February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
But the way GAA supporters were going on you would think that they had never seen an off the ball incident during a football or hurling game in Ireland. They didn’t have to wait long. Three days after the Melbourne punch-up, 15-year-old Dean Delaney from the Camross club was rushed to hospital concussed after he was hit over the head with a hurley during the Laois senior hurling final replay against Castletown. Now how cowardly is that, hitting a young lad over the head with a hurley?
Under new rules being introduced by the GAA next year players must be at least 17 years before they are allowed to play in the senior grade. Meanwhile despite all the debates on the airwaves, it looks like the Tests will go ahead again in Croke Park next October.
ENGLAND GAME MOOTED
Neither the FAI or the GAA have commented on reports that one of the Republic of Ireland’s soccer team’s first games at Croke Park will be against England.
Frankly, I don’t think it’s true, but then I could be wrong. We all remember the trouble caused by so-called English supporters at Lansdowne Road in February 1995 when the game had to be abandoned after 27 minutes with the Boys in Green winning 1-0. We haven’t played England since that game in 1995 and the way soccer friendlies work, our next meeting should be an away fixture at an English venue, possibly the new Wembley.
I don’t think the FAI would risk inviting England and their hooligan element to Croke Park where much work needs to be done to separate rival supporters before the introduction of international soccer. The GAA voted at their annual Congress last year to allow Irish international soccer and rugby games to be played at Croke Park when re-development work commences at Lansdowne Road in 2007.
STAUNTON’S STILL BOOKIES’ FAVORITE
Meanwhile the guessing game as to who will replace Brian Kerr as international manager continues apace with more candidates ruling themselves out rather than in. Last week former Arsenal manager George Graham said he was not interested. So that leaves Steve Staunton, the Republic’s most capped player of all-time, the favorite at present. Staunton, who is currently out injured, is player coach with English club Walsall, hardly an impressive CV for international management.
So far there are no friendlies arranged for the spring, although there should be no shortage of offers from countries who have qualified for the World Cup. The Danish FA claim they had a verbal agreement for a game this month, but Brian Kerr’s departure scuppered that. One is reminded of Samuel Goldwyn’s famous saying about verbal agreements not being worth the paper they are written on!
However, Northern Ireland have confirmed that they will play Portugal in a friendly at Windsor Park on Nov. 15
BEST MATE SUCCUMBS DURING EXETER RACE
Kerry-born jockey Jim Culloty will always be remembered as the man who rode Best Mate to his three Cheltenham Gold Cup wins. With Culloty now retired, another Irish jockey Paul Carberry was given the leg up on Best Mate when he made his return to the track after an 11-month lay off at Exeter last week. Sadly the 10-year-old who was born in County Clare in January 1995, didn’t finish the race, as he collapsed and died between the last two fences after being pulled up by Carberry. It was a sad end for one of the great steeplechasers of our time. Some commentators put Best Mate ahead of the great Arkle, claiming that Arkle’s opposition was not of the same quality as the horses Best Mate beat. But really that’s just an opinion and the debate would rage for hours if you tried to evaluate which of the two great horses was best.
MARTIN GETS TOP IOC JOB
Former Irish Hockey captain Stephen Martin is the Olympic Council of Ireland’s first-ever chief executive. Martin, who is currently deputy chief executive of the British Olympic Association and head of their performance unit, will take up the Irish job on Jan. 1. A key member of the team that spearheaded Britain’s bid for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Martin, who lives in County Down, was also Team Great Britain’s deputy Chef de Mission at the 2000 Salt Lake City and 2004 Athens Games. Martin will work closely with his new boss Olympic Council of Ireland President Pat Hickey.
MAUGHAN TIPPED FOR ROSCOMMON
John Maughan is expected to be named as the new Roscommon senior football manager this week. Last week former Offaly manager Paul Kelly opted out of the race, but it looked like Paidi O Se might be a late candidate. Maughan, who quit Mayo after their semifinal defeat to Kerry in August, faces a difficult task with the Rossies, where there has been a culture of drinking and indiscipline among some of the players in recent years. Maughan had two spells in charge of his native Mayo and has also managed Clare and Fermanagh.
Elsewhere Larry Tompkins appears to be favorite to take over as Wexford senior football manager. Tompkins, who has been out of intercounty manager since leaving Cork two years ago, was recently involved as a selector with the Irish international rules team. Wexford have been without a manager since Pat Roe quit during the summer.
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O’DRISCOLL MAY RETURN ON DEC. 3
In Ireland we can give our superstars a hard time, especially if they write books. Roy Keane found his every word, or rather the words of Eamon Dunphy minutely scrutinized when he put his thoughts in a book a few years back. Now Brian O’Driscoll is rarely out of the news after remarks in his “Diary of the Year.”
Trouble is O’Driscoll is not able to make any headlines on the pitch as he is still out injured, after that spear tackle against the All Blacks last June. But the good news for Leinster and Irish fans is that O’Driscoll is making progress and could be back in the Leinster team for the Celtic League game against Connacht on Dec. 3.
If that happens it would be a major boost for Leinster coach Michael Cheika as O’Driscoll would then be available for the home and away Heineken Cup games against Bourgoin later in December.
KILDARE PICK EX-FOE
New Kildare senior football manager John Crofton has called up former Galway star John Divilly to his squad. The 28-year-old, who was center-halfback when Galway beat Kildare in the 1998 All-Ireland final, is now playing for Leixlip where he is a full-time GAA coach. Divilly is also a selector for the Kildare minor team. Another boost for Crofton is the arrival of John Doran as trainer. He was previously working with Mick O’Dwyer in Laois.
SONY FORCED TO EXPLAIN MAYO O.G.
The makers of the new GAA PlayStation game deny they have scored an own goal before the game is even launched. A promotional clip that has been posted on GAA internet chatrooms, showed a Mayo player scoring a spectacular goal, against his own team! However, a Sony spokeswoman said the advert was leaked before it was completed and they were trying to ascertain how this had happened. The game will be in the shops for the Christmas market.
O HAILIPIN MOVES UP
Former Cork hurler Setanta O hAilipin has been promoted to the Carlton Blues senior list for the 2006 season. The 22-year-old, who has been spent time developing with the Melbourne feeder club, the Northern Bullants, was named last week in the 33-man squad for next season. His younger brother Aisake, has been retained as a second-year rookie by Carlton. And eldest brother Sean Og has stayed on in Australia after the International Rules series to train with Carlton. The O hAilpins were born in Australia where their Fermanagh-born father met their Fiji-born mother. They all later moved to Ireland and settled in Cork.
Meanwhile at home two Laois players Colm Begley and Brendan Quigley have joined Brisbane Lions. And Aussie Rules clubs are also reportedly targeting two former Down minors James Colgan and Martin Clarke. Now the GAA will probably try and end the Irish under 17 tour to Australia as the Aussies clearly use that series as a ideal way to look at young Irish talent.
LEINSTER, ULSTER TO
PLAY UNDER LIGHTS
The GAA will try any gimmick in an effort to boost the Interprovincial competitions, which used to be known as the Railway Cups, but are now sponsored by M. Donnelly. In recent years they have been playing the hurling and football finals abroad, in Paris, Rome and most recently Boston. At home there was a reasonably good turn out for the football semifinal between Leinster and Connacht which was played under the Parnell Park floodlights. Now the final between Leinster and Ulster will also be played under the Parnell Park lights on Saturday next Noel Walsh, one of the biggest advocates of the interprovincial series said: ‘We got a crowd of 4,000 for the semifinal and there was a great atmosphere under the lights. It’s a long time since we had that size of a crowd and we are going to try the lights again for the final.’
NEMO AIM FOR 13TH TITLE
Nemo Rangers, the recently crowned Cork senior football champions, are now bidding for a record 13th Munster club title. But the Cork city side will have to plan without Colin Corkery, who has retired and Derek Kavanagh, who is taking an extended holiday in Australia and New Zealand, which will rule him out of the games in Munster. But Kavanagh could be back for the All-Ireland semifinals in February, if Nemo progress to that stage.