Kingdom of Heaven.

It might not have stirred Gav's sporting passions, but Kerry's destruction of Dublin in Croke Park earlier today further underlines the fact that Kerry is the Kingdom of Footballing heaven. A truly breathtaking display saw them triumph by 1-24 to 1-07.
Kerry's spectacular return to form sent the Dubs crashing out of the race for Sam Maguire at Croke Park. Dublin were simply demolished in front of a crowd of 81,890 by a Kingdom outfit bursting with energy, style and substance. Some brilliant performances from the likes of Declan O'Sullivan, Darren O'Sullivan, Colm Cooper and on and on and on. The strength in depth of the Kerry squad is unmatched by any other County in Ireland & Kieran Donaghy is out through injury!

I watched all of this weekend's 3 quarter finals. Anyone thats knows me will know that I have ties to Counties playing in each of the games. Cork's hammering of Donegal was a bitter blow. I know I was poking fun at the Donegal boys in an earlier post, but they were torn apart by a very strong Cork side.

In the other quarter final, the best of the bunch, All-Ireland champions Tyrone had to dig deep to survive Kildare's gutsy challenge at Croke Park, before squeezing through to the All-Ireland SFC semi-finals. The beaten Leinster finalists produced a heroic display at Croke Park, before going down by just two points in agonising fashion.

What I don't understand about some RTÉ panelists, is that when a team like Dublin, win their Provincial Title easily, then have a break for a few weeks, then come against a Kerry team battle hardened from their run in Qualifiers one member will say "We should take a look at the system, they haven't played at the level of intensity for a number of weeks, it was a factor today". Yet when Cork, a team that, like Dublin, haven't played in a few weeks, hammer Donegal, it gets flipped - Donegal are "Weary from their heroics in the Qualifiers, the system needs to be looked at." Seems a bit daft to me, make up your mind, when it suits it favours those coming through the Qualifiers, then Cork win easliy & the Qualifiers are to blame for a poor Donegal display. Methinks there is an apparent lack of insight from the panel when they spout inconsistent tripe like that. Then again what would I know.

Mayo & Meath meet to fight for the final remaining Semi-Final place. On the evidence of this weekend though, both teams will struggle to reach the level of Cork, Kerry & Tyrone. But, then again, what would I know.

Media Watch: The League of Ireland and the Recession

A glum week here on the media watch, given the unsurprising yet nonetheless sad demise of Setanta Sports in the UK. While Setanta Ireland is still on air (at the time of typing), thus meaning that we should still see League football from over here, this week has seen the indefinite postponement of the Setanta Sports Cup. Though never, I felt, the most cherished of competitions, there’s no denying that the loss of its substantial prize money will hurt the finances the League of Ireland clubs you and I adore.

Setanta’s demise comes on a week in which the finances of those same clubs have been under the spotlight. Limerick F.C’s case was widely reported after a public meeting was held in the city on Sunday night. A not-so-sexy 69 people showed up (exactly 500 less than were at Limerick’s 1-0 loss to Shels on Friday) but while the attendance was not the best, the media did their bit to save the Super Blues. By Monday, there were stark headlines in the local press that the club could go out of business this weekend unless €70,000 was found. Right now, again at the time of typing, it looks like the club will stave off the Grim Reaper thanks to a kind offer from a local businessman and the club have the media to thank, in part, for bringing awareness to Limerick’s issues.

While this is one positive way in which the financial woes of a League of Ireland club have been reported, it is in the minority. Also on Monday, the Irish Independent previewed the draws for the Qualifying Rounds of the Champions League and UEFA Cup Light a.k.a. the Europa League, focussing on Bohemians and explaining how a long European run was just what the bank manager, and not hte doctor, had ordered for the Gypsies. Alongside the article was a ‘helpful’ table which detailed the financial situations of the four clubs in the pot. Derry’s was the most positive even though, depressingly, the paper detailed vague rumours about their finances. The less said about Cork, Bohs and Sligo, the better. Was this really necessary? Could the Indo not have examined our improved European performances in recent years and wondered if this was the year that we would see a breakthrough for an Irish club?

Limerick and the European 4 aren’t the only clubs in trouble, of course. There have been problems at my own Galway United and at Drogheda also. We’ve heard all their stories, all topped with bleak headlines, particularly in the national press. While we hate to read or hear about these problems, the case in Limerick this week shows that on a local level at least, there is a groundswell of public will that wants to see our clubs survive these tough times. No League of Ireland club has yet gone to ground during this recession and long may that statement remain factually correct. We have a vibrant league, we have teams who play good football and we have players who are very, very talented. We’re just not told about them.

The League of Ireland needs an injection of positivity. The media can and should do its bit.

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This was originally posted over on http://www.extratime.ie

Preview To Thurles Thriller: Tipperary v Cork

Ciarán Ryan is one of our new writers. The Tipperary native (and devotee) works as a journalist for radio and for print and he's an all-round nice guy. In his first post for The Almost Daily Sports Blog, Ciarán previews this Sunday's Munster Hurling Championship clash between his native Tipp and their bitter rivals Cork.

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The smell of fresh grass, three bars of chocolate for a pound, pipe bands, farmer tans, straw hats, glorious summer days that came out of nowhere, plastic caps, and a vendor squealing “who is for the last of the ices?”; it could only be the allure and beauty of that most holy of Irish sporting events – a Munster championship game between Cork and Tipp.

While times have changed – fancy baseball caps and coffees have replaced their eighties equivalents, you’d hardly get a club milk for under a Euro, and the opening of that back door twelve years ago has taken some of the jizz out of it, this is still very much a glamour tie in GAA circles. Even more so now, considering all the shenanigans that have gone on Lee-side this year, that unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, or indeed “The Rock” O’Sullivan, you know all about.

For me, as a noble son of Tiobraid Árann , these games represent torture and exuberance in equal measures. My first ever championship game, at the age of five, was the classic drawn Munster Final of ’87. I recall listening to another draw in ’91 while on holidays with my family in Spiddal, and finishing our game of pitch and putt early to get the coverage. Again, it was the airwaves that were my only solace last year, when marooned in Zambia with only a dial up internet connection for company, the might tones of Tipp Fm legend Paddy Finucane boomed across the room as Tipp claimed a historic scalp in Cork. I had to be careful, mind you, not to move, as any slight jump in celebration forced that internet connection down. On the other side of the fence, I’ve suffered the heartbreak; numerous defeats in this decade (curbed by the ’07 qualifier win for Tipp) rank amongst them.

On to this year, and Sunday’s clash. Tipperary will have to deal with the unusual position of being hot favourites, but Cork’s recent form in challenge matches shows that they are still a veritable threat. A couple of retirements mean Cork have a depleted stock this year, and particular interest will be paid to the new additions in the middle of their full-back and full-forward lines, Eoin Cadagon and Aisake O’hAilpin respectively. Another oddity will be Tipp’s entrance as the neutral’s favoured team, given much of the disdain shown by hurling folk around the country to the antics of the Rebels this year.

Tipperary welcome back talisman Eoin Kelly and All-Star centre-back Conor O’Mahony , the only two changes from the team that lost the League Final to Kilkenny four weeks ago. The return of Kelly, in particular, is an interesting one. Many from within the county hadn't expected the Mullinahone forward to even play this year after suffering a fairly significant back injury. If he is able to bring an iota of his previous form into this game, it will be a huge boost for Tipp.

Cork will be looking to their elder statesmen, who might just have a few kicks left in them. For them to win, the likes of the O’Connors, Tom Kenny, Sean Óg, and John Gardiner need to be at the top of their game. Timmy McCarthy has traditionally gone well against Tipp, and may have an impact in the forwards. Ronan Curran, at centre-back, needs to rediscover some of the form that made him the best in his position in the country just a few years ago.

It may be Tipp’s young players, on the other hand, that tip the balance in their favour. Eighteen-year-old wonderkid Noel McGrath has stepped up to the mark with his displays in the forwards, and Paudie Maher of the famed Thurles Sarsfields club exudes confidence in the backline. Considering his performances last year, we better not forget that Seamus Callinan is still Under-21 also.

Strangely for me, both head and heart are saying the same thing – a Tipp win, but just about. Don’t expect there to be much more than three or four points in this. Either way, expect sunburn, melted chocolate, and some eejit sitting in front of you with a straw hat. Hey, it’s Munster Championship day folks, not a fashion parade.