@peddlerscross has played a blinder here
I’m delighted for all of us who have been part of the Derry story from the very beginning.
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Can you update your club football power rankings at your earliest convenience in light of these revelations?
Watty Graham’s Glen were at Number 1 with or without McFaul.
You couldn’t possible have Kilmacud Crokes* at number 1 after the way they carried on.
The fallout from the Crokes carryon will go on for decades.
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McFaul could be the first player to win a Guantanamo County Title and an Ulster Senior Football Title
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The true connoisseurs of the game bought into the Rory Gallagher Project pre-Feb 2022.
Will he have to wear an ankle tag on the pitch?
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He did in the Boston Championship last year, but now that the case is closed, that will be the end of that.
I wonder if he’s become used to wearing it will be continue to? Could be a serious off balance issue if he goes without it.
You’d just hope that the Cuban druglords haven’t been had by a spoofer like Lukas K in the S&C side of things
I’d imagine, he’ll be ok without it.
Rob Finnerty may be steeped in Mayo but was ‘always on the maroon route’
League final with a difference chasing Galway glory against his dad’s county
Galway footballer Robert Finnerty at the announcement of Optimum Nutrition as the official performance nutrition partner of the GPA. Photo: Dan Sheridan/Inpho
March 31 2023 02:30 AM
His Mayo father is forever tagged with that miss in an All-Ireland final. Whenever he eventually retires, Rob Finnerty would doubtless love to be recalled for the goal that delivers Croke Park glory to Galway.
“I was always on the maroon route,” he stresses, when asked if there was ever a time when Anthony Finnerty tried to cajole him into the Mayo fold.
The ties that bind family and football aren’t always straightforward, as the Finnerty clan will realise heading to GAA Headquarters this Sunday.
A Division 1 decider in early April may not carry the historic weight of an All-Ireland final in high summer, but Galway’s 42-year wait for a league title adds an extra layer of motivation for Pádraic Joyce’s squad.
Then, of course, there’s the opposition. It would be Mayo, wouldn’t it!
Anthony Finnerty came off the bench for Mayo in the All-Ireland finals of 1989 and 1996, starting the infamous ’96 replay. More famously he found the net against Cork in ’89; only trouble was, if a subsequent goal chance had veered inside the Canal End upright, we might not be talking still about a Sam Maguire famine now in its 72nd year.
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Growing up, Rob Finnerty tagged along with his dad to Mayo matches. But he also grew up in Galway – Salthill, to be precise.
“He never brought me as far as Mayo for a training or anything like that. I would have played underage with Galway the whole way up through the ranks. I’ve always been a Galway man, anyway. I never thought about putting the Mayo jersey on, and he never tried pushing it on me,” Finnerty Jnr stresses, speaking at a media briefing to announce Optimum Nutrition as the official performance nutrition partner of the GPA.
“I would have been very aware of [the Mayo connection] because my auld lad was dragging me along to Mayo games my whole life, trying to put a Mayo jersey on me when I was younger, so I’d have been very aware of it.
“There’s a big Mayo connection with Maurice Sheridan as well, another Salthill man who would have played for Mayo with dad. To be honest, there’s loads of them. A lot of Mayo people seem to settle down in Galway and a lot in Salthill, so it’s good craic coming up to games like this.”
Another bridge across the Finnerty county divide? John O’Mahony, Mayo boss in ’89, is now managing Salthill/Knocknacarra.
Rob expands: “I’d been at all those All-Ireland finals. I’d a huge interest in football – and would have followed the Mayo team, big time. My dad would have brought me along and he’d have been fairly excited coming up to those finals. More so than other Galway households, we would have been more invested in Mayo.”
Anthony Finnerty in action for Mayo against Meath’s Paddy Reynolds during the 1996 All-Ireland SFC final replay at Croke Park. Photo: Sportsfile
By now, however, it’s fair to surmise that the immediate Finnerty family is firmly on the Galway side of the loyalty fence. Rob has been playing senior championship football since 2019. Last summer he emulated his father by contesting an All-Ireland final, with the same painful result.
Even his father has loosened up to the extent that “he wouldn’t have the Galway jersey on him” but he might sport a maroon shirt.
“You have that bit of craic with the cousins or whatever, some of them would still be supporting Mayo when we play against them,” he concedes. “But they all put on the Galway jersey then when we are playing other counties. I would say a few of them will have the Mayo jersey on this weekend, I suppose it adds to it a small bit.”
The lads may have been right after all, the conveyor belt in Dublin must not be what we thought it was, they’re recalling and starting 40 year olds now.
Bernie must have done something to PJ
It was that day they should have beaten Donegal in Ballybofey back around June 2021 when they really sprung to national prominence. They must have been kicking themselves that they didn’t win that game but it was important lesson in their developmental path.
Predictions for the weekend:
Division 4: Sligo v Wicklow
Sligo to edge it for me. Wicklow have improved significantly since the Yeats county beat them in Aughrim on matchday 2 but the form lines against Wexford in recent weeks suggest that Sligo should still just about have enough. I have an inkling they’ll be in another final later in the year too due to the lopsided draw in Connaught this year. Wicklow football is in a better place these days though as showcased by their U20’s victory in the Faithful Fields during the week.
Division 3: Cavan v Fermanagh
I’d fancy Cavan here. An element of shadow boxing about their defeat last weekend. I feel it was more telling that they were promoted after just 5 games. Mickey Graham has a good managerial track record and similar to Sligo I have a feeling they may end up in a provincial final this year. They’re due to run into a Rian O’ Neill deprived Armagh in the Ulster quarters and I’d fancy them to beat Donegal/Down in the semi-final on current form. The caveat is that this all hinges on RO’N and his fitness.
Division 2: Derry v Dublin
Another fascinating final. I have a feeling that Derry are taking the league slightly more seriously than Dublin and will opt for a Derry victory here. They will be buoyed by that Ciaran McFaul news too. Dublin huffed and puffed for the majority of their victory against Louth in HQ last weekend. A Derry victory over one of the main protagonists on what is basically their home soil would be a huge scalp and further augment their growing confidence.
Division 1: Mayo v Galway
I’m giving Mayo the nod here based on 2023 league form but I’m sure the Roscommon game in a weeks time will be at the forefront of their thoughts too. A repeat of the 2001 League Final here. I think it will have the same outcome. Galway backers would gladly take that if it meant a similar turn of events in this years championship.
All four games are 50-50 which highlights the Box Office nature of the Allianz Football League. You can debate the merits of playing these finals so close to championship but I’m just disappointed that I’ll be missing the Div 4 and 2 finals this weekend due to my own sporting pursuits. Those 2 games are probably the ones which have piqued my interest the most. Cavan v Fermanagh is the least enticing of those games to me.
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Gleeson 
No Chrissy for Derry on Sunday.
Big loss.
Advantage Dublin