Archive for 'November 2016'

A host of All-Ireland winners take to the fields this weekend at all levels.



AIB Club Championships 3rd/4th Dec: Results, previews and all next weekends fixtures

Club , Cork GAA , Dublin GAA , Kerry GAA , Kildare GAA , Kilkenny GAA , Meath GAA and Waterford GAA | Wed Nov 30 14:59:00 GMT 2016

A host of All-Ireland winners take to the fields this weekend at all levels.

 

Kilkenny are known for taking home the silverware at the highest grade, but now the plucky underdog counties are looking to take them down.

 

There’s a family affair in Portlaoise too, where cousins will collide for a huge prize.

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Picture it: you’re a Kilkenny manager standing on the line and the game is slipping away.



Eddie Brennan: Picture it: you’re a Kilkenny manager standing on the line and the game is slipping away

County and Kilkenny GAA | Tue Nov 29 10:31:35 GMT 2016

Picture it: you’re a Kilkenny manager standing on the line and the game is slipping away.

 

It’s easy to play the arm-chair quarter-back and say changes needed to be made, but sometimes you have to ask: “where do I even start?”

 

I know the feeling, I felt very similarly when my Under-21 team was going down to Westmeath earlier this season. I’d imagine it was the same for Brian Cody in September.

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It’s hard to beat a good GAA nickname.



Some of the best GAA nicknames and where they came from

Club and County | Wed Nov 23 15:35:00 GMT 2016

It’s hard to beat a good GAA nickname. Not all are politically correct, some are unsavoury, many appeal to our inner child, but there’s plenty of good ones out there.

Without them, we would never have had a situation where a DJ was being marked by a dancer — that being Kilkenny forward DJ Carey and ex-Tipperary corner-back Martin Maher (a set-dancing All-Ireland winner).

Please let us know on social media or in the comments below any other great GAA nicknames — and their backgrounds — from club or county level.

 

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Winning an All-Ireland title isn’t straightforward.



Some of the more unique All-Ireland Club championship seasons

Armagh GAA , Club , Cork GAA , Derry GAA , Dublin GAA and Limerick GAA | Wed Nov 23 14:38:00 GMT 2016

Words by Shane Stapleton

 

Winning an All-Ireland title isn’t straightforward. You need quality, consistency, injuries to go your way, and often a healthy slice of luck. Sometimes, it’s just down to availing of circumstances and it takes a good side to do that. Whatever way you do it, history shows us there’s more ways than one.

 

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Thirteen stone of me wasn’t much use to Kieran McGeeney when he was on the ground fighting some Australian monster.



Marc Ó Sé: High time Kerry made it harder for Tadhg and the AFL

County and Kerry GAA | Mon Nov 21 16:54:40 GMT 2016

Thirteen stone of me wasn’t much use to Kieran McGeeney when he was on the ground fighting some Australian monster.

 

What was I going to do, really? So I said to myself, “you’re not going to get far against a 6’4”, 16-stone man”. Let’s be honest, operating as a peace-keeping Irish envoy was about the height of my ambitions. 

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Former and current soccer stars come to the fore this weekend.



AIB Club Championships: Results, previews and all next weekends fixtures

Club , Derry GAA , Down GAA , Dublin GAA , Galway GAA , Kerry GAA , Roscommon GAA and Waterford GAA | Mon Nov 21 16:51:00 GMT 2016

Former and current soccer stars come to the fore this weekend. One has enjoyed spells with Everton and Derry City, while another is doing this thing with Limerick FC. Meanwhile a Derry man is hoping to lead a Down side into uncharted territory.

 

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Tony Griffin might be the first Ballyea man to ever win an All Star but he's since been joined by 2013 senior and young Hurler of the Year Tony Kelly. The latter also won three All-Ireland Under-21 titles, with fellow clubmate Paul Flanagan captain of the 2013 edition which saw off Antrim. Kelly was joined on that All Star side three years ago by his rival in this year's Munster club final, Glen Rovers' Pat Horgan, 



AIB Club Championships: Previews and all the weekends fixtures

Carlow GAA , Clare GAA , Club , Cork GAA , Dublin GAA , Kerry GAA , Kilkenny GAA , Waterford GAA and Wexford GAA | Fri Nov 18 10:22:51 GMT 2016

The weekend that's in it, we'll see a reigning footballer of the year in action and a former winner of the hurling gong too. Lee Keegan is in action for Westport while Tony Kelly hopes to lead Ballyea to maiden glory in Munster. 

 

Carlow teams have pulled off some shocks in the past and they've Dublin champions Cuala lined up this weekend at home. Meanwhile a Lismore side hampered by a huge generation gap is looking to put one over on Kilmoyley. 

 

And while they're at it, the Deise side boast 2007 hurler of the year, Dan Shanahan, with 1998 version Tony Browne on the sideline. 

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If only basketball legend Michael Jordan had made the same breakthrough at baseball after switching codes as the men in this list.



Players who have played in provincial finals in both codes

Cork GAA , County , Derry GAA , Dublin GAA , Galway GAA , Offaly GAA , Tipperary GAA and Waterford GAA | Thu Nov 17 10:51:36 GMT 2016

By Shane Stapleton

 

If only basketball legend Michael Jordan had made the same breakthrough at baseball after switching codes as the men in this list.

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Kieran Joyce: Biding your time

County , Hurling and Kilkenny GAA | Tue Nov 15 13:41:39 GMT 2016

In conversation with Shane Stapleton

 

We’re talking about players who were so good that you didn’t even need to say their surnames for it to register. Jackie, JJ, Tommy, Henry, you know who I’m talking about.



These guys were personal heroes of mine and now I was competing with them for a black and amber shirt. Not that I was an overnight success, far from it.



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It’s getting to the business time of the year in the provincials as Leinster heads for the football quarter-finals and Munster to the semis.



AIB Club Championships: Talking points and all the weekends fixtures

Camogie , Carlow GAA , Club , Dublin GAA , Galway GAA , Kildare GAA , Leitrim GAA , Longford GAA , Louth GAA , Mayo GAA , Roscommon GAA and Westmeath GAA | Thu Nov 10 11:45:00 GMT 2016

It’s getting to the business time of the year in the provincials as Leinster heads for the football quarter-finals and Munster to the semis.

 

Returning players and managers are fighting for more silverware, and inter-county referees are playing their part on the other side of the fence.

 

Aughawillan (Leitrim) v St Brigid's (Roscommon)

 

There are three Plunkett brothers on the Aughawillan team: full back Noel, as well as wing-forwards Mark and Gary. And it took a late ‘45 from Mark to seal the county final win over Glencar/Manorhamilton. This is a designated home game for St Brigid’s but because Hyde Park is being upgraded and since 2011 the Connacht council have forbidden clubs to host home games in the province, they have to go elsewhere. All of which means the staging of this game in Carrick-On-Shannon makes it a de facto home game for the away side.

 

Mullinalaghta (Longford) v St Loman's (Westmeath)

 

Donal, Ruairi, Aidan and Conor McElligott have all been central figures as Mullinalaghta secured a first Longford title in 66 years and then beat Stradbally of Laois in the first round of Leinster. Their father Dan hails from Kerry and the name of his native town, perhaps unsurprisingly, is Ballymacelligott.

 

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Sometimes brothers have a flair for the same game and there are numerous examples of teams built around siblings. There are times though when those cut from the same cloth prefer to weave different patterns. In volume 2 of this series, we look at another series of brothers who went their own way — and sometimes criss-crossed.

 



Band of Brothers Part 2: Brothers who've made it in different codes

Clare GAA , Club , Cork GAA , County , Derry GAA , Dublin GAA and Galway GAA | Wed Nov 09 15:57:00 GMT 2016

Words by Shane Stapleton

 

Sometimes brothers have a flair for the same game and there are numerous examples of teams built around siblings. There are times though when those cut from the same cloth prefer to weave different patterns. In volume 2 of this series, we look at another series of brothers who went their own way — and sometimes criss-crossed.

 

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Sports psychology is very much a part of modern GAA life.



The world of Sports Psychology with Keith Begley

Club and County | Wed Nov 09 11:04:00 GMT 2016

Sports psychology is very much a part of modern GAA life. When you come up against a team with 15 good players, the last thing you need is your worst enemy appearing between your two ears.


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As soon as that final whistle went, I knew the dream was over. At that very moment I'm thinking: no more training with these lads, no more having the craic and the banter with them. That was something we did very well.
No more Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney. No more Croke Park. No more winning All-Irelands. It was tough to take it all in. After Dublin beat us this summer, I brought my kids Alice and Tadhg onto the field; it was nice to be able to do that.





Marc Ó Sé: As soon as that final whistle went, I knew the dream was over

Club , County and Kerry GAA | Tue Nov 08 11:45:00 GMT 2016

At that very moment I'm thinking: no more training with these lads, no more having the craic and the banter with them. That was something we did very well. No more Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney. No more Croke Park. No more winning All-Irelands. It was tough to take it all in. After Dublin beat us this summer, I brought my kids Alice and Tadhg onto the field; it was nice to be able to do that.



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Each weekend brings with it novel stories and anecdotes. New match-ups, recent or old rivalries.
Players that we enjoy during the summer with their county are now battling it out with their childhood friends.
Others that have set the standard in one code — a Jamie Barron or a Keith Higgins — are currently lighting the torch in the other.





AIB Club Championships: This week's fixtures and previews

Carlow GAA , Club , Cork GAA , Dublin GAA , Laois GAA , Limerick GAA , Waterford GAA and Westmeath GAA | Thu Nov 03 13:27:08 GMT 2016

Each weekend brings with it novel stories and anecdotes. New match-ups, recent or old rivalries. Players that we enjoy during the summer with their county are now battling it out with their childhood friends. Others that have set the standard in one code — a Jamie Barron or a Keith Higgins — are currently lighting the torch in the other. There's always something happening in the AIB Club Championships.

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The man who has set up the movement, former Monaghan selector Declan Brennan, called me to ask for my support and I will be delighted to row in behind the Club Players Association.



Padraic Joyce: Club Players Association long overdue

Club , County and Galway GAA | Tue Nov 01 14:12:00 GMT 2016

Words such as brilliant and long overdue were my immediate response to the announcement of a Club Players Association. The man who has set up the movement, former Monaghan selector Declan Brennan, called me to ask for my support and I will be delighted to row in behind them.

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