[caption id="attachment_71362" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Kilkenny hurling manager Brian Cody and his Cork counterpart Jimmy Barry-Murphy pictured at Croke Park ahead of Sunday’s NHL final, which will be played at Semple Stadium in Thurles. with the NHL trophy. "]
Former Derry footballer Joe Brolly said recently that Ireland once had three major institutions: Fianna Fáil, the Catholic Church and the GAA. According to Brolly the first two self-destructed because although they knew what the problem was and how to solve it, their instinct was to stick with the peculiarly Irish tactic of sitting on their hands. It’s hard to disagree with with; Fianna Fáil are now in opposition with a record low of only 20 T.D.s, and the Catholic Church has various well-publicized problems, so the GAA is now the only institution still going strong in the Emerald Isle.
Every year we hear calls from journalists for the GAA to stage a few big championship games in May to whet the fans appetites. But as long as the provincial system remains in place and the back door offers almost everybody a second chance, the serious action in football and hurling will only commence around the August Bank Holiday weekend. So for the 11th year in-a-row the honor of kicking off the GAA football championship campaign falls to Gaelic Park when New York play Sligo in the Connacht championship on Sunday next. With the European soccer championships coming up next month and the Olympics at the end of July, GAA Director General Paraic Duffy says the Association is going to have a major marketing campaign to kick start the hurling and football championship this year. But that marketing campaign may not happen before Sunday’s game at Gaelic Park.
After Sunday’s game there is a two-week break until the football championship starts in Ireland. Sligo’s last competitive outing was a home win in division three of the National Football League over Roscommon on Easter Sunday. That win meant Sligo finished third in division three and afterwards manager Kevin Walsh said that his team “were in the right frame of mind.” Sligo has a fairly new look team with long serving Eamon O’Hara still out with a cruciate injury, but they will probably still be too strong for the Exiles.
CATS VS. REBELS IN NHL FINAL
Prior to the National Hurling League semifinals earlier this month there was talk of the final being played at Nowlan Park, Kilkenny, if it was a Kilkenny-Tipperary final. I’m sure that newspaper cutting was probably pinned up in the Cork dressing room at Semple Stadium prior to their semifinal against Tipperary. Either way Cork had a comfortable win over Tipp in the semifinal and now meet the Cats in the final in Thurles on Sunday next. Cork goalkeeper Donal Og Cusack suffered an achilles tendon injury early in the semifinal and will miss the rest of the season, but Cork has a useful deputy in Anthony Nash. Jimmy Barry-Murphy seems to have worked the oracle since returning to take charge of Cork and the Rebels are looking very good at this stage of the season. Both counties have each won 14 National Hurling League titles, Kilkenny’s last was in 2009, while one has to back to 1998 to find Cork’s last success. I think this fresh team in red might bridge that 14-year gap on Sunday afternoon. The hurling final on Sunday starts at 4 p.m., while at 2 p.m. the All-Ireland under 21 football final between Dublin and Roscommon goes ahead in Tullamore. Both games will be television by TG4. The Dubs, with Australia-bound Ciaran Kilkenny in great form, will be favourites to take the title for the second time in three years.
REDS VS. BLUES IN F.A. CUP FINAL
Those of you who were born in Ireland will remember how big the FA Cup Final at Wembley was for soccer fans back in the 1970s and ‘80s. The television build up began around 11 a.m. on Saturday morning and we were probably exhausted by the time “Abide With Me” was sung just before kick-off at 3 p.m. But in recent years the importance of the FA Cup has declined with more emphasis now being placed on clubs finishing in the top four of the Premier League and an opportunity to play in the lucrative Champions League.
This year, the FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Liverpool will have a 5.15 p.m. kick off for the first time. The FA say the later kick off maximizes the domestic and global television audience for broadcasters. But Reds fans are not happy; they have to make the long journey from Merseyside on a bank holiday weekend when trains will be curtailed due to track maintenance, while Chelsea supporters can hop on the London underground and head for Wembley. And the Blues generally are on a high right now after beating Barcelona last week to qualify for the Champions League Final against Bayern Munich on May 19.
SHERIDAN BACK FOR MEATH
Meath senior football manager Seamus McEneaney got a boost last week when Joe Sheridan returned home after six weeks in Boston and is now back training with the Royals. Sheridan is a big man and is an ideal target man at full forward. However, McEneaney will have to plan without midfielder Mark Ward, who needs surgery to correct torn ankle ligaments. Shane O’Rourke is still recovering from a surgery to remedy a hip problem and his absence coupled with Ward’s reduces Meath’s midfield options.
