He’s 46. Frank Foley.
Rangers win 3-19 to 1-17. St Mullins never raised a gallop.
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Rangers win the most prestigious final having lost the intermediate and junior finals this weekend.
He’s it all done at this stage.
They’ll surely make the power rankings now.
Richie Coady still lording it at wing back?
A good Crumlin man managing the Power Rangers.
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He had them flying today and the vibes I was hearing from the Rangers camp all week were good. He had a difficult first year, last year with a changing of the old guard, injuries and Chris Nolan and a few other of the younger fellows more or less taking a year out.
Rangers were a much more balanced team today. St Mullins were relying too much on the big guns like James Doyle, Mouse and Paddy Boland, who were all well contained/below par. They couldn’t deal with the intensity and the younger legs of the Rangers.
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Paul is one of the good guys. Delighted for him.
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Some updates from Ulster.
Slaughtneil with a mere one point from two games in Derry. They need to start winning games fairly lively.
Watty Graham’s Glen beating Lavey comfortably enough yesterday to go two from two. McFaul making his club return for Glen following a long absence going back to the Ulster Club Semi Final of 2021.
Scotstown with half the Monaghan team were turned over by Iniskeen managed by John McEntee and Tony Kernan in round 1 in Monaghan. Its only Round Robin fare though so no panic yet.
Great to see McFaul back. What Crokes did there to prevent him returning to the country months back was beyond the pale.
I went onto the Down GAA website there to see how Kilcoo are doing but in typical comical GAA fashion it is laid out terribly and there are actually no fixtures and results updated for the Senior football championship
Kilcoo have had a reasonable League all things considered. 13 wins from 18 games. They couldn’t find a manager for ages but think Karl Lacey is in charge now.
Championship wont start for another couple of weeks. Maybe @Halfpipe can confirm.
I presume its still the Knockout/Backdoor format.
Massive crowd in Tralee for Fossa v An Gaeltacht Saturday. David Clifford is some promotional tool for the GAA.
Last year I did a few updates on the Dublin SHC so I might as well do this year as well even though a two rounds have been played.
Same format as last year. Two groups of five. Top team in each group into the semi finals. 2nd and 3rd in each group into the quarter finals with the bottom two in each group going into relegation finals.
Group A.
Here are the current standings after two rounds. The table looks a bit stupid with the bye.
The first game in this group caused the surprise of the championship so far with three in a row chasing Kilmacud Crokes beaten by Lucan. Lucan are managed this year by Charlie Carter and are missing their star player Chris Crummy who is in Australia. Crokes were also down a few of their players through travels and injury. Ronan Hayes being the most notable who is out with a long term hamstring injury and not expected to be back until the knockout stages. Lucan won this game 1-18 to 2-11 in windy conditions.In the other first round game Cuala defeated St Brigids. Davy Fitzs former sidekick Saorise Bulfin is with Cuala. They are a much changed side from the AI winning teams. No Schuttes, Traceys, O Callaghans, or Darragh O Connell. Still a few recognisable names in Sean Moran, Colm Cronin and Sean Brennan. St Brigids failed to get a manager this year and the team is being looked after by former Dublin keeper Alan Nolan who is still between the sticks. They came up short against Cuala on a scoreline of 0-21 to 2-18.
Kilmacud had a bye in the second round of games. In this round Lucan kept St Brigids at arms length in a 1-24 to 1-22 win. Cuala also maintained their 100% record with an easy win over Whitehall Colmcilles on a scoreline of 0-23 to 2-10. Whitehall are managed by hurlings know it all Shane “Saint” Stapleton. Whitehall were missing their Dublin footballers Lee Gannon and Cormac Costello that day who if they wanted would be Dublin hurlers. Whitehall are also the senior club most impacted with dual players. They were promoted from Senior B last year as champions but I expect them to be back there next year.
The third round takes place this weekend. St Brigids have the bye. Kilmacud are back in action vs Whitehall. They more than likely have a few players back who were travelling like Darragh Purcell and I’d expect them to easily account of Shane Stapletons charges. The other game in the group puts the teams with 100% records against each other. A win for Lucan would as good as secure them top spot while a Cuala win could open it up for Crokes to top the group. Its a deaf dog of a game - hard to call but I’d give a tentative nod to Cuala if King Con is back after his football exploits. This game is on Dubs TV Youtube at 5:30 on Saturday and maybe worth a watch.
Group B
Like group 1 there was a shock of a smaller scale in the first round of games. St Vincents managed by Pat Gilroy and with Niall Moyna in backroom team defeated near neighbours Na Fianna on a scoreline of 1-18 to 1-12. Vinnies were well worth their win with big John Hetherton causing problems at 14. Vinnies were also down the McBride brothers who were abroad but are now home. Na Fianna who are beaten finalists over the last two years were very poor. They are without Donal Burke who got injured with Dublin and not expected to be fit until 2024. They were also without Liam Rushe who is travelling. Shane Barrett in attack was their only bright spot. In the other first round game Ballyboden St Endas accounted for Oliver Plunketts ER on a scoreline of 2-25 to 1-18. This was a one point game with ten minutes left but a Boden goal and flurry of points gave them a flattering win. Boden despite their vast pick are relying on their veterans of thirty something to be the main men. Simon Lambert, Niall McMorrow, Conor Dooley, Timmy Hammersley, Paul Ryan and Conal Keaney off the bench are very much the core of the team. Plunketts managed by Shay Boland have his son Cian as their talisman. They have the well travelled Waterford man Mark Cooney as coach. There team is full of lads with minor and under 20/21 experience with Dublin as well as some experienced imports such as Kevin O’ Gorman, Bill McCormack and David Morris from Tipp. They also have a lad of Romanian heritage starting in midfield which is heartening to see.
Na Fianna had a bye in the second round of games. The teams with first round wins met in an entertaining game with Ballybofen beating St Vincents 1-23 to 3-13. Vincents were up by 8 points at one stage of the first half with big Hedgo getting a brace of goals. Boden responded impressively though to lead at half time and control the game from there. In the other second round game OPER beat Faughs on a scoreline of 2-20 to 1-17. Faughs were promoted from senior B last year and have a nice young team coming. This is a change from their traditional team of imports. Their best player is James O Brien who should get gametime with the Dublin seniors next year. They also have a son of Shiner Brennan who is just out of minor. A noteable import this year is Eoghan McNamara from Doon who the @limericks would rate highly but I seem to recall him putting his studies/career ahead of hurling.
This weekend sees St Vincents with a bye. Ballyboden will be favourites to continue their 100% record vs Faughs. I’d expect them to do so.
The other game pitchrs OPER vs Na Fianna. This is almost a knock out game for both teams. A loss for either team would require them needing some freak results in the group to progress. Both teams met the last group game last year which was similarly a de facto knockout game. Na Fianna won by a point then. The incremental improvement of OPER in recent years as well as Na Fianna missing key players make this very hard to call. I’ll go with a draw to keep the group interesting. This game is on Friday evening at 7:30pm and can be seen on the Dubs TV Youtube.
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Great round up chief, is Mark living in Dublin? He’s hardly commuting that distance for a club coaching gig is he?
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He must be. He used do a bit with Waterford players who were based up here.
He was with Mattie Kenny in Cuala and was also with him with the seniors. Fairly sure he did a bit with Dublin camogie also.
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Struck me as a bit of a bluffer in hurling terms but he obviously has something about if he’s getting all these gigs, and more power to him.
Don’t know him personally at all although anecdotally I’ve heard he is a bluffer. However as you’ve alluded to he has got around. He is a loud man on a sideline.
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Who do you fancy to win it out ?