Search Results for 'National Hurling League'

Kilkenny hurling lost another star of the golden era on Wednesday night, as goalkeeper PJ Ryan announced his retirement from the game at inter-county level.

Kilkenny hurling star Eddie Brennan this week announced his retirement from hurling, after more than a decade of playing at the highest level.

In his last secretary’s report, outgoing county secretary Sean Feeney paraphrases a quote from Charles Dickens’ 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities saying, “I have enjoyed the best of times and the worst of times,” in his opening gambit, which goes on to set out the challenges he sees coming for the association as a whole. The returning spectre of emigration as a threat to the association is something he sees becoming a major factor. “The years ahead will be challenging for the association as a new wave of emigration threatens our resilience once again. The spectre of mass unemployment and the inexperience of our young to cope with a less affluent society is a cause of concern.” But he believes the association will be able to pull through as it has in the past, saying: “The GAA has survived greater challenges in the past and I have no doubt it will survive this once again.”

WITH Pat Treacy

Kilkenny will face arch-rivals Tipperary in the first round of this year’s newly-revamped National Hurling League.

Pressure from the country’s top hurling counties might yet force the GAA to reconsider its attempt to overhaul the National Hurling League structure.

Fresh off the back of their defeat in the National Hurling League Division 3B final last weekend, the Mayo senior hurling team will be in action in the Christy Ring Cup on Saturday afternoon against Wicklow in McHale Park. Having won their first five games on the trot, Mayo lost their last two and it was a disappointing end to the league according to Mayo manager Murt Connolly. “It was a disappointing end of the league, we didn’t finish off as we would have liked to, maybe the wins we had early on built in some complacency no matter how hard we try to guard against it.”

Roscommon 0-17

Twelve months ago most of the final round games of the National Hurling League were played out as mere challenge matches — Galway and Cork had already qualified for the spring showdown. The only games of any consequences were played by Limerick and Offaly who were both looking to avoid the relegation drop.

Just under a year ago Mayo travelled to Pairc Ui Chaoimh to take on Cork in the final group game in division one of the National Football League and came away with a 0-16 to 0-11 win and a place in the final of the competition. Only a few weeks later both sides squared up again in Croke Park and from the minute the ball was thrown in that day both teams’ seasons veered off in very different directions, Mayo’s ending on a Saturday evening in Longford eight weeks after that league final defeat and Cork’s on the final day with the ultimate prize.