O’Connor not interested in vacant Mayo job
FORMER Kerry manager Jack O’Connor has ruled himself out of the running for the vacant Mayo job, sources have indicated, leaving the way clear for James Horan to return to the post. The three-time All-Ireland winning manager had emerged as a possible candidate to succeed Stephen Rochford in recent days and it was understood that Mayo officials had been in contact with O’Connor. O’Connor is also in the frame to take charge of the Kerry senior footballers for a third time following Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s departure, although the 57-year-old appeared to pour cold water on that prospect on Radio Kerry last Monday when he said he had two goes at that job and it might be enough. Since 2012, O’Connor has guided the Kingdom to five under-age All-Ireland titles and also one at senior level. But it is unclear if he is the preferred candidate in the Kingdom, with Peter Keane leading Kerry to the AllIreland minor title last Sunday. It is now looking increasingly like Horan will resume the role he held for four years, leading Mayo to two All-Ireland finals and two semi-finals, with speculation that current U20 boss Mike Solan will be part of the management team.
THERE was an inevitability about how the football Championship concluded last Sunday, with Stephen Cluxton hoisting the Sam Maguire Cup above his head for the fourth successive summer.
From early on, it looked like it was going to end no other way. Dublin’s dominance, teams married to defensive systems and the possession game means that Gaelic football has a lot of issues to sort out.
But the sport can still create a stir. And the Championship still created plenty of memories that will be cherished, from Waterford winning a Championship game for the first time since 2011 to the emotional evening in Newbridge when Kildare knocked Mayo out, here are 10 moments that defined the recent Championship.
1 CIARÁN KILKENNY SCORES DUBLIN’S SECOND POINT IN THE ALL-IRELAND FINAL
With 19 minutes on the board, Tyrone were four points up and enjoying the lion’s share of possession. Dean Rock had uncharacteristically missed a couple of frees. Cathal McShane’s wide, though, gave Stephen Cluxton the opportunity to get a quick kick-out away. He fired it into the path of Jack McCaffrey, who burst down the left wing, releasing Kilkenny who nailed the score. The score was simplicity itself and it ignited the scoring spurt that won the final. 2 CIAN O’NEILL’S APPEARANCE ON SIX-ONE Newbridge or Nowhere was a stand by grassroots which grew in strength with each passing hour. Never had those in the corridors of power of Croke Park appeared more out of touch with the common GAA member. Kildare were drawn at home to Mayo for their qualifier. The game was set for Croker. Cian O’Neill went on RTÉ news and told the nation they would be turning up in Newbridge. The GAA, firmly cast as the bad guys, only budged after a couple of days of outrage. Filled with righteous indignation, the Lilywhites then dumped Mayo out of the Championship. 3 DAVID CLIFFORD’S MOMENT OF MAGIC IN CLONES Kerry spluttered through most of the summer and never was this more evident than when they travelled to Monaghan for their Super 8s game. By hook or crook, or dint of the hosts failing to finish them off, they were within a goal of being knocked out in the dying moments. Step forward the teenage sensation. Kieran Donaghy got a hand to a hopeful long ball and directed it to Clifford. There was four Monaghan defenders and Rory Beggan between him and the goal. But from a tight angle, Clifford still found the net. 4 MONAGHAN’S PITCH INVASION IN SALTHILL A throwback to a different age as thousands of supporters swept onto the field to celebrate Monaghan reaching their first All-Ireland semi-final in 30 years. Their team was so dominant against Galway that some supporters had spilled on before the seven minutes of injury-time were up. Inspired by Ryan McAnespie, they swept the Tribesmen aside, the Connacht champions never recovering from the defeat. 5 BRIAN HOWARD’S LATE CATCH IN THE FINAL The Raheny youngster had already been ear-marked for greatness by Diarmuid Connolly last winter, and Howard has made the seamless transition to senior football, a ready-made replacement for Paul Flynn in the halfforward line. In the dying stages of the final, Tyrone latched a hopeful ball to Colm Cavanagh. Howard (above) sprang from the ground to field the ball wonderfully. It was a catch that his club-mate Ciaran Whelan would be proud of and it signalled that four-in-a-row had been achieved 6 CATHAL McSHANE’S POINT v MEATH Tyrone were almost — and probably should have been — gone by early June. On a sweltering evening in Navan, Andy McEntee’s side gave their best performance of the year. But they couldn’t shake Tyrone off. With five minutes of injury-time played, McShane was the most composed man in Navan, nailing a 35-metre score to bring the game to extratime, which saw temperatures and tempers rise even more. 7 EOIN DONNELLY’S GOAL v MONAGHAN Monaghan hadn’t been at their best in the Ulster semi-final at Healy Park, but still found themselves two points ahead going into injury-time. Fermanagh had sent their midfielder into the edge of the square in the hope he would get his hand to one long bomb. With time almost up, Donnelly fisted a long ball over Rory Beggan’s head and into the empty net to send Fermanagh into only their sixth Ulster final. 8 WATERFORD’S WIN OVER WEXFORD This was Waterford’s first win in Championship football for seven years. The scenes of jubilation at the final whistle for Tom McGlinchy and his management team were one of the great images of the summer. Only two of the Waterford team had featured in their last win, a qualifier victory over London in Ruislip. And they did it by playing attacking football, scoring 3-14. 9 DANIEL FLYNN’S GOAL AGAINST MONAGHAN He had scored an even better goal against Derry in the qualifiers, but as that was on the Championship backroads, few witnessed it. This was on the biggest stage, Croke Park, when the opening weekend of the Super 8s needed a spark to ignite it. Flynn jinked and dummied a few defenders before lobbing the ball delightfully over Rory Beggan’s head and into the net. 10 TURLOUGH O’BRIEN’S CARLOW RISING Turlough O’Brien led Carlow to a Leinster semi-final with a superb display in demolishing Kildare in Tullamore. Carlow didn’t kick a wide for the entire game, a feat that had everyone dusting down the record books to see if a team had ever managed it before in the Championship. Paul Broderick was flawless from placed-balls. A feelgood tale before the harsh reality blew in later.