Latest news with #LiamMacCarthy
The Irish Sun
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Tipperary GAA star ‘had to do live apology on RTE' the day after cursing during All-Ireland interview
JOHN O'Dwyer had to apologise on-air with RTE the day after he famously cursed moments after winning the 2016 All-Ireland final. Advertisement 2 The Premier beat Kilkenny on the day to secure Liam MacCarthy 2 The 33-year-old was harangued into giving an on-air apology the next day while the team did the traditional visit to Crumlin Children's Hospital Credit: Beyond the 65' podcast/talkSport Ireland Yet while common sense would view it as a minor mistake that doesn't warrant an apology, he was pestered into giving one the next day. Speaking on talkSPORT Ireland's During a conversation about how characters are few and far between in modern inter-county football or hurling, 'Bubbles' cited his own personal tale of how you can get admonished for showing a bit of personality. He recalled: "I got absolutely scaled for it like in 2016. Advertisement Read More On GAA "After winning the All-Ireland, a microphone and camera are put up into my face 30 seconds after, and I said 'We're the champions of f***ing Ireland'. "I had to do a live apology on RTÉ from Crumlin Hospital the next morning. I thought I would have to go to the President to make an apology! "I swear to god. I remember afterwards, I brushed it off. You go out and celebrate your All-Ireland. "The next morning, county delegates with Marty Morrissey come up and go 'RTÉ are looking for you to do an apology'. I'm just like 'Right, yeah okay, if you just leave me alone, I'll do it'. Advertisement Most read in GAA Hurling Comment "People are saying there is no characters in the GAA and stuff like this. A lad goes off and he says something, you might call it a slip of the tongue or whatever. Leave it be." In the podcast's debut episode last month the Killenaule clubman detailed why he actually 'Like something out of the French Revolution' - RTE GAA pundit Donal Og Cusack slams Dublin star's reckless swipe He remarked: "I never would have gotten nervous for inter-county games, I'd have gotten more nervous for club games. "Because there's probably more pressure on you there. You're expected to run the show there y'know? Advertisement "But county games no. As Conor says, you have your work done by then and so matchday is probably the easiest part. "I'd say going up through minor and under-21 teams before senior that there's always some pressure there. "But the most pressure you feel comes from yourself. The manager or other players don't put any pressure on you at all really. I never would've found any pressure only for club games." The bulk of the episode focused on the extreme training regiments modern players are subjected to in pre-season to prepare themselves for the long season ahead. Advertisement Interestingly, both men noted that there has been a huge increase in how demanding workloads have become over the past decade. The virtual professionalism of inter-county set-ups where every session is classed as a red, orange or green in terms of intensity has trickled down to the club game too. On what exactly goes into one of those most severe red sessions, McDonald stated: "You're looking at running between 7-10km whereas with your orange it'd be 5-7km while a green is handy enough. "That's your Thursday night before Championship job. And in red sessions that's tackling, running, hitting. At no point is it a conversational pace!" Advertisement
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Antrim face 'massive' Offaly test in relegation shootout
Antrim performance coach Neil McManus says the county face a "massive challenge" against Offaly in this weekend's Leinster Senior Hurling Championship relegation shootout. Davy Fitzgerald's Saffrons travel to Tullamore on Sunday (14:00 BST throw-in) knowing that defeat will condemn them to the second-tier Joe McDonagh Cup for the 2026 season. Both sides have lost all four games in this year's Leinster series. Antrim are coming off a bruising 28-point loss to Galway in Salthill last week and lost their Division One B trip to Tullamore 2-26 to 0-17. "How ready can you ever be?," McManus said when asked if Antrim are adequately prepared to take on the Faithful County on Sunday. "The Leinster Championship is incredibly competitive, some of the best teams in Ireland involved there and some of them going really well." Having earned promotion to the top tier by winning the Joe McDonagh Cup in 2022, Antrim retained their Leinster status in 2023 and 2024 with last-round victories over Westmeath and Carlow. In order to remain at the top table, they must shake off defeats by Wexford, Kilkenny, Dublin and Galway and conjure another last-ditch performance. "We've been in this situation before. We tend to be in this situation annually," added McManus, who joined Fitzgerald's backroom team ahead of the 2025 season after retiring from inter-county hurling in 2023. "We're fighting for survival in the Liam MacCarthy. It's a massive challenge on Sunday. "Offaly have developed hugely over the past four, five seasons. Their county has improved massively over the past decade and everyone has enjoyed that but we'll be fully focused on ourselves on Sunday and retaining our Leinster Championship status. "We love the fact that there's an Ulster county represented in Ireland's top flight and we want to ensure that not only Antrim Gaels but Ulster Gaels can come here to Corrigan Park and see our lads at the very, very top level." Antrim have been plagued by injury issues this year and had defender Declan McCloskey sent off against Galway last week, with James McNaughton Fitzgerald has been without forwards Keelan Molloy, Conor Johnston, Seaan Elliott and Conal Cunning in recent weeks, but McManus says the backroom team hope to "nurse at least one of them back to health" for Sunday's game.
The 42
17-05-2025
- Sport
- The 42
Galway smash six goals past Antrim as late Chin goal rescues crucial Wexford win
Leinster senior hurling championship Galway 6-27 Antrim 1-14 Wexford 2-17 Offaly 1-17 THERE WERE WINS for Galway and Wexford today in the Leinster SHC series. Galway fired 6-27 past Antrim as they eased to their third win of the competition on the bounce. The Tribesmen sauntered to a 28-point victory in sunny Salthill, 6-27 to 1-14 the final scoreline. Antrim played much of the game with 14 players after Declan McCloskey was shown a straight red card for an off the ball incident before half time, but it was generally one-way traffic throughout. Advertisement Brian Concannon, Anthony Burns (two each), Declan McLaughlin and Kevin Cooney scored the Galway goals, while Conor Cooney top-scored with 0-11 (9 frees) and Tom Monaghan hit six points from play. The hosts weren't at full strength, opting to rest a number of key players, and led 2-12 to 0-8 against the wind when McCloskey was given his marching orders before the break. They turned the screw thereafter, Antrim's only goal coming late on through Niall McGarrell as Joseph McLaughlin 0-7 (6 frees) led their scoring charge in the absence of the suspended James McNaughton. Davy Fitzgerald's side now bid to retain their Liam MacCarthy Cup status in next weekend's final round against Offaly, while Galway travel to Parnell Park to face Dublin. Meanwhile, Offaly made Wexford sweat for their win and it took a late Lee Chin goal to secure the result for Keith Rossiter's side at home. It's a crucial second victory of the campaign for Wexford to ease off relegation worries and keep their slim hopes of continuing in the championship alive. Last year's Joe McDonagh cup champions Offaly are now in a straight shootout with Antrim for survival in the Liam MacCarthy competition next weekend. Read Next Related Reads 'He's a Rolls-Royce of a hurler' - Waterford's rising star Goals powered Tipperary to defining win over Clare - can they now maintain progress? Brian Hayes: 'You fear for the worst but thankfully it wasn't anything serious' It was Offaly who made the brighter start this evening, running up a 1-2 to 0-0 lead in the opening 10 minutes after Brian Duignan found the net before going to finish the game with 1-9 to his credit. Chin got Wexford off the mark with a point before Kevin Foley supplied their first goal of the evening to leave two between them. Offaly recovered and continued to control proceedings in the second half as Killian Sampson hit a brace of points to keep his side 1-7 to 1-2 in front after 25 minutes. Offaly had a four-point advantage at half-time but Wexford made an encouraging start to the second half by hitting six of the first eight points. A Jack O'Connor score brought the sides back level on 1-12 apiece after 51 minutes. The sides continued to trade scores in a tense run to the finish before Chin's goal in the 72nd minute ultimately decided the tie along with an injury-time point from Conor McDonald. Additional reporting by Sinéad Farrell
The 42
21-04-2025
- Sport
- The 42
Galway have lost faith in their hurlers and there's only one way to get them back
WHEN THE KINDLY Mary Morgan, Kilkenny PRO came down around the press box at half time asking if you might like the attendance, you thanked her kindly and listened in. 8,243. Surely… Surely some mistake? This was the big ticket item of the Leinster hurling championship. The biggest game between supposedly the biggest teams, the ones that have won Liam MacCarthy in the last decade. But… 8,243? Those in Leinster that get queasy when the praise for the Munster hurling championship spills over, must find this figure alarming. Sure, there will be brighter days for the overall health of the big counties in the Leinster championship. What we can only say for now is that 9,621 attended the game in Pearse Stadium last year. 11,550 were in Nowlan Park in 2023. Advertisement 14,034 turned up for Pearse Stadium in 2022. Galway are not alone in having their public turn their back on their team. Nobody likes being associated with failure. But Micheál Donoghue returns to a side in need of a serious makeover. They started the league with a 12-point loss at home to Tipperary. They showed immense promise for a while after that by beating Kilkenny away, All-Ireland champions Clare by seven points and then Wexford. But the league programme ended as the championship began; 12-point losses to Limerick and Cork before Saturday's show. It is clear that Donoghue's role as manager this time is vastly different to the one he inherited from Anthony Cunningham in 2016; a side that had been to and competed in All-Ireland finals, seeking the final push. Donoghue's experience among Tipperary as a selector for Eamonn O'Shea gave him the broad perspective needed. In year one they lost by seven to Kilkenny in the Leinster final and one point to Tipperary in the All-Ireland semi-final. The year after they went through the year undefeated on their way to claiming Liam MacCarthy. They almost repeated the trick in 2018 only for their one-point loss to Limerick in the All-Ireland final. In Donoghue's final year they were unbeaten heading into the last round of Leinster round-robin but lost to Dublin; leaving the four teams of Kilkenny, Wexford, Dublin and themselves on five points. Galway's problem was that they didn't go bananas on Carlow to ratchet up their score difference. The point is, in Donoghue's time they never succumbed to a defeat as heavy as last Saturday. The tone was set as early as the fourth minute when Galway goalkeeper Darach Fahy struggled to rise the ball and Martin Keoghan put enough pressure on for the ball to squirt loose, fired to the net by Adrian Mullen. Despite that, they managed to wrestle the lead back and were on level peggings by the 23rd minute. The issue was that both teams were backfiring and spluttering. Short-range bounce passes that would hop off the turf in mid-summer were instead sticking in the mud. Deliveries were coming off shins. Strikes were spinning in the air. Both teams were playing cat. It couldn't continue. Kilkenny found their groove and in the last ten minutes of the half outscored Galway 0-8 to 0-2. From that point on, the Tribesmen's confidence deserted them. Their full-forward line of Conor Whelan and Declan McLouhlin were swamped. Their markers Huw Lawlor and Mikey Butler were absolutely sensational in the way that full-backs can look when the service coming into the forwards is overcooked, undercooked and much, much too late. McLoughlin compiled 2-2 in the league fixture between these two just a couple of months back. Here he looked vastly different. By the end of the game, Donoghue was back with the Old Regiment; Pádraic Mannion, Cathal Mannion, Daithí Burke, Conor Cooney, Conor Whelan were all on the pitch. They all played in that All-Ireland semi-final loss to Tipperary nine years ago. Add in David Burke who was left on the bench, and you can see the obvious problem. Daithí Burke. Leah Scholes / INPHO Leah Scholes / INPHO / INPHO And yet, the veterans are needed. Burke's introduction in the backline brought an immediate improvement; Galway conceded only two more points before Keoghan's goal in garbage time. Related Reads 5 talking points after Munster hurling day of draws and drama Brian Lohan: 'We're just delighted with our lads, they always give that bit of fight' Flowers for the Leinster hurling championship and the shocks you can't get in Munster 'You miss your leaders,' explained Neil McManus on The Sunday Game highlights show as the panel searched for deeper reasons as to their demise. 'And nobody more so than Daithí Burke. The difference he made for the last, was he on for 15 minutes? He made a huge difference. That man needs to be at the centre of defence. They (Kilkenny) were being switched around; Eoin Cody, Billy Ryan, Mossy Keoghan, one or two were inside at all times with one roving. Daithí Burke needs to just anchor that defence and then build from there.' The tests will come. They have Offaly in Tullamore this Saturday. The combination of local rivalry and disgust in last weekend will show us what Galway have. Then they host Wexford, a side that beat them last year. Notably, they have Dublin in the last day of the league, a side that have caused them significant heartbreak on that very day. It might have been a low-key start to the Leinster championship. But it could turn out to be a magnificent and nerve-shredding finish.
