Search Results for 'All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship'

2009 marks an important milestone for the GAA as it celebrates 125 years of its existence. This Sunday, May 10, has been designated as La na gClub, a day when every club in the country is encouraged to organise events to mark the occasion.

Galway will face red hot championship favourites Kilkenny in the semi-final of the Leinster SHC. The game takes place in Tullamore on Saturday week.

All three Kilkenny county champions negotiated their first round Leinster Championship matches last weekend, junior champion's Tullogher Rosbercon got the ball rolling in the best possible way by beating St Peregrines/Trinity Gael's of Dublin by 6 points in O'Toole Park on Saturday. Sunday saw Nowlan Park play host to a double header, intermediate champion’s Erin’s Own of Castlecomer pitted themselves against Carlow senior winners, Naomh Bríd of Old Leighlin. This game went down to the wire. The Comer men eventually came out on top by 2 points in what was described as a cracking game. The Old Leighlin men are very passionate about their hurling, they went to war last Sunday without their veteran centre back and former county and Leinster star, Johnny Nevin, who was away in Australia on over 40s duty. Nevin may be getting on, but by all accounts he still has the drive and passion to compete at the highest level. Comer's cause was helped in the first half by goals from Davy Buggy and Jimmy Byrne, they had to withstand a lot of pressure in the second half before coming out on top. Their next hurdle is Blackwater of Wexford.

Once upon a time the winter months or the closed season as we will call it in the GAA was a tad dull and boring.

The global credit crunch and its knock-on consequences have seeped deep and hard into most GAA communities at this stage and will continue to do so in 2009. Things are tough and unfortunately it looks like they will get worse before they get better. Hence it was good to hear a little bit of positive news for cash-strapped GAA fans and some first-class thinking this week from the marketing people in Croke Park for the new GAA season.

Every time you switch on the wireless, the TV, or read a few paragraphs in the broadsheets these past few weeks there seems to be nothing but doom and gloom vying for your attention. George Lee seems to be the only one happy with his lot and I know quite a few people who are steadfastly refusing to engage any of the above activities, unless it is a music channel, a movie or something light-hearted on TV, or the perusal of the sports pages.

Over the past few weeks and right up to the middle of January 2009 county boards and clubs will be holding their AGMs and releasing their accounts for the club delegates and club members to study. Some of the figures that are in the public domain already make for scary bed-time reading for those charged with raising the revenue to keep the wheels greased and turning. For example - the Waterford hurling board spent nearly €2 million in preparing their teams in 2008. The Galway hurlers cost over €1 million to keep on the road last season and they didn’t even reach the last four. How much would it have cost if they had got to the final?

Standing in Paric Lactain in Freshford last January watching a young, fit Antrim side lower Kilkenny's colours in the Walsh Cup didn't leave anyone too upset, most people acknowledged that our warriors had just returned from what is now their annual team holiday and that it would take a few training sessions to shake off the cobwebs. Being honest, Kilkenny fans knew that this bunch of Kilkenny players would bust a gut later in the year to land the 3-in-a-row but I don't think anyone could have envisaged exactly what lay ahead for Kilkenny hurling.

Christmas has come and gone once again, the year '08 has also elapsed but it was one that will never be forgotten by Kilkenny fans. The clean sweep of All-Ireland titles along with the National Camogie League title made it the most special year ever. The sight of the four Kilkenny captains holding aloft the trophies on the front of the Kilkenny GAA Year Book said it all.

Galway's entrance into Leinster was marked by a victory at Tullamore. Now another hurdle must be cleared at New Ross on Sunday, and Wexford, emboldened by their efficient success against UCD, will be intent on taking Galway's scalp.