Latest news with #Donegal
Irish Times
9 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Kerry and Donegal show underdogs that only the ruthless survive
Underdogs have to take all of their chances, whether it's shots at the posts, half-chances at goal or minding possession in tight areas. Neither Meath nor Tyrone were able to do these things and thus Donegal and Kerry were treated to armchair semi-final victories. On Sunday, Meath started the game with two-pointers in the opening 12 minutes from Eoghan Frayne and Ruairi Kinsella, but that was as good as it got for the Royals, as their preferred shooting method subsequently malfunctioned. After a great turnover inside their own 45, Jordan Morris carried the ball from deep, a momentary reprieve from his marker, Brendan McCole. The Meath forward tried to play a defence splitting pass into Matthew Costello, but his tormentor Brendan McCole intercepted the ball just ahead of the onrushing Matthew Costello. Robbie Brennan spoke after the Galway win about Jordan Morris and his creativity, saying that he doesn't want to restrict players who have a little bit of magic. Brennan has given them the freedom to concede what he terms 'creative turnovers'. This was one of them and it was acceptable at that stage of the game with just six minutes on the clock. READ MORE Robbie Brennan has encouraged Meath to play freely, and here Morris gambles to try and create a goal chance, leading to a "creative turnover" In the next phase, Donegal continued to attack as they usually do, but were turned over as they approached the Meath arc. Meath attacked with pace, but the two-point effort from Conor Duke went wide, under severe pressure from Oisín Gallen, who had worked hard to get back to cover. An underdog needs to take those chances. The game would have been very different at this point if the scoreboard read 1-5 to 0-2 in favour of the Royals, rather than just the one-point advantage. As a cagey opening quarter played out, Donegal were only up 0-6 to 0-5, with Meath scoring 2/4 of their two-point efforts. However, for the remainder of the half, they missed four two-point efforts to go into half time with a conversion rate of 2/8 (25%) on two-point shots and 4/8 (50%) inside the arc. Meath two-point attempts (1-4): Meath's conversion rate in the first half for two-pointer was 25 per cent, as they often took the wrong option. In the 18th minute, Jordan Morris had yet to register a score and, under pressure from McCole again, he dropped a two-point attempt tamely wide. As the television cameras panned to Robbie Brennan and Shane Supple on the sideline, there was frustration evident in their body language, their willingness to embrace 'creative turnovers' maybe not as high at this moment. They would not have been happy, as Meath were very much in the game, with success on the Donegal kickout, some great defensive turnovers from Sean Rafferty and strong ball carrying from Ciaran Caulfield, but they needed to convert their chances. Donegal definitely afforded them chances. Meath two-point attempts (5-8): Meath's four consecutive two-point misses badly hurt their chances of staying in the game. Jordan Morris finally got his sole contribution to the scoreboard in the 32nd minute as his delightful dummy onto his left gave him momentary breathing space to bring the Meath tally to 0-8. However, Donegal finished the half off with two points as they continually put Billy Hogan's kickout under pressure. Ruairi Kinsella missed a rushed two-point effort as the buzzer sounded, when calm was needed to work the right shot. At half-time Donegal led 0-13 to 0-8 and the game was close to over. The removal of Michael Murphy in the 44th minute signified that Donegal has started preparation for their final joust with Kerry. A day earlier in Croke Park, the underdog struggled again but in a different way. Tyrone dominated the Kerry kickout in the first half as they won seven out of 10 of Shane Ryan's restarts, giving them a huge platform. However they were not able to punish accordingly, as Kerry came with a teak tough defensive structure and a real edge, where they had no interest in conceding soft frees or affording goal chances. Battle lines were firmly drawn as within 30 seconds Kerry executed the perfect choke tackle on Darragh Canavan and turned over Tyrone. Kerry controlled the tempo of the game in the next phase, before David Clifford won a free in front of the posts which Sean O'Shea converted. Kerry executed a perfect choke tackle on Darragh Canavan inside a minute, setting the tone The one scoreable free that Tyrone conceded in the first half was a foul with a purpose, as Joe O'Connor's quickly snuffed out a rare Tyrone jaunt toward Shane Ryan's goal. Joe O'Connor made the smart choice to give Tyrone a handy free, rather than a rare chance at goal O'Connor was involved again in the 9th minute as Kerry forced a turnover after a long spell of controlled Tyrone possession. O'Connor showed his confrontational side by winning a turnover under the Hogan stand as he hassled Brian Kennedy vigorously. O'Connor once again forcing a turnover, this time popping the ball out of Brian Kennedy In the 24th minute, Tyrone won a miscued Shane Ryan kickout but weren't able to punish with Eoin McElholm's attempt tailing wide as Kerry scrambled back. The defining turnover of the half came in the 28th minute as Mattie Donnelly wound up to shoot at the posts, but a diving block from two Kerry defenders sent the Kingdom on the attack for David Clifford's goal at the far end of the field. This block on Mattie Donnelly was rewarded, as Kerry scored their goal from it at the opposite end Clifford demonstrated the perfect back door cut, followed by a dummy bounce to beat Niall Morgan and stick it in the net. David Clifford's genius on and off the ball on show, executing the backdoor cut, rounding Niall Morgan and finishing Tyrone led after the first quarter by 0-6 to 0-4, but by half-time the scoreline was 1-9 to 0-9. Tyrone lacked some of the edge you'd associate with their tempestuous clashes with Kerry over the last 20 years, where they dictated terms. After dominating possession for much of the half, the score at the break left the Ulster underdogs with too much to do. While the scoreline on Saturday wasn't quite the massacre that Donegal delivered on Sunday, this game was just as comfortable for Kerry. After their initial second half scoring burst, Tyrone were dictated to by the Kingdom, setting up an All-Ireland final full of intrigue.
RTÉ News
10 hours ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Brendan Cawley appointed referee for Kerry-Donegal football decider
Kildare's Brendan Cawley has been appointed as the referee for the 2025 All-Ireland SFC decider between Kerry and Donegal. It's a first All-Ireland inter-county final for the Sarsfields' clubman, who previously oversaw the 2024 All-Ireland club final between Glen and St Brigid's and the 2023 Division 1 league final between Mayo and Galway. The Kildare official has had several big assignments already in 2025, and was notably the man in the middle for the Ulster final between Armagh and Donegal and the Armagh-Kerry All-Ireland quarter-final over a fortnight ago. In recent years, he has refereed All-Ireland semi-finals in 2022 and 2024, Galway's wins over Derry and Donegal. His line umpires on the day are Monaghan's Martin McNally and the experienced Meath referee David Coldrick, with McNally named as stand-in referee.
The 42
10 hours ago
- Sport
- The 42
Kildare's Brendan Cawley to referee the All-Ireland senior football final
KILDARE'S BRENDAN CAWLEY will referee this year's All-Ireland senior football final between Kerry and Donegal. The clash on 27 July will be the first senior showpiece that Cawley has taken charge of. A members of the Sarsfields club, Calwey was previously the referee for the 2024 All-Ireland senior club final, the 2023 Division 1 league final, and senior semi-finals in 2022 and 2024. Advertisement This season he has been in charge of Donegal against Derry and Donegal against Armagh in the Ulster championship. In the All-Ireland series he refereed Louth against Monaghan, Dublin against Derry, and the quarter-final tie between Kerry and Armagh. His line umpires on the day will be Monaghan's Martin McNally and Meath's David Coldrick. Martin will be the standby referee, and the Sideline Official will be Thomas Murphy from Galway. Also on duty will be Garreth Whelan, from Wicklow, who will be Hawk-Eye Official, along with Seán Laverty, from Antrim, who will be the Time Official. Cawley's umpires on the day will be Dave Coady, Lee Moore (both from Ballykelly), Eoghan Fitzpatrick (Nurney) and Johnny Farrell (Rathangan). *****
BreakingNews.ie
13 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Woman in court after kicking detective in crotch during search of her home
A woman who kicked a detective in the crotch while he was carrying out a search of her home in Co Donegal has appeared in court. Jana Milaniakova appeared at Letterkenny District Court charged with assaulting the Garda at her home on January 2nd, 2024. Advertisement Garda Pauline Doherty gave evidence of the arrest, charge and caution of Milaniakova at Letterkenny Courthouse yesterday. When charged with the offence, the accused woman replied, "I apologise for this charge. I was very frightened." Garda Sergeant Maurice Doyle told the court how the detective had been executing a search warrant at the woman's house when the incident happened. Judge Éiteáin Cunningham asked if the detective was injured following the assault. Sergeant Doyle said there was "initial discomfort" but that the detective did not suffer any long-term issues. The assault charge is Contrary to Section 3 (1) and 3(2) of the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act 1997 (as amended by Section 20 of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023). Sergeant Doyle added that the Director of Public Prosecutions had decided the incident can be dealt with by way of summary disposal in the District Court. Ms Milaniakova was also charged with the theft of an engagement ring at the Mount Errigal Hotel in Letterkenny on December 29th, 2023. That charge is Contrary to Section 4 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act, 2001 The case was adjourned to November 10th for hearing.
Irish Examiner
14 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Brendan Cawley to referee All-Ireland SFC final between Kerry and Donegal
Brendan Cawley will take charge of this year's All-Ireland SFC final between Donegal and Kerry on July 27. The Kildare native was the man in the middle for Kerry's quarter-final victory over Armagh while he also took charge of Donegal's Ulster preliminary round win against Derry. Last year, the Sarsfields man officiated Donegal's Ulster semi-final victory over Tyrone and their All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Galway. He was also a linesman and standby referee for the decider between Galway and Armagh. Meanwhile, Kerry are set to wear their alternative blue jersey for the final.
