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Irish Examiner
21 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
'First stop will be Charleville!' - man of the match Darragh Fitzgibbon relishing Rebels' victory
Official man-of-the-match Darragh Fitzgibbon said he would never have lived it down had he missed the 65 that sent the game to penalties. The Charleville clubman is too close to the Limerick border. He also noted that striving to be as good as their near neighbours has made Cork a better team. 'I knew I was a bit far out for the first free but there was a strong wind and I said I would have a go. Then, the 65, I knew I had to try and nail it. Being so close to Limerick I would never have heard the end of it. I had to score it. 'I have nothing but respect for Limerick for what they've done, six Munster titles in-a-row, four All-Irelands in-a-row and another All-Ireland on to that. They've raised everyone else's level in the country. Everyone tries to get to their level and they've made us better. 'It was two great teams going at it. If you played it probably 10 more times there could have been a different result. But thank God we're on the right side and it is just a great feeling. 'It is a privilege to put on the Cork jersey everyday. Just living your dream really with all of these lads. Trying to make the most of it while you have it because you don't have it for too long.' There was no problem getting psyched up following last month's sub-standard display. 'Of course we were pumped up but if you can't get up for a Munster final you don't deserve to be there. We stayed level headed, we don't get too up or we don't get too down. We won't get too up unless we lift the Liam McCarthy Cup. 'We know we are a long way away from that but it is a reward for all the players. Munster is so hard. Then you come up against one of the greatest teams in their home patch. We gave it our all and it is just great to be on the right side of it. 'Four weeks off is great, important to get the bodies right. Munster championship is a gruelling campaign. We'll just relax now for a few days and we will get back training. 'We know as a group we still have two steps to where we want to go and we'll take nothing for granted.' When asked if he knew he was going to be one of the five players taking a penalty, he answered with a smile, 'as you can see from my penalty I didn't practice any of them. 'First stop will be Charleville! Read More Player ratings: how Cork and Limerick fared in Munster final epic
BBC News
18-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Antrim must target All-Ireland series spot
Antrim joint captain Paddy Burke says the Saffrons must target progressing from this season's Leinster Championship to the All-Ireland series rather rather merely focusing on retaining their Liam McCarthy Cup Saffrons will aim to repeat their surprise victory over Wexford in the Leinster campaign last year when they travel to Wexford Park for Saturday's opener (14:00 BST).That will be the first of five games in a six-week period in the round-robin Leinster Saturday's opener at Wexford Park, Antrim have home games against Kilkenny and Dublin on 27 April and 10 May before away contests in Galway and Offaly on 17 May and 25 May. The top three teams will progress to the All-Ireland series with the fourth and fifth-placed counties retaining Leinster status and the bottom side suffering relegation to next season's second-tier Joe McDonagh Cup. "Both the group of players and the management with Davy [Fitzgerald] there, are not just there to stay where we are," said Cushendall man Burke, who is recognised as one of the finest defenders in modern day hurling."We've been competitive over the last couple of years but we've also been very inconsistent and we've got to get the competitiveness consistently, hopefully take the next step and get out of Leinster and progress in the championship as a group." Clare hurling legend Fitzgerald's presence on the sideline for Antrim adds more intrigue to Saturday's contest as he takes on a Wexford side that he knows well, having managed the county for five years between 2017 and 2021, which included the 2019 Leinster Final triumph over says the Antrim squad are "loving" the increased profile that Fitzgerald's arrival has given the team."When Davy was announced as the manager, there was a great buzz around it. That helps to raise the profile of Antrim hurling with more eyes on it. That's exactly what we want. "It's well known that they are large pockets of Antrim where hurling is not really played for such a big population so the more eyes we can get on Antrim hurling and the more conversations you can get going within the county and buzz about hurling, that can only benefit Antrim long-term." Burke admits Antrim's Allianz Hurling League Division 1B campaign was a "mixed picture" with a heavy defeats by Dublin, Offaly and Waterford before a last-gasp draw with Carlow and thumping home win over Laois meant they avoided the drop to Division Two."Even when results weren't going our way, we knew we were still putting in really good work that would hopefully stand to us as we went along," added the Cushendall man. "Thankfully we finished the league strongly with a couple of good performances and hopefully we can find a little more consistency throughout the championship."Fitzgerald wanted the Saffrons to adopt a more direct playing method to the short-passing game favoured by previous boss Darren Gleeson and it did appear to confuse some of the players in their early league games. However, Burke feels that the Antrim players are now on the same wavelength as the former Clare goalkeeper."We want to get to the next level and that's what it's going to take. "He's massively knowledgeable about hurling and what both individuals need to do and from the team perspective as well. That's exactly the environment we want to be in to take that next step as a team."Wexford will face Antrim in Division 1B next year after suffering relegation but that doesn't tell the full story of a campaign that included Keith Rossiter's side beating the last two All-Ireland champions Clare and Limerick so the Saffrons will undoubtedly go into Saturday's game as underdogs.
