Articles in the GAA Category

COLM SHALVEY Monaghan are searching for a new senior football manager after Vinnie Corey stepped down on Monday. The Clontibret clubman has given more than two decades of service to Monaghan’s senior footballers, having made a then-record 184 appearances between 2003 and 2019, before serving as a selector and then as manager for the last two seasons. Corey led Monaghan to retain Division One status in the 2023 Allianz NFL with a last-day win over Mayo, while that summer’s championship odyssey brought them to an All-Ireland semi-final, where they fell short ...

MAITIU MONAGHAN Latton vs Ballybay Christopher McGuinness (Ballybay): For years, McGuinness has been the focal point of the Ballybay attack. Playing at corner forward, often supported by his brother Shane in the half forward line, McGuinness is Ballybay’s most important scoring threat. Whether it’s from play or from place balls, he is deadly accurate in front of goal. Kieran Duffy (Latton): The Monaghan Captain is a crucial player for both club and county. Ballybay’s attacking threat will cause Latton problems, but having Duffy as a general in the backline will ensure ...

INNISKEEN……………..2-23EAST CAVAN GAELS…4-14 COLM SHALVEY REPORTS Inniskeen came out on top of an entertaining Senior Hurling League Final at home to East Cavan Gaels last Thursday. The county champions had influential performances in attack from top scorer Niall Arthur, as well as captain and Louth manager Trevor Hilliard, that helped them hold off a late surge from an away side led by some of Cavan’s main men, Canice Maher, Nicky Kenny and Liam O’Brien. Niall Arthur opened the scoring for Inniskeen, although East Cavan Gaels hit back swiftly with a goal from ...

COLM SHALVEY Former Celtic striker John Hartson was in Castleblayney last Friday, appearing at Watters’ Old Coach Inn to kick off the local festival weekend. Appearing in the Old Coach Inn through Castleblayney man Keith Hill’s Peak Top Agency, the affable Welshman, who played in the English Premier League with clubs such as Arsenal and West Ham United, is best known for his trophy-laden time with Celtic, having scored 110 goals for the Hoops between 2001 and 2006. In July 2009, Hartson was diagnosed with testicular cancer, which had also spread ...

COLM SHALVEY Monaghan manager Vinnie Corey was proud of his team’s efforts in falling short to Galway in the last 12 of the All-Ireland SFC on Saturday: “The boys fought hard the whole way through. They worked their socks off into a strong breeze in the first half and were unlucky to go in a point down. We definitely lost the free count. I obviously haven’t looked back on it yet, but it seemed like we were on the wrong side of some very soft frees. We came here with full ...

COLM SHALVEY TALKING POINTS As Monaghan manager Vinnie Corey said after Sunday’s game: “we’re not in a position to turn our noses up at any win”. After all of 140 days since Monaghan made a stunning start to the league by turning Dublin over at Croke Park, they finally got back to winning ways despite a fairly patchy performance against a Meath side who exited the championship with four consecutive losses. A draw with Louth had stopped the rot for Monaghan, who started full of purpose on Sunday, racing into a ...

COLM SHALVEYTALKING POINTS Monaghan supporters who made the long journey south would have hoped to have seen added freshness and hunger to their team’s performance, but there was little of that to be seen in a one-sided first half where Kerry set the terms of engagement. Monaghan were punished time and again for cheap turnovers as Kerry brought real intensity to their tackling, inviting opponents to run down blind alleys into heavy traffic. Monaghan coughed possession up 11 times during the first half, with Kerry turning many of those errors into ...

COLM SHALVEY TALKING POINTS Monaghan really needed to build up a considerable lead in the first half, but a hangover from the losing run in the league may have contributed to a lack of confidence at times on Sunday. Monaghan got some joy from pressing the Cavan kick-out, but save for a quick one-two of points from Conor McManus and Jack McCarron towards the half-hour mark, they were unable to turn that into any sustained momentum. The hosts looked to have timed their run well when Michael Hamill’s debut goal was ...

Victory celebrations after Our Lady’s Secondary School won the Lidl LGFA All-Ireland Post-Primary Schools Senior A Final at St Rynagh’s GAA club in Banagher, Offaly, last Wednesday.

COLM SHALVEY TALKING POINTS No strangers to a relegation battle in their ten-year stint in Division One of the Allianz NFL, Monaghan find themselves in familiar territory with just over half of the current campaign gone. The openingnight fireworks at Croke Park feel like quite a while ago now, given the downturn in results and form since then, with Monaghan’s score difference taking a bit of a battering over the course of three straight defeats. While some teams have managed to step up their performance levels in recent weeks – exhibit ...