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BreakingNews.ie
a day ago
- Sport
- BreakingNews.ie
Pictures: Hundreds of fans welcome All-Ireland champions Kerry home
Homecoming celebrations are underway for Kerry's All-Ireland Senior Football champions. They won by 1-26 to 0-19 points against Donegal in Sunday's All-Ireland final. Advertisement Tralee was the first to host homecoming celebrations from 6.15pm, before the open-top bus travelled to Killarney for 8.30pm. Hundreds of delighted fans turned out to welcome the Kerry footballers home with the Sam Maguire Cup. The Kingdom have been parading through the county this evening after winning their 39th All-Ireland Senior football title. The official homecoming event will take place at Fitzgerald Stadium from 9pm. Graham O'Sullivan, Tadhg Morley and Gavin White arrive back to Tralee with the Sam Maguire trophy. Photo: Ben Brady/Inpho The victorious Kerry team arrive back to Tralee with the Sam Maguire. Photo: Ben Brady/Inpho Dylan Casey poses for a picture with fans as he arrives back to Tralee with the Sam Maguire trophy. Photo: Ben Brady/Inpho
Irish Examiner
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Keating tops South qualifiers after overcoming rollercoaster college career
His uncle had a No.1 hit with Life Is a Rollercoaster but Seapoint's Dylan Keating was thrilled to get his career back on more level ground on home soil as he topped the qualifiers for the Pierse Motor Group South of Ireland Amateur Open Championship at a sun0-kissed Lahinch. The 23-year-old Drogheda talent hit the headlines as a 17-year-old teenager when he won Regional Qualifying for the Open at Baltray. His Uncle Ronan of Boyzone fame frequently gets a mention when he plays well but when officials joked that he had to sing a song from the club balcony for winning the silver medal after he asked if he had any responsibilities, he was happy to hit the high notes on the links. On a day when a light westerly wind led to some hot scoring, Keating added a four under 68 to his opening 69 to top the qualifiers by a shot on seven under. Dooks' Conor Hickey shot a sparkling 65, Tralee's Mark Gazi a 67, Ballybofey and Stranoloar's Ryan Griffin a 68 and Royal Dublin's Sean Downes a 72 to finish tied for second as just seven of the 14 players on two-over made the top 64 who qualified for the matchplay. Former champion Sean Desmond from Douglas was the last man in after a brace of 73s. But it was also an important day for Fota Island's David Howard, the East of Ireland champion, who needed to make the matchplay to keep alive his hopes of winning an automatic spot in the Irish team for next month's Home Internationals at Woodhall Spa via his top two berth in the Bridgestone Order of Merit. After opening with a 75, Howard was five over for the championship with six holes to play but covered them in four-under and shot 70 to make the matchplay with a shot to spare on one-over. He was only marginally less happy than Keating, who admitted he considered quitting the game during his stint at the University of Louisiana Lafayette. 'I felt like I was kind of under forming there for a long time, and to come back home playing well this year, not that I expected to shoot a score like that, it was nice,' Keating said. 'I wouldn't be shy to say it's been a tough last few years. I was in Houston last year and played an event, and I said to Mum and dad, I think that's it for me in golf. Just mentally, I was struggling. I wasn't keeping the ball on the planet. 'My iron play was bad, my driver was terrible, and even my putting left me for a while. 'When I'm home and comfortable, I think that's what brings out the best of me, and that's probably why I struggled in America, just being homesick constantly.' The former Boys international harboured dreams of turning professional for a while but he's put those plans on hold and while he admits it's 'a long shot' he's hoping to win some events and get himself on the selectors' radar for next year's Walker Cup at Lahinch. Making next year's Palmer Cup team on his home course Tralee is a goal for Gazi, who is at Northwestern University in Chicago and looking impressive in west Clare. The 19-year-old made eight birdies in his 67 in just his second South of Ireland appearance and hopes to make a run in the matchplay. 'I've done a lot of match play, especially playing Boys Home internationals,' said Gazi, who is travelling with Tralee's Darren O'Sullivan, who shot 67 to qualify in sixth place on five-under. 'Whoever you are playing, you've just goto to beat the man and make sure you do that. It doesn't matter how you do it, once you do.' Most of the leading lights, such as former winners Caolan Rafferty and Colm Campbell, made the cut with ease alongside veterans such as Douglas' Karl Bornemann (level par after two 72s) and Galway's Joe Lyons, who squeezed through in 63rd place after two 73s. Hickey, who was joint second on six-under, was delighted to make it after making life tough for himself after an opening 73. 'It was a pretty big improvement over yesterday, anyway,' the 24-year-old said after a round featuring seven birdies and an eagle three at the fourth. 'I hit a few nice shots coming in and birdied the 16th and 18th hopefully I am not out at the crack of dawn.'
Irish Examiner
7 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Jim McGuinness: David Clifford seems to be very driven this year. He's carrying the fight
When Jim McGuinness was a student in Tralee IT, he noticed that Kerry were doing the exact same thing, just in their own way. Donegal had the same drill with different tools. "Kerry look to do that through the hand and then through the foot and dink balls, longer balls inside,' he said, speaking at the Donegal All-Ireland final press event. 'I think they're the best team in the country, to be honest with you, for third man runs.' Under Val Andrews, McGuinness was one jewel in a star-studded side. Seamus Moynihan, Padraic Joyce, Michael Donnellan and Mike Frank Russell were team-mates. "I spent two years down there myself and I've been part of many training sessions from a Kerry point of view and I used to laugh sometimes because, when I was starting out with Tralee, we had a lot of players that played for Kerry and won the All-Ireland in 1997, the year that I arrived. 'A lot of the drills that we were doing from a handling point of view and a fist pass drill, it was the exact same drill, but it was over 40 metres by 50 metres and it was a kick pass drill. "Everything was sort of a dink ball and third man runs are basically, if we talk about our DNA being a running game, third man runs off a kick pass is probably Kerry's DNA. They love to kick the ball and they love to get a natural support runner coming off that can carry the fight. "So yeah, I have good experience of how they want to play because I was part of that process myself and I was also part of the process of the confidence that they bring to games and bring to finals because I was lucky enough to win two Sigersons down there and there was never any doubt that we were going to win them. "You're going into those games and you're fully believing that you're going to do it.' That is the biggest task ahead of Sunday. The green and gold's innate expectation that they belong on the big stage. This is their history and their destiny. "I think that's the biggest barrier that you have to overcome as a team that's around the periphery, if you like, and I would say ourselves would be in that bracket,' said McGuinness. "Tyrone would be in that bracket. Armagh would be in that bracket. Good teams and good sides, but trying to make a breakthrough. "We wake up on the 1st of January and you're hoping things will go well and you're hoping you can get momentum and you can build a team and build an energy. "Kerry and Dublin wake up on the 1st of January and if they don't win the All-Ireland, they'll be disappointed. So that mindset is going to be difficult for our lads to overcome because that's what they're going to be facing as soon as the ball's thrown in.' He knows what is coming. They've seen the sheer football brilliance up close. On the Tuesday after their semi-final triumph over Meath, McGuinness trained with the players who weren't involved in the fixture. On the way to their Convoy base, there was only one topic of conversation between himself and his son, Mark Anthony. They spoke about David Clifford. They spoke about a 26-year-old who could be the best player that has ever played the game. "You can never make that assertion until somebody hangs up the boots but certainly he's an exceptional football player. "He seems to be very driven this year. He's carrying the fight I would almost say with a determination and aggressiveness like an attacking aggressiveness - when he sees a gap he's just really going for that gap. "Even some of the scores even in Croke Park, he's not kicking it over, he's firing it over. It's almost putting down markers and I think he's leading from the front literally. It's a huge challenge but obviously there's a number of what you would call marquee forwards in the Kerry team.' Much has changed since his first reign, the joy of the 2012 victory and the despair of the 2014 defeat. McGuinness experienced professional sport. He knows what good looks like. Their Centre of Excellence is as good a facility as any he saw in the Scottish Premiership, outside of the big two. S&C coach Pat Flanagan opened his eyes to that side of the game in Tralee. He went to China, America and expanded his mind even further. But all the while, 2014 lingered like a ghost. How often did he think about it? 'I would say until I got back involved, I would say there wasn't a day I didn't think about it. I can remember walking about the hotel after we lost in a daze. I didn't know what happened, didn't know where I was, didn't know what actually had gone wrong there and taking a step back from that and trying to work that out. 'It's very, very painful. You're in a banquet and there's 1,200 people and you don't want to see anybody. That's not a nice place to be. 'All of that factors into it but I think when you get back on the horse, then you're not thinking about the past, you're thinking about what you need to do. 'You're thinking about moving forward and we have moved forward and we've created this opportunity. As I say, if everything works well and everything goes to plan, the only thing that it guarantees you is to be competitive.'
Irish Independent
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Deerpark's Fleming plays part in Irish team retaining European Team Championship title
Ireland were the defending champions from the event last held in 2018 as home advantage was made to count during the three days of play. The initial strokeplay round to decide the order of the nine nationals involved saw Ireland finish 21 shots ahead of Great Britain in topping the standings as they ended up in an initial group with Switzerland and Galicia. They had 6-0 wins in both encounters as Fleming defeated the Swiss' Giovanni Volentik 3&2 and Galicia's David Rodriguez 4&3 in his two matches. Those wins meant Ireland went into a Championship group with the other two group winners, Catalonia and Great Britain, as Fleming partnered with Limerick's Kieran Earls in the Doubles. They defeated Catalan pair Marc Lloret and Alex Albinana 4&3 with the Killarney man subsequently beating Lloret 4&3 in the Singles match. Ireland had a 8-1 win overall against the Catalans as victory in Sunday morning's game against Great Britain would assure them of the title. It was flawless in Ireland winning 9-0 as Fleming combined with Earls again for a 2&1 win over Liam Malone & Steve Deeble in the Doubles as Fleming then had a 3&2 win over John Deeble in the Singles to complete his tournament. The win follows on from Fleming's Irish World Cup win last autumn as the specific win last weekend was 20 years after Fleming's Deerpark club-mate Derry McCarthy captained Ireland to victory in this event in Holland. Elsewhere, last Saturday at the Ardnacrusha Scratch Cup saw Deerpark's Eileen McCarthy (Gross) and Tralee's Charlotte Blake (Nett) win the two Ladies prizes in the competition. Closer to home the County U16 Boys Strokeplay Championships took place on Tuesday last in Tralee with the overall title requiring a nine-hole play-off to decide the outcome after both Deerpark's Fionn McMonagle and Tralee's Tommy Murray tied on 116. McMonagle was victorious by five shots in the extra holes in claiming the overall title from Murray as the 13-15 section was dominated by Listowel with Ruairi Turbinski winning by four shots from his club-mate Mason Sheehy Elston on a score of 119. The 8-12 section was won by Deerpark's Aodhan O'Halloran meanwhile on 118 with Joey Blake from the host club second on 127. The County Strokeplay was also the event that saw confirmation of the three Kerry teams that will represent the county in the Munster U16 Singles & Inter-County Championships in Crosshaven in Cork this Saturday. Gold team: Aodhan O'Halloran (Deerpark), Fionn McMonagle (Deerpark), Mason Sheehy Elston (Listowel), Thomas Keane (Listowel) Green team: Fionn O'Callaghan (Deerpark), Tommy Daly (Listowel), Thomas O'Sullivan (Deerpark), Diarmuid Lyons (Listowel) ADVERTISEMENT White team: Daniel Quinlan (Deerpark), Sean Stack (Listowel), Ruairi Turbinski (Listowel), Joey Blake (Tralee) Meanwhile, this Friday sees the National Strokeplay Qualifiers take place in Tralee as they have been brought forward in order to avoid a clash with the All-Ireland Football Final on Sunday.
Irish Independent
15-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
One Kerry medallist returns from the Munster Strokeplay in Cork
A member of last year's Munster Inter-County Nett winning side, Eileen is continuing a comeback to the game after a long absence as she finished two strokes off the winning score last Sunday. Rounds of +7 and +6 gave her a +13 total as Riverdale of Nenagh's Margaret Forde was the winner on +11 with Megan Ahern from the host club second on +12. In the Mens' events, meanwhile, there were three Top 10 Kerry finishes in two events. The Senior Mens saw Damien Fleming finish fifth overall after the 54 holes on 19 under par as despite being in a good position of fourth on 16 under after the first 36, he never caught fire in the playoff. John Walsh from the hosts was the winner on 24 under as Castleisland's Aidan O'Connor had an impressive performance in reaching the play-off and finishing eighth overall on 13 under par. The other Top 10 finish was in Saturday's Intermediate Mens event where Tralee's Mark Lucey finished 10th overall. Lucey was fourth overall after the first 36 holes on six under par, three off the lead, but his challenge fell away in the final 18 as he slipped back to one under overall. The event was won by Morty Ahern from the host club on 15 under par. Tuesday, July 8 last, meanwhile, saw the conclusion of the Bob Casey Memorial Inter-Club Strokeplay Championships as for the first time in six years a team from Deerpark was victorious. Their 'Green' team of James Fleming, Gearóid Cronin, Connie O'Sullivan Jnr, Brian McCarthy, Niall O'Loughlin, Seán O'Mahoney, James Foley, Nathan Cronin, Mark O'Shea and Paddy Murphy recovered from losing the opening night in Tralee to win the three remaining nights in Castleisland, Deerpark and Listowel to win from Tralee C as the win prevented a fourth successive Tralee success in the competition. The competition also meant the confirmation of the Kerry Intermediate and Junior Mens sides for the Munster Inter-County Championships in Ardnacrusha on the weekend of August 31 and September 1 with the two sides made up of the following: Intermediate Mens 1. Con O'Sullivan Jnr (Deerpark) 2. Mark Lucey (Tralee) 3. Michael Creagh (Tralee) 4. Eamonn Sheehy (Tralee) 5. Dan Broderick Jnr (Tralee) 6. James Fleming (Deerpark) Sub. Danny O'Leary (Tralee) Junior Mens 1. Mark O'Shea (Deerpark) 2. Brian McCarthy (Deerpark) 3. Sean O'Mahoney (Deerpark) 4. Nathan Cronin (Deerpark) 5. Reece Sugrue (Tralee) 6. Alan O'Connor (Tralee) Sub. Adam Ricken (Castleisland) This weekend, of course, is another big occasion for Damien Fleming as he represents Ireland once more on the Men's Team for the European Team Championships in Lucan in Dublin. It comes after his appearance in the World Cup Final win over North Portugal last year as he will be playing in this event 20 years on from when his Deerpark club-mate Derry McCarthy captained Ireland to victory in this same event in Holland in 2005. The County Board wishes Damien all the best this weekend along with the two Irish teams (Mens and Ladies) taking part.
