Tag: Donegal GAA

  • Ratoath grab the headlines again with Galvin acquisition

    Ratoath grab the headlines again with Galvin acquisition

    No, not the racehorse, the other lad. You have to admire entities, sporting or otherwise, with their ambitions pointed in the right direction and the b***s to go after them. On that score, Ratoath are never found wanting. Since first making their breakthrough on the Meath club football scene in the early 2000s, they have…

  • Please watch your step, you’re on thin ice

    Please watch your step, you’re on thin ice

    There’s an episode of The Simpsons in which Mr Burns brings the staff of the power plant to a resort up in the snow-capped mountains for a bonding weekend. As these things also tend to be in real life, the few days were dominated by tasks which had to be done, at a minimum in…

  • Meath headed for familiar setting for Championship opener

    Meath headed for familiar setting for Championship opener

    It will be a case of the road well travelled for Meath as the draws for the 2025 incarnation of the Provincial Championships – conducted on Saturday last – decreed that Robbie Brennan’s first outing as manager in the blue riband competition will be in Netwatch Dr Cullen Park against Carlow. Without having actual figures…

  • Evolution of Jimmy Ball decides the finalists but the architect misses out

    Evolution of Jimmy Ball decides the finalists but the architect misses out

    There was something very fitting about Rian O’Neill emerging from under the crossbar at the Canal End seconds before David Gough blew for full time. Armagh football pedigrees don’t come more purebred. McConville. Crossmaglen. Besides that though, nobody has typified Kieran McGeeney’s Armagh model more than the fair haired forward. Remember the piece which appeared…

  • The call is from heroism, who will accept?

    The call is from heroism, who will accept?

    Perhaps if one had been around for the glorious yet curious duopoly between Dublin and Kerry in the 1970s and early 80s, it might be easier to reason with Dublin’s domination for the last decade and a half. Just to be clear, that is not in any way a criticism of those who are currently…

  • Neither of  them have gone away, you know

    Neither of  them have gone away, you know

    Some of the Provincial Championships are alive and well. Praise the Lord. In fact, looking at Jimmy winning matches again made one very grateful that Donegal didn’t produce their swashbuckling seismic performance against Meath a few weeks earlier. They say that immitation is the greatest form of flattery. And, by God, all and sundry in…

  • Do not adjust your sets – I agree with Mickey Harte!

    Do not adjust your sets – I agree with Mickey Harte!

    It’s probably an understatement to point out that Meath’s defeat of Dublin in the 1975 NFL Final was a major turn up. With it being well before my time, I’m not sure what division of the league Meath were in at the time. What is of course known is the fact that Kevin Heffernan’s side…

  • O’Rourke holds auditions in league finale

    O’Rourke holds auditions in league finale

    With Div. 2 status already safely secured, Colm O’Rourke has handed many of the members of his extended panel the opportunity to make their case for inclusion later in the campaign during tomorrow night’s Allianz NFL final round encounter against Donegal in Ballybofey. Billy Hogan, Harry O’Higgins, Adam McDonnell, Ross Ryan, Diarmuid Moriarity and Keith…

  • Cup football still has its value

    Cup football still has its value

    Mention has been made previously on these pages of how the idea of bucket lists doesn’t sit at all well here. If only because it makes a body think about, well, the journey around this big auld ball. And that’s challenging enough without bringing a stopwatch into the equation. That’s not to say, that there…

  • He might win matches but does he have a magic wand?

    He might win matches but does he have a magic wand?

    When I was a young fella, one of the things that fascinated me about Donegal footballers was that a large majority of them appeared to have the same haircut. Whether it was a similar scenario to Tyrone when they made a pact regarding beards a decade later is unknown but the similarities were striking. Brian…