Search Results for 'shock'

I did not get to watch the Dubs v Tyrone game until Sunday afternoon due to it clashing with our own club championship. Obviously I was aware of the result by that stage, but did not fully realise just how good the Dubs actually were until I watched a recording of the game. They were brilliant albeit against a tired looking Tyrone side. The Dubs played a fast intense refreshing brand of football that quite simply blew the opposition away. It looks as if the timing could be spot on as they have put their indifferent form from the Leinster Championship firmly behind them and are now beginning to play with enormous confidence.

The Galway ladies senior footballers are looking to produce a shock when they face current All-Ireland champions Dublin in Birr on Saturday in round two of the qualifiers. Following their disappointing Connacht final defeat at the hands of Mayo last month, Gay O’Brien’s outfit are hoping to kickstart what has been a difficult year following their relegation from division dne of the national league.

Last weekend’s opening round of action in the senior and intermediate club championship gave the Mayo management team a chance run their eye over a number of players who were coming back from injuries. Midfielder Ronan McGarrity came through Ballina’s defeat to Shrule-Glencorrib unscathed, but it may be too soon for the influential player to make the starting 15. Seamus O’Shea, who is another option for the middle of the park, also put in a full shift for Breaffy in their win over Ballinrobe alongside his brother Aidan who lined out in midfield in a recent challenge game against Donegal. Keith Higgins also got back on the road to recovery after his recent hamstring injury when he started for Ballyhaunis, while Neil Douglas and Enda Varley also came through their games for Castlebar Mitchels and Garrymore

Some days the sporting gods smile on you, and on others, they seem to have a different agenda.

Eoin Larkin has been a member of the Kilkenny senior hurling team since 2005. However, it wasn’t until the 2008 season that the 26-year-old’s talent shone through. His championship display was so remarkable that he was named the GPA’s best player that year as well as winning an All-Star and he added to this by winning a second All-star in 2009.

The 2010 All-Ireland Final build up will not only be remembered for the Cats drive for five but also the miraculous recovery of Henry Shefflin’s cruciate ligament.

I know what it feels like to lose, having been there on several occasions throughout my sporting career. It never gets any easier and you just cannot prepare for it. I was in the losers’ enclosure with the Crossmolina football team again last Sunday, having come up short against Knockmore for the second year running. It is standard practice that the manager of a team would say a few words on such occasions and it is not an easy thing to do. I tell them that the hurt they are feeling can help to push them on for next season. The ugly feeling can propel them to greater heights if channelled in the right direction, and there is no point in apportioning blame on anyone or anything just now. It is not a time to be feeling sorry for themselves, but I can and do fully understand why they look so weary and broken-hearted. I tell them how proud I am of their efforts and in my eyes they are not losers. These lads prepared as professionally as any inter-county team. They are ordinary lads with ordinary jobs who made an extraordinary effort over the past eight months. Many postponed holidays, left building sites hours ahead of schedule to train with the club. I acknowledge that enormous effort, but at the same time I tell them that there are no guarantees in sport. Winning a county title does not come easy, irrespective of what people might think. I mention the enormous effort and sacrifices men made decades earlier just to get to see a football match never mind play in them. There is no point lamenting what might have been, but the preparation for next year must start now. It is important that young footballers continue to grow and develop and equally important that they do not give up after a defeat. Crossmolina are top of the league table with four games left and we will be doing our best to win that title. It is important that we do not throw away the opportunity to continue to progress.

The Galway minor footballers took themselves, their families, their management team and their supporters on a roller-coaster ride last Sunday afternoon in one of the most astonishing games of Gaelic football you will ever see at inter-county level.

A Galway senator has spoken of her shock and devastation that the oncology assessment centre which was opened at UHG in August is not yet a centre of excellence.

Rumour has it that there will be a raft of changes for our match v Longford tomorrow in Pearse Park. I expect that management have examined every available option for this encounter. I would say it has been a tough couple of weeks for everyone involved since the championship defeat. Management will be fully aware of Mayo’s poor ‘back door ’record in years past. Both Westmeath and Fermanagh have shortened our summer on two occasions. In fact we have only managed to secure back to back victories when going through the back door on a single occasion, in 2002, when we saw off three teams in a row, beating Roscommon, Limerick, and Tipperary on that occasion.