SCAN AN EYE back over the sporting tale of 2018 and some of the most vivid images that jump off the page revolve around hurling. It was an extraordinary season at a time of major change in the sport. A new round-robin structure in the provinces, the All Ireland semi-finals played on the same July … Continue reading "‘You can’t get away from the fact that hurling tends to evoke emotions which are extraordinary in people’"

Dublin 3-19  Dubs Stars 1-14 Kevin O’Brien reports from Pairc Barrog INSIDE FORWARDS OISIN Lynch and Conor McHugh posted 3-8 between them as Dublin enjoyed a comfortable 11-point victory in today’s Dublin Bus/Herald Dubs Stars football challenge this afternoon. In their final game of 2018, an experimental Dublin outfit had too much in the home of … Continue reading "Lynch and McHugh hit 3-8 as Dublin round off 2018 with comfortable win over Dubs Stars"

Dr Crokes 3-24 Kilcummin 1-08 TWO GOALS IN quick succession from Kieran O’Leary fired Dr. Crokes to O’Donoghue Cup success this afternoon over Kilcummin at Fitzgerald Stadium. Both sides came into the game riding high off the back of their progress through the All Ireland club championships – Dr Crokes gearing up for their semi-final … Continue reading "First-half blitz inspires Dr Crokes to O’Donoghue Cup success over Kilcummin"

Dublin 1-20 Dubs Stars 0-8 Kevin O’Brien reports from Pairc Barrog MATTIE KENNY’S YOUTHFUL Dublin side easily accounted for the Dubs Stars in today’s Dublin Bus/Herald Dubs Stars hurling challenge at Naomh Mernog. There were fine displays from Oisin O’Rorke (1-4), Daire Gray (0-3) and Davy Keogh (0-2) as Kenny continued his winning run as Dublin … Continue reading "1-4 from O’Rorke helps Kenny’s youthful Dublin hurlers past Dubs Stars"

THE YEAR STARTED off in Australia as a professional sportsman and closes with him back in Ireland ready to immerse himself in the amateur game he grew up with. Ciaran Byrne moved to Carlton in 2013. Source: Carlton FC There was the soaring high of county final glory with his club and the shattering low … Continue reading "Ciaran Byrne: ‘The pain was crazy. I looked at my foot and it was facing the opposite way.’"

“THIS GAME OF Gaelic football has been infiltrated by a load of spoofers and bluffers, fellas with earpieces stuck in their ear, psychologists, statisticians, dieticians…” RTE’s Pat Spillane. Source: James Crombie/INPHO Sunday Game pundit Pat Spillane was clearly a statistics sceptic back in 2013 and five years on, his scepticism has hardly subsided. But the … Continue reading "Live stats on big screens and preventing player burnout: the future of GPS data in the GAA"

NOVEMBER 2018 MARKED the centenary of the end of the First World War and next month, 21 January, will be 100 years on from the start of the Irish War of Independence.  The Irish War of Independence was the culmination of Ireland’s nationalists pushing for separation from the British, and a troubled few years at … Continue reading "From Croke Park to the trenches: the forgotten GAA heroes of World War I"

Coughlan, McLoughlin, Hickey and McCaffrey were amongst those to retire this season. Source: INPHO FOR SOME PLAYERS, the 2018 hurling season was particularly significant. A year where they decided at different junctures to call it a day, bringing the segment of their lives that revolved around inter-county hurling to a close. Here’s ten that cut … Continue reading "Moving On! 11 hurlers who retired from the inter-county game in 2018"

WHICH OF THESE hurling goals really caught your eye in 2018? Shane O’Donnell and Jonathan Glynn both hit superb strikes this year. Clare’s Shane O’Donnell, Galway’s Jonathan Glynn and Cork’s Conor Lehane all raised green flags with stunning efforts in the pick of superb finishes on the inter-county stage. Away from there though, Cuala’s Mark … Continue reading "O’Donnell, Glynn or Lehane – what’s your favourite hurling goal from this 2018 shortlist?"

A HOST OF well-known Gaelic footballers departed the inter-county arena this year.  All-Ireland winners and provincial champions were among them, while some long-serving servants also hung up their boots.   1. Michael Shields (Cork) Michael Shields. Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO Shields was the final link with the 2010 All-Ireland winning Cork side to retire, choosing to bring the … Continue reading "Farewell! 23 inter-county footballers who called it a day in 2018"