kickout to the Cusack Stand side was an absolute dart. As they began to run into trouble, he signalled for an overload and went wide. Donegal finished with a respectable 64% retention. Despite the fact David Clifford, a two-time Footballer of the Year and current favourite for a third award, finished with nine points, this was a triumph of Kerry's system. Some of Joe O'Connor's kickout wins were immense. His soaring catch in front of the sideline for Paudie Clifford's first was a classic example. Donegal never gave in, but the reality is that they found themselves in an irrecoverable hole midway through the first half. It was 0-13 to 0-4, with 10 of Kerry's points during that stretch coming from kickouts. 'We didn't perform, Kerry did perform,' said McGuinness. 'That is the bottom line. They started very early in the game and they got a foothold in the game. I thought we responded quite well in the first half on our attack, we were good, we were clinical, but I think they might have scored in their first six attacks, so we were struggling to deal with them in that period.'
Irish Times
27-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Well over twice as many two-pointers scored into Canal End than Hill 16
It can be very tempting to draw parallels between last Sunday's hurling final and this weekend's football showpiece . Despite being just a week apart and falling under the GAA umbrella, these are two very different sports, and the tactical dynamics that influence the games will be totally different. However, one thing will remain the same – the venue. Croke Park is sacred ground for the GAA and a great final played out on its manicured surface on Sunday. There's just one problem with the stadium, and it's starting to look more like a design flaw rather than a game-by-game coincidence. On Sunday, both teams struggled to shoot into the Hill 16 end of the ground with 0-15 tallied up there, while at the opposite Davin Stand (or Canal End), a blazing 4-30 was scored. It could well be the case that the football final will also be influenced by this strange detail, although it's likely to be a more subtle touch. The standing-only Hill end is the lowest part of the stadium, as well as the only section which is not covered by a roof owing to the train line running behind. This, as well as the large gap between this section and the Cusack Stand, creates a larger breeze for player shooting at the goals. This has proved particularly problematic for two-point shooting, with only 17 two-pointers being scored into the Hill in this year's Championship and Tailteann Cup games at Croke Park (13 in total). Down the other end of the field, there's been no such trouble, with 43 two-pointers going over the Canal End goalposts – more than 2½ times as many. READ MORE It's part of a wider pattern, where scoring is increased into those goals. In these 13 games, the scoring average (counting green, orange and white flags) was 10 in the half they kicked towards the Hill. Playing into the Canal End, teams averaged just over 12 points per half. It also appears easier to get a scoring streak going there too – the most scored in a half into the Hill was a total of 16, which has been bettered or matched five times at the other end. Counting each type of score fully again, there have been 314 points scored into the Canal End in Croke Park, compared to 260 at Hill 16. The good news for Donegal is that they are the only team to have scored more two-pointers into the terrace (3) in Croke Park than into the seats (1). The peak of Kerry's season so far occurred playing into the Davin, when they went on an unanswered streak of 14 points against reigning champions Armagh in the quarter-finals. That second half included three of their six Croke Park two-pointers, while they have shot two scores from outside the arc into Hill 16. Championship/Tailteann 2025 Total scores into Hill 16: 260 (11-17-193) Total scores into Canal End: 314 (14-43-186) Two-pointers into Hill 16: 17 Two-pointers into Canal End: 43
Irish Examiner
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Christy O'Connor: Brothers in arms, Hoggie's wait goes on, Cork's meltdown
As soon as Liam Gordon blew the final whistle yesterday, John McGrath took off towards his brother Noel in front of the Cusack Stand. Noel was already hugging Seamus Kennedy before his younger brother jumped into that giant embrace. Winning an All-Ireland is always special but it's even more precious again with a brother on the same team. The McGraths and the Downeys, Robert and Eoin, were the latest siblings to feature together in an All-Ireland hurling final, which has become an extremely common theme on hurling's biggest day over the last century. This is exclusive subscriber content. Already a subscriber? Sign in Take us with you this summer. Annual €130€65 Best value Monthly €12€6 / month
Irish Daily Mirror
19-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Tribe star hails teammate as 'one of the best that's ever come out of Galway'
If Galway are to extend their season this weekend, it's likely they'll lean on a player that Fintan Burke describes as one of the county's best ever. Cathal Mannion has already almost single-handedly brought Galway back from the brink after a loss to Kilkenny this year, and he may be required to do the same against Tipperary on Saturday. Having started their Leinster campaign with a 12-point loss to Kilkenny, it ended with an eight-point reverse to the Cats in the recent provincial final, but Mannion's form has held up whatever the outcome. He took his tally for the Championship to 2-55 from five games with 0-11 in that Leinster final and if there was a player of the year award for the provincial series, it would surely be his. 'I suppose it's probably people outside the county probably would have forgotten the level of hurler he is and in fairness to us in the group when you see him day in, day out and week in, week out doing it in training you're not really surprised to be honest,' noted his teammate Burke. 'In my opinion I'd have him as up there as one of the best ever that's come out of Galway to be honest. 'Even he got a point there out under the Cusack Stand [in the Leinster final], we were kind of under the cosh, he kind of fell over like, you wouldn't do it if you were in the pitch on your own. 'That's just the magic of Cathal in fairness.' Even his sorcery wasn't enough as while Mannion helped inspire a comeback as Galway whittled a 13-point deficit down to four, they fell off again to round out an underwhelming afternoon having come into the game with much momentum. 'The most disappointing thing for us and for the group is that we didn't hurl how we want to hurl and we didn't express the brand of hurling that we're trying to express, which we kind of played on Kilkenny's terms, which is disappointing,' said Burke. 'Now in fairness to them they had probably taken the foot off the gas like, we know that too, but we hurled how we wanted to hurl, we moved the ball faster and worked it through the lines and in fairness it was effective. 'But yeah, look, obviously we know at this level you need to bring that for 65, 70 minutes if you're going to, if you're going to get over the line.' Galway have been stagnant in recent years having continually fallen to Kilkenny when it counts most in Leinster and made little impact in the All-Ireland series since their last final appearance in 2018. It comes amid a backdrop of having won four successive All-Ireland minor titles from 2017-20 and an expectation that the players from those sides should be at or near their peak now. 'There is no panic,' says Burke. 'Obviously, as I said a few times, it's frustration and disappointment at our performance more than anything and like we know it's not going to be an overnight thing, Micheál [Donoghue] coming in and winning All-Irelands. 'It's going to take a year or two for lads to kind of knit in, the younger lads to get used to the older lads and vice versa. But still, at the same time, we want to be successful now. 'There's a few of us pushing on a small bit and you don't want to be waiting three or four years to be getting successful. So it's kind of finding the balance in between.' Their rivalry with Tipp is one of the most keenly fought in hurling, particularly since it really took off in the late '80s. Eleven out of their last 12 Championship meetings have been decided by three points or less - six of them by just a single point. The previous Championship fixture to take place at the TUS Gaelic Grounds, the Cork-Limerick Munster final, went all the way to penalties though, having experienced it with St Thomas's against Ballygunner in the All-Ireland club final two seasons ago, Burke feels that there are better ways to decide a stalemate. 'If you win great and if you lose, it's the worst thing in the world. We had played Ballygunner two years ago and we won. 'And obviously delighted we won, but at the same time I'd be of the opinion of replay. 'Just that's just personal, I just think like, I don't think penalties are a fair reflection on where a team is at, as in you could have five great penalty-takers and maybe the other team only has three, and it's not really reflecting on hurling throughout the team. 'So personally I'd be going for a replay, but that's just again personal preference.'
