Limerick name unchanged starting side for Dublin clash
Shane O'Brien is the only player missing from Limerick's Munster SHC final squad as John Kiely has named the same team that began that agonising defeat to Cork for Saturday's All-Ireland quarter-final against Dublin.
Effin's Fergal O'Connor comes in for O'Brien on the bench for the trip to Croke Park as Aidan O'Connor is set to continue in the full-forward line.
Twelve of the team that began Limerick's previous visit to Croke Park, last year's All-Ireland semi-final loss to Cork, are named to start. Due to injury, Barry Nash was one of the absentees 11 months ago.
LIMERICK (SHC v Dublin): N. Quaid; S. Finn, D. Morrissey, M. Casey; D. Byrnes, K. Hayes, B. Nash; A. English, W. O'Donoghue; G. Hegarty, C. Lynch (c), T. Morrissey; A. Gillane, A. O'Connor, D. Reidy.
Subs: S. Dowling, P. Casey, C. Coughlan, S. Flanagan, D. Hannon, B. Murphy, F. O'Connor, D. Ó Dalaigh, D. O'Donovan, P. O'Donovan, C. O'Neill.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
23 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Bonner Maher sees no summer sag in Liam Cahill's methods
It's been a nagging criticism of Liam Cahill's teams over the years, that they burn a little too brightly in winter and spring, only to fade out in the summer. Hurling pundit Brian Carroll went in hard on the issue last January after reports of Cahill's Tipperary panel engaging in spartan winter training. "This is year six of Liam Cahill doing the same thing over and over again on repeat," claimed Carroll. "It's like, dog them in the winter, take it really seriously during the league, and then they run out of steam come June." Tipp did contest this year's league final, standing up Carroll's argument somewhat, but, crucially, their form hasn't dipped in the Championship. They're even breaking new ground of sorts, stringing together three wins in a row in the Championship for the first time since winning the All-Ireland in 2019. And if they beat Galway on Saturday evening, they'll be through to a first semi-final in six years. No signs then of any summer slippage. "The way the Championship is in Munster, you're trying to peak early because Munster is so competitive," said three-time All-Ireland winner Patrick Bonner Maher who played under Cahill last year before retiring. "I wouldn't believe that (criticism) at all. I would have always thought we were in fairly good shape and I wouldn't have seen it petering out, so I can't really comment on that myself. I certainly wouldn't have seen it." Cahill addressed the criticism himself when talking to reporters after Tipp's league win over Kilkenny last March. "People say Tipperary under Liam Cahill will win matches in the spring but can they do it in the summer?" noted Cahill. In a separate interview, he said people think that Cahill 'kills them in training and has them flogged to death before the Championship' comes around. The former Tipp underage guru said the reality last year, when they failed to get out of the Munster group, was that they actually 'hadn't enough work done'. Maher noted that Tipp 'went hard at it early this year and the fruits of that are being shown now' with last weekend's preliminary quarter-final demolition of Laois setting up the Galway date. So were Tipp undercooked last year, as Cahill suggested? "I'm not 100 percent sure," shrugged Maher. "Looking back on it now, it's easy to pick out things that could possibly have gone wrong or left us short. We would have felt we were fairly fit." Tipp looked fresh and fully tuned in when putting 3-32 on the board against Laois last Saturday. Their challenge now is to maintain that high energy rate and to avoid a repeat of their 2023 quarter-final defeat to Galway. They were coming off a big preliminary quarter-final win back then too. "I remember that game down in Limerick, we were fully primed," said Maher. "One or two things just went against us, goals went against us, and it just deflated us on the day." Bonner, 35, will look on this time as an interested spectator. After 16 years as a Tipp senior, he's content with the decision he made to step away. "The body is very good thankfully," he said. "I'm playing a good bit of golf, training away, running away." He's busy at work too, with an EV charging company having finished up with the Irish Army. "I actually found out I was a coeliac," he explained of his departure from the army. "You can't serve in the army being a coeliac so I was medically discharged. I was lucky that I had my degree and masters to fall back on. It kind of pivoted my direction. That's where I'm at." * Former Tipperary hurler Patrick Bonner Maher was speaking at the launch of the 2025 Electric Ireland All-Ireland minor championships.
Irish Times
31 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Shamrock Rovers boss Stephen Bradley wary of threat posed by Cork City's livewire attackers
It's first versus last at Tallaght Stadium on Friday evening as Shamrock Rovers look to strengthen their hold on top spot in the Premier Division when Cork City visit Dublin 24. Unbeaten in 10 games, with seven victories in their last eight, Rovers are in cruise mode and enjoying their best form of the campaign. Stephen Bradley's side sit nine points clear at the summit, albeit with two games more played than second-placed Bohemians , who they meet at Dalymount Park on Monday in a mouth-watering top-of-the-table clash. Conversely, these are worrying times for Cork City, who are bottom of the league, two points adrift of Sligo Rovers and an alarming 10 points behind third-from-bottom Waterford. They travel to the capital on the back of last Friday's 2-0 home defeat to Bohemians. Manager Gerard Nash is still searching for his first win since taking charge four games ago. With no victory in eight and just two from 19 all season, Cork are in a battle to avoid relegation for a third time in six seasons. READ MORE 'The task is huge. We are in a fight, we know that,' said Nash after last week's defeat. 'We have 17 games [remaining] and we have to be better. The players care and we need to show fight and spirit now, starting in Tallaght.' The Leesiders held Rovers to a 1-1 draw at Turner's Cross early last month. Bradley is fully respectful of the challenge they bring despite the 29-point gap between the sides. Cork City's Sean Maguire was singled out by Shamrock Rovers boss Stephen Bradley. Photograph: Tom Maher/Inpho 'When you have (Seán) Maguire, Djenairo Daniels and Cathal O'Sullivan, their attacking threat with those three is as good as any in the country,' said the Rovers manager, whose only injury absentee is defender Adam Matthews. 'Seán Maguire's movement is very similar to (Waterford's) Padraig Amond, very good and very clever. O'Sullivan is a very good young player and Daniels causes real problems, so they must be respected and Cork as a team must be also.' [ Shelbourne end St Pats' unbeaten home record thanks to Ali Coote goal Opens in new window ] Having gone second in the table last week, Bohs manager Alan Reynolds brings his team to his native Waterford as they strive to make it three wins on the bounce to maintain their momentum ahead of hosting arch-rivals Rovers on Monday. 'Waterford are a good side,' said Reynolds, whose team has won nine of their last 12 games since languishing second bottom of the table at the end of March. Bohemians celebrate after Rhys Brennan's goal against Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium on April 21st, which helped turn their season around. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho 'They had a great record against us last season and they've beaten us already at Dalymount this season, so it's another game where I think we're going into it with something to prove.' Shelbourne welcome Derry City to Tolka Park with manager Damien Duff warning his players not to be distracted by next month's Champions League clash with Linfield . 'Your league form is what gets you to Europe. Don't take your eye off that,' said Duff. 'The lads need to realise they have to be on form individually to be in contention to start or play in Europe. That's very different to just being motivated by the occasion. 'It has to be collective and it has to carry. Build the form, attack the league, take that to Europe.' Friday's fixtures (all 7.45pm) Premier Division Drogheda United v Sligo Rovers Galway United v St Patrick's Athletic Shelbourne v Derry City Waterford v Bohemians Shamrock Rovers v Cork City First Division Athlone Town v Finn Harps Dundalk v Treaty United Kerry FC v Bray Wanderers UCD v Cobh Ramblers Wexford v Longford Town
Irish Times
31 minutes ago
- Irish Times
The GAA's sceptical relationship with time keeping is not a new phenomenon
At last November's special congress, Jim Gavin's Football Review Committee (FRC) managed to have all of its provisions accepted for implementation in the 2025 season. It was a remarkable feat of persuasion in less than a year. Neither were there any cliffhangers. In fact, the least enthusiastically received idea was that of the match clock, which attracted the support of a relatively restrained 74 per cent of delegates. Since its introduction, it has been one of the most troublesome amendments. It triggered concerns that it would prove too expensive or too complicated in the requirement that it be synced with the time displays on broadcast coverage. A countdown clock was accepted in women's football in the mid-1990s. Following its largely seamless application, it wasn't long prompting the men's game to wonder if it might it be a worthwhile adoption. READ MORE Twice the idea, having been floated at congress, came to nothing – once defeated and the next time, accepted but never introduced, again for logistical reasons, after being trialled in third-level matches. Since 2015, things have changed. The whole area of time was reviewed and in response to rising concern about gamesmanship, a new set of guidelines were issued to referees. One of the main sources of disquiet was the use of strategic substitutions to run down the clock. It was accordingly decided that 20 seconds should be added for every replacement brought on during a match. That is why there is apparently more time in the second half of matches than in the first: it's when the bulk of the substitutions are made. Other issues to come under scrutiny were goalkeepers coming up the field for free-kicks and pauses for Hawk-Eye determinations. Eventually, the FRC motions 46 and 47, providing for clock/hooter use and the hand-signal protocol for referees to stop and resume play were passed and implemented – at least in broadcast matches. [ Ciarán Murphy: Keeping cool in front of goal is key to landing All-Ireland Opens in new window ] The GAA's apparently sceptical relationship with time keeping is not a new phenomenon. It is all of 87 years since an initial attempt was made to mechanise time keeping and remove it from a referee's duties. Maurice Bogue was the inventor of the eponymous Bogue Clock, a pioneering idea to display time at GAA grounds, which would be stopped and restarted as the referee indicated. The point was to ensure that a full hour would be played in matches. Display was on a large clock face with Roman numerals – according to one report, 'like a giant stopwatch' – and it was first used in a challenge match between Louth and Mayo in May 1938 at the Gaelic Grounds in Drogheda. Later that year, it was used to keep time at a league match between Louth and Meath, which ended in a draw. Attempts to incorporate the clock into the rule book in 1939 and 1940 were not successful and although Bogue, a businessman and inventor, who lived in Drogheda, was prepared to mount exhibitions of his timepiece in various grounds across the country, the matter did not return to congress for 10 years. In 1950, delegates declined to introduce the clock but did stipulate that it should be trialled the following year and evidence of that can be seen in PD Mehigan's report of the Railway Cup semi-finals on February 19th, 1951. 'The advent of the Bogue Clock as timekeeper instead of the referee was on trial and pleased the public, who were able to follow the different stages of the game,' the report said. At congress in 1951, the idea of the clock was buried despite the range of enthusiasts for the prospect of referees being able to concentrate on officiating rather than also keeping time. A report in The Irish Times Pictorial, a weekly published between 1942-1958, reflected on the fate of the Bogue Clock at congress. 'Opinions were divided on the wisdom of having a clock at all in Croke Park. The system of leaving the referee to keep an eye on the time and on the play, while making up broken time, appears to be the popular idea,' the report said. 'In support of the system [status quo] a Cork delegate said that Cork had lost five All-Irelands by a point, in each case near time and had never questioned the referee's ability to play full time.' This may have been in solidarity with the county's Paddy O'Keeffe, who was general secretary of the GAA at the time, and who had expressed the view that discussions on the Bogue Clock might be seen as an unwelcome reflection on the association's referees.
