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Topics - Bord na Mona man

#21
Hurling Discussion / Tipperary vs Kilkenny
March 22, 2009, 08:15:26 PM
Just watching it on the telly.
A savage hammering for Tipp!  :o
I thought there were the one side who could possibly put it up to Kilkeny this year.
#22
Optimistic article from the Nenagh Guardian  ;D

Beating the three-in-row champions.

Next summer Kilkenny will be aiming to surpass the exploits of the great Tipperary side of 1949-'52 who chalked up a 15-game undefeated run. This week, Brinsley Weldon considers how to dethrone the reigning All-Ireland champions.
At the Gaelic Grounds on July 13th, 1952 Cork brought an end to the longest undefeated run in hurling championship history when they beat Tipperary by two points. That run of 15 games began with a replay victory over Cork in 1949 and featured three All-Ireland final wins. And while the 1964-'65 Tipperary team is regarded as the Premier County's finest ever accumulation of hurling talent it looked as if the 15-game undefeated run of the 1949-'52 side could never be matched.
Next summer, however, Brian Cody's Kilkenny look certain to surpass those efforts. Since 2005, when Kilkenny lost by a point to Galway in an All-Ireland semi-final, the Cats have remained unbeaten - 14 games. Kilkenny have a bye into next summer's Leinster semi-final; when they win that game and the ensuing Leinster final they will surpass a record that has stood for 56 years.
No one should, or will, hold that against Brian Cody or any of his players. There was however an over-zealous (press) reaction to Kilkenny's win over Waterford in the All-Ireland final. One journalist, who never held a hurl in his life, even suggested that Brian Cody's side would beat the pick of the country.
The first problem with such an assertion is that there was an absence of bloodstains on the pitch after that All-Ireland final. There was no evidence of a struggle. Kilkenny recorded the biggest winning margin since Cork beat Antrim 5-16 to 0-4 in 1943 because Waterford never stood their ground - how Tipperary permitted such a tame outfit to overcome them in last August's semi-final beggars belief.
Irrespective of the merits of beating a pathetic Waterford effort in the All-Ireland final it's impossible to adequately compare Kilkenny to the other great sides that have adorned hurling history with any degree of accuracy. The boxing fraternity did attempt to settle a similar argument in 1970 when radio producer Murray Woroner concocted the 'The Super Fight'. At the time, Muhammad Ali and Rocky Marciano were the only undefeated heavyweight champions in history and fans often debated who would win had they met in their primes. Ali and Marciano were filmed acting out every possible scenario in a fight and the result was then determined using probability formulas entered into a computer - Ali was knocked out in the 13th round.
It seems unlikely that a computer could ever settle the arguments about the greatest hurling team ever. All we can do is appreciate the excellence of a side like Brian Cody's Kilkenny while at the same time do our best to meet the standards they have set. Liam Sheedy's emerging Tipperary side look most capable of occupying the position Cork were in a few years ago (2003-06) when they regularly challenged and beat Kilkenny. Beating the three-in-a-row champions might appear a tall order, but it may not prove so.
The most disappointing aspect to this Kilkenny side is their lack of ambition in terms of how they approach the game. Kilkenny, with their hit it long and hard style, play to a game plan prevalent in the junior B grade. Since they have so many terrific players that simplistic game plan makes them appear unbeatable. But is it not the case that Kilkenny pose a problem that hurling people have forgotten how to solve? Hurlers, playing good hurling, can beat these guys.
From a defensive point of view facing Kilkenny should be easier than it appeared last summer. Every single ball fired into your half of the field is going to be high ball. Armed with that knowledge a half-back line should not follow their half-forwards far out the field. Both Cork and Waterford made that mistake this year and duly paid for it - acres of space was left inside for the Kilkenny full-forward line to race into and do untold damage.

When playing against Kilkenny, as Cork did most effectively under Dónal O'Grady and John Allen, your best bet is to erect a defensive perimeter along your 45-metre line. Do not allow your defenders to get pulled out into the middle of the field. Such an error actually plays into the hands of Kilkenny's defensive plan. Another grievous error to avoid is hitting high balls into the Kilkenny half of the field, especially from puck-outs. Kilkenny are set-up to defend this scenario and channel all their efforts into ensuring that the ball arriving on top of their backs is of the snow-covered variety. Carrying the ball into the Kilkenny half of the field is also a bad idea. On the training field they concentrate, thanks to their tussles with Cork, a lot of their time on gobbling up lay-off ball and to be fair to them they have almost perfected defending against sides who attempt to create two-on-one situations.
Therefore the key to attacking Kilkenny is low diagonal ball - the sumptuous style of hurling adopted by Liam Sheedy's Tipperary this term. The hilarious irony here is that Kilkenny have completely forsaken the legacy of Monsignor Tommy Maher and have now left themselves susceptible to the brand of hurling Maher dedicated himself to. In 1957 Maher was appointed Kilkenny coach. The Cats had lost the previous four Leinster titles to a powerful Wexford side who leathered the ball from one end of the field to the other. Over the next 21 years however Maher revolutionised Kilkenny's style of play by introducing the low diagonal ball to their repertoire - 14 Leinster titles and seven All-Ireland titles ensued. You could also argue that Monsignor Maher would not agree with the behaviour of the Kilkenny players under the dropping ball. Pushing players and tugging the jersey before the ball arrives is one thing, but playing the hurl in the air is fouling. A public awareness of such tactics needs to be created regarding this travesty, but it appears that no one has the stomach to do so on a national level.
In fairness to Brian Cody's side they play to the limit of the law, a law established by the referee and until referees start penalising Kilkenny for fouling under every single dropping ball then the rest of the country may as well do it.
We will leave you with the words of the former soccer coach Arrigo Sacchi who took the reins at AC Milan in 1987 and within two years won the European Cup with an emphatic final win over Steaua Bucharest: "I woke up with a feeling I had never experienced before. It was one which I have never experienced since. I had this unusual, sweet taste in my mouth. I realised it was the apotheosis of my life's work." Sacchi had his AC Milan playing the way he wanted them to play and they won all around them.
In 2009, hopefully, Liam Sheedy will also experience that 'sweet taste' in his mouth when the Portroe man gets Tipperary playing the brand of hurling that will win this county an overdue All-Ireland.

www.nenaghguardian.ie/sport/hurling/beating-the-threeinrow-champions-1593644.html
#23
Hurling Discussion / Shinty/Hurling Ireland vs Scotland
October 18, 2008, 03:30:17 PM
Catch it on BBC sport Scotland at the moment, if you want English language commentary.
#24
Looks like Eoin McGrath is selling the jerseys he either wears or swaps on eBay.  ;D

Waterford jersey from Tipp game
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110281845071

Previous items sold.
Wexford, Offaly and Antrim jerseys swapped this year.
http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=lacksrus&ftab=AllFeedback&myworld=true
#25
Hurling Discussion / Who Fears to Speak of '98?
June 27, 2008, 07:23:27 PM
Who Fears to Speak of '98?

This Sunday evening at 7pm, RTÉ Radio 1's Documentary on One relives the excitement of 1998's dramatic hurling season. Who Fears to Speak of '98 follows the events of the most famous season in the history of hurling, where the summers' games became the national soap opera.

The documentary tells how Offaly lost the Leinster Final to Kilkenny and then embarked on an epic journey after their manager Babs Keating was sacked for calling them 'a heap of sheep'.

Clare and Waterford drew in the Munster Final. It rained just before the ball was thrown in for the replay. Willie Barrett, the referee, delayed the throw in while he spoke with officials on the sideline. The summer erupted. Two players were sent off and Colin Lynch - Clare midfielder - eventually got a lengthy ban. The following night, RTÉ Radio 1's programme, Sportscall was - to put it mildly - heated and Ger Loughnane gave a frank and controversial interview to Clare FM.

Following this, Clare met Offaly and the tense affair ended in a draw. Clare and Offaly met again and with Clare three points up, the referee ended the game three minutes early. The Offaly supporters sat down on the pitch in protest. The affair is named after the referee - Jimmy Cooney. Offaly defeated Kilkenny in the All Ireland Final.

Who fears to speak of '98 contains extraordinary archive interviews and recordings of the time. Interviews with Johnny Pilkington, Willie O'Connor, Paul Flynn, Fergie Touhey, Jimmy Cooney, Willie Barrett, Con Murphy, pieced together with extraordinary archive material and interviews going back to 1998 bring that summer back to life in its most detailed telling to date.
Exclusive unedited interviews with all the documentary interviewees will also be available online www.rte.ie/radio1/ from next week.

RTÉ Radio 1's Documentary on One: Who fears to speak of '98 is presented by Peter Woods and produced by Peter Woods and Liam O'Brien.

Listen back to the Documentary on One: Who fears to speak of '98? : http://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/

#26
Hurling Discussion / Dublin vs Wexford
June 14, 2008, 04:36:47 PM
0-8 to 2-0 in favour of Dublin.
This could well be Dublin's first win over one of the big names in a very long time.
A long way to go, but Wexford look to be in trouble.
#27
Hurling Discussion / Offaly vs Kilkenny
June 12, 2008, 06:12:54 PM
The Offaly team is:
B Mullins;
D Franks, D Kenny, M Verney;
D Horan, G Oakley, R Hanniffy;
J Rigney, C Mahon;
B Murphy, P Cleary, D Molloy;
B Carroll, G Healion, D Hayden.

Luckily Kilkenny are shorn of a few names like John Tennyson, James Ryall and Lyng.
Shefflin may not start but could feature.

Offaly's biggest fear is shipping a couple of early goals and having a repeat of the 2005 31 point massacre.
Hopefully matters have improved since then.
Beating Kilkenny at U21 may give a bit of a fill up, the smaller Portlaoise pitch will be a help.
Offaly's lack of big, ball winning forwards is a huge handicap against the Cats, with Gary Hanniffy retiring and Joe Bergin struggling with a hand injury.
In big matches of late, the Offaly defence tends to eventually sink under the onslaught of ball that gets reigned in on them.
If new lads like Mahon, Rigney and Cleary at centre forward can keep the Kilkenny backs tied up enough, it may give the defence some breathing time.

What is vital is that Offaly don't throw in the towel if Kilkenny look like pulling away. Last year, Kilkenny didn't hit the net until well into the second half, then they added on 7 or 8 easy points in a row. There can't be any easing up of effort or heads dropping from now on.

#28
General discussion / Cowen's new Cabinet
May 07, 2008, 07:27:34 PM
An Taoiseach Brian Cowen has confirmed Mary Coughlan is to be appointed Tánaiste. Minister Coughlan will also take over the portfolio of Trade, Enterprise and Employment from Michael Martin, who takes over at Foreign Affairs.

Dermot Ahern moves from that department to the Department of Justice.

Brian Lenihan takes over the heavyweight Finance portfolio. Martin Cullen also has a role in Brian Cowen's Cabinet, taking over the helm at Arts, Sports and Tourism.

Brendan Smith takes over at the Department of Agriculture while Cork's Batt O'Keeffe replaces Mary Hanafin in the Department of Education.

Minister Hanafin moves to the Department of Social and Family Affairs.
#29
Looking on the brightside, at least Dublin hurlers aren't dropping out because of football these days!  ;)
I would have thought McCrabbe had excellent potential after his performances for the U21s.
This years looks like a great time for Dublin to get to a Leinster final, but I don't think they can afford too many more departures.

--

Dublin hurling duo Alan McCrabbe and Keith Dunne have decided to opt off Tommy Naughton's Championship panel.

The pair were part of the Metropolitans' U-21 side that won a Leinster Championship last year, before falling to Galway in the All-Ireland decider.

However, it is not all bad news for Naughton, as last weekend's club Championship games saw Kevin O'Reilly and Derek O'Reilly return to action after their respective cruciate ligament injuries.

Captain Stephen Hiney lined out for Ballyboden St Enda's and Ronan Fallon returned to hurling action after his involvement with St Vincent's in their run to All-Ireland Club football success.

Naughton remained philosophical on the loss of McCrabbe and Dunne.

'That's the way things go,' he told The Star.

'We will just have to get on with our work without them. It was their decision - that's the way the world is going.'

The Dubs will face Westmeath in the Leinster SHC on 25 May.
#30
Hurling Discussion / The first hurling All Ireland
April 04, 2008, 01:37:50 PM
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/sport/2008/0402/1207067192918.html

Original red-leather day for Thurles

HURLING 120th ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST ALL-IRELAND FINAL: It set the template from day one: a players' strike, a Tipperary 'wild man' on the loose, a dubious sending-off and a court sequel, writes Paul Rouse

IN THE early afternoon of Easter Sunday, April 1st, 1888, 42 hurlers stood in military formation on the roadway outside William Cunningham's hotel in the middle of Birr. The hurlers were carrying hurleys across their shoulders as if carrying long rifles. James Lynam, a veteran of the American army and a leading organiser for the IRB in Connacht, was in control.

He shouted, "Right, about!" and the hurlers turned as one and marched shoulder-to-shoulder through the streets of Birr. They crossed the Camcor river and headed for a field beside the railway station.

The hurlers were in Birr to play the first All-Ireland hurling final. In the final were Thurles, the champions of Co Tipperary, and Meelick, a team drawn from the East Galway banks of the River Shannon.

The bright, cold day was perfect for hurling and around 3,000 people were waiting in the field. Among the crowd were members of a British army regiment, the Scottish Highlanders, who were stationed in nearby Crinkle barracks and regularly attended hurling matches around Birr. Around them, hawkers were selling apples, and "tricks-o'-the-loop" were doing a roaring trade as they tried to induce spectators to gamble on which of three thimbles covered the pea.

It had been a long wait for the final. This was actually the final of the 1887 championship, delayed to 1888 by a calamitous series of events that culminated in the GAA almost being pulled asunder as rival political factions tried to gain control. Things had worsened to the point where the association's annual convention had ended in a free fight between priests and Republicans. Only a temporary lull in hostilities had allowed arrangements be put in place for the playing of the final.

Waiting in the centre of the field for the hurlers was the referee, Patrick White. At 3pm he called the hurlers to the middle of the field and, for the second time that day, the two teams lined up alongside one another. They lowered their hurleys to the ground and set themselves to play. White took the red, leather hurling ball into his hand and threw it in between the hurlers.

For 11 minutes the game was furious and, according to a local reporter, the play was constantly "whizzing in all directions, now here, now there, threatening one goal, now another".

The Meelick hurlers "put forth much vigour", but when "the Thurles men went to work with determination", they broke away and struck a point.

The score was not decisive - Thurles pressed, but were repeatedly driven back by Meelick and for 15 minutes before half-time "the play was simply fierce".

Early in the second half, Meelick suffered a blow. There is considerable confusion over what exactly came to pass, but the ultimate result was that Meelick were deprived of one of their best players, John Lowry.

The most often repeated version of events speaks of a Thurles hurler being led off the field with a serious nose injury (having been struck with the hurley by Lowry) and not being replaced, as there was no provision for substitutes. And, according to this version, almost immediately, the Meelick men were also down a man as Lowry himself was put off the field for tripping.

In Meelick, the version that survives notes that Lowry had accidentally wounded a Tipperary man in a melee, but was removed from the fray by Lynam as a gesture of honour. And it was then that Thurles did the damage that won them the match.

This version of events is supported by the reporter on the Midland Tribune, who commended the Meelick men on their gallantry in removing a hurler so that both teams played with the same number.

Lowry lived into his 70s and his recollection of events is somewhat different again. He recalled that when there was little to choose between the teams, a Thurles player began to cut lumps out of the Meelick men. He was, remembered Lowry, "the wildest hurler I ever saw" and had floored three Meelick men in rapid succession.

Eventually Lowry claimed he was obliged to react. He took on the Thurles "wild man" and cleaned him out. The result was the Thurles player was forced off the field, but Lowry too was made to leave by the referee.

Whatever the true version of events, what is clear is that Lowry was removed from the game - but not entirely. In fact, he continued to join in the play by rushing onto the field whenever the ball came near him, and as he was following the play up and down the line, that was more often than not.

Lowry stopped interfering only when the referee warned him that victory would be awarded to the Thurles team if the intrusions persisted.

While Lowry was finally off the field, Thurles struck for the vital score. The Tipperary captain's memory of the winning goal is a reminder that it is not just the winners who write history but also those who live longest.

Jim Stapleton was captain on the day only because the usual captain, Denis "Long Dinny" Maher, and six others from the Killinan end of Thurles had, in a dispute over expenses, refused to play. The Killinan men had been left out of pocket from earlier rounds of the championship, but the club refused to pay their train fares to Birr. Instead, they collected the best hurlers from surrounding villages and installed Stapleton as captain.

In the 1940s, when all his team-mates were dead, Stapleton recalled how he helped bring the ball down the field through a central rush of hurlers, before - seeing the chance of a score - he passed the ball out to Tommy Healy, who caught it and drove it hard and low through the goal.

An independent observer has written, however, that the crucial goal was scored by Jim Leahy, who struck the ball off his left side from the middle of the field, in under the tape that served as a crossbar, for the winning goal.

This latter version was partly endorsed by the Meelick goalkeeper, John Mannion, who until the day he died lamented the concession of a goal he would normally have stopped.

"The ball," he said, "came down to me out of the sun and a 17-stone Tipperary man arrived at the same time. The ball went in between us, but they won it fair."

The goal decided the match. When Patrick White called full-time, Thurles had beaten Meelick by 1-2 to no score and were duly crowned the first All-Ireland hurling champions.

Their celebrations were immediate. The newspapers wrote: "The enthusiasm of the Tips seemed to be unbounded when play was declared. They took the plucky captain, James Stapleton, on their shoulders and carried him though the field."

The newspapers stressed the Meelick men took their defeat in the very best of spirits: "From the time the Thurles and Meelick men met, their intercourse was characterised by the utmost good feeling and good humour, and the defeat of the latter did not in the least change that for they accepted it in the same spirit as they would victory."

After the teams had cheered each other off the field, they were again lined up in military fashion by Captain Lynam and marched back to Cunningham's Hotel, where they were served with dinner.

Dinner, however, was not all that was served that evening in Birr. At Birr Petty Sessions on April 13th, 1888, case after case of drunken and disorderly behaviour following the hurling final came before the magistrates.

The King's County Chronicle recorded how Thomas Meara, from Roscrea, had been fined 10 shillings for beating a man with a stick; how Thomas Molloy had been "one of the rioters in Parsonstown on the day of the hurling", but had given a false name and was now fined 26 shillings, or one month in prison.

More than 20 men from across south King's County and North Tipperary were fined between five and 20 shillings for drunkenness. These included Thomas Coy, fined seven shillings and six pence for being drunk in charge of a donkey and cart.

The presiding magistrate, JT McSherry, RM, recorded that it was "monstrous that people could not come into town for a day's amusement without carrying on such conduct".

The championship was reviewed at a two-day meeting of the GAA central executive in Dublin three weeks after the final. The matter of providing medals for the championship winners was discussed. The winning teams were to receive gold crosses and the runners-up to get silver ones.

For more than two decades nothing happened. Some All-Ireland medals seem finally to have been presented to Thurles players just before the outbreak of the second World War. The Meelick club have yet to receive their silver crosses.

Paul Rouse is co-founder of InQuest research company and lectures in the School of History and Archives in University College Dublin. He is writing a book on the first All-Ireland hurling championship.

#31
Hurling Discussion / George O'Connor in Wexford
March 14, 2008, 12:52:50 PM
HOW has he been keeping since you saw him last? Flying. A new man, a new job, a new vocation.

Where for 30 years George O'Connor's life was ruled by the iron call of the cattle and of the caman, sometimes not strictly in that order, these days the only boundaries to his activities are the ones he chooses to impose on himself.

He visits clubs. He coaches coaches. He instructs schoolchildren. He organises hurling for kids on quaysides and long puck competitions for oul' lads on islands. He arranges for guest speakers like Mick Galwey to come and talk about the importance of place and community. For the past 18 months he has been the Leinster Council's hurling development administrator in Wexford. The job starts early. It finishes when it finishes.

On the day that Wexford attempt to lay a glove on their neighbours and feudal overlords following three painfully heavy defeats last season, there's a temptation to enquire what O'Connor thinks of the current state of the game there and maybe put a few words into his mouth in relation to the county's scanty representation at the Fitzgibbon Cup finals last weekend; a flick through the programme throws up only five Wexford players among the four panels, all of them well down among the subs with Waterford IT. The run without a Leinster minor title, meanwhile, is nudging the quarter-century mark.

Yet should the worst ensue at Wexford Park today, always bear in mind that John Meyler is through force of circumstance playing much the same hand that John Conran and Tony Dempsey were dealt before him. Wexford do not possess the natural resources that refresh the parts other counties can irrigate on a regular basis.

But concerns such as these are not O'Connor's direct lot any more. Instead he hands out cones and beanbags, and worries about whether children are using the correct-sized hurley, and ensures that the dominant hand is on top, and muses on the challenges presented by a changing Ireland. How many dashed walls are there to hurl up against these days like there were in O'Connors' of Piercestown when he was a lad? How many boys have three brothers . . . so handy for games of twoversus-two . . . like he did? Chores done in the evening, does anyone drop everything and cycle up the road to the neighbours' for a few pucks any more?

Does anyone even do chores any more, come to that?

Without being privy to the selection process, one can fairly take it that Wexford hurling development administrator's post was O'Connor's the moment he walked in the door for the interview. That face, that head, those battered fingers. Instant brand recognition, a formidable CV, undying popularity. He is Wexford hurling's past, this man who won an All Ireland medal in the last match he ever hurled.

He is Wexford hurling's future. Those natural resources they lack? In 10 or 15 years' time, if O'Connor does his job correctly, they won't lack them.

His year-and-a-half on the factory floor has, predictably, served as an eye opener. One of the first discoveries he made was that children who have been coached by coaches who have learned how to coach are more skilful than their counterparts of years ago. On the other hand, what he terms the "natural skill of a self-learned child" is largely missing with others. To help make up this leeway, he preaches from the gospel according to Paudie Butler and Pat Daly, the GAA's Director of Hurling and Director of Games respectively. Small hurleys, small sliotars (actually beanbags, which are much easier to catch than sliotars), smallsized games designed for small-sized people. "You can't force children into playing hurling or liking hurling. Up to the age of six or seven, they have to be allowed play with their toys. What we're trying to do is create a total fun situation that's enjoyable for them from start to finish."

The size of the stick a child uses is, O'Connor has found, the first and last and overriding essential. Ask a child to stand straight, hands by his or her side: the hurley should come up to the wristbone. It never fails to amaze him how many children are landed with too big a hurley, too long a hurley, too heavy a hurley, with potentially ruinous consequences. A boy with a 35-inch stick? Madness, he says. The equivalent would be an adult with a 47-inch stick.

Just imagine how cumbersome that would be.

"The stick is really, really important. Do not let a child get the wrong stick.

That's number one." Too heavy a hurley and the child will turn into what O'Connor describes as a "shoulder hurler . . . they're pushing the stick from too high up their body. It's like a shoulder movement." The problem is compounded when the child tries to hit the ball, throwing it across the stick (over or under) and, because the hurley is too heavy, lunging at it with the stronger hand below. "As they grow up, they'll keep the wrong hand on top and the extra time the sliotar spends in the air will give their opponent the chance to flick it away."

It's not all drills. It can't be, as a diet of fibre will pall very quickly if not supplemented by the red meat of real live matches, even fun matches that take place in a carefully controlled environment. "Imagine bringing a golfer to a course and keeping him on the first teebox practising his stroke for three weeks. You just can't do that with children. They have to be let play." Shades of the Ajax Amsterdam template, small-sized games help to broaden minds, adult minds as well as children's. What happens, as O'Connor puts it, with "a little child who starts in goal because he's too shy to say he wants to play out the field? He makes a couple of good saves on his first day and that's where he stays. Thirty-five years later he's bald and he's grey and he's still in goal. He could have been a great corner-forward or a great cornerback. But we'll never know if we pigeonholed him from the start."

With 30 part-time coaches under his wing and others in the clubs, much of O'Connor's work revolves around upskilling the coaches. You wonder if the small children he encounters on his school visits, all of them born long after 1996, have any idea who this giant come among them is.

"Maybe we're mythical creatures at this stagef Ah, they know who I am alright. But as long as I can get them out there hurling and they're having fun, that's what matters."

And they do. He left Davidstown with a song in his heart recently after a session he did with very small kids, all beanbags and hurleys and colour-coordinated cones designed to improve spatial awareness.

O'Connor was engrossed in the drill when out of nowhere he caught sight of a little girl, four years old and three feet high, coming soloing along, weaving from cone to cone. Her hurley was held in the correct hand, the beanbag was glued to the stick and amid all of this she still had time to raise her left hand, smile seraphically and wave to her mammy. Perfection.

George O'Connor did the state lavish service. Twelve years on from his greatest hour in the purple and gold, he continues to.

http://www.tribune.ie/article.tvt?_scope=Tribune/Sport/GAA&id=84827&SUBCAT=Tribune/Sport&SUBCATNAME=Sport
#32
Hurling Discussion / Birr vs Dunloy
February 21, 2008, 12:53:11 PM
I think this will be tighter than the odds suggest.
Dunloy have taken a couple of semi final scalps in recent years.
While they then let themselves down in Croke Park, they are still one of the top club teams around.

Birr have often found it difficult to over Dunloy also.
In the 1995 club final, Birr were very lucky to get a draw the first day out, before winning the replay.
In 2002 in a semi final, Birr needed another rally to come from behind and win.

The current Birr side made up of young inexperienced players as well as veterans like the Whelahans and Gary Hanniffy. However they have still a bit to go to compare to the Birr side of the late 90s and early 00s.
After 2006's trimming against Ballyhale, the general feeling was that Birr were destined for a long spell in the doldrums.

So it was big surprise that they managed to win out Leinster. Birr did well to beat Ballyhale who were minus Shefflin and Cha Fitz and outsmarted Ballyboden in the Leinster final. Padjoe Whelahan seems to have the magic touch with Birr. He came back in after 2 years away and has got the team buzzing again.
However I still think Birr need to improve more in order to challenge for the All Ireland.

I'm not sure what can be read into Dunloy's draw with Ballycran in Ulster. It remains to be seen if they can put in a fired up performance that saw them ambush Mount Sion and Portumna already this decade. However it wouldn't surprise me at all if they did.
#33
Another good scalp for the Dublin colleges.
St Kieran's don't seem to be the force of old.
I wonder is this down to the ceasing of the boarding school a couple of years ago.
Also the other schools in Kilkenny seem to be improving, so perhaps Kieran's isn't the primary hurling nursery any more?


DUBLIN COLLEGES 1-11 ST KIERAN'S (Kilkenny) 1-6

Dublin Colleges toppled the famed Kilkenny nursery, St Kieran's, in last Saturday's Leinster Colleges SHC 'A' quarter-final at Dr Cullen Park, Carlow.

David Treacy and Jamie Winters were the scoring stars for the Dubs with Cuala man Treacy hitting 0-6 (including four frees) and St Brigid's Winters hitting 1-2.

The Dubs held the upperhand and led by 0-8 to 0-2 at the interval. It was a lead they extended to 0-10 to 0-3 early in the second half until a Rick Leydon goal 16 minutes into the second half cut the gap to 0-10 to 1-4.

However, Dublin settled again and Winters late goal direct from a sideline cut made sure of their slot in the last four. Dublin Colleges will face Good Counsel or Bunclody in their semi-final.

SCORERS - Dublin Colleges: D Treacy 0-6 (0-4f), J Winters 1-2 (1-1 sideline), L Rushe (0-1f), C Clinton, N McMurrow 0-1 each. St Kieran's: R Leydon 1-0, J Gannon, B O'Shea, J Brennan 0-2 each.
DUBLIN COLLEGES - F McGarry; D O Maolaigh, R O'Carroll, D Curran; R O'Loughlin, L Rushe, M Quilty; C Clinton, R Breathnach; J Winter, N Muineachain; D Treacy, N McMurrow, A McInerney, J Stapleton. Subs: F Clabby for Rushe, J Callaghan for Muineachain, M Lawless for McInerney, F Dunleavy for Stapleton.
ST KIERAN'S, KILKENNY – K Heffernan; N McQuillan, M Walsh, O Daly; P Dowling, M Phelan, P Phelan; C McQuillan, R Leydon; S Butler, J Gannon, S Quinlan; S Phelan, B O'Shea, J Brennan. Subs: T Flynn for Butler, J Walsh for Quinlan.


#34
Sweeney lashes 'dirty' tactics of Clare champions

By Colm Keys
Monday December 03 2007

Victorious Loughmore-Castleiney manager, Eamonn Sweeney, has hit out at the treatment meted out to teen prodigy Noel McGrath in the opening passages of yesterday's AIB Munster club hurling final.

McGrath, who will only turn 17 later this month, was felled in an off-the-ball incident during some fraught early exchanges in Limerick yesterday. The incident happened as another Loughmore player, Eoin Ryan, was being treated after an off -the-ball incident with Eanna Torpey that merited a yellow card.

Sweeney, Loughmore's captain when they last won a county title in 1988, accused Tulla of "dirt" as he hit out at McGrath's treatment.

"The thing that disappoints us a little bit was the way we were treated in the first five minutes and that's not sour grapes. You say things like that when you lose matches, but I'm very disappointed. It was beyond gamesmanship. It was dirt, filth.

"When everyone was around Eoin Ryan treating him, Noel McGrath was done. That's wrong. To do that to a young lad you wouldn't clap yourself on the back," fumed Sweeney.

They bullied us in the first half and we decided that it wasn't going to happen us in the second," added the manager as a reference to Loughmore's improvement after the break.

David Kennedy, Lough-

more's defiant centre-back, admitted he had never hurled in such appalling conditions.

"It was an absolute battle. The wind destroyed the game. We knew at half-time that the game was far from over, that it would be as hard to play with the wind as against it."

Kennedy admitted Evan Sweeney's first half goal spared them.

"The goal kept us in the game. Without it we'd have been in serious trouble."

And he put the win into perspective by drawing comparison to where the small enclave, with a greater reputation for football, was 12 months ago.

"We were facing relegation this time last year. If anyone had said back then that on December 2 next we'd be Munster champions... it's unreal."

Tulla manager Jim McInerney heaped praise on his players and said they had come along way in a year after being thrown out of the Clare senior B championship for failing to field a team.

- Colm Keys

#35
Hurling Discussion / Cody vs Loughnane
September 03, 2007, 09:24:39 AM
This one could run and run.
I can't see Ger backing down either.  ;D


--

Kilkenny handed final glory on a plate
Monday September 03 2007

Kilkenny manager Brian Cody has launched a blistering attack on Ger Loughnane in the aftermath of his side's fifth All-Ireland title of the decade yesterday.

Bristling at Loughnane's inference all season that Kilkenny stand accused of cynicism, Cody returned fire dramatically by suggesting there was "inferiority" in his remarks and describing it as "sad" to see him to "descend to that level of silly talk".

In a no-holds-barred attack on the current Galway manager on RTE radio last night, Cody took off the gloves and laced into Loughnane's assertion that the champions are a cynical side that live on the edge.

Publicity

Describing him on air as "a lunatic from Clare talking rubbish at the moment" Cody said he is convinced Loughnane would now say anything to attract publicity.

Loughnane attacked Kilkenny's methods prior to their All-Ireland quarter-final and, according to Cody, repeated his words on radio last Saturday.

Loughnane believes Kilkenny have a propensity for flicking their hurls across opponents.

But Cody has hit back hard.

"I know Ger very, very well, obviously, and it's sad to see him descend to that level. Inferiority is what I believe it is, a serious sense of inferiority to descend to that silly talk," he said. "We are a good team. He is suggesting that we are a dirty team and that's wrong."

Stupidity

"He was an analyst on the 'Sunday Game' for a number of years and he never once uttered those statements. Now, he's manager of the Galway hurling team before the Galway game he came up with that stupidity.

"I'm told he said it on radio again yesterday. That's not right. It's sad to see it. He is a man who is craving publicity and is prepared to say anything to stay on the airwaves."

Kilkenny won their fifth title in nine years, but had to do so without captain Henry Shefflin for the second-half.

Shefflin was replaced at the interval on medical advice after suffering a suspected torn cruciate ligament that could keep him out of the game for months.

But Cody was gushing in his praise of Shefflin who he says "has brought hurling to a new dimension".

"I feel happy for Henry Shefflin but I also feel sorry for him," he said. "He couldn't finish the game because of what looks like a very serious injury.

"He's brought hurling to a new dimension, I believe, it is right to recognise greatness and special talent and such skills levels.

"I constantly talk team and panel, and will continue to do that, but he has set milestones, he adorns the game of hurling and he is such an influence."


#36
http://u.tv/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=35507&pt=s
"Touchline reporters, half-time interviewing and pitch incursions have all been banned in a series of regulations announced by GAA President Nickey Brennan."

Yep. It looks like the ungraceful spectacle of players doing pitchside post match interviews while being mauled by a heaving mob of fans are a thing of the past!
No more we will watch fans peering into our living rooms, waving to us and roaring things like "up de bennar!", or "up de rebels" at us, while some poor unfortunate player is trying to conduct an interview.

We've seen some farcical pitch side interviews in our time. Players being kissed, getting hats put on them, getting hats swiped from them, getting kisses planted on them, air horns blasted into their ears and having a human mountain collapse on them.

Pity it took official regulations to stamp it out. RTE should have abandoned this ridiculous freak show years ago.