Search Results for 'Conor Devanney'

Tyrone 0-12

I got a text last Sunday morning suggesting that Sunday’s result would be dictated by the free takers on either side because of the atrocious conditions. After our failure in this particular department in our two opening games of this year’s championship, I wasn’t exactly buzzing with confidence that we would win the match if it was to be decided in this way. But ultimately it was a very significant reason why Mayo were crowned champions last weekend. Mayo management passed the responsibility of free taking onto the young shoulders of Cillian O’ Connor. He was coolness personified throughout as he kicked eight out of nine frees in the match. Donie Shine on the other hand missed two crucial ones that could possibly have seen his team over the line.

At the outset of 2008 as Galway football entered a decisive new chapter, the Connacht FBD League was utilised intelligently. Liam Sammon's approach saw Galway embrace the challenges with the required passion and zeal to book the considerable bounty of a trip to New York that awaits the winners.

Last weekend will live long in the memory of all Irish sports fans. First our grand-slam rugby heroes and then Bernard Dunne wrote their names into the history books. In doing so they gave the whole nation a timely lift. Unfortunately things didn’t run as smoothly for the football fraternity in both Westmeath and Roscommon, with both counties crashing out of their respective u21 championships, and both senior sides also being turned over.

Mayo 4-14

After the speeches and the euphoria had died down in the home dressing room, following Mayo's thrill-a-minute win over Roscommon in the Connacht under 21 semi-final, Pat Holmes was a happy man as his walking wounded were given treatment for injuries picked up over the course of 80 minutes of breakneck football.

A record number of 31 promising young Connacht GAA players and administrators have been included in the province’s annual bursary scheme.

The talk of the weekend was undoubtedly the replayed Cork v Kerry Munster championship match on Saturday evening. I thoroughly enjoyed the match as it had some brilliant passages of play. There was outstanding fielding, score taking, and some of the tackling from players on both sides was technically superb. Cork were fantastic. They are a fit, strong, and powerful side, with quality players in practically every position. They must be the number one choice of many to win this year’s All Ireland such was the quality of their performance. It had been suggested that the momentum may have swung in favour of Kerry after their strong finish the previous weekend, but Cork proved yet again that they could soak up anything Kerry threw at them. They seem really focused and ready this year. The key difference from my observation was their freshness and greater hunger. It is not often we hear that the general mood in the Kingdom is rather sombre as early as mid-June, but there is a feeling out there that there is a somewhat laboured look and feel about Kerry this year. And you can understand why. They have visited the well so many times in recent years, having played in every final since 2004 and let’s be honest, they have taken a fair old battering along the way, particularly from some of the strong northern teams.