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The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Sam Mulroy doubles down on brave All-Ireland claim he ‘took a lot of slack for' after inspiring Louth to Leinster glory
SAM MULROY is determined to secure a second date with his silver namesake after a summer of love so far. The neighbours Meath in last month's 2 Louth footballer Sam Mulroy poses for a portrait at the national launch of the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Series Credit: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile 2 Louth footballer Sam Mulroy poses for a portrait with the Sam Maguire Cup at the national launch of the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Series Credit: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile On a day when the country fell back in love with the maligned provincial Championship , With Dublin aiming for a 15th Delaney Cup in a row, the public's relationship with the Leinster Championship had turned sour. But Louth's heroics — after Meath had Mulroy got his hands on Sam Maguire at the launch of the All-Ireland knockout series this week before a preliminary quarter-final trip to Read More on GAA And the confident hitman has reiterated his belief that the Wee County can take home the big prize for the first time since 1957, a claim he reveals he has copped flak for. He said: 'Absolutely, I took a little bit of slack for it before, which was fine but I suppose it was a case of putting it out there into the world and saying, 'Why could we not be in contention?' 'The group's gone about doing the work to put us in contention and to play in these games. Obviously last week Meath beat Kerry and they beat Dublin. 'They're results you wouldn't be calling maybe last year with the rule changes and the two-pointers and the expansive game. Most read in GAA Football 'So I don't think you can rule anything out going into the next few weeks.' Winning Leinster for just the ninth time in their history understandable took its toll. 'Just in time for Father's Day' - Dublin GAA legends welcome the birth of precious baby daughter The hangover carried into the All-Ireland group stages as back-to-back defeats against Monaghan and Down left their summer hanging by a thread. Ger Brennan's men did the business in the final round against Clare, but only just. They eventually banished the Banner 2-17 to 2-14 last weekend to advance in third. Mulroy said: 'Winning Leinster has been the main goal over the last number of years for this group. I suppose when you get there and you do it, maybe there is a case of coming down a little bit. 'There was obviously a lot of celebrating going on for a few days after but you have to, because it took a long time to get there and you have to enjoy it and live in the moment. 'But our performances against Monaghan and Down weren't up to scratch and we knew going into last weekend that we had to win to save the Championship. 'I don't know if we played better that way with our backs against the wall a little bit, but maybe it was the best thing for us. 'I thought at times last week we were good, so hopefully we're coming back to some sort of form. 'It's 68 years, so for the people of Louth it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing for a lot of people. 'Hopefully the gap is not as big the next time. I suppose it's hard to get back on track, maybe, even just for people around the county and talking about it and not getting caught up in that. 'We were back training on the Wednesday, obviously with a job to do and we knew we were going into a tough group. 'It was a case of maybe you didn't get to bask in it as much as you'd like, but we enjoyed the few days we got.' TOP MARKS Mulroy has the mindset of a top marksman as, despite firing a number of wides against the Royals, he still ran up a huge total. The Naomh Máirtín hotshot admits putting those off-target efforts behind him was key, allowing him to fire a two-point free in the 65th minute to move Louth ahead of their neighbours and put one hand on the Delaney Cup. The 27-year-old said: 'Moments come and pass and it's trying to stay on track and not get too caught up in it. 'By the time I took the last kick, I'd completely forgotten about the few before. 'The few I missed at the start of the second half, when you're watching the clips back with the boys at the Wednesday training, you're like, 'Why did I take that shot' or, 'What was I doing there?' 'You nearly forget about them and I think that's an ability and a skill that you develop over the years. 'Not getting too high and not getting too low with your shots or your chances or whatever it is because the game's so fast. 'There's no time. A younger Sam maybe would've dwelled on them and let it get to me and affect me. 'But I suppose now as I've grown as a player, I've definitely learned to just move on and forget about it.' Louth have a free shot tomorrow. And their star man is full of belief ahead of their trip to Ballybofey for a battle of the Ulster and Leinster champs. They are familiar foes too with Louth asking plenty of questions of Jim McGuinness' side in an All-Ireland quarter-final loss last year. Mulroy said: 'I will putting that message to the group that we're not going up to Ballybofey for the craic or to fulfil a fixture. 'We're in a preliminary quarter-final for the All-Ireland series and we played in a quarter-final at Croke Park last year, so it's a case of let's try and go better again this year and progress as a team. 'It won't be, 'Let Donegal go through into a quarter-final'. 'It was either Killarney, Croke Park against Dublin or Ballybofey against Donegal so the options weren't massively in our favour. 'It was always going to be a tough test no matter who we got, but you see there's an opportunity and you try to say how are we going to go about winning this game. 'That's the case now. so we'll do our best to prepare and hopefully we'll give it our all.'
The 42
5 days ago
- Sport
- The 42
'They do an incredible job' - GAA President defends fixture makers after McGuinness criticism
GAA PRESIDENT JARLATH Burns has defended recent decisions around fixture-making in the All-Ireland senior championship. The Central Competitions Control Committee were under fire on Sunday from a vexed Donegal manager Jim McGuinness, who was annoyed that their final fixture in the group series against Mayo was set for Dr Hyde Park in Roscommon. 'We think it was very unfair to bring us here,' stated McGuinness, after their final round group game. 'It was the equivalent of bringing Mayo to Omagh and we also put in an email to the CCCC to say we couldn't get a hotel in the area so we had to stay in Athlone. We had to go beyond the venue to come to play in the venue. 'So it was the equivalent of Mayo going to play us in Omagh and staying in Derry and I don't believe that would happen. I think that would only happen because it's us. Disappointed in that.' Burns, speaking today in Croke Park at today's All-Ireland SFC launch, made a point of recounting when he and Games Administration Manager Bernard Smith were in the car on their way back from making the preliminary quarter-final draw on Monday morning, Advertisement 'He took seven phone calls from counties asking for clarification on this, asking for a favour there, asking that they could play at a particular time, something that would have been on in their county, and I think every one of those requests was met. 'And whenever fixtures are being made, there are so, so many things that they have to take into consideration, particularly with regard to neutral venues. 'I think they do an incredible job. I think they are amazing people and I just thought that it was important to put on record my appreciation and thanks for the work that they do in very complex circumstances.' Jarlath Burns at today's All-Ireland football championship launch. Sam Barnes / SPORTSFILE Sam Barnes / SPORTSFILE / SPORTSFILE Meanwhile, Armagh player Oisín O'Neill has added his voice to the debate around the practice of changing the playing rules in mid-season. On Saturday, the Football Review Committee proposed a rule alteration around the kickout mark, that any obstruction would not be punished with a 50-metre advancement of the ball. That met with disapproval from McGeeney after his side lost by a point to Galway on Sunday. 'Listen, honestly, they just seem to be able to do what they want,' said McGeeney. 'Some teams tell them to do something, I'd love that direct line. Whoever has that direct line into Jim (Gavin) and Eamonn (Fitzmaurice), I would love that.' Speaking to the press at the football launch, O'Neill stated, 'I think Kieran's biggest issue with them is that they constantly change, you know. Half the league and then they changed and now they're talking about another change this week. Like, there's four rounds of championship left. 'He has no issue. It's more just that they keep continuously changing and as players, that's frustrating because your coach is working on one thing one week and then it might change. 'But look, whatever it is, whatever it is it is and we'd be ready for the quarter-final in two weeks to do a massive rethink on what we're doing on some certain aspects.' He added, 'We probably had to tweak a few things that we've been working on and change certain things that we were trying to work on. Such as the mark, you know, you had to hold your hands up after going up and now you're being told you've five steps or whatever. 'I think if it's refereed in the spirit that the rules intended, you have to allow a little bit of leeway like for players to compete for the ball, but I think it's a reflection of how well coached you are. And we were punished severely by it at the weekend, and it's something that we wouldn't be happy with.' *** Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Midfielder joins growing ex-Blackburn Rovers contingent at EFL club
Former Blackburn Rovers midfielder, Rekeem Harper, has joined the former Ewood Park union at Barrow. The midfielder appeared four times for Rovers in a short loan spell back in 2017. Since then, he's had seven different clubs and has now settled in League Two. Advertisement Remarkably, Harper is only 25 and will join Barrow on a two-year deal when his contract with Port Vale expires at the end of the month. He played 21 times for The Valiants and scored one goal for Darren Moore's side as they earned promotion to League One. READ MORE: Blackburn Rovers' contract tightrope that could undermine transfer success Speaking about signing for Barrow, Rekeem said: 'It's amazing to finally get it done, I spoke to the Gaffer recently and our ambitions aligned, and I'm happy to finally be here at this football club. 'It's a fearless club who wants to climb the ladder and the table, and I want to be at a club with a winning environment and at a team who have ambitions to do big things, so that stood out to me.' There are plenty of former Rovers connections at Barrow. Sam Barnes, released by Rovers last summer, and Connor Mahoney play for the club whilst Leo Duru was on loan in the second half of last season too.
The Irish Sun
10-05-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Ongoing skorts saga is absolutely ridiculous – but camogie is facing bigger issue that integration with GAA won't help
THE camogie skorts saga is totally nonsensical and I can't believe the story that's been made out of it this week. Why this wasn't changed years ago baffles me and anyone with any bit of common sense will just let the players wear shorts. Advertisement 2 Steering Committee Chairperson Mary McAleese speaking during the update on the integration process involving the Camogie Association, the GAA and LGFA Credit: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile 2 Babs Keating warned about an issue that could put integration under threat Credit: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile It has taken player protests to make it happen and a special congress has But at least the powers that be have listened. Hopefully delegates will vote accordingly and we can all move on from this absolutely ridiculous scenario. On a wider note, Mary McAleese is a friend of mine but she should quit while she's ahead. Advertisement Read More on Camogie The former President of Ireland is heading up the steering group on integration between the But the ladies football and camogie organisations should absolutely stay on their own. The skill level in camogie now is not at the level it was 25 years ago in my opinion , even though the rule changes around physical contact have improved games as a spectacle. That Tipperary team that won five All-Irelands in six years between 1999 and 2004, or the Cork team that won so many before — they just seemed to hurl at a higher standard. Advertisement Most read in GAA Hurling The skorts issue will be sorted now but that's a far bigger concern in my book. Tipp haven't come near the heights of 20 years ago and the same can be said for Wexford , who made it three in a row in 2012 but have not prevailed since. Dublin and Kilkenny camogie players wear shorts in protest against skorts You can make the same point on ladies football too. That excellent Cork team that won 11 All-Irelands from a possible 12 up until 2016 were exceptional and were all household names. Advertisement Dublin followed that up with five All-Irelands under Mick Bohan but standards seem to have slipped a bit more recently. My granddaughter Lauren Murtagh plays for Kildare . But only five teams play in the senior Leinster Championship with four in Munster, three in Connacht and two in Ulster. There's just a lot of catching-up to do and I'm not sure if joining forces with the GAA will help that in the long run. Advertisement
USA Today
23-02-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Photos: Paige VanZant through the years
Web Summit 2018 In Lisbon LISBON, PORTUGAL - NOVEMBER 08: Paige VanZant, UFC, on Centre Stage during day three of Web… LISBON, PORTUGAL - NOVEMBER 08: Paige VanZant, UFC, on Centre Stage during day three of Web Summit 2018 at the Altice Arena on November 8, 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal. In 2018, more than 70,000 attendees from over 170 countries will fly to Lisbon for Web Summit, including over 1,500 startups, 1,200 speakers and 2,600 international journalists. (Photo by Sam Barnes /Web Summit via Getty Images)
