Search Results for 'David Casey'

These are heady days indeed in Ballyhaunis GAA circles, the east Mayo outfit already have their hurling team in the Connacht Intermediate Championship final thanks to a 2-10 to 1-10 win over Roscommon champions Four Roads last Monday. This Sunday, their intermediate footballers have the chance to join them in the Connacht final when they take on Roscommon side St Croan’s in the home of Rossie football, Dr Hyde Park.

A glorious opportunity to reach a Leinster final. That’s what both managers must be drumming into their players’ heads ahead of Sunday’s semi-final showdown between Westmeath and Louth in Croke Park. Not that the players themselves will need any reminding.

Leading National Hunt trainer Willie Mullins enjoyed a Christmas to remember as he trained an unrivalled 17 winners over the Christmas period. The Bagenalstown based trainer is enjoying his golden spell in the training ranks.

The Central Criminal Court has heard that the DNA of a Galway man accused of murdering Swiss teenager Manuela Riedo in October 2007 was found inside a condom that had been found at the scene of her death.

“You go to any club championship game in Ireland and you’re going to get that type of physicality in the game.”

“You go to any club championship game in Ireland and you’re going to get that type of physicality in the game.”

“You go to any club championship game in Ireland and you’re going to get that type of physicality in the game.”

The trial of a man accused of murdering Swiss teenager Manuela Riedo in Galway in 2007 has heard that his DNA was found in a used condom near her body (Tues).

Both Westmeath and Roscommon Gaelic footballers return to action this weekend in the All-Ireland qualifiers eager to forget their last 70 minutes of championship action. Roscommon and Westmeath are in very similar situations with both teams suffering heavy defeats in their respective provincial semi-finals and having just two weeks to regroup and try to focus on the qualifiers. On Saturday afternoon Roscommon head for the sunny south east to take on Wexford after their 20 point defeat to Mayo, while later that evening Westmeath entertain old rivals Meath in Cusack Park in a bid to get back on the road again after their 27 point defeat to Dublin. Westmeath started out their campaign this year against Meath in early January in the O’Byrne cup. The question is come Saturday evening will Meath be Westmeath’s first and last game of 2009? Both Westmeath players and management have taken some criticism over the last few weeks. There have been many excuses given for the poor performance against Dublin - poor league campaign, constant injury crisis, and the lack of match fitness and sharpness by a number of the 15 that took the field against Dublin.

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.