Clonduff will win their first title in 26 years or Burren their first in 8 years so big celebrations whoever has the Frank OâHare in 2 weeks. They have a favourable draw with their opener in the Ulster club championship and will want to make an impression there no doubt.
Iâd love to see Clonduff win this one as this may be their only chance while Burren will likely pick up a few in the years ahead. Barry OâHagan is back showing why he could have been one of the best forwards in Ulster were it not for 2 ACL injuries. Older brother Darren is the most crippled looking player I have ever seen on a football field when he walks, he has a gait and limp of a 70 year old bachelor sheep farmer. Bizarrely though when he runs he seems completely unaffected. I hate to think what damage he might be doing to himself, and he is a blocklayer as well so needs his body in some sort of reasonable condition.
Canât remember if itâs @Arthur or @Aertel220 but one of you has the lowdown on gaa in the southeast . Arklow Geraldines Ballymoney Always seem to be reaching the business end without ever getting over the line ?
Just the 12-29 for Naas this week. 9-20 for Fulham.
They got Claned
Yeah AGB lost by a point to An TĂłchar (Roundwood) yesterday in the Wicklow SFC semi-final. A last minute score by all accounts after Arklow had led by 4 points with about 10 minutes to go. An TĂłchar themselves have a youngish group and have been accused of bottling on more than one occasion in recent years. But theyâve ousted Rathnew and AGB by the minimum now so theyâve possibly turned a corner. Arklow was a sleeping giant as regards GAA until recently. A real soccer town. They were as low as Junior about 15 years ago but consistent underage success took them up to senior 10 years ago and theyâve been nearly men ever since. Regularly beaten in the semi-finals. Theyâve won the last 3 U19 A titles so theyâll feel as if their first SFC title is coming sooner rather than later. They only had one starter on the Wicklow team that won the Tailteann Cup (Chris Oâ Brien) but most of their regulars wouldâve played county underage at least. I see veteran Ciaran Hyland is still playing but was injured for yesterdayâs game. Good going to start corner-back on a senior team when he must be pushing 45ish. I think @Gman may have played with him for Good Counsel where he mustâve boarded.
âHey boss - am I anywhere Clane?â
Get into the car wash up the road ya smelly ba**ardâŚ.
Had come up as 9:17 - 6:23 on the county board website. There was me thinking the poor aul Reckâs would be on suicide watch!
OâHagan was in great form the time he did his cruciate. What age is he now?
Whatever happened to Connaire Harrisson? He had a couple of excellent years for Down and then disappeared off the scene. Did he go travelling? Shay Millar was another Down player who looked very good under Eamon Burns for a couple of years and then disappeared.
Barry was, and still is, a classy footballer. He is not far off 35 I reckon, and Darren then late 30s.
Harrison is a fella who had a purple patch that coincided with some high profile Down wins, but he was never destined to be a mainstay for a variety of reasons. He came back from London and struggled to make much of an impression in junior club football with his club, last I heard he was playing soccer with Dromara which was no surprise to me.
A bit slow with the update here. Life has gotten in the way the past few weeks and TFK is the loser/winner by my absense. I started this championship preview in July so I might as well finish it.
Got the qf predictions fairly spot on in terms of outcome and margin.
Cuala had a real jeckyll and hyde performance. Started like a house on fire and were 10 points up at half time after squandering at least 4 clear goal chances. They sleepwalked through the 2nd half only winning it by a point. They gave away two soft goals and the margin wouldve been much closer only when veteran David Tracey entered the fray with 12 mins to go and clipped 5 points from play.
The Crokes winning margin over Brigids probably flattered them a bit. It was close early doors with Cian O Sullivan in outrageous form in midfield. He clipped 6 high end points. However as inevitable as death and taxes are, there is always Jack O Neill for Brigids. It was tight out when he recieved a red card for a loose strike on 25 mins. Crokes kicked on to make use of the extra man well before the long whistle.
Isles gave Lucan plenty of it in the first half only trailing by a couple of points at the break. Ollie Gaffney putting in a great display despite being tagged by John Bellew. However Lucans greater reserves of class told early in the 2nd half with a barrage of scores putting the game to bed.
Judes vs NaF was the best of the games. NaF were the better team. They couldnât put the game to bed squandering loads of chances. It must be a long time since they failed to raise a green flag. Judes kept in the game courtesy of two well taken Callum Graham goals off the back of defensive mistakes. Donal Burke was not togged for NaF.
Vincents and Boden won their relegation playoffs after scares sending down Faughs and Barrog respectively.
Iâm giving a big preview of the All Ireland Club Hurling Championship tomorrow now that we are in October tomorrow so watch this space.
Judging by the amount of pen marks on the programme All Ireland final day, the few extra days to work it all out is understandable.
Whatâs the deal with Burke?
Hurt his knee in a RR game. Heard he will be togged for the semi final.
I have the small poxes working as match day secretaries now.
Has any bookie priced outright markets yet for provincial or all Ireland clubs?
Thought Gaffney was very impressive against Lucan. Looks a very good player.
The wheat is very much being separated from the chaff in recent weeks with regard to the Club Championships.
Just 13 teams remain in Munster and by my count less than 50 in the All Ireland. It will be much further reduced after this weekend. Loughmore, Sarsfields of Glanmire and St. Thomasâs are the only real fallers of note so far and Loughmore/Thomasâs were probably on the wane anyway and never really contenders for All Ireland glory.
Starting with Munster, Ballygunner remain the team to beat. The two key common denominators when Ballygunner lose are that Johnny Murphy has to be the referee and the game has to be under floodlights. Both those factors are out of the equation when the Limerick champions are the opposition and the game is in Walsh Park.
Its hard to read anything into whatâs gone on so far in Limerick with all the weddings and music festivals taking precedence over the hurling. With All Star Trips and Team Holidays coming up, youâd wonder will whoever wins it, really fancy the trip down the N24? Iâd like to see my friends in Doon or Kilmallock get the chance at least as the whole Ballygunner v Na Piarsaigh thing has been flogged to death at this stage.
From what i have seen watching the Cork championship, Kanturk have been the most impressive team in it but in my view, St. Finbarrs would have the best chance of a making an impact at Munster if they got that far. They are steeped in the competiiton and as weâve seen with their footballers in recent years, they grow another leg once out of Cork.
Inagh Kilnamona are potentially BOX OFFICE and anything is possible with them if they got over the line in Clare. They are not liked in Clare despite never winning anything which is always a good sign in my book. You need that âus vs the worldâ mentality and Aidan McCarthy is doing a fine job of sticking it to Lohan at the minute which is one those grudges that can sustain a club run into the winter. David Fitzgerald is another man with a point to prove. If Inagh can maintain the âus vs the worldâ mentality instead of the âus v each otherâ mindset that has dogged them for years, theyâll be a match for anyone. I dont know enough about Kilmaley but they strike me as another Eire Og or Clonlara who are game and honest but would be hammered when the taps are turned by a Ballygunner.
Better Thurles Sarsfields teams than the current version have gone into weaker Munster Club renewals and come home with their tail between their legs but I suppose the expectation/pressure that was on them between 2009-2017 wouldnât be there this year which might be a help. Moycarkey have won as many Munster Clubâs as them ironically. Unfortunately I dont see either of them improving Tipperaryâs record in this competition.
When all is said and done, it remains Ballygunnerâs competition to lose as ultimately nobody has a full back line capable of shutting down a full forward line of Hutchinson, Mahony and Fitzgerald. The only chance is to stop it at source and break down the triangles going on out the field but even that is easier said than done when SOKY is always the out ball in what becomes a game of piggy in the middle.
When i look at the draw for Leinster what draws my attention immediately is the fact the Dublin champions are going to Carlow in round 1. This has red lights flashing everywhere for me. Weâve seen Cuala lose there before and we saw Na Fianna go down to Wexford last year too and lose. Whoever wins Dublin will be genuine All Ireland contenders but thatâs some banana skin with Ballyhale most likely awaiting in the Semi Final.
Kilcormac dont seem to be going well this year and Martinâs are missing Rory OâConnor so ultimately Ballyhale are probably going to win this competition again. They only lost the final by a point last year missing Adrian Mullen and theyâve gained a couple of 18 year olds like Jake Mullen. Kilmacud should be winning it in truth with half the Dublin Senior team/panel to call upon but they were so much less than the sum of their parts in 2025 and have been only middling to my eyes this year, that I cant trust them.
There remains a great bit of mystique to the Galway champions swanning in at the All Ireland Semi Final stage each year and bringing tremendous cut to proceedings. I donât pay for Streamsport so am really only relying on Shaughâs podcasht with the likes of Brady for all my information. Reading between the lines, Loughrea arenât going well at all and have injuries so its there for a Clarinbridge/Turlough or Sarsfields to go and win it. Clarinbridge and Sarsfields seem to be playing the better while Turlough havent clicked yet. Eoin Brislane is a good operator and they might be timing their run.
In Ulster, I suppose it will come down to Slaughtneil, Cushendall, Dunloy and Portaferry. That was a very bad loss by Slaughtneil to Loughrea last year and from hearing Chrissy McKaigue speak during the week, the belief seems to be gone there. Dunloy have the best hurlers in Ulster but they seem to be doing too much messing about with Football in recent years.
Weâll probably end up with another Ballygunner v Ballyhale All Ireland Final when it comes down to it and thereâll be nothing in that.
Kanturk beat kilmaley in Munster intermediate final in 17/18 season interesting on same trajectory
Unreal stuff @peddlerscross.
Iâm going to have a nibble at Naas for Leinster when the odds come out. Training purely to win Leinster, last year was a disaster. Theyâve gone back and added a notable footballer to the panel. 70% of the panel have a full year of Liam McCarthy training under their belt and a good draw.