Articles in the Sports News Category

The much-published Covid-19 training rules breach by Dessie Farrell and his Dublin team prompts JACK MADDEN to wonder whether the current fixtureless limbo for Gaelic football is really a level playing field when it comes to scrutiny There is something special about being part of a team. The individual cogs, divided in role, united in purpose. United in commitment, in passion and in desire to achieve. The relationships formed simply cannot be described in words, the bonds that link the chain create a feeling that will always be indescribable to those ...

COLM SHALVEY Powering over the finish line of their lengthy lockdown challenge, Lough Egish brothers Ciarán, Tony and Breandan Ward have raised over €27,000 in their marathon fundraiser for SOSAD Ireland. Over 95 days of their daily runs at the Aughnamullen GAA complex walking track, the trio covered an amazing 1,700km. Their JustGiving page received donations of more than five times their original target of €5,000 in aid of SOSAD, helping the Irish suicide-prevention and bereavement-support charity to set up a branch in Monaghan Town. Breandan Ward provided us with the ...

Colm Shalvey reports This year marks two decades since the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship underwent its biggest structural change in a century with the introduction of the qualifier system, which took place under the presidency of Scotstown man Seán McCague, who of course led Monaghan through the successful era of the late 1970s and ‘80s. Those heady days were a distant memory for Monaghan by the turn of the century and the first few years of the qualifiers would prove to be dismal for the county. A heavy loss to Armagh ...

JACK MADDEN talks to Shane Rice, the Scotstown fitness coach negotiating an exciting career path through the uncharted waters of the global pandemic A global pandemic-driven re-evaluation of life brought about many changes in people’s lifestyles. Unemployment was surging and schools were closed. We soon realised the only thing worse than no time was too much of it. Enclosed within the four walls of our own homes, doing the shopping became a weekly highlight. Soon the word “virtual” was virtually unavoidable. Online interaction, for all its faults, provided an escape hatch. ...

Colm Shalvey reports The return of non-contact sports training for children, along with a re-opening of golf (PICTURED) and tennis for all ages, are under consideration as part of the Government’s plans to ease Covid-19 restrictions next month. The Government’s plan for managing the virus, The Path Ahead, commits to cautiously beginning to ease restrictions in April. Golf Ireland last week released its fixture list for 2021, planning to adapt to the delays by starting the championship season no earlier than the end of May. Mark Wehrly, Director of Championships with ...

JACK MADDEN casts a cautionary eye on the multi-million euro funding deal for the Six Nations and finds a mismatch between financial and emotional investment… Money, money, money,/It’s a rich man’s game…. Two years on from the iconic Eurovision hit “Waterloo”, Swedish pop group ABBA released “Money, Money, Money”. A singalong that swept across Europe, something the ordinary man could relate to. A multilingual approach brought astronomical success. A Europe united, both politically and in song, just a few years on from both Ireland and the Uk’s entry into the European ...

The sadness but warmth of recollection current in the minds and hearts of the members of Rossmore Golf Club following the passing of their friend and club stalwart George Leonard is encapsulated in the following tribute from VINCENT GILHAWLEY… A stalwart of Rossmore -George Leonard remembered George Leonard was a man I was extremely honoured to call a staunch loyal friend ever since I first met him through golf at Rossmore Golf Club in the early 1980s. George was the quintessential loyal club member, the one who believed in totally ...

Athletics From temporarily setting aside Leaving Cert worries to going toe to toe with veteran Mark English to contesting a first senior European Championship, it has been a whirlwind month for Longford athlete Cian McPhillips (PICTURED), who has strong family connections in north Monaghan. Eyes in Co Monaghan, particularly in Scotstown, would have been fixed on RTÉ’s coverage of the European Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland, where 18-yearold McPhillips ran in the 800m. A composed run in his heat on Friday saw the Longford AC youngster breeze through the field in ...

Colm Shalvey reports Togoville’s record at the venue for owner Patrick McCann, trainer Anthony McCann and jockey Conor McGovern. Having made it a ‘lucky 13’ wins at Dundalk Stadium the previous week, 11-year-old Togoville added to that list by holding off nearest challengers Jered Maddox and Oh Purple Reign in the ‘Join Us On Instagram @dundalk_stadium’ Handicap last Friday. It made for another successful evening at Ireland’s only all-weather racecourse for trainer Anthony McCann of Shabra fame and Clones jockey Conor McGovern, who guided the 4/1 joint-favourite to a third win ...

To a mundy backing track, JACK MADDEN runs the rule over decisions taken at the 2021 GAA Congress and finds “some necessary, some strange and some in-between” … GAA Congress 2021. It is that time of year again. This time Larry McCarthy of Cork was announced as President of our 137-year-old association. His appointment coincided with the sudden appearance of experts nationwide, the commencement of debate from Derry to Kerry. Here we go again. The rolling stone of the GAA gathers no moss. For all its faults, 2020 gave us space ...