Friday GAA Dispatch #1: county season ignites, rivals meet, and sideshows catch the eye
Plenty to get stuck into after an action-packed first week of the year, with the return of county matches and retirement news overlapping with the latter end of club season....
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Generally speaking, you should remain tight-lipped on any judgements in January, especially on a night like Wednesday last, under lights, in a freshly laid, and unsheltered Clarecastle.
As the intercounty action kicked into gear this week with the pre-season competitions, I resisted the urge to head North; as McGuinness made his return, and Harte his Derry bow - and instead doddled down the M18 to take in two teams that appear to be heading in very different directions.
Cork’s ascension begins
McGrath Cup, Round 1: Clare 0-08 2-14 Cork
Top-scorers:
Mark Cronin 1-02 (2fs), Conor Corbett 1-01 (Cork)
Caught the eye:
Darragh Cashman (Cork) - debutant wing-back, kicked a point in each-half
Paul Walsh (Cork) - big presence in midfield, kicked a fine point.
For the record, this statement that Cork Football is on the way back, ain’t based off of this one game. You couldn’t hang your hat on it anyways, because very little of the first-half action was seen by anybody there, as the wind and rain battered the multitude of brollies being used for protection - but in saying that, some of the most interesting moments happened along the sidelines.
John Cleary set the tone; playing every ball, dissecting every decision - you can feel the enthusiasm, and energy that he’s infusing into his team. By his side, Kevin Walsh’s voice often echoed through the Cork defence with tactical tweaks or nudges, whenever Clare attacked - and on the far flank, former Olympic medalist and World Champion walker, Rob Heffernan, patrolled, and encouraged. Performance Coaches are something we should dig into another time, but here’s John Cleary on what he’s bringing to the table…
🎧 post-match interview with Cork manager, John Cleary - 03/01/2024
Conditions settled for the second-half, which allowed us to appreciate what Cleary is building on the field in Cork, as much as the Magpies impressive new playing facilities.
Recent results wouldn’t do this next point justice, given Clare’s famous Munster win in Ennis last April - but it became evident as the second-half wore on that we were watching two teams on very different points in their development, and it’d be fair to say different trajectories for the season ahead.
Cork are targeting big things. They have to be. Chasing consistency across a competitive Division 2 and the round-robin series is a priority. It’s technically Year 3 of the Cleary reign now, they’ve had time to build their squad and bed in their plans. Let’s see what shape it takes. I personally can’t wait for James O’Donoghue’s prediction for his Team to Watch this year on The Football Pod, we had good craic with it last year!
Clare’s transition kicks-in
For the Clare Footballers, their list of retirees and absences for the forthcoming season is fairly stark - so Mark Fitzgerald will have taken plenty of positives from the first forty minutes in charge. Getting bodies back, and keeping key players fit will be imperative over the next few weeks. Beating Sligo, in Ennis, would be a huge boost on the first day out.
Having got used to Division 2 under the stewardship of Colm Collins, they have a tough start to life back in Division 3. After Sligo, they’ll be treated to back-to-back trips to the midlands to face Westmeath and Offaly. Nothing easy.
Before we get to the retirements, the sheer quality of footballer that they are missing next year, due to personal or work reasons, is off the charts.
Jamie Malone has moulded himself into one of the most effective players in the country. Pearse Lillis and Cian O’Dea are two leaders, and Championship calibre players around your middle third. Whilst Eoin Cleary and Keelan Sexton would be the marquee forwards for nearly every other county.
It is a massive opportunity for a new era of Footballer to take charge in the county, plenty will rise to the challenge, and I’m looking forward to seeing who takes their chance.
Podge Collins, Cathal O’Connor, Eoghan Collins, Darren O’Dea and Ciaran Russell are the five Clare retirees, each with years of service under their belts, and departing with their own stories, successes, memories. Plenty done, more to come. Well done, and best wishes.
College GAA brings out the very best…
I’ll swear by my time in DCU. The college represented 9 of the 10 CAO choices I committed to paper before the summer of 2011, and whilst I wanted to study journalism - what I really wanted was the chance to play Football there. Luckily, I got the chance - and took it (to an extent) too. Living in the ‘Football House’ on campus, where you mixed and made friends with people from all over. Somehow, making the cut for Ross Munnelly’s Freshers team. Getting floored by one of Michael Murphy’s hips in a warm-up for a Sigerson league game, weeks after he lifted Sam in October 2012. Bus journey upon bus journey around the country, en-route to winning an Intermediate All-Ireland. Jesus Christ, I really should have done a Masters and kept at it. I wouldn’t swap it though - and (I think) my Football improved no-end.
DCU Freshers Football team of 2011/12 - League Champions, Championship runners-up - some seriously good stock from at least 13 different counties!
It was great this week to catch up with three pairs of college teammates (and county rivals) for the Electric Ireland launch. Mark Rodgers of Clare and Galway’s TJ Brennan were the UL and hurling pair - sliding doors came up quite a bit as got stuck into their 2023 seasons. Whilst Emma Manogue of Kilkenny and Dublin’s Kerrie Finnegan brought me through TUD’s titanic Ashbourne Cup success last year.
The full interviews are available for Off The Ball members, and the highlights are up across social - if you aren’t an Off The Ball member, you can get access to three premium podcasts a month, for free, through the Off The Ball app, details here. On top of everything else, our GAA podcast feed will be stacked.
Sean Kelly and Ryan O’Donoghue will butt heads and go to war plenty of times over the next decade, but for the 2024 Sigerson Cup, they are University of Galway teammates. Naturally, neither wanted to discuss that incident last summer, where O’Donoghue’s studs grazed Kelly’s stricken ankle, after an off-camera scuffle (save for the mobile phone footage). It’s been parked - and given the nature of these two, has been left back on the sod of Salthill, for now.
Kelly is some leader, and I really hope we see the best of him this year. If he’s fit - Galway can achieve anything. It’s obvious from chatting to him that this is a guy who loves to overcome challenges, and embrace responsibility. Handy traits to have on a Football field - unfortunately he’s become one of the poster childs of the pain that the split-season can cause, where the cream of our crop at county level will suffer the more that they succeed on all fronts. I was in the press box in Salthill on two occasions this year where injuries caught up with him. Galway’s season ended as he tried to give what he could on that ankle injury, it was clear how much it hampered him. Then in November, a seperate injury stopped him from leading Maigh Cuillin out in their county final against Corofin. They fell short. His fitness is so important to the success of the Joyce project this year. Given the relentless schedules he’s endured, and the injuries sustained, I put a fairly difficult question (for a player) his way, did he regret togging that day against Mayo?
I’ve always been a massive fan of Ryan O’Donoghue, his leadership and his combative style - I think he’d have thrived in the 90s as much as he is nowadays, and I wouldn’t say that about many modern forwards. He’s taken plenty on his shoulders over the past few seasons, and the best is yet to come. Speaking to players about the things that have shaped them, can give us a decent glimpse into the style and qualities they’ve developed. I found our chat, about his soccer dreams, and pursuit of success in boxing, fascinating - it’s hard to believe the weight that he competed at…
Forget the FA Cup - Club is where it’s at
Split season mo thóin. This oul Gregorian calendar wasn’t built for the GAA. The madness of everything that we’re trying to condense into a season, is perfectly illustrated in the first week of 2024 - as the club semi-finals overlap with the beginning of the intercounty season and the colleges squeeze in their launches. Whilst the first two took precedence, don’t let the weekend ahead pass you by.
We’ve the Junior and Intermediate All-Ireland Football semi-finals on Saturday - TG4 between their YouTube and the TV are providing some savage coverage. Cill na Martra (Cork) and St. Patrick’s (Armagh) are both fancied against Castlerea (Roscommon) and Allenwood (Kildare) in the intermediate - but I find it hard to hold much stock in favourites at this stage of the series.
I’ll be in Semple Stadium Sunday to watch Castehaven take on St. Brigid’s - I’m expecting a cracking game, with nothing between two teams I’ve watched closely this year. And then, the big one - Glen and Kilmacud Crokes will erupt into life at 3.45pm in Newry, as Glen seek revenge, and Kilmacud Crokes look to put all the fuss and furore around last year’s 16th man to bed. Bit of a preview, and a chat about both games here, and we’ll have live coverage and reaction from both across Sunday’s Off The Ball.
Thank you for taking the time to read, I hope we see you here again against the season, and that you have a great weekend. Please do share and subscribe, and just to let you know - I’m trying to become a better listener, so any feedback or requests - do fire it on. Slán tamall