Gaelic Games

David Mohan
BBC Sport NI contributor at Croke Park

Image source, Inpho

The Davy Fitzgerald era in Antrim hurling got off to a slow start as they were outclassed by an assured Dublin at Croke Park on Saturday in the Division 1B opener, going down by 1-25 to 0-14.

The Dubs have had Antrim's number since their renaissance of recent times, but despite the change of scenery from Parnell Park, it was a familiar outcome.

Cian O'Sullivan led the way with 14 points, while Conal O Riain grabbed an early goal which set them on their way.

Antrim made a decent enough start but they lost their way in attack with a poor enough return in which James McNaughton grabbed nine of their scores.

With Antrim's new manager - who was suspended from the sideline for the game - seeking a different approach in their play, there were early warning signs that players were not fully in tune as the gaps appeared for the hosts quickly.

This was exemplified by O Riain's goal which came from a long ball into the corner where debutant Iain O hEithir was not tracked when pushing up from the back and his crisp ball was taken in stride by Conal O Riain who cracked home.

That made it 1-5 to 0-3 and while Antrim rallied well with three McNaughton scores, O'Sullivan was dead-eyed at the other end and had assistance from Dara Purcell and O Riain as the Dubs took a 1-14 to 0-9 lead into the break.

It was a long way back for Antrim and five of the first six scores of the second half put it beyond them with Niall McKenna offering some resistance for the visitors.

The game completely fizzled out in the final quarter but Dublin substitutes Cillian Hayes and Diarmaid O Dulaing got in on the act as they claimed a comprehensive win.

Odhran Crumley
BBC Sport NI journalist at Salthill

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Galway showed the first signs of a recovery with a 1-12 to 0-9 Division One win over All-Ireland champions Armagh in a repeat of last year's Sam Maguire decider at Pearse Stadium.

Cillian O Curraoin starred for Galway with 0-5, including a two-pointer, with the hosts scoring three two-pointers during a two-minute second-half spell under the new floodlights at Salthill.

Matthew Tierney's first-half penalty helped Galway lead 1-4 to 0-5 at the break while Armagh had Niall Grimley sent off on the account of a red card with 10 minutes to play.

Kieran McGeeney's side went 18 first-half minutes and 23 second half minutes without a score in the first top-flight game to feature Gaelic football's new playing rules.

Young footballer of the year Oisin Conaty lit up the early exchanges with three fine scores as Armagh led 0-4 to 0-1 after 12 minutes.

Armagh were happy to defend the new 40-metre arc knowing that it was near impossible for their opponents to land a score due to the resistance of the elements.

The first infringement of the new rules arrived from the next play as Galway failed to keep three players inside their attacking half as Rory Grugan tapped over the free as a punishment.

Galway landed the decisive blow of the opening half when Tierney slotted his penalty home after Aidan Forker's foul on O Curraoin.

Despite the new rules, there was plenty of monotonous back-and-forth possession football on display.

However, the two-point scores provided real entertainment for the Galway fans as Padraic Joyce's side pulled clear in the second half with O Curraoin, Shane Walsh and Paul Conroy all landing from outside the 40-metre arc.

It went from bad to worse for the All-Ireland champions when Grimley was shown a red card for an off-the-ball incident with Galway defender Daniel O'Flaherty.

Armagh face Ulster rivals Tyrone next week while Galway travel to Mayo.

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Fermanagh fell to a heavy 2-24 to 1-12 defeat against Kildare in their Division Three opener at Newbridge.

A first-half flurry from the hosts which yielded six points in seven minutes, gave the Lilywhites a commanding lead from the outset and they never looked back.

Didier Cordonnier made a terrific double save midway through the opening period to deny Fermanagh a goal and a way back into the game.

Darragh McGurn did manage to reduce the Ernemen's deficit to six points heading into the break by landing two scores, including one from beyond the arc, before the interval.

Kildare were relegated after finishing bottom last year and were joined by Fermanagh on the final day, but it's the Leinster outfit who have been tipped for an immediate return to the second tier.

On this evidence, they could be hard to stop. Shane McGullion netted for the visitors, but their joy was short lived.

A point from Callum Bolton, Alex Beirne's two-point free and Darragh Kirwan's goal made it 1-21 to 1-10 with an hour gone.

In added time, Ryan Sinkey bagged another goal before David Hyland raised the orange flag to put the polish on a fine Kildare performance.

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Naomh Padraig Muff fell short in their bid to become the first Donegal side to win an All-Ireland Club Football title after losing the Junior decider 0-9 to 0-8 to An Cheathru Rua.

The Inishowen club, the first from Donegal to contest an All-Ireland decider at Croke Park, led 0-5 to 0-4 at half-time and were 0-7 to 0-5 up 10 minutes into the second half.

But the Galway side finished stronger and claimed their first Junior title thanks to Fionan O'Conghaile's score six minutes into injury time.

It was a heartbreaking conclusion to a memorable season for Naomh Padraig, whose players collapsed to the Croke Park turf in devastation after their attempts to scramble a last-gap leveller were thwarted.

Naomh Padraig had given themselves a slender advantage at the midway point thanks to a combination of Kevin Lynch's dead-ball proficiency and An Cheathru Rua's profligacy in front of the posts, kicking 10 wides in the first period.

The Connacht champions should have scored a goal immediately after the restart, too, but Myles Mac Donnchadha's shot struck the woodwork after he broke through the Naomh Padraig defence.

While the Gaeltacht side did level soon after, Kevin Lynch and Donegal county player Caolan McColgan struck to give Naomh Padraig a two-point cushion.

McColgan, industrious throughout, almost created a goal for the Uisce Chaoin men when he weaved through and fist-passed across the net, only for Iarlaith O Conchubhair to deny Kevin Lynch a certain major.

From there, An Cheathru Rua scored the next three points to lead 0-8 to 0-7, and while Caolan McColgan's superb leveller kept Naomh Padraig in it, the excellent O'Conghaile's point proved decisive.

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Armagh scored three late goals to beat All-Ireland champions Kerry 3-11 to 1-13 in their National Football League Division One opener at Austin Stack Park.

Blaithin Mackin, Rebecca Cunningham and Roisin Mulligan netted in quick succession late in the game to secure the comeback victory for last year's Division One winners, who are under new management in Darnell Parkinson and Joe Feeney.

It was an end-to-end start to the game played in tricky conditions, with the two sides trading points early.

Siofra O'Shea then scored the opening goal for Kerry on 19 minutes, finishing low after a neat move.

In their first game under new boss Mark Bourke, Kerry closed out the half with four consecutive points to take a 1-7 to 0-5 lead into half-time.

Mackin was introduced for the Orchard County on 48 minutes and made her presence felt instantly, pointing moments after coming on to take Armagh to within three points.

Goalkeeper Anna Carr made two good saves from O'Shea and Jadyn Lucey to keep Armagh in the game before Mackin then reduced Kerry's lead to two points.

She drove through the heart of their defence before firing high into the far corner from close range.

Cunnigham rifled home their second goal two minutes later to put Armagh ahead, finishing off a swift counter attack.

Three minutes from time Mulligan found the top corner with a well-taken finish for Armagh's third goal as they avenged last year's All-Ireland semi-final defeat at the hands of Kerry.

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Sunday's scheduled Allianz Football League Division One game between Kerry and Donegal has been postponed because the Ulster county are unable to travel because of the weather conditions.

The game was scheduled to take place at 13:45 GMT at the Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney but after consultation with Croke Park and in light of further inclement weather forecast for the weekend, the decision was made to call off the game.

The Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) will confirm details of the rescheduling of the fixture on Monday.

Meanwhile the Division Three encounter between Leitrim and Laois has been rearranged for 14:00 on Sunday 26 January because of electrical issues caused by Storm Éowyn. The situation will be monitored in advance of the game.

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Connacht GAA's Air Dome indoor playing facility in county Mayo has been blown down during Storm Éowyn.

The £2.6m facility, which was opened in 2020 and is located at Connacht GAA's Centre of Excellence at Bekan near Ballyhaunis, regularly hosts inter-county matches in the winter months as well as being used as a training venue.

However with winds registering over 100 miles an hour along Ireland's western seaboard, the inflated roof of the facility blew down at around 04:00 GMT on Friday morning.

"We have been unable to get out to the site to assess the damage as the winds are too high," Connacht GAA secretary John Prenty told Irish broadcaster RTE.

Prenty added that the structure was fully insured and Connacht GAA intended to rebuild it.

The 150m x 100m facility's inflatable roof, which used pumping stations, was anchored to a perimeter wall.

In a statement, Connacht GAA said: "Unfortunately, the University of Galway Connacht GAA Air Dome was significantly damaged by Storm Éowyn overnight, thankfully no one was hurt.

"Thanks to everyone for the support, it is our full intention to rebuild this magnificent facility as soon as possible."

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Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney has named 10 of his All-Ireland-winning starting team for Saturday's Allianz Football League Division One opener against Galway at Salthill (17:15 GMT).

Paddy Burns, Aaron McKay, Joe McElroy and Rian O'Neill are not included in the matchday squad with Conor Turbitt named on the bench.

McGeeney hands a league debut to Annaghmore man Tomas McCormack who will start at right full-back.

Greg McCabe, Darragh McMullen, Cian McConville and Stefan Campbell are the other players drafted into the team.

Campbell made a big impact when coming on as a second-half substitute in the All-Ireland Final which included setting up McKay's crucial goal.

Galway have named eight of their All-Ireland Final team for the rematch with the Orchard County.

All-Ireland Final starters Rob Finnerty and Damien Comer are not named in the squad with Shane Walsh, Jack Glynn, Liam Silke, Sean Mulkerrins and John Maher included in the substitutes.

Sean Kelly, Daniel O'Flaherty, John Daly, Cathal Sweeney, Finnian O Laoi, Cillian O Curraoin and Sam O'Neill are all handed starts.

Galway: C Gleeson; J McGrath, S Fitzgerald, D O'Flaherty; D McHugh, J Daly, S Kelly; P Conroy, C McDaid; C Sweeney, F Ó Laoi, C Darcy; C Ó Curraoin, M Tierney, S O'Neill

Subs: C Flaherty, J Glynn, K Molloy, S Mulkerrins, L Silke, J Maher, J McLoughlin, L Ó Conghaile, C Costello, S Walsh, J Heaney

Armagh: B Hughes; T McCormack, B McCambridge, A Forker; Connaire Mackin, T Kelly, G McCabe; B Crealey, N Grimley; O Conaty, R Grugan, D McMullen; C McConville, A Murnin, S Campbell.

Subs: E Rafferty, G Murphy, C O'Neill, F O'Brien, D Magee, C Turbitt, R McQuillan, J Duffy, C O'Hanlon, J Hall, S McPartlan

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Antrim kicked off their National Football League Division Four campaign with a thumping 7-17 to 1-3 victory against Kilkenny on Sunday.

The Saffrons scored six goals in the first half to hold a commanding 6-10 to 1-0 lead at the break.

Lara Dahunsi and Nicole Jones both scored two goals whilst Luisne Adams, Maria O'Neill, and Aoife Turley also found the net.

Elsewhere, All-Ireland junior champions Fermanagh beat All-Ireland intermediate champions Leitrim 3-13 to 2-9 in Kiltubrid.

Goals from Eimear Smyth and Aoife McCabe gave Fermanagh a 2-5 to 0-6 advantage at the break.

Leitrim responded with goals from Muireann Devaney and Roisin McHugh as they cut the gap to three in the second-half, before Blathin Bogue's strike sealed the opening day win Fermanagh.

Derry fell to a 5-14 to 1-8 defeat at the hands of Longford, whilst Sligo beat Wicklow 1-13 to 1-3.

Division Four Results:

Antrim 7-17 Kilkenny 1-3

Fermanagh 3-13 Leitrim 2-9

Sligo 1-13 Wicklow 1-3

Longford 5-14 Derry 1-8