CORK HEAD INTO their Division 1A meeting with Limerick in fine fettle with two wins from two in the bag.  Plenty of soul-searching took place on Leeside over the winter after they were dismantled by the Treaty in the All-Ireland final.  Click Here: Scoring exhibitions against Clare and Offaly have seen the Rebels put up a combined tally of 6-55. Kieran Kingston has spread the minutes around his squad, with the fight for places up front particularly fascinating.  Cork chose not to enter a team into the pre-season Munster Hurling Cup, so Kingston is viewing the league as an opportunity to assess his talent. “You are trying to build a…

THIS WAS THE type of euphoric moment to justify Dessie Hutchinson’s life-changing decision. Three years ago when Ballygunner and Ballyhale had previously crossed paths, Hutchinson was watching on. He had only just rejoined his club hurling team, working his way back into the game. A soccer career had been parked after a few seaons with Brighton in England, there was a role with the Waterford footballers about to be pursued. And then hurling has taken over, consuming his focus as he nailed down a starting spot for Liam Cahill’s Waterford side and has become the attacking figurehead for Ballygunner. Saturday represented the culmination of all that work. Man-of-the-match, scorer of…

Tipperary 1-19 Kilkenny 1-18 THE SCORING NARRATIVE began in the same way it had finished, Jason Forde despatching a free over the bar for Tipperary. Alan Flynn and Padraig Walsh. His last point was more critical than his first, the tenth white flag he had raised over the afternoon, and the one that essentially settled this Division 1 league encounter, the home fans left pleased as Kilkenny were held off in a lively finish. The crowd became immersed in the finale, Ronan Maher and Walter Walsh injecting energy into the proceedings with their forceful introductions off the bench for either side. For long stages this was a February fixture with…

Waterford 7-31 Laois 0-19 IT WAS ALL too easy for Waterford as Liam Cahill’s men leathered 13-man Laois by 33 points this afternoon. 2020 All-Star Stephen Bennett scored 3-8 for the goal-hungry hosts while Patrick Curran helped himself to 1-7. Carthach Daly, Austin Gleeson and Ciaran Kirwan also found the net. Four goals in four minutes at the end of the first half ended the game as a contest. Kirwan got 1-4 on his first start as he carried on his impressive Fitzgibbon Cup form with WIT. Curran (1-7) and Gleeson (1-3) also looked razor sharp up front. Lismore team mates Carthach Daly and Jack Prendergast combined well at midfield.…

Dublin 4-7 Waterford 1-4 By Aisling Clery CAOIMHE O’CONNOR HIT 1-1 as reigning champions Dublin opened their Lidl National Football League Division 1B campaign with a win against Waterford at Fraher Field. Dublin led throughout, taking a 2-3 to 0-1 lead into the half-time break, while Waterford dominated possession at times but they couldn’t make it count on the scoreboard. Dublin were on top in the early exchanges and Hannah Tyrrell landed their first score on three minutes. Waterford tested out the Dublin defence with Emma Murray and Aisling Mullaney trying to make the most of their chances but the scores came up the other end. Dublin’s first goal arrived…

LIKE BALLYGUNNER’S HARRY Ruddle earlier in the day, Jerome Johnston struck with an injury-time Croke Park goal for Kilcoo that sealed his club’s maiden All-Ireland senior crown.  It’s a moment he’ll never forget, a career-defining score. Kilmacud Crokes were leading by two at the end of extra-time and seconds from victory, when Johnston struck. He’d been struggling with cramp at that stage but managed to summon enough energy to get himself into the area to strike for a goal that broke Kilmacud hearts. “I got a bit of grief after the Ulster final for complacency from myself and hitting it at the keeper,” he says. “Just lucky to be in…

Kilcoo 2-8 Kilmacud Crokes 0-13 (after extra-time) FOR THE SECOND time today, an All-Ireland senior club final was decided by a late, late goal as Kilcoo snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Kilcoo’s Conor Laverty and lifts the cup. Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO Trailing Kilmacud Crokes by two points in the 81st minute, Jerome Johnston struck the most famous goal in his club’s history to deliver the Andy Merrigan Cup for the Down kingpins in dramatic fashion. As Crokes tried to play keep ball in stoppage-time in the second-half of extra-time, Conor Ferris cleared his lines and Kilcoo worked the ball to Shealin Johnston. He picked out brother Ryan Johnston,…

NUI GALWAY ARE to appeal the red card dished out to Hurler of the Year Cian Lynch in the closing stages of the Fitzgibbon Cup final at the weekend. Lynch appeared to be harshly sent off three minutes from time by Tipperary referee Fergal Horgan, following advice from Kilkenny linesman Sean Cleere, after an exchange with UL centre-back Bryan O’Mara, with the Galway college leading by 2-15 to 0-17 at that stage. UL went on to score 1-4 without reply following Lynch’s controversial dismissal but NUIG GAA Officer Michael O’Connor, said they did not want the appeal of red card to diminish the victory by the Limerick college. “On the…

LAST YEAR’S ALL-IRELAND finalists Meath and Dublin both sealed their progression in the Lidl Ladies National Football League over the weekend, though will renew their rivalries first in a mouth-watering group game in two weeks’ time. Páirc Tailteann hosts the Division 1B clash on Saturday 5 March [throw-in 3pm], with the TG4 cameras pitching up in Navan for the highly-anticipated fixture. The neighbouring counties emerge from a group also containing Cork and Waterford, after both recording back-to-back wins. League holders Dublin continued their fine start to the league in Croke Park on Saturday night, recording an emphatic 2-15 to 2-3 win over old foes Cork, while All-Ireland champions Meath got…

THREE GAMES IN to the third coming of Jack O’Connor and it’s smooth sailing so far in the return to the Kerry hotseat. Top of Division 1 of the league. Still unbeaten. The potentially awkward assignment in Newbridge, given his personal history with Kildare, negotiated with a draw claimed. Dublin defeated at home on a wild night in Tralee. Donegal dealt with comfortably yesterday on an afternoon of weather turbulence in Killarney. In O’Connor’s previous two spells as manager, he began with a National League title in the opening season (2004 and 2009). What are Kerry’s current motives surrounding the competition? “Look we’ll assess it this week, it’s not a…