Latest news with #DromidPearses
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Paudie Clifford weighs in on whether Jack O'Connor will return as Kerry manager after All-Ireland run
Two county icons have tipped O'Connor to stay on STILL KING? Paudie Clifford weighs in on whether Jack O'Connor will return as Kerry manager after All-Ireland run PAUDIE Clifford has supplied a breadcrumb of information around the mystery of whether Jack O'Connor will remain as Kerry boss. In the immediate aftermath of the Kingdom reclaiming Sam Maguire, O'Connor had virtually stated that their final success over Donegal would serve as his swansong. 2 Clifford bossed proceedings as Donegal gave him the freedom of Croke Park 2 O'Connor is now only behind Mick O'Dwyer and Jim Gavin with five All-Ireland football titles to his name as manager The 64-year-old laid out: 'I think I was on record earlier in the year that it would probably be my last hurrah, do you know, so. I don't want to be telling ye lads before I tell anyone else. 'There's a lot more people down the corridor. Look, we'll do that in due course. There's no hurry. 'I was going out the door Thursday evening with the bag and my mrs took a picture of me going out the gate. 'I have a fair idea that will be up on the wall as my last hurrah. I'd say now she'll be firm on that one.' He repeated that line about his wife being insistent on him finally blowing the full-time whistle on his managerial career at that evening's victory banquet. However, other high-profile figures in the county such as Tomás Ó Sé and Pat Spillane have suggested it's more likely than not that O'Connor will be back on the sideline next year. When quizzed on The Sunday Game if he'd be keen on potentially replacing the Dromid Pearses clubman, Ó Sé remarked: "Jack said it there, Jack writes the script now. "He's in there with a fresh group. Why would you leave? As far as I know there's no vacancy in Kerry to be discussing." Now the elder Clifford brother has given his say on the matter - albeit he kept his cards close to his chest. He was asked on The Square Ball podcast about whether he expects O'Connor to row back on his previous public comments that indicated he was leaning towards walking away. TJ Reid and wife Niamh de Brun's gorgeous pregnancy reveal The Fossa playmaker concurred with the question's premise, adding: "I think so. I haven't been talking to him or anything about it, but I think he should. "Our squad depth was under-rated, but it's going to be very important for all those lads to keep pushing on. "It's no good doing it for one year. Winning two All-Irelands isn't enough for this team. We need to keep going. "There is nothing wrong with two All-Irelands but there wouldn't be much point resting on our laurels in our peak years." SULLY'S SAY The show is hosted by Dave McIntyre and All-Ireland winning captain Darran O'Sullivan who was happy to be far more free-wheeling with his choice of wording. The ex-Kerry speedster went so far as to argue: "Jack would be crazy to leave. This team is not even at the peak of its powers, it's only moving into that stage." It's easy to see why that view is so widely held when you consider the age profile of their core players. Paudie will turn 28 next month while brother David is 26. Sean O'Shea is 27 and breakout force Joe O'Connor is 25. Even captain Gavin White has plenty of prime years left at 28 - an age shared by Tom O'Sullivan - with established goalkeeper Shane Ryan just a year older. Realistically, Paul Geaney, Paul Murphy and Tadhg Morley are the only names from their panel that spring to mind as potential retirees over the off-season with the first two 34 while the latter's 32.
The 42
27-07-2025
- Sport
- The 42
Jack O'Connor strongly indicates he will step down from Kerry management
ALL IRELAND WINNING manager, Jack O'Connor, has given a strong indication in his post-match press conference that he will step down as Kerry manager. After securing his fifth All-Ireland as manager, the Dromid Pearses man was questioned as to his future in the role. Advertisement He told a story, 'Well, all I know is I was going out the door Thursday evening with the with the bag and my missus took a picture of me going out the gate. And I already know that'll be up on the wall. That was my last, so I'd say no, she'll be framing that one.' Questioned further if this was him signing off on his third spell in charge of The Kingdom, he hinted that he wanted to have a word with his players before anything was confirmed. O'Connor's agreed term was due to expire after this season anyway. 'Look I think I'm on record, early in the year there, that that it would probably be my last time,' he said. 'I said, you know, so, look…the lads, before I tell anyone else there's a lot more important people down the corridor. Look, we'll do that in due course. There's no hurry.' * Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
Irish Examiner
12-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Changed times but same result as Tyrone U20s see off Kerry in Portlaoise
Kerry 0-14 Tyrone 2-14 These are changed times. It's 13 years since the Kerry-Tyrone rivalry sank to an abysmal low with a massed brawl that marred an All-Ireland junior semi-final between Dromid Pearses and Derrytresk in this corner of the midlands. There was no such undercurrent or outbreak in this U20 All-Ireland last four tie, just an engaging encounter between two sides renewing acquaintances after the Ulster champions had won the 2024 All-Ireland final - also played in Portlaoise - at Kerry's expense. Denis 'Shine' O'Sullivan had played that day in January of 2012, when the consequences and recriminations bled into the weeks and months that followed. His son Donagh was on the starting team here. This one ended with the entire Tyrone panel arriving in on the Kerry dressing-room en masse to exchange jerseys. And then roaring the Kerry hurlers onto the field for their Joe McDonagh Cup game against Laois. The passing of the seasons was just as apparent in the sight of Daniel Kirby stationed in the Kerry midfield. His dad William, a two-time All-Ireland winner, had spent a year in school in Ballyfin College, just 15 minutes down the road from Portlaoise. The younger Kirby was part of a dominant Kerry aerial performance around the centre of the park. Tomás O Sé's side went toe-to-toe with the favourites but they were left to rue two soft goals conceded in identical style and a pair of their own missed three-pointers. They had twice as many wides in total as Tyrone despite missing a clutch of key players, captain Cormac Dillon among them, so there will be plenty of regrets and the temptation for lots of 'if onlys' as this one percolates in the coming days. That said, this is a superb Tyrone side and they deserved their win. Like Kerry, they had in and around a dozen of the players who featured in that 2024 final to call on here, but the Ulster champions had steeled themselves in the fire of seven provincial games before this. Their decider had gone to extra-time. Kerry had enjoyed a far more leisurely road to this point, their toughest day being a win over Cork that had, according to their manager, been a tad sloppy. That disparity in lead-ins probably played a part in the opening exchanges. In Ruairi McCullagh and Eoin McElholm, Tyrone have a pair of attackers who would torch many a senior inter-county team. They claimed 1-13 of their 2-14 on the day and they were never led from their third-minute opening score to the finish. McCullagh, speaking afterwards to TG4, used the word 'ruthless' when asked what it is that manager Paul Devlin is looking to inject into his lads and, sure enough, they had streaked into a 1-5 to 0-1 lead after just 18 minutes of play. The irony with the first goal is that it came from a kick-out where Kerry had been so dominant, the ball breaking behind the cover and Tyrone blitzing through the ocean of space until McElholm scored with a beauty. Seventeen minutes later and we had an identical snapshot on the stroke of half-time when it was Noah Grimes appearing as the last piece of the jigsaw. That concession was all the worse for the work Kerry had done since absorbing the first. The entire second quarter had been Kerry's. They outscored Tyrone six points to two, the only effort from the northern team a two-pointer from McCullagh, so the five-point deficit at the break was rough justice for all that reconstruction work. Third quarters have been Tyrone's domain so far in the championship. Kerry more than held their own. The only problem, again, was that they couldn't maximise the return their effort deserved with two big second-half goal chances going a begging. Ben Murphy did so well in the build-up to both of them, his jinking run to make the opportunity for the first spellbinding, but the Austin Stacks man couldn't find the finish with either one and so Tyrone were able to keep them at bay with a degree of comfort. Twice Kerry got the deficit down to three points but the late siege never materialised. Tyrone rattled off the last three points to add some sheen to the scoreboard. Just one more hour of football separates them now from a third title in for years. The winners of Friday's meeting of Mayo and Louth will do well to prevent that. Scorers for Kerry: P Lane (0-7, 5 frees); K Dennehy and D Kirby (both 0-2), E Healy, L Evans and R Carroll (all 0-1). Scorers for Tyrone: R McCullagh (0-9, 0-1 mark, 0-1 '45', 0-3 free, 1 2-pt); E McElholm 1-4 (1-2, 0-1 '45'); N Grimes (1-0); S McDermott (0-1). Kerry: M Tansley; A O Beaglaoich, G Evans, M Lynch; L Evans, D O'Connor, B Murphy; E Healy, D Kirby; E Boyle, D O'Sullivan, K Dennehy; C Collins, T Kennedy, P Lane. Subs: R Carroll for Collins (43); E Daly for Boyle (47); J Murphy for O'Sullivan (56); J O'Sullivan for Kirby (58); O Ferris for Lane (58). Tyrone: C McGarvey; F Nelis, B Hughes, Conor Devlin; C Daly, J Clarke, C Donnelly; Conan Devlin, C O'Neill; C Sheehy, L Og Mossey, M Quinn; R McCullagh, E McElholm, N Grimes. Subs: S Broderick for Conor Devlin (24); S McDermott for Grimes (49); E McDonagh for Sheehy (53); E Donaghy for Mossey (59). Referee: B Judge (Sligo).
