GAA 2018

[bluebrotha77]

Faithful crush 'outfought' Dubs to underline scale of Gilroy's task
Allianz NHL Division 1B: Offaly 2-25 Dublin 1-15

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Dublin’s Cian Hendricken struggles to keep tabs on Oisin Kelly of Offaly. Photo: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Sean McGoldrick

January 29 2018 2:30 AM

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As new Dublin hurling boss Pat Gilroy reflects on the painful entrails of the 13-point drubbing Offaly inflicted on his side in Croke Park on Saturday night, the Coldplay line 'nobody said it was easy' might have crossed his mind.

Granted, he picked an experimented side, featuring just four of the players who started against Tipperary in the team's last Championship outing in 2017. But he acknowledged that it was a very disappointing performance from Dublin, who played in Division 1A last season.

"We were out-fought and out-worked. Offaly fully deserved their victory. So we've got to learn from that," he said.

"It wasn't what we had intended to do."

Fillip

Given that Offaly's only competitive wins last year were achieved against Kerry (League) and Westmeath (Championship) this victory - their first in a League game in Croke Park since their only outright victory in the competition in 1991 - was a welcome fillip for new boss Kevin Martin.

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Dublin's Cian McBride leaves the field to receive treatment. Photo: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
"It was a really good performance. I wasn't surprised. We worked hard. We were in a really good place during the week. Mentally we were strong," he said.

With only one more home game - against All-Ireland champions Galway on February 25 - Dublin face a real battle to avoid being sucked into a relegation dogfight.

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"We all have to look at ourselves and come up with the answers," said Gilroy.

The Dublin defence was exposed as early as the third minute when only a brilliant reflex save from recalled goalkeeper Alan Nolan denied Oisin Kelly a goal.

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Offaly's Shane Dooley in action against Dublin's Bill O'Carroll. Photo: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Nolan rescued Dublin again eight minutes later with another instinctive save from the lively corner-forward.

With midfielder Shane Kinsella the most influential outfield player - he hit three points in the first half and won one of Offaly's four converted frees - the visitors were four points clear by the 24th minute.

Dublin did have a brief respite when Shane Barrett's incisive run split the retreating Offaly defence and his lay-off was drilled to the net by Paul Winters. Donal Burke followed up with a point free to level the game.

Offaly's response was decisive - they outscored their rivals 6-1 during the remainder of the half to lead 0-16 to 1-8 at the break.

Shane Dooley, a second-half replacement for Joe Bergin, celebrated his 100th League and Championship appearance for Offaly by driving a 38th-minute penalty past a motionless Nolan.

The goal effectively ended the game as a contest, with Gilroy bemoaning his side's lack of intensity.

"Our intensity was probably half of what we intended to bring to that game. Our movement of the ball was poor and pretty much every thing that we set out to do, we didn't," he lamented.

Thirty-five-year-old Conal Keaney made his comeback in the second half, but it was the introduction of Niall McMorrow and newcomer John Hetherton which added much-needed urgency to the Dublin attack.

However, any remote chance of a sustained comeback evaporated when Offaly substitute Liam Langton scored a 64th-minute goal with his first touch after a mix-up in the Dublin defence to seal Offaly first win in Croke Park in any competition since 2005.

"It's only January," cautioned Martin - an observation which was about the only consolation for Gilroy on a grim night for his inexperienced side.

Scorers - Offaly: S Dooley 1-5 (1-0 pen, 5fs), J Bergin 0-6 (4fs, 1 '65'), L Langton 1-0, O Kelly (1 s-l), S Kinsella, C Egan 0-3 each, D Egan, D Currams 0-2 each; D Shortt 0-1. Dublin: D Burke 0-6 (5fs), P Winters 1-1, A Moore 0-2, C Crummey, F Whitely, R Smith, N McMorrow, E Dillon, J Hetherton 0-1 each.

Offaly - C Slevin 7; T Spain 7, S Gardiner 7, B Conneely 7; P Delaney 7, P Camon 8, D Shortt 7; D King 7, S Kinsella 9; J Bergin 8, C Egan 8, D Egan 7; O Kelly 8, C Mahon 7, D Currams 7. Subs: S Dooley 8 for Bergin (ht), T Geraghty 6 for C Egan (53), L Langton 7 for Mahon (63), D O'Toole for Connelly (71), D Doughan for Delaney (73).

Dublin - A Nolan 7; P Smyth 5, B O'Carroll, 5 C Hendricken 5; S Barrett 6, C McBride 5, C Crummey 6, J McCaffrey 5; T Connolly 5; D Burke 6, F Whitely 5, R Smith 5; A Moore 6, P Winters 6, F O'Roinn-Broin 5. Subs: E Dillon 6 for O'Roinn-Broin (25), N McMorrow 6 for McCaffrey (43), C Keaney 5 for Moore (46), J Hetherton 6 for Winters (53), J Madden 5 for Hendricken (66).

Ref - P O'Dwyer (Carlow)

 

[bluebrotha77]

Reidy gets Banner men off to a flyer
Clare 1-21 Tipperary 0-19

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David Reidy of Clare blasts the sliotar past Tipperary goalkeeper Paul Maher for the only goal of the game. Photo: Sportsfile

Vincent Hogan

January 29 2018 2:30 AM

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The Clare roars thundering up into a mucky Ennis sky suggested that this National Hurling League might amount to something more intense and meaningful than a series of line-dancing classes after all.

It's been a little hard to know with so many people talking abstractedly about their intentions. Would it be a trumpet line for summer or just the creak of an old sofa then? In hindsight, maybe Clare-Tipperary was never, logically, going to prove the latter.

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Michael Breen of Tipperary in action against Jack Browne of Clare. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
And if it wasn't quite the former either, it did at least gust with sufficient intensity to give the 6,277 paying customers the sense of a game contested on genuine terms and one even rippling, sporadically, on the edge of authentic cross-border ferocity.

Daylight
Clare were deserved winners, undeniably, albeit they had to wait until the 73rd minute for David Reidy's goal to give them the glimpse of daylight their endeavours always threatened. It was fitting too that the Ennis man would close the deal, given he'd been the stand-out Clare performer on a day made tricky by a toothy wind and frequent malevolent showers.

Clare would have felt they should have made better use of that wind during a first half in which they leaked eight wides, allowing Tipp get to the interval just three points adrift and breathing coldly on their necks.

With Michael Ryan then releasing some serious hounds off his bench, Tipp looked well placed to kick on and win when a brace of Jason Forde frees drew them level (0-17 apiece) with 13 minutes of normal time remaining. Ryan had started just a third of the team edged out of last year's All-Ireland semi-final by Galway, but the introduction of men like John McGrath, Michael Breen, Brendan Maher and Dan McCormack gave Tipp a heavyweight look before the end.

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David McInerney of Clare in action against Patrick Maher of Tipperary. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
And yet it was Clare who finished the stronger, outscoring Tipp by five scores to two down that closing stretch, Reidy's late goal virtually the last act of the game to annul any lingering threat of Tipp picking their pockets.

For Donal Moloney, the satisfaction was in seeing his men dig deep in the face of an invitation to fluff their lines.

"We've only got two home games so it was really important to us to get off to a good start today," confirmed the Clare joint-manager. "But it was nip and tuck, it could have gone either way. We won a few vital balls there at the end but, considering it was January 28, that was quite a game served up today."

Clare should really have had more to show for their first-half efforts, a period in which only Jason Forde's free-taking and the sublime elegance of Noel McGrath on the '40' kept Tipp in touch. McGrath was like a skater entrancing an audience as he gave David McInerney a torrid time, the Tulla man's day not helped by a withering shoulder from Ronan Maher just after the resumption that left him gasping for air.

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David McInerney of Clare in action against Patrick Maher of Tipperary. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
That said, McGrath apart, Tipp were struggling to get any purchase from their half-forward line while the complete lack of service to their inside line made it impossible to make any fair assessment of debutant, Ger Browne.

'Bonner' Maher certainly looked a little lost inside too, though he still showed little of his trademark power when brought out to the wing early in the second half.

Clare were largely on top at midfield through Colm Galvin and Tony Kelly, while Reidy, John Conlon, Peter Duggan and the impressive Cathal Malone always looked capable of turning possession into scores.

Malone especially was scoring freely but with Pádraic Maher leading manfully from centre-back, Tipp just refused to buckle. The sides were level on the half-hour when Clare fluffed a goal chance, Reidy's pass falling just behind an unmarked Duggan who, having to check and turn, opted for an easy point instead.

A goal then might have changed the energy around the game, given both teams seemed largely content to try their luck from anywhere inside 80 metres, setting both goalkeepers the type of challenge they could have seen out in deck chairs.

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Alan Flynn of Tipperary in action against Clare players, from left, David Fitzgerald, Gearoid O'Connell and David McInerney. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Shane O'Donnell cleverly set up Malone for his fourth point in the 41st minute and, when Reidy added two quick frees, Clare's lead of 0-16 to 0-11 threatened to become comfortable. But then four unanswered Tipp points hauled them right back into it and it became clear that this one was going to the wire.

Kelly and Reidy notched brilliant scores to edge Clare 0-20 to 0-17 ahead only for two Forde frees to pare it back down to the minimum by the end of normal time. But it was Reidy's show from there, first nailing a fine free into the wind and then knifing a shot spectacularly to the Tipp net after hesitation among the visitors' backs.

Pressure
From Tipp manager Michael Ryan there would be no complaints after.

"Look, 28th of January, I thought it was really good quality hurling from both sides," he reflected. "Puts us under a little bit of pressure, but we love that. That's what we thrive on.

"None of us really knows how this season will pan out. We have a different Munster Championship coming at us, which dictates everything. Like we're three weeks early here on this pitch, so it really does take some careful planning. But the fundamental is we've got to build a strong panel that will be able to compete week after week.

"We certainly won't be pressing any panic buttons. We got our full complement of 20 on, we had our debutants on the pitch and it's a baptism of fire out there."

SCORERS - Clare: D Reidy 1-8 (6fs); P Duggan (2fs), C Malone 0-4 each; J Conlon and T Kelly 0-2 each; C Galvin 0-1.

Tipperary: J Forde 0-10fs; N McGrath 0-5 (1f); Pádraic Maher, C Barrett, R Maher and S Curran 0-1 each.

Clare - D Tuohy 7; J Browne 7, C Cleary 8, P O'Connor 7; S Morey 7, D McInerney 6, D Fitzgerald 7; C Galvin 7, T Kelly 7; C Malone 8, J Conlon 7, D Reidy 9; S O'Donnell 7, P Duggan 7, C McGrath 6. Subs: P Collins 7 for McGrath (h-t), I Galvin for Duggan (65), N Deasy for Malone (67), G O'Connell for C Galvin (68).

Tipperary - P Maher 7; A Flynn 7, T Hamill 8, D Maher 7; S Kennedy 7, Pádraic Maher 8, T Fox 6; C Barrett 7, R Maher 7; C Kenny 6, N McGrath 9, S Curran 7; G Browne 6, J Forde 7, Patrick Maher 6. Subs: J O'Dwyer 7 for Fox (35), M Breen 7 for Kenny (45), J McGrath 6 for Browne (50), B Maher 6 for Kennedy (60), D McCormack for Patrick Maher (66).

Ref - A Kelly (Galway)

 

[bluebrotha77]

Tipp turn tables to give Rebels boss McCarthy more food for thought
Tipperary 3-16 Cork 1-16

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Brian O’Driscoll of Cork under pressure from Tipp’s Josh Keane (left) and Michael Quinlivan. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Denis Hurley

January 29 2018 2:30 AM

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Given how recent meetings between the counties have gone, it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that Tipperary overcame Cork in Division 2 on Saturday evening.

However, having trailed by a point, 0-9 to 0-8, at half-time and then falling three behind, the fact that the Premier County turned things around to win by six is both a sign of their continued progress and proof that Cork's rebuilding won't be an overnight process.

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Cillian O'Hanlon of Cork in action against Liam Casey of Tipperary. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Beyond the bare figures, the fact that Tipp had no debutants whereas Cork gave six players their first league starts and were without key names is further proof of the unshocking nature of the result. It was refreshing, therefore, to hear Tipp boss Liam Kearns say that he expected his side to win.

"We've targeted the first three matches because we have a very serious prospect next Sunday against Roscommon," he said. "They are the Connacht champions and favourites for promotion in my view. Cork were favourites, we were told, for this match and they were favourites for promotion.

"In fairness to Cork, they are missing all the Nemo guys, they are missing Aidan Walsh [all with All-Ireland club commitments]. They are missing a handful of players whereas we were at full strength so the onus was on us to go and win the match. I couldn't understand how pundits were saying they were going to win the game. If they did, we were in big trouble."

With the way the Munster draw has gone, there is every chance that these counties will clash in a semi-final, and from there, target a place in the new Super Eights. To that end, Kearns is keen to engender competition for places. How successful that will be he doesn't know yet, but there were a lot of good signs here.

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Colm O'Neill of Cork in action against Liam Casey of Tipperary. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
"You are going to need a panel this year," he said. "We have strengthened our panel, we don't know by how much yet. Certainly, we were able to make some changes and we got the job done. We were missing Philip Austin, Kevin O'Halloran and Paddy Codd. But, other than that, we had a clear enough bill of health."

Tipp led by 0-4 to 0-1 early on but Cork settled, with Mark Collins impressing as they scored six in a row to take control. While Jack Kennedy and Liam Boland brought Tipp back to within one coming up to half-time, Cork had a great chance to extend the advantage when Seán Powter was fouled for a penalty.

Evan Comerford saved well from Stephen Sherlock who showed he wasn't affected as he kicked the first two points of the second half.

Tipp were hanging in and Liam McGrath fisted over and though Collins' fourth point was Cork's response, they would then be held scoreless for a 12-minute period in which Tipp scored 2-4.

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Brian O'Driscoll of Cork in action against Michael Quinlivan of Tipperary. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Reduce McGrath - who finished with 2-5 - and Michael Quinlivan got the goals while Conor Sweeney added two points and suddenly the visitors were 2-13 to 0-12 in front. Sub Colm O'Neill reduced the gap with a goal, but Tipp never looked rattled and victory was assured when McGrath added another goal late on.

Cork coach Ronan McCarthy acknowledged that things didn't go for them in front of goal.

"It is disappointing to lose the game," he said. "At half-time, we were a point up and probably should have been further ahead. We started slowly and were 0-4 to 0-1 down. We grabbed a foothold in the game and did quite well at times. We would have felt we should have had more on the board at half-time.

"On another night, we could have had more four goals. We didn't. They took their chances."

Scorers - Tipperary: L McGrath 2-5 (2f), M Quinlivan 1-2 (1 45), J Kennedy (2f), C Sweeney (1f) 0-3 each, L Boland, B Fox, S O'Brien 0-1 each. Cork: S Sherlock (3f), M Collins (1f) 0-5 each, C O'Neill 1-1 (1f), S White 0-2, J O'Rourke, S Powter, R Deane all 0-1.

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Michael Quinlivan of Tipperary in action against Micheal McSweeney of Cork. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Tipperary - E Comerford 8; S O'Connell 6, J Feehan 7, E Moloney 7; B Maher 6, A Campbell 7, R Kiely 6; S O'Brien 8, J Kennedy 8; J Keane 7, C Sweeney 8, B Fox 7; L Boland 6, M Quinlivan 8, L McGrath 9. Subs: L Casey 6 for Boland (h-t), J Meagher 7 for Feehan (43), K Fahey for Kiely (62), B Martin for McGrath, C O'Shaughnessy for O'Connell, George Hannigan for O'Brien (all 70).

Cork - M White 6; S Ryan 6, J O'Sullivan 6, M McSweeney 7; K Flahive 6, K Crowley 6, B O'Driscoll 6; I Maguire 7, D O'Callaghan 7; S White 6, S Powter 7, R Deane 7; J O'Rourke 6, M Collins 7, S Sherlock 7. Subs: C O'Neill 7 for Powter (47), K O'Hanlon 6 for O'Callaghan (50), M Hurley 6 for O'Rourke (53), T Clancy for O'Driscoll (58), K O'Driscoll for S White (65), C Dorman for Maguire (66, inj).

Ref - P O'Sullivan (Kerry)

 

[bluebrotha77]

Fenton drives Dubs to victory in ominous second-half surge
Dublin 2-17 Kildare 2-10

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Dublin’s Ciarán Kilkenny is put under pressure by Kildare’s Ben McCormack during last night’s Allianz Football League game in Croke Park. Photo: Sportsfile
Michael Verney at Croke Park

January 28 2018 2:30 AM

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Brian Fenton gave a midfield masterclass, hitting 1-3 from play as reigning All-Ireland champions Dublin overcame a sloppy start to easily put Kildare to the sword and get 2018 off to a winning start at Croke Park last night.

Jim Gavin's side were uncharacteristically off-colour in the opening exchanges but, led by Fenton and his Raheny club-mate Brian Howard, the Dubs kicked on in the second half to leave the chasing pack in no doubt about their rude health ahead of their trip to Tyrone next Saturday.

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27 January 2018; Kildare's Daniel Flynn speaks to Dublin's Brian Fenton. Photo: Sportsfile
Neil Flynn, who would hobble off with a hamstring injury just two minutes later, opened the scoring inside 30 seconds with a free after good work from Daniel Flynn as the Lilywhites were first to settle.

There were clear signs of ring rust from Dublin - who played a skeleton side in the O'Byrne Cup and are only recently back from their team holiday in South Africa - in the early stages with a string of rare errors.

Within five minutes a Stephen Cluxton kick-out was turned over after a Michael Darragh Macauley fumble while the usually reliable Dean Rock blazed a routine free wide and Jonny Cooper misplaced a simple pass out of defence.

Cian O'Neill's Kildare took advantage in the ninth minute when a skewed shot at goal from Paul Cribbin was misjudged by Cluxton and the Dublin defence. It looked to be drifting wide but Luke Flynn gambled and expertly collected before slotting to the net in front of a shocked Hill 16.

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Dublin's James McCarthy of shrugs off Kildare's Cian O' Donoghue. Photo: Sportsfile
It was 11 minutes before Dublin broke their duck with Rock slotting over a free and there were signs that the reigning All-Ireland champions were getting into their stride as Ciarán Kilkenny began to pull the strings from centre-forward.

Niall Scully fired over a fine point before Castleknock dynamo Kilkenny kicked over with his left and they were level midway through the half, 1-1 to 0-4, when Rock duly pointed after a penetrating run from Kilkenny earned a free.

The game was now being played on Dublin's terms with Bernard Brogan's first meaningful involvement yielding a sweet left-footed effort in the 20th minute.

Daniel Flynn was a constant threat at the other end, however, and after winning a free which Kevin Feely converted, the Johnstownbridge full-forward blazed over after showing a clean pair of heels to David Byrne.

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Kildare manager Cian O'Neill. Photo: Sportsfile
Kilkenny responded with a superb point from distance to level before Paul Cribbin and Brian Fenton traded fine scores at either end but it was all Kildare until the half-time whistle as they kept the Dublin attack scoreless until the break.

Colm Basquel was caught napping when waiting for a pass on the Kildare '65 and the ball ended up in Daniel Flynn's hands. Flynn strode forward but with the goal at his mercy his rising shot tipped the crossbar and went over with just Cluxton to beat.

Mark Donnellan came up from the Kildare goal to expertly point a free from distance in what was the last score before half-time but there was plenty of needle with a minor shemozzle before the half was out as Kildare showed their intent and led by 1-6 to 0-7.

That fight was quickly drained out, however, and it was the Fenton show upon the resumption as the man of the match strode forward to kick two fine points to level as the Dubs stifled Donnellan's restarts and began to totally monopolise possession. Scully and Rock were both off target with the goal at their mercy but Howard - making his first league start - kicked a super point as Gavin's men went into overdrive.

The writing was on the wall for the Lilies and within 60 seconds their defence had been breached twice as Brogan brilliantly played the link man with two deft touches to set up expertly-taken goals by Rock and Fenton.

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Kildare's Cathal McNally has his shot blocked by Dublin's Jonny Cooper. Photo: Sportsfile
By the 50th minute they had a double-scores lead as Basquel, one of the few players to impress in their O'Byrne Cup campaign, and Scully tagged on points to make it 2-12 to 1-6.

It was 16 minutes into the new half before Feely tapped over a free to get Kildare's first score but it was quickly business as usual at the other end with Basquel and Small firing over fine efforts.

Howard enhanced his growing reputation with another point before substitute Eamonn Callaghan offered some brief respite with two placed balls but Kevin McManamon made his usual impact off the bench to fire over while Basquel added his third.

O'Neill's side registered no point from play in the closing 35 minutes but Daniel Flynn did give them something to smile about with an injury-time goal when neatly slotting past Cluxton to close out what was an ominous start to the year for the Dubs in front of a crowd of 26,027.

Scorers - Dublin: B Fenton 1-3, D Rock 1-2 (0-2f), C Basquel 0-3, C Kilkenny, B Howard and N Scully 0-2 each, B Brogan, J Small and K McManamon 0-1 each. Kildare: D Flynn 1-2, E Callaghan 0-3f, L Flynn 1-0, K Feely (2f) 0-2, P Cribbin, M Donnellan (f) and N Flynn (f) 0-1 each.

Dublin: S Cluxton; M Fitzsimons, D Byrne, D Daly; J McCarthy, J Cooper, J Small; B Fenton, MD Macauley; B Howard, C Kilkenny, N Scully; D Rock, C Basquel, B Brogan. Subs: Kevin McManamon for Macauley (46), E Lowndes for Cooper (50), P Mannion for Rock and P McMahon for Fitzsimons (both 55), C O'Shea for Daly (59), P Andrews for Brogan (60).

Kildare: M Donnellan; D Hyland, P Kelly, M O'Grady; J Byrne, E Doyle, C O'Donoghue; K Feely, L Flynn; F Conway, C Healy, P Cribbin; N Flynn, D Flynn, C McNally. Subs: D Slattery for N Flynn (4) inj, N Kelly for Healy (20 black card), T Moolick for Conway (51), B McCormack for L Flynn (56), M Hyland for Kelly and E Callaghan for Feely (both 61).

Referee: C Lane (Cork)

 

[bluebrotha77]

https://www.independent.ie/sport/ga...-is-no-defence-for-this-scandal-36530924.html

 

[Neiler]

https://www.independent.ie/sport/ga...-is-no-defence-for-this-scandal-36530924.html

Total yawn fest, really is the worst journalist out there when it comes to objective analysis of Dublin finances. He has a gig at the Indo now of the back of an anti Dublin blog, which makes sense as the Indo have an axe to grind with Dublin Gaa. Fair play to him but creating controversy when it comes to Dublin GAA is your meal ticket, you are less likely to write objectively.

 

[dublinbluenose]

Know it's only the league & the Cuala contingent were missing but if Dublin can't overturn the mess that is Offaly senior hurling then they've a massive task ahead of them.

Gilroy shouldn't have been appointed - it should have been the guy from Cuala.

 

[bluebrotha77]

Know it's only the league & the Cuala contingent were missing but if Dublin can't overturn the mess that is Offaly senior hurling then they've a massive task ahead of them.

Gilroy shouldn't have been appointed - it should have been the guy from Cuala.

And only barely beat antrim the weekend.i seen them play tipp in a challenge match start of the year and they were only interested in tearing lumps out of the tipp lads.it was a strange appointment and mattie kenny was the best looking option.strange choice was gilroy

 

[bluebrotha77]

Total yawn fest, really is the worst journalist out there when it comes to objective analysis of Dublin finances. He has a gig at the Indo now of the back of an anti Dublin blog, which makes sense as the Indo have an axe to grind with Dublin Gaa. Fair play to him but creating controversy when it comes to Dublin GAA is your meal ticket, you are less likely to write objectively.

I know i was only trying to get a rise out of the lad on here that says ye buy the all ireland every year

 

[bluebrotha77]

Donal Burke holds nerve in injury-time as Dubs prevail
Updated / Sunday, 4 Feb 2018 19:33
0

Dublin's Danny Sutcliffe breaks clear against Antrim

By Dave Mohan at Corrigan Park

A Donal Burke free with the last puck of the ball snatched a last-gasp win for Dublin over Antrim in 1B of the Allianz Hurling League at Corrigan Park, Belfast.

The hosts had battled back from seven down in the second period and thought they had rescued a point when Neil McManus hit his 16th point of the afternoon deep into added time from a free, but the Dubs launched one last attack, winning a free that Burke converted to claim the points.

After Burke gave Dublin the lead 13 seconds in, Antrim took charge for the early stages with McManus knocking over four frees as shooting let the visitors down.

Dublin rallied with three of the next four scores through Fergal Whitely, Burke and Paul Ryan as they began to get the measure of the hosts and they were to take over in the final 10 minutes of the half, hitting seven without reply to take a 0-14 to 0-8 lead into the break.



It was eight in a row straight after the break as Ryan tapped over a free, but Antrim found an answer as they began to work their way into the game

Aaron Graffin fired over a great point with McManus (two) and Gerard Walsh adding scores to narrow the gap to three, but Dublin reeled off four without reply themselves as Burke, Ryan, Whitely and Cian McBride raised flags.

Antrim were hanging in, but in the final quarter they started to chip away at the lead with McManus leading the charge from placed balls while James McNaughton hit two magnificent points and Graffin another.

Liam Rushe was introduced for Pat Gilroy's men as he replaced Paul Ryan with Burke taking over the free-taking duties and he kept the scoreboard ticking over for Dublin who led by three with as many minutes to play.

The hosts refused to panic and McManus hit points from a free and a 65 to leave the minimum between the teams as the game entered added time and when he nailed a free from inside his own 65 as the clocked ticked onto 74 minutes.

However, there was still time for one more play and Ryan McCambridge was penalised for a foul on Rushe with Burke stepping up to split the posts from 65 out to snatch a win with the last puck of the ball and give Dublin their first points of the campaign.

Scorers: Dublin: P Ryan 0-8 (6f, 1 '65'), D Burke 0-7 (4f), F Whitely, C Keaney, C McBride 0-2 each, J Madden, D Sutcliffe 0-1 each. Antrim: N McManus 0-16 (11f, 2 '65s'), A Graffin, J McNaughton 0-2 each, G Walsh, D McCloskey 0-1 each.

Antrim: C O'Connell; P Burke, J Dillon, A Graffin; J Maskey, M Donnelly, D Kearney; C McKinley, G Walsh; N Elliott, N McManus, J Connolly; D McKinley, C McCann, C Johnston. Subs: C Carson for Connolly (inj 8), N McAuley for Maskey (43), J McNaughton for Walsh (45), R McCambridge for McCann (53), D McCloskey for Elliott (63).

Dublin: A Nolan; P Smyth, B O'Carroll, E O'Donnell; S Barrett, C Crummey, J Madden; C McBride, T Connolly; D Burke, F Whitely, D Sutcliffe; C Keaney, E Dillon, P Ryan. Subs: L Rushe for Ryan (51), J McCaffrey for McBride (53), N McMorrow for Connolly (64), P Winters for Dillon (69).

Referee: J Heffernan (Wexford).

 

[bluebrotha77]

Tipperary push on to leave Déise a well beaten docket
Updated / Saturday, 3 Feb 2018 21:58
4

Tipperary's Michael Breen tackles Austin Gleeson
By John Fallon at Semple Stadium

RTÉ Sport reporter

Tipperary pulled away in the second-half to record their first win of this year’s Allianz League against a disappointing Waterford side at Semple Stadium.

Waterford only managed 1-1 in the second-half against the breeze on an evening when they shot 13 wides.

Tipperary also hit 13 wides but created far more in the second-half and bounced back from their opening round loss to Clare in style.

Their scorer-in-chief was Jason Forde who hit 1-9 as Tipperary got their campaign up and running.



Tipperary trailed by just a point at 0-10 to 0-9 at the break and then pulled away in the second-half.

It took a superb save from Waterford goalkeeper Stephen O’Keeffe to deny Paudie Feehan just 17 seconds after the restart but Forde tied the sides for the fourth time from the resultant 65.

Waterford hit back with a quality goal when a good passing movement was finished to the net from a tight angle by Mark O’Brien.

That tied the game at 0-13 to 1-10 but Tipperary, aided by a dubious lineball in midfield, were awarded a penalty when Breen was fouled by Ian Kenny.

Forde stepped forward to blast home the penalty and Waterford suffered another blow when Gleeson limped off.

Tipperary pushed on to lead by 1-16 to 1-10 going into the final quarter when Sean Curran, Brendan Maher and Ronan Maher delivered good points.

They would have been out of sight had goalkeeper O’Keeffe not produced a wonderful save to deny Forde.

But Waterford lacked penetration at the other end to eat into the lead and Tipperary pushed for home and their first win of the campaign.

Ronan Maher landed a superb lineball from the right and Forde tapped over another free as they pulled away for a deserved win.

Tipperary continued to turn the screw and Ronan Maher split the posts with another fine effort from out the field.

Jamie Barron got Waterford’s only point of the second-half in stoppage time at the death as they added five wides after the restart.

But they now face a difficult task to regroup after two opening round defeats when they take on Kilkenny in two weeks.

TIPPERARY: Paul Maher; Alan Flynn, Tomas Hamill, Sean O'Brien; Joe O'Dwyer, Padraic Maher, Ronan Maher(0-04, 0-01 lineball); Brendan Maher (0-01), Paudie Feehan; Dan McCormack, Noel McGrath (0-02, 0-01 lineball), Sean Curran (0-02); Michael Breen (0-01), Jason Forde (1-09,1-00 pen, 0-07f, 0-01 65), John McGrath (0-01).

Subs: Paul Shanahan for McCormack, James Barry for O’Dwyer, Patrick Maher for Shanahan, Cian Darcy for Curran.

WATERFORD: Stephen O'Keeffe; Shane Fives, Barry Coughlan, Ian Kenny; Mark O'Brien (1-00), Austin WGleeson (0-01), Kieran Bennett; Stephen Roche, Mikey Kearney (0-03); Kevin Moran, Colin Dunford, Brian O'Halloran (0-01); Stephen Bennett, DJ Foran (0-01), Patrick Curran (0-03, 0-03f).

Subs: Peter Hogan for Roche, Sean McNulty for Gleeson, Jamie Barron (0-1) for O’Brien, Pauric Mahony for Dunford , Michael Walsh for S Bennett.

Referee: Colm Lyons (Cork).

 

[bluebrotha77]

Kilkenny rally but fall short against profligate Clare at Nowlan Park
Updated / Sunday, 4 Feb 2018 21:27
4

Martin Keoghan attempts to block down David Reidy
By John Knox at Nowlan Park

Clare had looked winners from a long way out but still struggled to get over the line and claim their second win against Kilkenny in this engrossing National Hurling League game at Nowlan Park.

In the end it took a 73rd minute point from sub Niall Deasy to wrap it all up for Clare who shot 18 wides, a dozen during a particularly bad shooting closing half.

Clare led at the break by 2-12 to 1-7, and Kilkenny looked in deep, deep trouble. However, driven on by man-of-the-match Richie Leahy the losers thundered back, boosted by early second half points from Martin Keoghan and Walter Walsh.

The winners kept the gap to five points a lot of the way, but when the Cats put four scores together per Alan Murphy, Walsh, Richie Leahy and goal Eoin Murphy from a free between the 61st and 67th minute they had the divide down to 2-17 to 1-18.



There were misses at both ends after that, but Deasy finally found the target to give Clare a win they deserved, even if they did make hard work of getting it.

After an even enough start during which the opening four points were shared equally, Clare grabbed a goal and stormed away from the opposition. In the seventh minute Shane O'Donnell won a good high delivery from Tony Kelly inside the 20-metre line on the right, and he rounded his man to finish with aplomb.

Suddenly Clare, with their free-flowing play from back to front causing the opposition all sorts of problems, took off. A great save from home goalie Eoin Murphy stopped them goaling again in the 16th minute.

However, when Murphy made a handling error when dealing with a long shot from David Reidy two minutes later and the ball fell into the net, Clare jumped ahead. A quick point from Cathal Malone left them 2-7 to 0-2 clear.

Kilkenny looked in serious trouble and Cody quickly looked to the bench. Three subs were introduced by the 26th minute, and they helped improve the situation.

The Cats scrambled together a run of 1-04, Bill Sheehan, flicking home the goal, to get them back into the game (2-08 to 1-06).

Clare finished the half well, and points from David Reidy and wing-backs, Seadna Morey and David Fitzgerald left them 2-12 to 1-07 clear at half-time.

Scorers: Clare - P. Duggan (0-05, three frees); D. Reidy (1-03); J. Conlon (0-03); S. O'Donnell (1-00); C. Malone (0-02); D. Fitzgerald, S. Morey, C. Galvin, T. Kelly, N. Deasy (0-01 each). Kilkenny - A. Murphy (0-10, eight frees, two 65s'); B. Sheehan (1-00); W. Walsh, M. Keoghan (0-02 each); E. Murphy (0-02, frees); R. Leahy, P. Lyng (0-01 each).

Kilkenny: E. Murphy, J. Holden, P. Walsh, P. Deegan, C. Buckley, R. Lennon, J. Lyng, J. Maher, O. Walsh, J. Donnelly, R. Reid, R. Leahy, B. Sheehan, W. Walsh, A. Murphy. Subs - E. Morrissey for J. Lyng; P. Lyng for O. Walsh; M. Keoghan for R. Reid; C. O'Shea for Lennon; L. Blanchfield for J. Donnelly.

Clare: D. Tuohy, J. Browne, C. Cleary, P. O'Connor, D. Fitzgerald, D. McInerney, S. Morey, C. Galvin, T. Kelly, C. Malone, J. Conlon, D. Reidy, S. O'Donnell, P. Duggan, P. Collins. Subs - M. O'Malley for D. Fitzgerald; I. Galvin for P. Collins; N. Deasy for C. Malone; J. McCarthy for P. Duggan.

Referee: J. McGrath (Westmeath).

 

[bluebrotha77]

Wexford edge past Cork in exciting affair
Updated / Sunday, 4 Feb 2018 19:09
3

Wexford made it back-to-back wins
By Ronan Fagan at Wexford Park

RTÉ Sport reporter

Wexford delivered a dominant second-half display as they outstripped Cork to maintain their perfect return to Division 1A of the Allianz Hurling League at a packed out Innovate Wexford Park.

Cork boss John Meyler would have been encouraged by his side's first-half exploits as they edged ahead by 1-9 to 0-10 at half-time.

But after a bright start to the second-half their threat was negated considerably, as Davy Fitzgerald's men staged a winning surge when reeling-off five unanswered points in the closing stages to embrace a richly-deserved victory.

In fact, Wexford could have won comfortably after firing 11 wides alone during their dominant second-half showing.

The wind-assisted Cork dwarfed an early Lee Chin point as they produced a promising start to lead by 1-2 to 0-1 after ten minutes, with Conor Lehane punishing a defensive slip as he burst in from the left to net in the fourth-minute. Wexford keeper Mark Fanning prevented further damage before the locals closed to within 1-2 to 0-4 through Chin, Aidan Nolan and Paul Morris.

Lee Chin scored six points in an impressive display.
But three scores from the returning Pa Horgan, including two frees, helped Cork maintain a slight advantage at the break (1-9 to 0-10).

Points on the resumption from Conor Lehane and Alan Cadogan offered Cork encouragement (1-11 to 0-11).

However, the Wexford defence grew in stature thereafter as they considerably nullified the threat of the Rebels before a crowd of 7,500, with raucous Wexford cheers greeting a series of scores from Fanning (free), Paul Morris and inspiring midfielder Kevin Foley, to propel Wexford back in front after 56 minutes (0-16 to 1-11).

Cork threatened a revival when Michael Cahalane, Conor Lehane and Shane Kingston transformed matters by 1-14 to 0-16 on 63 minutes.

Kingston might have had a goal but his effort sailed over the bar. Cahalane also threatened the Wexford net in the closing stages, but Wexford held strong as they increasingly grew in confidence.

Davy Fitzgerald's side then hit a succession of unanswered points from subs Jack Guiney (2) and Harry Kehoe, along with scores from Aidan Nolan and Diarmuid O'Keeffe to secure back-to-back wins for Wexford.

WEXFORD: M Fanning (0-01 f), S Donohoe, L Ryan, D Reck, P Foley, S Murphy, D O’Keeffe (0-01), K Foley (0-03), M O’Hanlon, J O’Connor, C McDonald (0-01), A Nolan (0-03), P Morris (0-03), C Dunbar, L Chin (0-06, 0-02 fs, 0-01 '65).

Subs: W Devereux for Reck, J Guiney (0-02, 0-01 f) for O'Connor, H Kehoe (0-01) for Dunbar.

CORK: P Collins, S O’Donoghue, E Cadogan, C O'Sullivan, C Joyce, T O’Mahony, M Ellis, D Fitzgibbon (0-01), D Kearney, R O’Flynn (0-01), C Lehane (1-02, 0-01 f), B Cooper (0-01), A Cadogan (0-02), P Horgan (0-04, 0-03 fs), S Harnedy (0-01).

Subs: L Meade for Harnedy, B Lawton for Fitzgibbon, S Kingston (0-01) for Cooper, D. Cahalane for Kearney (blood-sub), M Cahalane (0-01) for Horgan, J O'Connor (Sarsfields) for A Cadogan (68)

Referee: John Keenan (Wicklow).

 

[bluebrotha77]

Dublin move through the gears to see off Tyrone
Updated / Saturday, 3 Feb 2018 21:25
4

Eoghan O'Gara with Dublin's second goal
By Kevin Kelly at Healy Park

RTÉ Sport reporter

Dublin produced an outstanding second half display at Healy Park on Saturday night to comfortably see off the challenge of Mickey Harte's Tyrone.

Tyrone played a lot better than they had done six days earlier against Galway but it still wasn’t enough against the All Ireland champions.

The Ulster champions enjoyed a dream start to the game with a fifth minute goal before Dublin replied with points from Dean Rock and Kevin McManamon. Lee Brennan and Connor McAliskey both split the posts as Tyrone looked up for the fight.

In the 23rd minute Dublin got back in the game with an opportunist goal from Ciaran Kilkenny but Tyrone still led 1-7 to 1-5 at the break thanks to points from Peter Harte and Brennan.

Within five minutes of the restart though Dublin were on level terms after a Rock free was followed by an inspirational effort from play from centre half back James McCarthy.

Dublin looked rejuvenated and moments later they had their noses in front for the first time thanks to a point from midfielder Brian Fenton. Dublin were then dealt a blow when Niall Scully picked up a second yellow but despite that they tagged on points from McManamon and Kilkenny.

Dublin keeper Stephen Cluxton made a brilliant save to deny McAliskey when a goal may have reignited the Tyrone challenge. Tyrone had their chances but thirteen wides on the night highlighted were their problems lay. Despite being a man down Dublin continued to attack in droves as they put an overworked Tyrone defence under pressure.

A mistake in the Tyrone defence saw keeper Niall Morgan play the ball to Padraig Hampsey who gifted it to Colm Basquel and he placed fellow substitute Eoghan O’Gara for a goal.

Dublin were playing some superb football with Basquel scoring twice from play as well as converting a free. Brennan took his personal haul to 0-6 with three late points but an impressive Dublin took the spoils.

Tyrone: N Morgan; C McLaughlin, C McCarron, HP McGeary; T McCann, P Hampsey, P Harte (0-1); M Donnelly, D McClure; R Donnelly, N Sludden (0-1), A McCrory; L Brennan (0-6, 3f), C McShane (1-1), C McAliskey (0-2). Subs: M McKernan for McGeary, R McNamee for McCrory, C McCann for

McClure, F Burns for R Donnelly, R McNabb for McLaughlin, M Bradley for T McCann

Dublin: S Cluxton; P McMahon, M Fitzsimons, D Daly; J Cooper, J McCarthy (0-1), J Small; B Fenton (0-1), MD Macauley; B Howard, C Kilkenny (1-2), N Scully; P Mannion, D Rock (0-4, 4f), K McManamon (0-2). Subs: D Byrne for Small, P Andrews for McManamon, C Basquel (0-3, 1f) for Mannion, E O’Gara (1-0) for Rock, S Carthy for McCarthy, E Lowndes for Fenton

Referee: M Deegan, Laois

 

[Neiler]

Rumors abound that Bernard brogan has done his cruciate and is out of the four in a row bid.

Bad timing for Bernard.

A truly wonderful corner forward and Dublin legend.