County Louth golfer Stuart Grehan will be the lone Irishman on the Great Britain and Ireland team which will seek to end a dominant spell of victories by the United States when the Walker Cup is contested at Lahinch Golf Club, Co. Clare on Sept. 5 and 6. In the team announced last week by captain Dean Robertson, the former European Tour player, the County Offaly-born Grehan is one of six players who were part of the losing team at Cypress Point a year ago to earn selection, while Jack Whaley’s brilliant win in the US Amateur championship at Merion recently has earned him selection. The 10-man team is dominated by English players. Roscommon's Thomas Higgins and Fota Island’s David Howard were named as first and second reserves.
KATIE FIGHT
LIVE ON RTÉ
Katie Taylor’s historic undisputed super lightweight title fight against Flora Pili at Croke Park on Sept. 5 will be available to watch live free-to-air on RTÉ . The farewell fight for the Bray boxer will be on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, with 2FM providing live radio commentary. The London 2012 Olympic gold medallist and multi-weight world champion will bid to sign off her remarkable career in style when she faces undefeated French boxer Pili. A crowd of 80,000 is set to be in attendance for Taylor’s momentous farewell, with RTÉ ready to bring the event to viewers throughout the Republic of Ireland after securing rights to the event. Streaming platform DAZN, which operates on a subscription basis, will broadcast the fight worldwide. Meanwhile Wicklow County Council has confirmed it will facilitate a public screening of Katie’s last fight on the seafront in her native Bray.
DUFFY BOOST
FOR LONGFORD
Longford senior footballers could be in line for a massive boost with the news that AFL star Matt Duffy is returning home after three years in Australia. Duffy joined Carlton back in 2023 as a teenager, but a luckless run saw him tear his ACL and rule him out for 12 months before getting the chance to line out with the Blues. As it turned out, he wouldn’t make an appearance for the club in the AFL, instead playing 27 times in the VFL after having joined as a Category B rookie. Having last played for Longford in the 2023 Tailteann Cup, Duffy’s return home Midlanders who are currently on the lookout for a new manager after Mike Solan stepped down recently.
Meanwhile Longford senior hurling manager Diarmuid Cahill has stepped down from his post after two seasons at the helm. The Tipperary native steered the Midlanders to the National League Division 4 final, earning the team promotion to Division 3 for 2027.
In Cork, the football manager of the women’s side Joe Carroll has quit after two season in charge.
And former Mayo senior football manager James Horan has linked up with Moycullen as the club looks to defend its Galway senior football championship title this autumn. Moran has joined Cathal Clancy’s back room team which already sees Clare selector Kieran Murphy and Brian Roche from the Offaly senior hurling back-room team within it. Moycullen also have lured goalkeeper Niall O’Donnell while forward Owen Gallagher returns.
MCGUINNESS WILL
MAKE IT 4: REPORT
Jim McGuinness is set to remain on as Donegal senior football manager for a fourth year. The 2012 All-Ireland winning manager has been an interested spectator at club championship games in the county over the past few weeks and local media outlets are suggesting that he is staying on for at least another year. McGuinness served four years during his previous tenure from 2011 to 2014, during which he won three Ulster titles and the Sam Maguire cup in 2012. He stepped down after Donegal lost the 2014 All-Ireland final to Kerry, only to return again a decade later. Since then, the Glenties man has led Donegal to two more Ulster titles and an All-Ireland final appearance against Kerry last year. They avenged that defeat with big wins over the in the National League final and in Round One of All-Ireland championship in Killarney. But the wait for another Sam Maguire win goes on.
