CAN THE REBELS ROAR? YES, THEY CONN
Ace Alan’s fuelling Cork hopes with his impressive return but there’s pain for Farney & Erne footballers
IT was a breathless St Patrick’s weekend as National League football and hurling kept us all entertained.
Here are some of the talking points following the action.
Alan Connolly’s goal touch WHEN Cork were edged out of the Championship last year after drawing with Tipperary and losing by a point to both Clare and Tipperary, there was no great mention of how they had missed Alan Connolly.
Perhaps there should have been. Connolly hit four goals in three games in the 2022 Munster Championship before a combination of shoulder and hamstring injuries ruled him out last year.
But he’s returned with intent of late, scoring 3-1 against Offaly and then 3-2 against Wexford on Saturday.
If it’s the case that Cork only need that little extra to kick on, Connolly might just be it.
Monaghan finally relegated
AFTER a number of Houdini acts over the years, Monaghan finally dropped out of Division One over the weekend.
Albeit they went down with their boots on in a three-point defeat to
Tyrone.
It ends a 10-year stay in the top division, a record bettered only by Kerry, who have never been out of Division One since the League was restructured into its current format in 2008.
Now with Monaghan gone, the next longest stint in the top flight after the Kingdom is that of Tyrone, who will play in it for the eighth successive season in 2025.
Friday night lights will remain off
IT may have slipped under the radar but the Kildare-carlow
Allianz Hurling League Division 2A tie was notable for the fact that it was played in Hawkfield last Friday night.
The game, which the home team won by four points with Carlow already through to the final, was switched to facilitate Kildare manager Brian Dowling, with his St Kieran’s College side in the All-ireland final on Saturday.
But, while the GAA was very keen on the concept some years ago, with a Carlow-laois qualifier taking place on a Friday night back in 2013, this will be a one-off given the implications of players having to take time off work.
It’s a shame as week night fixtures obviously work well at club level and even at county level too with pre-season competitions and underage games, as well as in the Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cups.
From a promotional point of view, the Saturday/sunday window is too narrow for the GAA’S marquee fixtures.
Louth blitz Fermanagh
Arguably the most pivotal game over the weekend was the meeting of Louth and Fermanagh in Ardee.
Two evenly matched sides with Division Two survival, and all that goes with it, on the line, it was a very difficult game to call.
Louth were slight favourites owing to home advantage more than anything else.
But they made light of the two-point handicap in winning by 24 on an amazing 6-17 to 0-11 scoreline.
Louth aren’t safe yet but if they avoid defeat against already relegated Kildare next Saturday they will be, while Fermanagh must pick themselves up and beat Cavan while needing the Lilies to pick up their first win of the campaign.
London end winless run
HAVING been sidelined from inter-county football due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Michael Maher (left) and his London team returned with a bang in 2022.
They won their first three League games against Carlow, Waterford and Leitrim to set themselves up nicely for an unlikely promotion tilt. But it all unravelled from there as they lost their remaining four matches.
And the winless run continued into last year and right up until last Saturday, when they beat fellow strugglers Waterford by five points in Ruislip.
It came on the back of 22 games across League, Connacht Championship and Tailteann Cup in which they had drawn five and lost 17, with the 1-13 to 0-11 victory their first taste of success in 755 days.