interview – 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”.

“GAA Media just has a bright future” – The future of Gaelic games media!

July 26, 2022 by Patrick Sharkey, posted in Championship, Cork, Croke Park, Derry, Donegal, Donegal GAA, Dublin, interview, Kerry, leinster, Meath, Munster, Podcast, Ulster

By Patrick Sharkey,

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

Two-time All-Ireland winner with Meath, Colm O’Rourke, is set to take over as the Royal County’s senior football manager. O’Rourke takes the reins from Andy McEntee, who led the team for six seasons. The Royal County legend enjoyed a stunning career as a player and is now set to take the reins of the side as they bid to work their way back to the sport’s top table. The job was vacated by Andy McEntee following their Leinster Championship defeat to Dublin earlier this summer. Meath will compete in Division two of the 2023 National Football League. The news update was announced by Meath GAA.

The Sunday Game studio is going to look like a very different place in 2023. In episode 50 of the GAA Zone podcast, Mayo-based journalist Chloe Lynch hailed the role of the media in Gaelic games.

The Sunday Game pundit has been linked with the role on several occasions in the past, while he has also coached the Meath minor and Under-21 footballers. Lynch said: “Well in my opinion now, you know, GAA Media just has a bright future even though we have the veterans in the game. There is a lot to be worked on and when you have a new generation in, it’s a good future ahead and there is a lot to be done”. O’Rourke also managed the Irish team in International Rules tests against Australia.

Former Mayo footballer Alan Dillon has called on the GAA to push the inter-county season back out to August or September.

Kerry unsurprisingly dominated The Sunday Game’s Team of the Year after beating Galway in the All-Ireland final. Cork-based journalist Matthew Hurley, better known as the GAA stats man, joined in on the podcast saying: “Yeah, I think it has a great enough future, not just in the national media like”.

John Comer was the main influence in shaping the football career of full-forward Comer and sadly passed away at the start of 2017. Lynch said:” Well we all know it kind of has a lot of positives and” negatives together and you know, and we all have our own little outlet of trying to get up in the business and you know there is a lot to be worked on and you know. Say the like the likes of us who use our voices to reinvent it really and add a little of 21st century inro it.” Despite being crestfallen following the result on Sunday, the Tribesmen can hold their head high after a fantastic campaign.

Much of the talk, heading into the All-Ireland, was about David Clifford and Shane Walsh, but they were sharing column inches and headlines with Sean O’Shea and Damien Comer. Mr.Hurley said: “Yeah I think it’s been excellent. I was kind of skeptical. The main thing we talk about in media exploring GAA games is exploring them further afield abroad. We thought Sky would do it in 2013”.

Ryan had a very calm and assuring presence in the Kerry defense all year. The Mayo woman said:” It’s a hard one. It’s everywhere, to be honest. Like you know the fact you can get like RTÉ player in the Chicago and like Dubai and all that but in my opinion, now it’s Twitter kind of the main. You yourself seeing the GAA twitter and again everyone knows everyone and like I saw Brian Cody left”.

Kerry claimed their 38th All-Ireland title with an entertaining victory over Galway on Sunday. Hurley said: “Look it is and it isn’t. I just think the Sunday game for example isn’t spreading GAA as much”.

The Dublin boss is yet to sit down with the county board for a full review. The 20-year-old says: “Well to be honest I’m surprised they haven’t thought about it by now! It’s a hard one. RTÉ just owns the rights and so does Sky. I say if they did, there would just be more controversy because I know they have the app but nobody’s using it. I read the reviews. I was going to download it and like it was a load of bad reviews. You know as long as they get the money, they don’t give two hoops but as Matt was saying like they don’t give enough to fans that have given say their whole weeks’ wages even “.

“It was exciting” – Wexford hurlers reflect on a season like no other

July 9, 2022 by Patrick Sharkey, posted in Championship, Clare, Connacht, Croke Park, Galway, Hurling, inter-county, interview, Kerry, Kilkenny, leinster, Munster, Podcast, Westmeath, Wexford, Wexford

By Patrick Sharkey,

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

GAA fans were left scratching their heads during the All-Ireland semi-final as a Shane Walsh point was inexplicably chalked off after the umpires consulted Hawkeye. With just minutes left in a very labored and low-scoring first half, Galway was 0-03 to 0-04 down and Shane Walsh had a free.

Galway are All-Ireland Minor champions for the first time in 15 years! Episode 46 of the GAA Zone podcast focused however on the first championship game for the senior hurlers who drew to Wexford and according to former Wexford hurler Richie Kehoe: “It was exciting alright but to be honest with you we didn’t hurl for 50 minutes of that game or even more. Galway was still looking all over the winners there being four points up after 66 minutes or something like that. Then it was all the excitement over Cooney taking the free and then the throw-in ball. I think Chinner gets a point from play and then he adds on another four frees. You know suddenly, we were looking like we were dead and buried. We ended up getting a draw and probably on the balance of play I say”.
Hawkeye will not be in use for the Dublin vs Kerry All-Ireland football semi-final after the GAA said the technology will be reviewed following an error. The last time a Dublin side wouldn’t have had use of Hawkeye in an important game would have been when the senior hurlers beat Wexford in the second round of the Leinster championship round-robin when Richie Kehoe said: “It was much the same. Wexford probably only hurled for 15 minutes in both of those games and like Dublin looked all over the winners again. I think they were six or seven points up after maybe 50 minutes. Donal Burke was absolutely on fire on placed balls and frees. Dublin was playing a short passing game as they be running through the middle at ease. They were finding their scores a little bit easier than ourselves.”

Galway saved their best for last as a magnificent display propelled them to the All-Ireland Under-17 football championship title at Dr. Hyde Park in Roscommon. The Wexford hurlers can relate to the Galway minor hurlers having had their biggest championship win in Laois with Mr. Kehoe saying: “Well it was needed. No disrespect to Laois but they were down several of their top players that day”. but it was a confidence builder for us. Plenty of lads got on the scoresheet. It was 6-21 to 0-12 points that day or something like that. Plenty of lads got game time. It was what we needed. You know it was what we needed to build the confidence a little bit to put in a performance which they did. Laois gave it all for maybe 20 minutes in that game and after that, we completely blew them out of the water”.

The All-Ireland senior football semi-final is part of a double-header of action, Kilkenny facing New York in the opening game in the All-Ireland junior decider. Kilkenny will be looking to cause an upset.
Watch Dublin vs Kerry in the All-Ireland SFC semi-final live on Sky Sports Arena from 3pm Sunday.
This is a separate Dublin side from the one that celebrated a sixth All-Ireland title in a row in 2020.

“There was a lot of men making their starts” – The Donegal footballers’ season in review

June 15, 2022 by Patrick Sharkey, posted in Buncrana GAA, Cavan, Championship, Connacht, Croke Park, Donegal, Donegal GAA, Dublin, Favourites, football, inter-county, interview, Kerry, Kildare, leinster, Mayo, Munster, Ulster

By Patrick Sharkey,

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

They bring a whole new meaning to pride in the jersey. Na Gaeil Aeracha teams are busy preparing.

The GAA is experiencing an unprecedented demand for tickets for the forthcoming All-Ireland senior football and hurling quarterfinals. Donegal will not be competing, but many Donegal fans would have enjoyed their team’s run to the Dr. McKenna cup final, and Donegal Tik Tok star Ethan Kelly would have looked back at it saying: “Going back on it now because it was the second or third week of January, that probably wasn’t our main team. There were a lot of men making their starts you know, and I did see a few like Aaron Doherty coming on there during the championship. It was a good kind of staging ground for a lot of boys. Seeing how Monaghan’s year kind of went, it was a wee bit parallel to our own now. You would like to believe we ourselves are a little bit higher than Monaghan in the current standings. At the end of the year, they are bringing back silverware, we are not. They won the McKenna cup from us. We were a little bit fresher, greener is the better word for it than Monaghan were but at the end of the day, what can you do? The legs are well off that Monaghan team with their experience. Even with their new boys, they are playing a lot more”.

It’s getting harder for those with children and full-time jobs to commit to the inter-county scene.

The All-Ireland SFC quarter-final draw has thrown up some interesting ties after a weekend of intriguing qualifiers. Mayo and Donegal drew in their opening league game but it is only Mayo who made it to the quarter-finals and Mr.Kelly looked at the January game saying: “It was a very stereotypical Donegal and Mayo match in that there is very little separating the two sides. Very early on, I thought in the match we controlled their forward line very well. You know I thought they didn’t get a whole lot of space to do that which was very good to see but at the end of the day looking at where they are now in the year, we realize they probably have a problem in their forward line. You know it is not firing on all cylinders at the minute. Listen, there were probably gaps there. They were very much reliant on their outfield players, whereas we ourselves during that match probably should have had them away. I would say fifteen minutes into the second half there when they had their purple patch and started coming into it big time again but in the first match of the league you draw with Mayo who let’s be realistic here, Mayo in many people’s eyes are favorites going into it.”

Dublin vs Cork as well as Derry vs Clare will be live on Sky Sports Arena on Saturday, June 25. If Donegal won, the Ulster championship they would have played Clare but one of the high points for the hills was the first league win against Kildare and Mr>Kelly reflected on it saying: “Kildare to me would have the opposite problems of what Mayo would have I fins this year anyway. They have a problem with their back line it is just not as strong as you know the great forward line, they have in Kildare with the front six. The back six will probably be where they are lacking, and I feel we really did do damage against them, you know 2-11 to 1-9. I could be wrong here but it was 20 games since we last lost at MacCumhail park. I think there was a big gap between the one we had this year and the last one we had. So, it was looking to be a bit of a fortress in the Northwest. You know I feel like we really did push on. We did a lot of damage there against Kildare. I mean they only came up this year, didn’t they? I suppose they went straight back down again. Still, somebody must go down.”

Eight games are down for decision across the All-Ireland senior and minor hurling championships.

Rory Grugan served notice of Armagh’s intentions with a goal after just 10 seconds of their All-Ireland SFC qualifiers round two clash with Donegal in Clones on Sunday – by the full-time whistle they were 3-17 to 0-16 ahead and well worthy of their place in the quarterfinals when Galway await.

“We had an up and down national league” – Donegal legend holds mixed feelings over the league campaign.

June 11, 2022 by Patrick Sharkey, posted in Armagh, Cavan, Championship, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Dublin, football, Hurling, inter-county, interview, Kildare, leinster, Limerick, Mayo, Munster, Ulster

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

By Patrick Sharkey,

GAA president Larry McCarthy will travel to Wales this weekend to unveil a commemorative plaque.

James Horan has made two changes from the team that overcame Monaghan last week. One man who did his service for the GAA abroad playing for Donegal New York and will look ahead to the fixtures this weekend is Donegal legend Anthony Molloy who assessed the season for his own county saying: “I suppose we had an up and down national league and that there. I don’t think we performed to the best of our ability as well as we could have like. We are still there in division one”.

In the meantime, Cork has named an unchanged side for their qualifier clash against Limerick.

There is a busy weekend of GAA on the way between the All-Ireland senior football and hurling.

Hurling fans from across the country have expressed their outrage at a perceived lack of respect for Antrim and Kerry as they were not included in a photo shoot promoting the launch of this year’s All-Ireland series. However, Mr. Molloy was talking about different Donegal players who haven’t got enough respect saying: “Overall I think we have improved as a team, as a bunch of players. You know again I’ll go back to our captain first and people are writing him off like. For 70 minutes, age is not on his side. We must remember Michael Murphy was giving man-of-the-match performances”.

Belfast’s Corrigan Park is a difficult venue to go to and league results have shown that over the past.

The GAA in Galway is paying tribute this morning following the passing yesterday of former Galway GAA secretary Phelim Murphy at the age of 91. Murphy was a man who prioritised youth.

There are also All-Ireland SHC preliminaries taking place in Belfast and Tralee. The young players of Donegal will be happy they go back to Clones instead of somewhere intimidating like Belfast and Donegal academies have taken templates developed by Murphy as Anthony praised the young guns.

There’s another stacked weekend of live sport coming to your TV screens at the end of the week.

Back in the day, clubs across the Atlantic had a habit of bringing in a few big names recruits to take to the pitch for important matches. Donegal New York may have gained the services of the then All Ireland winning captain Anthony Molloy, but he is happy that the young stars of Donegal are still in the hills saying: “I suppose for me you know Michael Langan has huge potential. He’s a fantastic player. A very, very natural player. So, to be fair I suppose Bonner has given him every chance.”

There’s a Croke Park double feature on Saturday as Clare takes on Roscommon and then Mayo faces Kildare. All the talk will be about midfield pairings and the Ardara man gave his view on the current midfield situation for Donegal saying: “I think a man who deserves credit is Hugh McFadden from Killybegs like. I would start Jason McGee and maybe Caolan McGonagle. I would start them two”.

A Cavan GAA club has been left truly heartbroken after one of its most talented players died in a car crash.

Both Cork and Limerick will be happy with the draw. The qualifier games will have a minute’s silence for Luke Byrne.

Two splendid days in September when the senior team, managed by Cyril Farrell and captained by Conor Hayes, brought the Liam McCarthy Cup west of the Shannon for only the third and fourth times in the county’s history. One man who also had that kind of joy in football was Anthony Molloy for Donegal, so listen to the podcast to unpack it all.