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With thanks to the Kerry GAA website

http://www.kerrygaa.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2357&Itemid=100060

I have a confession to make, this is tough to say but, Ulster football, I love it. (Not as hard to say as you'd imagine)

Fantastic people, great hearted GAA folk who love and play play the games as they should be played, with the passion and great colour and enthusium they bring to the sport but most of all I love them for the enjoyment they bring us all, 16 All Ireland Senior Titles in 127 years just proves its the taking part for them that matters most, its not all about winning as we in Kerry seem to believe.

There I confessed, please forgive me Mikey Sheehy.

All offers of spare All Ireland tickets will be accepted.

With their involvement  over for another year, supporters of Tyrone and Cork will be flocking to Tullamore this afternoon for the eagerly awaited clash between Corks one time winner , Noel Tiddles O'Leary and the three time winner and crowd favourite Ryan Winky McMenimen. As both men warm up for the flick off at 3.30 , O'Leary has had his breakfast of Crubeens and Driseen and viewing  The Kerry Golden years to get his blood boiling. Winky has had 3 bottles of bucky , a can of predigree chum and is said to be frothing at the mouth waiting for the action to begin. Full match report later.

Great result for Limerick getting to a quarter final for the first time with a last minute winner over Wexford. Also a great result for the other small Munster team who will also join Kerry and Limerick in the last 8.  Great day for the province.

Am looking for a DJ to play a few tunes at a wedding next year in An Cabhain, any of ye buckos recommend anyone good from around the Ulster / North Leinster areas

While I'm at it I need to get someone to do the Video as well ?

Get both of those and that's my to-do list complete, this wedding planning is a piece of piss 

Jaysus how Orange is Bertie.  Mary O Rourke would sicken your hole. Martin Mansersgh is some tool but Liz O'Donnell... you still would

It the Kingdom of Kerry against the Langers from the Lee next Sunday in Killarney, the 36 time winners against Munster's 2nd best team with a credible but laughable 7 titles. Am really looking forward to this. I am expecting a close game with plenty of decent scores and football. Lets just hope we don't get some ape of a referee who is going to make a bollix of another game this summer.

I just happened to mention to herself that it can't be that fecking difficult to find a fecking wedding dress, so have been set a target of 1 hour to find something decent, any links or photos appreciated but keep it country !!

The Script - Aviva Stadium Dublin - Sat July 2nd - 2 tickets going face value if any one wants them !

Biffo shows off his latest WMD.

fair fucks to our hurlers for ending a 50 year hex against Down in Senior championship 

Great performance by all accounts given that they finished with only 13 players, finally looking forward to seeing the Kingdom play a Senior hurling final in Croke Park.


HEROIC KERRY RECORD FAMOUS WIN WITH JUST THIRTEEN MEN UP IN DOWN

Christy Ring Cup semi Final Kerry 1-18 Down 1-17

By Murt Murphy for kerrrygaa.ie

The legendry Babe Ruth summed it up "The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime." Kerry travelled to Newry today Saturday, probably feeling that they were playing against a stacked deck when the rules had been changed for these years Christy Ring Cup semi-finals and with six minutes to go, when they were reduced to thirteen men, they must have felt that they had upset the Hurling Gods. However Kerry proved that there is no substitute for guts as they fought like tigers. In those final nerve wracking minutes and they had their four points lead wiped out as the game headed into three minutes of injury time. However, while adversity causes some men to break and others to break records, Shane Nolan was entrusted with the task of taking a free, which if converted might well see Kerry reach the Christy Ring Cup final.

Nolan stepped into the breach because Darragh O'Connell was on the bench at this stage, so was James Flaherty and so was Mike Conway. Everything was left to Phil Taylor of the team (Shane can hit the bull in the kitchen from his garden shed. As an All-Ireland Darts Champion) to hold his nerve. He struck the ball high towards the posts - it seemed to swirl and drop like a scud missile. But had it gone over? One umpire retrieving his head from the skies pointed to the other umpire as the Kerry players, management and supporters held their collective breaths, the white flag was raised and Kerry were a point in front.

However Down had one last attack from puck out but when the ball dropped in the Kerry danger zone, another Crotta man Andrew Keane cleared the danger and that was it. Kerry had fashioned a famous win from a game that was full of incident. Kerry started poorly and was 1-3 to 0-3 behind after ten minutes but soon levelled the contest before pulling 1-12 to 1-6 clear by half time. Kerry dominated the third quarter and were in cruise control, leading 1-17 to 1-9 but then Gary O'Brien received a second yellow and Kerry began to falter. They still had a six point lead when they lost the outstanding Tom Murnane to a second yellow ( or possibly worse) and then Down took over and five points in a row from Paul from Paul Braniff had the sides level as Kerry faced to the prospect of an injury time loss.

But then came that Shane Nolan free and Kerry had crossed the Rubicon and now the Promised Land awaits- Croke Park on June 4th and a meeting with Wicklow. It was a superb team display with John Griffin and Andrew Keane vying for Man of the Match.

Kerry: Bernard Rochford, James Godley, Tom Murnane, Eamon Fitzgerald, Colin Harris, Jason Casey, Andrew Keane, Darran Dineen (0-1), John Griffin, Darragh O'Connell (0-7,7f), Mikey Boyle (0-4), Gary O'Brien, James Flaherty, Shane Nolan (0-4,1f), John Egan (0-1) Subs: Michael Conway (1-1) for Flaherty, Padraig Boyle for Conway, Liam Boyle for O'Connell

Down: Graham Clarke, Michael Morris, Fintan Conway, Sean Ennis, Kevin McGarry, Connor Woods, Michael Ennis, Andy Savage (0-2,1f), Eoin Clarke, Stephen Clarke (0-1), Gareth Johnson (0-3,3f), Conor O'Prey, James Coyle, Paul Braniff (0-7,4f), Brendan Ennis (1-2) Subs: Ciarán Coulter for McGarry, Scott Nicholson (0-2) for C O'Prey, Aidan Clarke for Coyle

The Championship season throws in on Sunday against Tipperary for Kerry who have had a good spring, 2 narrow one point losses to Cork and Dublin early in the league were put behind us as we won our 5 other games and narrowly missed out on a League final spot, but its been quite and productive time from the Kerry camp with a weekend in portugal hopefully produciing good results,

The team for Sunday has no major surprises with the possible exception of Paul Galvin who has had a injury recently. the format tried in the league with Marc OSe at full back and Eoin Brosnan in the centre continues and Anthony Maher and Bryan Sheehan again man the Midfield, David Moran being a big loss her efor us but Mike Quirke is back in the panel as cover along with Seamus Scanlon.
The forwards line out as expected, with Kieran O'Leary getting the start in the corner. With the Tipp minors beting us last night and their U21's beating us last year this game on Sunday should not be viewed as a walkover, Tipp have made great strides under John Evans recently and will be a tough nut to crack this weekend and any complacency on the Kingdoms part could be fatal.

From the Examiner:
EOIN Brosnan will make his first appearance in championship football since the 2009 Munster semi-final replay, in next Sunday's provincial quarter-final against Tipperary after being named at centre-back in the Kingdom starting fifteen last night.

Manager Jack O'Connor has selected the Dr Crokes player in one of four changes from the team that lost out to Down in last July's All-Ireland quarter-final. Brosnan replaces the retired Mike McCarthy, while Tomás Ó Sé, who missed that Down match through suspension, returns instead of Tommy Griffin.

There is a new midfield partnership in Anthony Maher and Brian Sheehan with Kieran O'Leary drafted in at corner-forward. Seamus Scanlon and Micheal Quirke are named amongst the substitutes while Paul Galvin who has battled a hamstring injury recently is also set to start on the bench.

KERRY (SF v Tipperary): B Kealy; K Young, M Ó'Sé, T O'Sullivan; T Ó'Sé, E Brosnan, A O'Mahony; A Maher, B Sheehan; Darran O'Sullivan, Declan O'Sullivan, D Walsh; C Cooper, K Donaghy, K O'Leary.

Subs: T Mac an tSaoir, S Scanlon, P Galvin, BJ Keane, M Quirke, P Reidy, D Bohane, S Enright, D Geaney, A O'Connell, N O'Mahony.

Always wanted to start a soccer thread !! But I'm not for turning just yet.

Just got a couple of tickets on T'master for 50 quid each for the final, there are tickets still on sale for those who are interested.

About fecking time they did a bit of promotion for our games. Been saying this for years, lets see if they make a hand of it ?



GAA bid to attract 1,000 tourists to games By Fintan O'Toole - Friday, May 06, 2011

CROKE PARK chiefs are set to launch a campaign to attract tourists to inter-county championship games which could inject up to €600,000 annually into the association's coffers.

The pilot scheme is seeking to attract 1,000 foreign visitors to football and hurling clashes, starting with the All-Ireland SFC campaign.

Stadium director Peter McKenna believes the time has come for Ireland's national games to be marketedproperly and make Croke Park a tourist attraction.

"If you go to New York, they'reselling a baseball or ice hockey game depending on the time of year, if you go to Thailand it's kickboxing, if you go to Spain maybe it is bullfighting," he said. "We felt it was exactly the same opportunity here. Our marketing person, Julie Manahan, has spent a lot of time on this. We've got a dedicated programme now to attract tourists coming into the city to go to a match.

"We're trying to pull together a tourist package so that when people come here. They can enjoy the day and get a tour of the museum, and get an introduction to the game through a tour guide."

McKenna outlined the project will be reviewed after the first year and that there will then be a better understanding in relation to purchase patterns.

"For the first year I'd see this as cost neutral with whatever advertising we'd put in. It is reasonably expensive to put it out. You've a scatter gun approach first of all, look to break even and then cut back to make it successful and build on it. It's a very strong audience to look at. This year is more of a pilot as well to find out what the purchase patterns are. It is going to be very much internet driven when people are making their bookings. We'll find out what is the best avenue for us to market the product through.

"It is about getting it across to people that this is quintessentially the Irish experience. So many people are sports fanatics and would you get a better afternoon's entertainment than we would have seen with Dublin and Kilkenny last Sunday?"

Meanwhile, McKenna revealed the cost of maintaining Croke Park on an annual basis is now around €3m and that burst pipes during freezingweather conditions caused serious problems.

"We had an awful series of costs that came because of the hard winter. Many of the exposed pipes running through the building burst. That type of work ran into the hundreds ofthousands. Your usual bill for the course of the year wouldn't be too shy of €3m. We extensively refurbished the whole premium level at the end of last year as well. That was an important statement to those people who have been with us for ten years, that they're coming back to a completely refurbished environment."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfnQLbvSD6E&feature=youtube_gdata_player

If only some of the players got to their feet so quickly !

program on RTE1 at 9.35 tonight

After a great win over Limerick in the semi final we face the old enemy Cork on this Wed in Pairc Ui Rinn for the Munster U21 title, Kerry have named their team, hopefully they can bring home the silver bucket as there is a good bit of Senior level experience in the squad:

1. Brian Kelly (Legion )
2. Peter Crowley (Laune Rangers)3. Mark Griffin (St. Michaels Foilmore) Captain 4. David O'Leary (Dr. Crokes)
5. Jack Sherwood (Firies ) 6. Barry Shanahan (Austin Stacks )7. Jonathan Lyne ( Legion )

8.Thomas Ladden ( Keel ) 9.  Edmund Walsh ( Knocknagoshel )

10. James O'Donoghue ( Legion ) 11. Barry John Keane  ( Kerins O'Rahillys ) 12. Alan Fitzgerald ( Castlegregory )
13. Stephen O'Brien ( Kenmare ) 14. Daithí Casey ( Dr. Crokes ) 15. Paul Geaney (Daingean Uí Chúis)

Subs;16. Shane O'Leary (Currow) 17.Pa Kilkenny (Glenbeigh/Glencar) 18. Colm Moriarty (Daingean Uí Chúis)
19. James Walsh ( Knocknagoshel ) 20.Kieran Hurley ( St Pats Blennerville )  21. Colm O'Shea ( Firies )
22. Niall O'Shea ( Dromid Pearses ) 23. James Coffey ( Beaufort ) 24. Barry John Walsh ( Kerins O'Rahillys )

In this day and age of pampered and overpaid soccer and other professional sports people, great to see somone actually doing something positive for his home place

http://www.rte.ie/sport/golf/2011/0331/ishikawar.html

Allianz Football League Roinn 1 Round 6 Monaghan V Kerry
Time: 2 30 PM, Venue: Inniskeen

Have been looking forward to this game for a while given the make up of my household and will make off Inniskeen on Sunday for a gawk at it. 

We have step 1 of 3 against Ulster teams complete with the win over Armagh last time out and with this away game and home to Down in the last leg to come we should have 2 firm and good challanges to face into the championship with. With a it being a must win game for Monaghan they will throw the kitchen sink at us which is exactly what you want this time of the year. Monaghan have done well enough in the league but the results have not come their way and now its a battle for survival for them.

Marc O'Se should be back after his recent bout of CCCC suspensionitis and with a further 2 weeks training Declan O'Sullivan and Paul Galvin should be chomping at the bit for a starting place after getting a run of the bench last time out in Armagh. No other injuries to note and that is a healthy sign for us hopefully for later in the summer with the panel taking a good shape. The win in Armagh may have secured our Div 1 Status for this year but I can't see Jack O'Connor or the players slackening off one iota, there are many places up for grabs before the championship and with the U21's impressing last week there are a few of them too to come into the reckoning in June time.

I think Killian Young has done well at Full Back recently instead of Marc O'Se and may be tried again against Monaghan and likewise Eoin Brosnan in the centre back role. I would have Marc in one corner and expect Tom O'Sullivan in the other leaving Tomas in his customary No 5 geansai, No 7 could be any number of players , bit I'd give Daniel Bohane a run.

Scanlon and Moran are the likely duo in Midfield with runs for Maher also likely.

I'd stick with Darren O'Sullivan on the "forty" where he has done really well and he should have a good bout with Dessie Mone, the 2 wing men will be from Paul Galvin, Donnacha Walsh, Brian Sheehan and Declan O'Sullivan with a full forward line revolving around Kieran Donaghy and Colm Cooper with Kieran O'Leary possibly getting another start but also Declan O'Sullivan may be fitted in the corner in a roving role. Much to look forward to but am also looking forward to seeing the shape of a new look Monaghan team.

Marc O'Se is out for 4 weeks for his slap at Eoghan O'Hara which will leave a big void at full back, and the hoor was playing very well too, and with Tommy Griffin still undecided and Tom O'Sullivan only returned to training this week it will leave a weakened full back line. I would chance either Aidan O'Mahony or Killian Young there and leave Eoin Brosnan in the centre back role for this week.  Probably with Padraig Reidy and Shane Enright in the corners and Tomas O'Se and either of Young or O'Mahony on the wings. Which still is a strong enough back division. Brendan Kealy seems to be doing ok in the sticks and in his 2nd year needs to just steady down and take command of his area.

Midfield is still not settled though and continues to be a big concern for Kerry people, I'd stick with David Moran and even Bryan Sheehan did ok against the Dubs. Other options are Seamus Scanlon, Anthony Maher but the big move/risk to make is bring out Kieran Donaghy and start with Declan O'Sullivan at No. 14 if he is fit as I believe he is back in the panel too this week so he will be a big bonus over the next few weekends

Darren O'Sullivan has done really well at centre foprward so far this year and he will hold his spot as will Donnacha Walsh on the wing, the other wing forward position depends  on who does not make midfield spots, with David Moran and Bryan Sheehan likely contenders. The Gooch is in Tip top form and David Geaney though quite against the Dubs has done enough in other games to get another start in the other corner. Full Forward as I say depends if Jack takes Donaghy out the field and I feel its worth a change of tact if nothing more than to use as an option later in the summer.

Kieran O'Leary needs a few games too as does a few more on the panel but competition is hotting up nicely.

Galway have had a terrible start to the league but I would expect them to up their game ion Sunday and expect a tough encounter but we need to the win , 2 loses from 3 games is not a good start from us either and another loss could have us in trouble.