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There was a pretty good episode of GAA Beo on Sunday. Beautifully paced ending to boot.

4:30 PM Sat

Curran will know when to step aside
19 March 2013

St Brigid's Shane Curran consoles Sean Currie of Ballymun Kickhams after the game. INPHOShane Curran says he'll know when the time is right to hang up his gloves.

The St Brigid's goalkeeper, who turns 42 next month, experienced the highlight of his career to date when helping the Kiltoom club to victory in Sunday's All-Ireland club final and he suggests in The Irish Daily Star that he could soldier on for another while:

"The game is given to you and it's taken away from you. When that time comes, we've great young goalkeepers in Shane Mannion and Tom Finnerty coming up behind me.

"I'll give them the best of my experience and the best of my advice. I won't stand in their way of becoming great goalkeepers and great players for the club.

"The O'Rourke Cup is next week. I'll be there."

http://hoganstand.com/Roscommon/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=188184

How can anyone (apart from Kyle Callagher!) fail to love this man? Going 42 and after winning a senior All-Ireland and he's already talking about next weekend and playing in the league. Crazy in all the right ways.

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/shane-curran-all-ireland-victory-is-the-best-day-of-my-life-1.1331248

I'll give them the best of my experiences and the best of my advice. I won't stand in their way. I've really had an exceptional career, I have an exceptional two kids and fantastic wife who've given me wonderful times. I think that's a good career, lads

Hmm, strange cut by HS (or the Daily Star) on the quote, though likewise the Irish Times ignored the part about being there next weekend in the league. It's pretty clear Cake isn't retiring - Brigid's minor county 'keeper Shane Mannion just turned 17 and the two Martins that started in previous years left the panel when Cake was brought back - so you'll have to put up with him for another year at least, if not more.

I think Cork's window is shutting, whatever about Colm O'Neill if they don't do it this year it's only going to get tougher and tougher for them to win even Munster, it's only a matter of time before Tipp catch one or both of the big two and all hell will break loose when that happens.

Curran will know when to step aside
19 March 2013

St Brigid's Shane Curran consoles Sean Currie of Ballymun Kickhams after the game. INPHOShane Curran says he'll know when the time is right to hang up his gloves.

The St Brigid's goalkeeper, who turns 42 next month, experienced the highlight of his career to date when helping the Kiltoom club to victory in Sunday's All-Ireland club final and he suggests in The Irish Daily Star that he could soldier on for another while:

"The game is given to you and it's taken away from you. When that time comes, we've great young goalkeepers in Shane Mannion and Tom Finnerty coming up behind me.

"I'll give them the best of my experience and the best of my advice. I won't stand in their way of becoming great goalkeepers and great players for the club.

"The O'Rourke Cup is next week. I'll be there."

http://hoganstand.com/Roscommon/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=188184

How can anyone (apart from Kyle Callagher!) fail to love this man? Going 42 and after winning a senior All-Ireland and he's already talking about next weekend and playing in the league. Crazy in all the right ways.

Read title as never coming back and that's always the fear with repeated injuries to such a sensitive area.

Don't lose the faith Colm, look at what lads like David Casey went through and know that if you want it enough you'll make it back. Best wishes.

Wil CO'C start Saturday? He'd go a long way to helping Mayo do some serious damage against Galway.

Cake could fit in some training sessions if ye need a hand 

[Shane Curran]

Absolutely shocking photo of Shane Curran and Frankie Dolan on the GAA website "celebrating" the Brigids win.
What has the GAA come to. What about the children.

http://www.gaa.ie/gaa-news-and-videos/daily-news/2/1903130709-the-weekend-in-pictures/

Shane Curran @shanetcurran

Man I have to have s shower Frankies not in it either please don't be thinking like tat #yippee
11:09 AM - 18 Mar 13 from Roscommon, Ireland


A god among mere mortals. And lads, I don't mean to scare the bejesus out of you but Cake's already done with this celebratin' lark:


Karol Mannion @Mango_KM

@saveciaranmurph @shanetcurran good man Ciaran thanks a million! I happily avoided the French kiss from cake after the game!


Shane Curran @shanetcurran

@Mango_KM @saveciaranmurph Chutty u cud get that today Celebrations over time for prep #backtoback
1:40 PM - 18 Mar 13 from West Meath, Ireland

[it's a bad reflection on him and Brigid's]

The whole refereeing thing barely registers with me amidst all the excitement but when a topic is brought up I'm not going to come along and lie about it.

The whole Cross connection is not a good image for the GAA to portray - be honest BC1, if Cross got to the final and a Brigid's ref did the game and Cross lost by a point or two with a few controversial calls going Ballymun's way what would the reaction here and in pubs up and down Armagh and beyond be?

It's nothing against Hughes personally, it was a no-win situation for him and I have no doubt he wasn't trying to slant the game. You just don't put someone in that position.

In terms of the match it's indisputable that Hughes at least made one huge mistake in booking the wrong Ballymun player in the 29th minute after Leehy crashed into the head of a bent down Stackie - booking the correct player meant Ballymun would have played half the game with 14 men. I'll be honest, it's sweeter to beat them 15-on-15 as it removes any doubts as to who the absolute best team was - and it made for a better spectacle - but if Brigid's had lost that would have been a huge bone of contention.

It was a very bad call, simple as. Trying to brush it under the carpet just because Brigid's won makes zero sense.

No need for McStay to bring up Hughes and the Crossmaglen angle after the game.
FFS, you've just won an All-Ireland.

I didn't see that interview but if he said that it's a bad reflection on him and Brigid's. A great game and they were worthy winners so just enjoy it. Otherwise I'll just use it to wind up my Mayo pals late in the summer

Not really. It'd have been way worse to feign piety or ignorance to the issue of putting a Crossmaglen man in charge of a final involving a team that had just knocked out his club. As McStay said they kept quiet all through the build-up to the game, it's not like they whinged to try and put pressure on Hughes or get him changed.

Post-match press conference with McStay and Frankie, the part about Hughes begins at 5:26 : https://soundcloud.com/midlandssport/kevin-mcstay-and-frankie-dolan

Win or lose it was the truth and even if it ship wrecks any potential love-in for Hughes, so what? The point remains valid and there's nothing to be gained from ignoring it. Put yourself in his shoes and pull the 'ah, sure he shouldn't have said that' line and see how far you'd get. You'd probably be hopping mad and rightly so. I wouldn't like the same situation ever arising for any team again, let alone in an All-Ireland final, and the only way to ensure that is to highlight it now.

So where do we go with this? Will Hughes ever be allowed to do Ulster club matches in the future as they might meet Cross? Will he be allowed to do Rossie games cause St Brigids beat Cross, would certainly not be able to do EC games as they have beaten Cross before. Won't be allowed to do any games in Armagh either!! What about doing Mayo games as McStay is from Mayo (I think)

Listen numb nuts, at this level of refereeing the referee will be impartial throughout the game, the match was in Croke Park FFS!! If he has ambitions of doing the big one then he was defo going to be as straight as a die. Now enjoy the win and stop talking shite!!

Save the emotional BS, BC1. This has nothing to do with Hughes personally or Cross.

No, A referee shouldn't ever do a final of a championship where his club lost in the semi-finals to one of the finalists. That much is pretty obvious I feel and that applies to both county and provincial level. There's enough frigging referees knocking around the place to find one where people can't use his background as a stick to beat him and the officiating with.

Ok lads, enough of that crack. We should be talking about serious things with real world implications.

Like how many people do you know called Francis who will now be saddled against their will with Pope as a nickname?

[it's a bad reflection on him and Brigid's]

No need for McStay to bring up Hughes and the Crossmaglen angle after the game.
FFS, you've just won an All-Ireland.

I didn't see that interview but if he said that it's a bad reflection on him and Brigid's. A great game and they were worthy winners so just enjoy it. Otherwise I'll just use it to wind up my Mayo pals late in the summer

Not really. It'd have been way worse to feign piety or ignorance to the issue of putting a Crossmaglen man in charge of a final involving a team that had just knocked out his club. As McStay said they kept quiet all through the build-up to the game, it's not like they whinged to try and put pressure on Hughes or get him changed.

Post-match press conference with McStay and Frankie, the part about Hughes begins at 5:26 : https://soundcloud.com/midlandssport/kevin-mcstay-and-frankie-dolan

Win or lose it was the truth and even if it ship wrecks any potential love-in for Hughes, so what? The point remains valid and there's nothing to be gained from ignoring it. Put yourself in his shoes and pull the 'ah, sure he shouldn't have said that' line and see how far you'd get. You'd probably be hopping mad and rightly so. I wouldn't like the same situation ever arising for any team again, let alone in an All-Ireland final, and the only way to ensure that is to highlight it now.

Tough on Galway having to play again five days later, it may decide the game if it's a tight one.

There's nothing innocent about the top club sides but I agree to a degree, there are few things more enjoyable than a well played club game. Here Brigids are obviously a class apart but there's a logic clubs with talented underage cores that should raise the overall standard of play considerably in the county in the years to come. The league usually starts in late Feb/March but with so many Sigerson and underage players these days the early parts aren't up to much for most of the top teams. If anything the timing makes them a health hazard for our underage players.

Number of games aren't the big problem, it's the changeable schedule enforced by poor management of the intercounty games.

[I thought Hughes had a terrible game]

I thought Hughes had a terrible game at the match apart from allowing a good amount of physicality, lots of bizarre calls and missed calls, but looking back at a little bit on the TV some of the calls that were bemusing in the stands made sense.

Still feel his decisions favoured Ballymun significantly - yellow carding the Kickams no. 6 when it was the no. 11 who fouled (and who was on a yellow and even afterwards continued to commit obvious and cynical fouls that weren't called) and a blatant push on Frankie that lead to Ballymun's final point come to mind.

Like McStay said, it was probably the wrong decision to put a Cross man in charge of a match involving the team that just beat them, it's not like Hughes set out rig the game but the optics of any decision against Brigid's become quite unsavoury for the GAA.

It's great having won but had we lost by a point or two there would have been some very real sour grapes from a refereeing perspective, Ballymun were second best from the 10th minute onwards and I think anyone who thought it was Ballymun that threw the game away were watching a different game to me.

Really? I'm definitely not his biggest fan but I thought he refereed the game very well. For once I didn't really notice him on the field and I thought he helped the game as a spectacle. I'd say there wasn't a better match all weekend.

That said though I don't think he should have been given the final to referee considering his club were dumped out by Brigids in the semi final.

That sentiment was widespread at the match. Like I said, some of the fouls that didn't make any sense in the stand did when you saw them on tv. It doesn't absolve the fact Ballymun should have been playing with 14 men for the last 45 minutes of the game, though.

Why should they have 14 men?
You're always whingeing. If Roscommon won an all-ireland you'd still be moaning.

Trying to gloss over the easily veritable evidence offered that Hughes made a huge basic error in his refereeing of the game is borderline WUM stuff - the rest of what you said clearly is.