It’s as well Nicky English wasn’t lost for words when he was tasked with summing up the Dublin hurlers’ momentous win over Limerick, seeing as he’s a columnist of ours. But he probably came close. This, he writes, “was the best Dublin hurling performance in adversity that I’ve seen”, their team spirit “immense” in the course of them “sensationally dumping the most formidable team of recent times out of the championship”.
David Byrne was in Croke Park to see “the hurling shock of the decade”, but Denis Walsh witnessed no such drama at the Gaelic Grounds where Tipperary eased their way past Galway. “In Tipp’s resurgent summer, this was another sunny day,” he writes.
And we now know the shape of football’s quarter-finals after Monday morning’s draw. It followed a weekend of football that Malachy Clerkin likens to “Willy Wonka’s Everlasting Gobstopper machine”, as only Malachy Clerkin can. “Kerry (easily) and the Dubs (doggedly) disposed of Cavan and Cork on Saturday, Sunday saw Donegal (in a stroll) and Galway (in a dogfight) get past Louth and Down,” he writes.
Seán Moran was in Croke Park to see the dogged Dubs get there in the end against a battling Cork side, while Malachy was in Newry for the “stone-cold thriller” between Galway and Down.
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In the Tailteann Cup, it’ll be Kildare v Limerick in next month’s final after they saw off Fermanagh and Wicklow, respectively, Paul Keane reporting on the semi-finals, and we also know the line-up for the quarter-finals in the women’s football championship after the weekend’s action. Kildare produced the biggest upset by beating Ulster champions Armagh – they meet reigning champions Kerry in the last eight.
And in his Tipping Point column, Denis looks at the GAA’s latest exercises in self-reflection – they’ve set up a committee to look at the championship’s structures and scheduling, and they’ve launched a major survey on amateurism among members.
Our rugby crew have been exceedingly busy wrapping up the Lions’ defeat by Argentina on Friday – there’s reaction from Andy Farrell, player ratings, Tom Curry’s thoughts on it all (hint: he was “p***ed off”), five things we learnt from the game, an analysis of Fin Smith’s performance and a piece on Finn Russell patching up his differences with Johnny Sexton.
In football, there was a bolt from the blue on Sunday with the news that Damien Duff had resigned from his position as Shelbourne manager. He’ll leave some hole in the League of Ireland. And we also hear from Carla Ward who is in Colorado preparing her Republic of Ireland side for the first of two daunting friendlies against the United States.
In racing, Brian O’Connor looks ahead to next Sunday’s bumper nine-race card at the Curragh, the highlight the Irish Derby – is that too lengthy a card for one day? – and he has news on the connections of Ireland’s latest Group One star, Cercene, considering an ambitious Oaks attempt at the Curragh next month.
TV Watch: It’s third plays first in the Premier Division this season, Bohemians hosting Shamrock Rovers (Virgin Media Two, 7.45pm), and at 8pm you have your pick of the weekend’s GAA highlights on TG4 and two Club World Cup games on DAZN, Seattle v PSG and Atletico Madrid v Botafogo.
