Latest news with #PádraicJoyce
Irish Times
12 hours ago
- General
- Irish Times
Darragh Ó Sé: Good decision-makers are gold dust – Armagh had Rory Grugan, Dublin missed Con O'Callaghan
There's no hiding place above in Croke Park . That's what we always used to say. You'd be half-messing, throwing it out there – you'd be off doing laps or something, some bit of grunt work that nobody liked doing. And to break the silence or kill the monotony, some fellah would take off the manager: 'Remember now lads, there's no hiding place above in Croke Park.' And for all our sneering and blackguarding, it's true. Croke Park on a big day is a merciless place. Nobody is going through the motions. Everybody is bringing it their full attention. You have two choices: either be the one who does his job or be the one who has a job done on you. Dessie Farrell could tell you all about it after Sunday. The Dublin manager was standing on the sideline seeing his players make mistake after mistake and you were looking at him as he was thinking, 'Christ, there really is no hiding place out there.' He must have been watching some of what was going on and nearly wondering who was in charge of this fiasco. READ MORE Dublin broke the three-players-up rule three times and you could see that Dessie and Darren Daly were tearing their hair out on the sideline trying to get the players to be more mindful of it. But you could also see that the Armagh players were policing it themselves. If you want to know the difference between a team that's in a good spot and one that's not where it wants to be then that's it. For the reality is that Dessie – or Kieran McGeeney or Pádraic Joyce or Jack O'Connor – can only do so much. Players have to take control of the thing on the pitch. There's little enough between the top teams in terms of skills, ability or conditioning – that definitely seems to be the case this season anyway. So in vital moments, it comes down to decision-making. That's why there are certain players whom managers want on the pitch. Jim McGuinness wants Michael Murphy there. Dessie wants Con O'Callaghan. Jack wants David Clifford. It became more obvious as the game on Sunday went along that Rory Grugan is that player for McGeeney. Obviously, you want all you players to be good decision-makers. But when it comes down to it, certain fellahs carry that bit more credibility. You have plenty of players who will go and kick a point then run back to their position happy that their job is done. Yet watch the likes of Grugan, Murphy and Con the next time there is a break in play. They never switch off. They're the ones pointing to a fellah taking a sideline ball, telling him where the free player is. They're the ones slowing the thing down or speeding it up, depending on what the game needs. They're worth their weight in gold to their managers. Donegal's Michael Murphy tackles Niall Carolan of Cavan at Kingspan Breffni Park on Sunday. Photograph: Leah Scholes/INPHO Donegal were 10 points up when Murphy came off against Cavan on Sunday and seven clear when he come off against Down in the Ulster semi-final. But he was on the pitch for every minute of the Tyrone match and stayed on well into extra-time against Armagh. Watch how long he's on the pitch against Mayo – that will tell you how long McGuinness needs him to be orchestrating things. Dublin are short on those players now. This happens in all sport when a great team falls away. The first to go are the most experienced guys, yet you're usually okay for a season or two when that happens because the fellahs that fill in were champing at the bit for years to get their chance. But the problem is that the wave that comes behind that isn't as good. Also, because so many people have moved on, there's a different culture now. Standards slip, no matter how hard everyone tries. When you watched Dublin's shooting the other day, that's what jumped out most of all. They had 18 wides, they dropped a few short and hit the post as well. What struck me about it was that they were making two mistakes that you never associate with Dublin teams. The first was they weren't steadying themselves to take their kick. Not everyone is a Bernard Brogan or a Diarmuid Connolly who could just stroke over a lovely score on the run without thinking about it. But go back to when Dublin were in their pomp and watch the likes of Paddy Andrews, Dean Rock and these lads – they always took a split-second to get their technique right and to make sure they were balanced when they were kicking. Some of those wides on Sunday from Dublin were from shots that were rushed or shots that didn't have enough care taken over them. Dublin's Cormac Costello reacts to a missed chance in Sunday's game against Armagh. Photograph: James Crombie/INPHO These are good players kicking – the likes of Seán Bugler, Cormac Costello, Colm Basquel. But if they're not making sure of straightforward chances like the ones they missed, it tells you they probably aren't under huge pressure to keep their place in the team. The other mistake they were making was rushing to try to kick two-pointers. In fairness, the Dubs aren't the only team suffering from the two-point trap. Time and again, you see teams going for shots that probably aren't there because they've fooled themselves into thinking that's the only way back into the game now. So many teams and players are rushing this stuff. Who is going to stop them? Not Dessie Farrell or Pádraic Joyce going mad 60 yards away on the sideline, that's for sure. It needs to be someone on the pitch, someone with a clear sense of where they are on the pitch, what sort of time is left on the clock, who is flagging on the opposition side and who is the best choice for the shot on your own side. That game sense has to come from the players who are deep in the middle of it all. It's like the scene in Skyfall when James Bond is meeting the new Q in an art gallery. 'Every now and then the trigger has to be pulled,' Q says. 'Or not pulled,' Bond replies. When it came right down to it on Sunday, Dublin weren't that far off Armagh in general play. But the All-Ireland champions had Grugan making them tick, whereas Dublin were without Con O'Callaghan's leadership and his feel for how to manage a game. And it showed.
RTÉ News
20 hours ago
- General
- RTÉ News
Peter Canavan: Galway still capable of tearing teams apart
They have yet to scale the heights that saw them reach last year's All-Ireland final, but Peter Canavan has no doubt that Galway can emerge from their "flat spot" and have a say where Sam Maguire will reside later in the summer. After losing to Dublin in their opening game in the All-Ireland series, Pádraic Joyce's men looked in trouble for most of their subsequent clash with Derry at Celtic Park on Sunday. They trailed by eight shortly after the break. Joyce made the decision to withdraw key names such as Paul Conroy and Shane Walsh. Others had to step up. Matthew Tierney's 69th-minute goal - Galway's fourth of an absorbing game - looked to have completed a magnificent comeback. Derry would have the final say, however, with Conor Doherty's point at the death ensuring parity in the Maiden City. As a result, both sides stand on one point in the so-called 'Group of Death' ahead of Derry's date with Dublin and Galway, for the third year running, facing Armagh in their final round-robin clash. So what of the Tribes then? Clearly not at the level they reached when accounting for Dublin and Donegal at the height of last summer's championship. Peter Canavan, speaking on the latest edition of the RTÉ GAA Podcast, when asked as to whether Galway can rediscover their zip, replied: "They have the potential to be every bit as good as they were last year". In assessing Tribes' showing at Celtic Park, Canavan also took into account the desire shown by Derry, who were similarly in need of points after losing their opener against Armagh. He said: "There are two ways of looking at Galway's performance against Derry. They were flat and struggled to get to the pitch of the game in terms of their intensity. Derry were well up for it and were motivated. They were thinking that this was their last game in Celtic Park this year and they were going to go for it. They weren't going to be passive and took Galway on physically, and Galway struggled with that." Canavan, though, was impressed by how Galway clawed their way back, and still believes they have the personnel to really trouble other contenders. "Key leaders were taken off and they were brilliant in the last ten to 15 minutes; they easily could have thrown in the towel. Pádraic Joyce has a lot to take out of it from that point of view, they have a chance to reset and there is no doubting in terms of their physique and their size around the middle quarter, they have the players to dominate teams in terms of kickouts. "Up front, if you have Comer, Finnerty and Walsh and if they hit form, I don't care, they can tear anybody apart. Tierney and Thompson are also playing brilliant football "They still have the personnel, the size, and there is no reason they can't turn it around. "They have to win [against Armagh]. They have hit a flat spot and are more than capable of bouncing back."
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
‘It was heart-stopping stuff': Joyce relieved to get out of Celtic Park with a draw
They could have won it and they were fortunate not to lose it. In the end, Pádraic Joyce was satisfied to head home with a draw. 'Relieved to get out of there with a point,' he said after a thrilling fixture against Derry. 'The way we played and obviously being six points down with six minutes to go, we showed good character to stick at it. A bit of Hail Mary stuff but delighted to still be involved in it and take a point. It gives us something to play for in the last game. 'Overall, I wouldn't be happy with our performance at all. We seemed to panic a bit in the second half. A lot of wild shots.' Derry deserve huge credit for their performance. Never before has the talk of a winless record been so unfair. They drew with Galway in the league as well, they beat Mayo on penalties last year. Paddy Tally's outfit were the better team for large parts of the game. 'They were very physical in the first half but our lads matched that and we came back into it just before half-time. I'd say for a neutral, it was probably a great game to watch but for us on the line, it was heart-stopping stuff at times. "Derry put a lot of pressure on us, that's what good teams will do and it's a tough, tough group, there's no doubt about that. 'Any team in the group is capable of beating any team so we've to go out now and get ourselves ready. All we can do, the ball is on our own court at this stage which is good so we're not relying on other results so we need to go now and make sure we get a result against Armagh in two weeks.' For Tally, this was a sore one. They had an eight-point lead on the 50-minute mark and were still six up with nine minutes left. 'The thoughts are immediately we should have won that game,' he said. 'We were eight points up, in a really good position and didn't close it out. That's disappointing.' Derry took issue with the decision to award a sideline to Galway before Matthew Tierney's third goal. 'I think the goal they got was the side-line ball up there, which was contested. "It looked as if it was our line ball. I think that was a bad call. If the referee wasn't sure, hop the ball. But don't give a decision you're not sure of. And then they got the goal off that which is really disappointing.'
Irish Times
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
The hard road can help in revitalised football championship
There was, says Darragh Ó Sé, some consolation for Galway's footballers after they were beaten by Dublin at the weekend. As he suspects their manager Pádraic Joyce might have said to them, 'it could be worse, lads – we could be Mayo!' On top of that, the game will help them become 'battle-hardened' for the challenges ahead, Dublin, Armagh and Donegal all 'stress-tested' too the past few weekends. 'When you hear fellas saying Kerry must be laughing at all these other counties killing each other, I honestly think it might be the other way around.' 'Football is having a great season to date,' writes Seán Moran, enough to create 'unease in the heart of Hurling Man' . The Football Review Committee's tweaks having made the game better for players and spectators, the championship producing three 'riveting' provincial finals. The hurling hasn't been half bad either, especially in Munster, Jeffrey Lynskey analysing Limerick's 'devastating' display against Cork . Dublin and Galway could do with a performance of that quality when they meet in the decisive final round of the Leinster championship on Sunday, Gordon Manning looking ahead to the 'Micheál Donoghue derby' . Gordon also heard from the Dublin camogie camp ahead of tomorrow's Special Congress vote on the skorts issue . 'If one girl gives up this sport because of a skort, that's one too many in my opinion,' said Dublin manager Gerry McQuaid. READ MORE In rugby, Gordon D'Arcy laments the decision of the IRFU to scrap its men's Sevens programme , but 'although that choice may feel like a step backwards, it is a pragmatic and ultimately necessary one in today's economic climate,' he writes. If that decision hasn't gone down too well in some parts, neither has the picking of a Thursday for Ireland's opening 2026 Six Nations game away to France. David Gorman brings us some of our readers' reaction to that scheduling, one suggesting that 'if you were planning on turning off attendees from the sport you couldn't have devised a better scheme than this farce of fixtures'. In soccer, Gavin Cummiskey heard Republic of Ireland manager Carla Ward reaffirm her commitment to the job , revealing that she turned down the offer of a job in England's Super League a few weeks ago. 'When I say I am in, I am in,' she said at the unveiling of her squad for the Nations League games against Turkey and Slovenia. Johnny Watterson, meanwhile, talks to former boxing world champion Bernard Dunne about his RTÉ radio show in which he has revealing conversations with some of the biggest names in Irish sport. And in cycling, Shane Stokes previews the 70th edition of the Rás Tailteann which gets under way in Drogheda today, former champions, a very young Irish team and 13 squads from abroad among those competing in the event. TV Watch: Ireland play the West Indies in the first of three one day internationals in Clontarf (TNT Sports 2 from 10.30am). This evening, Kilkenny and Dublin meet in the Leinster under-20 hurling final (TG4, 7.25) and Spurs and Manchester United square up in the Europa League final in Bilbao (Premier Sports 1 and TNT Sports 1, 8.0). 'This is 16th against 17th in the Premier League , a battle of two sides who have won one of their past 10 league games,' writes Jonathan Wilson. But? It offers the winners the not inconsiderable prize of a spot in next season's Champions League, with all the financial benefits that will bring.
Irish Times
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Darragh Ó Sé: Galway won't be down after Dubs defeat - now is the time to get battle-hardened
In the end, I'd say Pádraic Joyce was happy enough with how the weekend went. Whatever about Galway losing to Dublin on Saturday, he surely had his opening line ready for the next time his panel got together: 'It could be worse, lads – we could be Mayo !' Hard games stand to good teams. Galway have had two on the trot now and they've played some great stuff at times and made loads of mistakes at other times. They won one by the kick of a ball and lost the other by the kick of a ball. My feeling is that losing to Dublin will do them more good in the long run than beating Mayo. This is the time of the year to get battle-hardened. The All-Ireland will be decided by three games in four weeks between the end of June and the end of July. You can't fake it at that point. It's not like cramming for an exam the night before. Especially in a year like this when there are so many teams at such a similar level. When the Dubs were in their pomp, it was a different story. They only needed to be at full pelt for a couple of games a season. There were two reasons for this: one, they were so far ahead of everyone, with the deepest squad. Two, they had eight weeks between the All-Ireland quarter-final and the final, giving them plenty of space to play hot and heavy A v B games. READ MORE That used to suit us with Kerry too. I remember one year we brought Brian White down to Páirc Uí Chaoimh to referee an A v B game and I'm fairly sure he was more or less told to leave his whistle in the car. We tore into each other, with barely a free given in the whole evening and we walked off the pitch knowing that we had sharpened each other up no end. I'd say Brian went back up the road thinking these lads hate each other, there's no way they're winning any All-Ireland. Galway's Paul Conroy scores the first goal of the game against Donegal in last year's All-Ireland semi-final. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho I don't think any team has the luxury of being able to rely on those kinds of games now. When you get to the latter stages of the championship this year, you have no time for clipping the lugs off each other in A v B games. If you win your quarter-final, you have a couple of days of recovery, a couple of tactical sessions and walk-throughs and that's about it. Go back to last year's semi-finals. Both of them were dead level coming down the stretch but Kerry and Donegal faded out of it and Armagh and Galway powered on to the final. I don't think it was any coincidence that the two teams who came through were the ones who'd had the toughest road. Donegal had gone six weeks without being involved in a close game by the time they met Galway. Kerry hardly broke sweat in the championship at all – you'd call the quarter-final against Derry sticky rather than anything more ferocious. When it came to the crunch, they both ran out of gas. I went to Kerry's game against Roscommon on Saturday and to me, it nearly looked like the Rossies had decided to keep their powder dry for the games against Cork and Meath. The word around Kerry was that they had been very good against Tyrone in a challenge match, but I was sitting watching them and asking: 'Says who? I'd love to meet the fellah who said that. Get the CIA or the KGB on this thing because if this crowd were very good against Tyrone, then Tyrone are in trouble.' They put up no sort of fight in Killarney. Ultimately, this isn't going to be any good to Kerry. I know that's going to sound like a Kerryman being cute but that's genuinely how I see it. Kerry have won one of the past 10 All-Irelands – there's nothing cute about that kind of record. In reality, Kerry keep getting found out when it matters most. Kerry's David Clifford and David Murray of Roscommon during their match in Killarney at the weekend. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho You need these tough games and you need them now. You need to have your cracks exposed and to find out where your weaknesses are so you can go and work on them. Kerry's two toughest games have been a league final against Mayo in Croke Park and a big test below in Cork. But the league final was in March and the Cork game was in the middle of April. If Kerry are in the last 10 minutes of an All-Ireland semi-final in early July, a wet night in Páirc Uí Chaoimh in April isn't going to be much good to them. So when you hear fellas saying Kerry must be laughing at all these other counties killing each other, I honestly think it might be the other way around. Obviously, you don't want to be going full-bore every day but some of these games are worth their weight in gold. Galway, Dublin, Armagh, Donegal – these teams have all been stress-tested in high-pressure situations in the past few weekends. They know where they stand. They know who's up to it when the heat really comes on. More to the point, they know who isn't. Kerry have a fair idea but they don't know for sure. And by the time they find out, it might be too late. [ Conor McManus: The West's awake but it's resurrection time for Dublin Opens in new window ] It's a first-world problem, as they say. And I know that if you were a Dublin or Galway player with your hands on your knees and your tongue hanging out in Salthill last Saturday, you'd be thinking that a nice stroll around Killarney against the Rossies would be very welcome just at that moment. But when it comes right down to it in the heat of an All-Ireland semi-final or final, I know which one I'd be happier to have in the bank.
