Dublin – GAA Zone

“I’ve got a sneaky feeling about Cork” – Fans make bold predictions for the weekend.

May 25, 2023 by Patrick Sharkey, posted in Antrim, Armagh, Connacht, Croke Park, Dublin, Favourites, football, Galway, Hurling, inter-county, interview, Podcast, Ulster

By Patrick Sharkey,

Episode 56: Westmeath aim to raid Orchard and send Saffrons packing – The GAA Zone podcast

Welcome to the GAA Zone podcast on Anchor FM! In Episode 56, we fall deep into the thrilling world of Gaelic football. Join us as we focus on an upcoming clash that implies intense competition and captivating action. In this episode, titled "Westmeath Aim to Raid Orchard and Send Saffrons Packing," we look at an exciting match on the horizon. Our expert hosts analyse the strategies, key players, and historical context surrounding the clash between Westmeath and their formidable opponents, Armagh (known as the Orchard County) and Antrim (the Saffron). With fighting discussions and insightful analysis, we provide an in-depth understanding of the game, making this episode a must-listen for both die-hard fans and newcomers to Gaelic football. Tune in to discover. — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gaazone/message

Calling all sports enthusiasts and Gaelic football fans! Prepare to immerse yourself in the exciting world of Gaelic football with the latest episode of the GAA Zone podcast. In this thrilling instalment, we delve into the upcoming clash between Westmeath and two formidable opponents, Armagh (the Orchard County) and Antrim (the Saffron). Connect us as we uncover the strategies, key players, and intense rivalries that make this match a must-watch. The GAA have reiterated to units their rules.

In this highly anticipated episode, we bring you expert analysis, engaging discussions, and captivating insights into the world of Gaelic football. The expert this time round is Aaron Maher Prendergast.

Whether you’re a die-hard fan or new to Gaelic football, this episode is packed with riveting content.

Don’t miss out on the latest episodes of the GAA Zone podcast. Mr Maher Prendergast gives his backing to Louth as he says: “Yeah, it’s a hard one to know to be honest with you, because Louth obviously coming in on the back of a 21-point defeat to, to Dublin, Whereas Cork is obviously coming in, I suppose, with the ehm, obviously they got beat by Clare, but Cork, Cork have probably been waiting in the, the wings, for a walk, they obviously would have known, they would have been loud, the team they would have been playing. Ehm, so yeah like I think I think it’ll be a close one”.

Maher Prendergast added: “I’ve got a sneaky feeling about Cork but I think one thing we know about Cork is that they tend to raise their game when they play better teams but when they play the likes of Louth or know clearly their levels just seem to drop and I just don’t have much confidence that Cork can do that but to be honest with you I’d fancy I’d actually fancy Clare or sorry I’d fancy Louth to get the victory ehm so I think they’re at home as well aren’t they so I think they will be too strong for ehm for four. I think Mickey Harte will get the troops back on the side. Go and see how Cork is able to deal with Sam Mulroy or some of the other lads there. So yeah, I’d fancy Louth to win it.” Subscribe.

Consolidate us on this audio journey as we explore the excitement, drama, and raw talent of Gaelic football. Aaron sees all that in the Armagh v Westmeath football clash saying: “Yeah I mean I don’t know if David Brady may be mentioned or maybe I suppose or maybe his plan was to actually mention the Westmeath hurlers and shock eh with Wexford and maybe that’s exactly what he was meant to say I don’t know but yeah I’d be very surprised to be honest with you to see you know sorry to wreck me cause any shocking and Armagh like they’re a division three side they barely won a game all year ehm won a couple of games in this mid-table threw a huge lead away versus Louth as well. Ehm they’ve been very poor all year Westmeath. They haven’t really kicked off the way we would have since eh Jack Cooney stepped away and Dessie Dolan came in. It just hasn’t been the same sort of Westmeath side so. Yeah, I just don’t see it. Like there’s a few things you could see cause a shock here or there like Sligo will come in good form against Kildare in fairness despite that kind of final off”.

Kerry 1-7 Meath 3-10 – Royal ladies demolish the Kingdom

July 31, 2022 by Patrick Sharkey, posted in Championship, Croke Park, Dublin, leinster, lgfa, Meath

By Patrick Sharkey in Croke Park,

The old master Eamonn Murray continued his astonishing All-Ireland final record at Croke Park this evening as his Meath side put Kerry to the sword in ruthless fashion. Kerry had plenty of fights in them.

Murray’s Meath had triumphed in three out of four All-Ireland finals including the upset against Westmeath.

But in 2022 the Royal lost their Midas touch against Dublin, falling to them in league and Leinster.

However, two-time All-Ireland winning manager Murray was back on form again this evening. Kerry weren’t exactly pushovers as they were powered by the ever-reliable Louise NI Mhuireachtaigh who scored a total of 1-2 and brought more than her shooting boos with her to Croke Park as she was always there for a Monica McGuirk kick out. Ni Mhuireachtaigh was then able to act as a decoy runner or a break ball magnet, depending on which is necessary. Louise was also able to link up the half-backs.

Murray once again showed his mastery of the lengthy gap between games which so many other counties complain about. However, one player Meath struggled to handle was the Kerry wingback Murphy.

Not a man for whinging, his side just went out and obliterated Darragh Lang and Declan Quill’s Kerry.

The first half was an absolute disaster for Kerry. Kerry was unable to handle the Meath half-forward Duggan.

Bar a few notable exceptions in their under-pressure defence, the Kingdom were literally second to every ball. One Kerry player who was quick enough to get to most balls was the halfback, Emma Costello.

Nothing before the throw-in disrupted them. The Munster side just found it very difficult to break down Meath.

Paris McCarthy came in on the corner, but she found Katie Newe far too hot to handle as the Rathoath woman only didn’t allow McCarthy to hit any first-half points. There were no excuses.

Emma Troy was also on fire in the first half, firing a point and a goal from play and having a hand in nine of the first 11 points – four of them direct assists – as Meath rocketed out into a 1-8 to 1-5 half-time lead. Katie Newe also deserves a lot of credit for her role as a cornerback for Meath.

Troy was on her third marker by the start of the second half, with Paris McCarthy taking over from Síofra O’Shea, with Anna Galvin having started on the Royal legend. Emma Troy brought more than her shooting boots though, as the half-back got the raw end of the deal as her half-backs were attacking and she was left to hold the centre. The Boardsmill woman had all the qualities needed for Meath to push on. The primary school teacher showed a good reading of the game and the ability to stop runners without drawing the dreaded yellow card. The 27-year-old won every individual battle.

The Kerry forwards bar Paris Mccarthy was awful, but some of the high, straight deliveries did them no favours with Aoibhín Cleary, Shauna Ennis and co lapping it up magnificently. Emma Duggan didn’t have much of her opportunities lapped up by the Kerry backs as she scored 0-1 but brought more than scores as she was the key player in the transition from defence to attack. Duggan was always present on the 40. Emma is elusive, can maximise space and is a great passer. Kerry was confused about whether to follow her or lay in the space that she vacated. That was the key to Meath.

Meath scorers: N O’Sullivan 1-2, E Troy 1-1, B Lynch 1-0, V Wall (2f), S Grimes (2f) 0-3 each, E Duggan 0-1 (f).

Kerry scorers: L Ní Mhuircheartaigh 1-2 (0-2f), S O’Shea 0-2, C Murphy, L Scanlon, P McCarthy 0-1 each.

Meath: M McGuirk; S Ennis, MK Lynch, K Newe; A Leahy, E Troy, A Cleary; M O’Shaughnessy, O Lally; M Thynne, E Duggan, K Nesbitt; V Wall, S Grimes, N O’Sullivan.

Subs: O Byrne for Leahy (22), B Lynch for Nesbitt (42), O Duff for Newe (57), E White for Grimes (57), S Wall for Thynne (57).

Kerry: C Butler; J O’Sullivan, K Cronin, E Lynch; A O’Connell, A Costello, C Murphy; L Scanlon, C Lynch; N Carmody, S O’Shea, A Galvin; P McCarthy, D O’Leary, L Ní Mhuircheartaigh.

Subs: N Ní Chonchuir for Carmody (44), E McGlynn for McCarthy (45), A Dillane for O’Sullivan (55), C Evans for O’Leary (57), M O’Connell for A O’Connell (58).

Referee: Maggie Farrelly (Cavan).

Player of the match: Kerry looked at the real deal with Danielle O’Leary and Síofra O’Shea. but the player of the match has to be Niamh O’Sullivan for Meath

“We got our tactics right” – Kildare wonders what could have been once more

July 15, 2022July 15, 2022 by Patrick Sharkey, posted in Championship, Connacht, Dublin, football, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, leinster, Leitrim, Mayo, Munster, Podcast, Tyrone, Ulster

By Patrick Sharkey,

Episode 56: Westmeath aim to raid Orchard and send Saffrons packing – The GAA Zone podcast

The GAA will allow an additional water carrier and permit water bottles to be placed around the pitch for Sunday’s All-Ireland senior hurling final. With temperatures in Croke Park anticipated to reach at least 25 degrees by 3.30pm throw-in, the Central Competitions Control Committee is taking extra measures to ensure player safety. In hurling, teams can have three water/hurley carriers, but that number will increase to four for the Kilkenny-Limerick clash. However, players must come into the perimeter of the field to take water as the carriers can only enter the field of play to replace a hurley. The counties will also be given the green light to make water bottles to be accessible in areas other than each goal mouth, the manager’s boxes, and the carriers’ areas so that players can readily hydrate. The GAA did away with water breaks in January of this year following the easing of restrictions. While they didn’t forbid their return in the future, the intervals had been used by teams to pass on tactical advice to players. In the wake of the removal of the breaks, teams were reminded that selectors, backroom team members, or players not on the match-day panel could double up as carriers. Extra details have been revealed for the big screen event taking place.

The weather could be a real factor, with temperatures of up to 30 degrees expected. This is a novelty in the championship this year because the split season started earlier with temperatures averaging at around 11oc on the first day of Kildare’s Leinster championship with their midfielder Kevin Feely talking about it on episode 48 of the GAA Zone podcast saying: “O yeah, the Louth game was very good yeah”.

A doctor has been hailed a lifesaver after a medical emergency at her local GAA club. Kildare nearly needed a similar kind of miracle when Westmeath held them on the ropes but Mr.Feely said: “That was a strange game. It was played at a very low-intensity kind of. From both sides it was quite passive. I don’t know whether it was nerves on both sides or the first game of the year in Croke Park”.

Westmeath footballer Luke Loughlin has bravely shared the story of his 10-year battle with addiction. Perhaps the bravest thing in Leinster football since Kildare played attacking football against Dublin.

Glen Emmets v Lannléire is the Division 3A title decider in Louth. It will probably be more competitive than the Leinster final when Feely said: “We had a lot of guys playing their first Leinster final in that situation, making defensive mistakes that were unusual for them that they never normally would make. You would probably put that down to nerves more so than anything else”.

Up for the Match is back! One match Kildare was up for was the Mayo game and Kevin talked about it saying: “Obviously it was a huge improvement in the performance in that game. We got our tactics right; we got our team right and our system right. We played with a lot more freedom obviously.”

Kerry defender Gavin White seems unlikely to play in the All-Ireland football final as he awaits the results of a scan on his knee. None of the Kildare players will be -playing either as they came up short.

In Louth, all the momentum appears to be with the Ardee men now as they bid to deliver back-to-back Cardinal O’Donnell Cup titles to Páirc Mhuire. The athletic therapist named players on the Kildare panel that helps their momentum saying:” I would say Ryan Houlihan and our cornerbacks”.

“They can bring money” – How could Amazon prime break into the GAA market?

December 30, 2021 by Patrick Sharkey, posted in 2021, Buncrana GAA, Championship, Connacht, Croke Park, Down, Dublin, football, Hurling, inter-county, Mayo, Tyrone, Tyrone, Ulster

By Patrick Sharkey,

On February 17 the commercial director of the GAA Peter McKenna suggested Amazon Prime could potentially stream GAA games in the future as, after the 2021 championship campaign, the GAA is set to announce the upcoming broadcaster of Gaelic games in years to come depending on the contract.

One man who is at the forefront of the changes made in GAA broadcasting over the last two decades is Jerome Quinn who began his broadcasting career with both radio and television roles in the sports studio of the BBC Northern Ireland but has later created his own streaming company with most content produced being related to the GAA. However, Jerome Quinn holds question marks over the GAA potentially having games streamed by Amazon prime saying: “They can bring money, that’s a big draw at the minute in this climate you know. Other than that, it would be interesting to see if they came in with a big offer and done the whole championship for example, what level of professionalism will they bring to it? Will it be right across the board you know? Will they bring uniformity and consistency to the coverage? That will be interesting to see, what exactly they put on the table if it’s not just money. What will the coverage be like because although things have moved on a lot in the last year or two at an incredible pace in terms of streaming, you are wondering what kind of step this will be because there is a lot of people streaming out there at the minute and that is increased even in the last 12 months and you look at it there is a company in Limerick, there is a company in Mayo, there is a company in Tyrone, do you know what I mean and there all over the place and there all coming up but the question would be for me is what will happen to them? Will they get a shout or will they just be small fish in the pond here and will they just get eaten up? If the likes of Amazon prime came in you would imagine it is going to be a huge deal, lots of money and they are going to make everything across the board. Will they bring in their own people? Will they use people who are already doing live streaming? So you would like to think people who are out there streaming at the minute and learning their trade and improving on things and have been doing all sorts of things, who done good work over the past year or two might be involved. You don’t know, so it will be interesting to see when they come in or if they come in, what sort of involvement there will be that way.”

Mr.Quinn added: “For example, at the minute there is TG4 who are basically Nemeton have experimented doing a lot of streaming over the last couple of years but if these guys (Amazon Prime) come in what would happen TG4? Would that be the end? Would they lose a lot of stuff?”

The GAA Zone podcast episode 27

June 21, 2021 by Patrick Sharkey, posted in 2021, 84 crew, Antrim, Armagh, Buncrana, Buncrana GAA, Cavan, Cavan, Championship, Connacht, cork, Croke Park, Derry, Donegal, Donegal GAA, Down, Dublin, Favourites, Fermanagh, Fermanagh, football, Galway, Hurling, inter-county, interview, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, League, london, mayo, mayo, Monaghan, Podcast, Tyrone, Ulster, underdogs, Wexford

By Patrick Sharkey,

The GAA Zone podcast has returned for a third season and episode 27 features two guests previewing the championship in the form of Naoise Waldron and Aaron Maher.