Who actually won the first replay to ever take place in a GAA Final? It depends who you ask. It took place over 124 years ago in the 1894 Championship between Young Irelands of Dublin and Nil Desperandums of Cork. It was the capital’s third ever All-Ireland triumph, and you could argue that there should […]

7 years ago

Watch Ireland kick off their World Cup campaign, and help a great cause Win win, right? Ireland go into the Rugby World Cup at number one spot in the world rankings for the first time ever, and there’s only one spot to be next Sunday for their opening game against second seeds Scotland. DTwo will […]

7 years ago

Ronan Curtis was a standout performer against Bulgaria, and he’s ready for more. The scoreline applies a flattering gloss to a largely drab international friendly. That being said, there were a number of huge positives to take from Ireland’s 3-1 win over Bulgaria. We should be excited, and not just about the u21s. Like all […]

7 years ago

Brought to you by SPAR, a proud partner of the FAI. We’re not quite into the do-or-die stage of the Euro 2020 Qualifiers, but Thursday’s result will tell us a lot about whether this team will be doing or dying in a couple of months’ time. The Group D table is glowingly positive, but very […]

7 years ago

The last of the shadow-boxing is here, and the gloves are off. Ireland welcome Wales to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday for their final warm-up game before the Rugby World Cup in Japan. Schmidt made some difficult calls during the week to whittle his squad down to the 31 required. He’ll have one set of […]

7 years ago

“Pat Gilroy was very quick to explain and very quick to dispel any levels of entitlement that were anywhere. This was something bigger than us, this was the Dublin team” The Kingdom stand between Dublin and footballing immortality. It may be beyond some readers’ memories, but it wasn’t always like this. Dublin used to not […]

7 years ago

What caused the culture change in Dublin that saw them go from perennial also-rans to history makers? SportsJOE spoke to a man at the coalface of the revolution: Ray Boyne, Performance Analyst with Dublin football from 2003-2017. The majority of children starting primary school this year were not alive last time Dublin lost a Championship […]

7 years ago

“Be yourself. That’s all David needs to do.” SportsJOE took a trip deep into the Royal county the week before the biggest game of one of its most famous son’s careers. David Gough may literally take centre stage at 3:30pm on Sunday, but he’ll hope his role fades into obscurity as the game unfolds. Driving […]

7 years ago

Brought to you be Centra #WeAreHurling Twelve points up. Clock in the red. Still pushing for every ball, still demanding more air from roaring lungs, still keeping the foot on Kilkenny’s throats. There was a moment at the end of Tipperary’s 14-point mauling of the Cats that summed up Liam Sheedy perfectly. As the clock […]

7 years ago

Hawk-Eye have today confirmed that the technology in Croke Park had the capability to award John Donnelly’s contentious point. Brian Hogan looked for all the world to have plucked John Donnelly’s point from over the bar during Tipp’s mauling of Kilkenny on Sunday. When the play was called back to award the score, the net-minder […]

7 years ago

Brought to you by Centra #WeAreHurling UPDATE: Hawk-Eye have responded to a query from SportsJOE and confirmed that “the Hawk-Eye system installed at Croke Park can determine if the ball crosses the line. The system only gives a point when the ball has crossed the plane of the goal and in between the goalposts.” While VAR […]

7 years ago

“It’s a very regrettable incident, it shouldn’t have happened. It’s not part of our game but as I’ve said, both players spoke to each other after the game… They want to now concentrate on getting their county jerseys back.” Rhetoric, the art of persuasion, has been used since the Ancient Greeks to convince people of a […]

7 years ago

“The head’s a bit tender all right… But a good tender!” Shuttles. Truck and trailer. Drink bans. Certain phrases can cause any GAA player to shudder at the thought of a worn-out, repetitive and probably useless exercise in the long run. Balance. At the heart of any great sporting team over the years is that […]

7 years ago