Irish Daily Star - Inside Sport
SEAN SAYS DUBS’ GREATER NEED WILL CARRY DAY
Benny Tierney expects old pal to deliver real change
FORMER Kerry star Sean O’sullivan believes Dublin’s greater need for Allianz League points will be the decisive factor at Croke Park tonight.
Despite a comprehensive win over Roscommon last weekend, Dessie Farrell’s side have just the two points from three games, with tonight’s opponents on four.
In the first meeting of the football behemoths since July’s All-ireland final, the Cromane man also feels that, whatever the result, it will have little to no relevance going forward.
“For Kerry, if they could get a win, it would put them in a nice position up near the top of Division One, with one eye on a final. If they were to lose, it’s not a huge blow,” he said.
“They’ve four points on the board, they still have plenty of games left to pick up some points, to stay in the division.
“To be honest with you, I think Dublin are probably looking for the points more than Kerry. With that in mind, I fancy Dublin, just, to get over the line by a small margin.”
The four-time Allireland winner, while acknowledging Dublin’s two defeats on the bounce to Monaghan and Mayo, has his own explanation for those results.
Positions
“In fairness to Dessie Farrell, you can see already that he’s experimenting quite a bit. He’s not only experimenting with some new faces in there, but also with guys in different positions,” added O’sullivan.
“It’s hard to know yet where Dublin are at. They were beaten, surprisingly, by Monaghan in their first game. I would put that down to Dublin getting back later than everyone else after the All-ireland win.
“They probably didn’t have a lot of training done. They played a little bit better against Mayo, but still lost the game. I thought they were quite unlucky to lose that actually.
“They were in control in the second half and did a lot of un-dublin-like things, especially up front, snatching at shots that they wouldn’t usually do. They upped the gears against Roscommon.
“Kerry, on the other hand, we got off to a poor start against Derry, we bounced back well against Monaghan, got over Mayo, just about, the last night.
“We’ve a few points on the board now, so we’re also in a better place. I think, regardless of the result on Saturday, it’s not going to really make much of a difference later on in the summer.”
Reflecting on the Kingdom’s two-point defeat in the sport’s showpiece game seven months ago, O’sullivan felt it was a title that got away from them.
“It was a tough one to take. It’s a final that the Kerry management, and players, and supporters, will look back on that it was definitely one that we had in our grasp,” he stressed.
“We had put ourselves in good positions, particularly in the second half. We had built up a nice lead before Dublin got their goal, which came from a Kerry mistake.
“We showed great character after conceding that goal to go and build a lead again. In both of those periods, we could have pushed on, we could have done things a bit better that would have got us over the line.
“But we didn’t, we left a team like Dublin, with all their experience and their know-how and their quality, in the game, and when you do that, you always run the risk of losing.”
WHEN Benny Tierney was feeling his way around as the new principal of St Peter’s Primary School, Cloughreagh, he turned to a long-time friend and neighbour for advice.
Armagh All-ireland winning goalkeeper Tierney had gone to St Colman’s, Newry secondary school with Jarlath Burns, who will be inaugurated today as the 41st president of the GAA.
Tierney roomed with Burns for a year at St Mary’s teacher training college in Belfast, where they won a Sigerson Cup together (1989).
The pair only live half a mile apart.
Burns’ wife Suzanne, was a vice-principal alongside the three-time Ulster title winner.
St Peter’s — Tierney’s primary school — feeds into St Paul’s Bessbrook, where Burns is principal.
He has overseen a rise in numbers to over 1800, making it one of the biggest secondary schools in the country.
Burns, a proud Silverbridge man, lives in Mullaghbawn, the home club of Tierney, Kieran Mcgeeney and the Mcnulty brothers, Justin and Enda, who landed Armagh and Ulster club titles in 1995.
It’s fair to say Tierney and Burns, who captained Armagh to a first Ulster title in 17 years (1999), go back a bit.
“When I first became a principal, it wasn’t something that possibly I was enjoying for the first couple of years,” says Tierney.
“You sort of laugh your way through life and all of a sudden you are meeting issues and problems that come with school and staffing, and budgets. “Obviously when you are principal you are meeting serious issues as well and I (above) happened to say to Jarlath, ‘God it’s not all it’s cracked up to be’.
“And he gave me advice. I’ve always held it, and eventually I got used to it.
“He said, ‘Benny, you have to learn in this role to be comfortable with being uncomfortable’.
“He lives that way. Things don’t sit long with Jarlath — issues or opinions. People’s perceptions of him don’t sit with him too long.
“He has that innate capacity to get rid of things very quickly, where a lot of people might struggle in that domain.
Parapet
“Which means that sticking his head above the parapet as a new president in a modern era, I don’t think will be a problem for him.”
Tierney has already claimed Burns as Mullaghbawn’s first ever GAA president:“nobody else sees it that way,”he laughs.
“Generally, myself and Jarlath’s Whatsapps involve stupidity and idiocy, which as we get older we don’t lose.
“We tend to communicate on a stupid basis, quoting stupid programmes.
“I’ve maintained from the day he’s got the presidency it’s the first Mullaghbawn person to ever be president of the GAA.”
Tierney continued: “Jarlath doesn’t drink.
“He has never drank. I have socialised with Jarlath through college and he never needed it.
“Every bit as big a lunatic as the rest of us, on it or without it.
“His sons are the same, all great lads and great characters. Alcohol would make no difference to them socially. They are great craic.”
Tierney says Burns, who takes over from Larry Mccarthy after narrowly losing out to him in an election back in February 2020 — just pre-covid — can play the ambassadorial role as well as anyone, but won’t want to be remembered for just that.
“He will want to be innovative and show initiative,” added Tierney.“that’s the type of person he is. He’s done it with his own club.
“They are probably the most forward thinking club I can think of, constantly evolving, constantly improving their site, their functionality.
“They would be the envy of many in the way they go about it and everything they take on.”
Burns has a long history in officialdom.
He served as chair of the inaugural ‘Players’ Committee’ in 2000 — an official GAA body set up to rival the fledgling Gaelic Players’ Association.
Burns was also chair of the GAA’S 125th Anniversary Committee in 2009 and Scór Naisiúnta.
He served as Armagh’s Central Council delegate and sat on the GAA’S Medical and Scientific Committee, Pitch Presentation Group, and Standing Committee on Playing Rules.
In 2006, he managed the Ireland Women’s International Rules team against Australia.
As a fluent Irish speaker, he has been a co-commentator on TG4 for many years, while his son Jarlath Óg is a current Armagh senior footballer.
Burns was the man who pushed through ‘the mark,’ at the 2016 GAA Congress in Carlow, concluding with the emotive remark, ‘Give the big man a chance.’
Blown
As a spectacular high fielding midfielder back in the day, he was used to hitting the ground and being battered after catching a kick-out and then possibly blown for over carrying.
The mark has been a resounding success in restoring one of the great skills of the game.
“We were doing a talk with James Mccartan and we both were laughing because Jarlath
Meath’s Lidl National Football League Division 1 clash against Waterford at Fraher Field three weeks ago proved interesting for the st Peter’s Dunboyne club.
While shelly Melia and emma Duggan featured at midfield and left corner-forward respectively in an eventual 2-10 to 2-5 victory for Meath, they also had a player in the ranks of the opposition.
Waterford wing-forward Caragh Mccarthy transferred to Dunboyne in 2023 and featured in their march to last October’s Meath senior county final.
Mccarthy admits it does feel quite strange going toe-to-toe with her clubmates at inter-county level.
“You’re friends with them one minute and then you have to put that aside for 60 minutes.
“It kind of helps as well that you know what way they play. Obviously they’re both very strong players,” Mccarthy acknowledged.
“they like to look for each other as well and they work really well together.
You know their strengths, which is a bit of a bonus.”
Previously a student in UCD, Mccarthy now teaches in tyrrelstown educate together National school in Dublin.
“My boyfriend is actually from Dunboyne. he roped me into training with them and he would have had a few friends obviously on the team.
“Obviously we came up short to Dunshaughlin last year in the Meath county final.
“Looking forward to getting back with them now this year and hopefully driving on.”
Mccarthy won a brace of Waterford intermediate championship titles with abbeyside in 2016 and 2019 — in addition to a Munster intermediate crown the former year and an all-ireland intermediate 7s championship in the latter.
a Lidl NFL Division 3 triumph over tipperary in 2016 (her first year on the senior panel) was supplemented by a Division 2 final victory at the expense of Kerry three years later.
Points
Defeats to armagh, Kerry and Meath in the opening three rounds of this year’s league did put Pat sullivan’s side in a difficult position, but a 2-12 to 1-6 victory over Cork at Pairc Uí Rinn last sunday finally saw them getting some points on the board.
“everything that we were working on and maybe didn’t go to plan the last few games all came together for the Cork game.”
Next up are all-ireland champions Dublin next weekend.
the Déise will be back on home soil for a touch assignment against Mick Bohan’s capital outfit.
Mccarthy is hoping this can be significant as they look to guarantee their spot in the 2025 edition of Division One.
“We had Meath at home and there was a great crowd there.
“We came up short against them, but you’d like to think that the crowd will help to drive us on a bit more against Dublin.
“they always come up quite strong against us. then going into the Galway game as well, we’d be looking to target that.
“If you have six points, that should hopefully keep you there or thereabouts and not have to be worrying about relegation.”
UNUSUAL ONE: Caragh Mccarthy in action for Waterford against Meath