GAA Digest: Galway Shocks Kilkenny With Big Win, Clare Wins, Cork Wins, and GAA shorts

Whats happening on the GAA pitches in Ireland

“I knew they wouldn’t fall away, I knew they would keep fighting until the very end,” said Fitzgerald.

“The fight, the passion, the fact that we never stopped. There were some amount of tackles out there, Dublin put in some amount of tackles, and they are a fair team. They worked hard, we worked hard and we came out on top.”
 
Cork Wins

CORK boss Conor Counihan found plenty of room for criticism after his team’s expected win over Clare in the Munster SFC final in Limerick on Sunday.

The Rebels were easy winners on a 3-16 to 0-13 scoreline, but Counihan saw plenty of room for improvement.

“Goals were important and we were fortunate to get a few. Clare had opportunities as well, probably in the second half and didn’t take them,” said Counihan.

“We’d have been disappointed with the second half. We think Clare probably won the second half and we didn’t push on enough. We had the comfort of a couple of goals of a lead and we didn’t build on that.

“We made some basic errors and against a team that would finish better, we’d have been in trouble. We can’t be too negative about it, we’ve won a Munster championship for the first time in three years.”

Clare boss Micheal McDermott was philosophical about the result but critical of match referee Eddie Kinsella, who allowed a controversial third goal for Cork.

McDermott said, “We were very, very competitive despite going one goal, two goals, three goals down. We kept fighting.

“Last year we probably hung the heads and we gave in when we were down in Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Here we didn’t. We kept battling right to the end and that was the most pleasing thing about today.

“We had some crazy, crazy decisions against us in the second half, but we held our discipline, we took it on the chin. That’s what Clare football is all about, battling right to the end no matter what is thrown in front of you.”

Cork Wins

OFFALY’S season is over after a 1-26 to 2-16 defeat to Cork in the All-Ireland qualifiers on Saturday night, with manager Ollie Baker critical of the current championship structures.

“We’re disappointed, I have 30 lads who’ve put in seven, eight months’ effort, but we’re not going to see a competitive fixture until next February,” Baker told reporters after the game.

“For us to develop as a team, we can’t be competitive on a consistent basis unless we’re playing matches. We’re out of the championship now, but there are a lot of lads inside there who want to be playing hurling. Maybe there should be another look at the structures to make that happen. “We need matches. Challenge matches and training matches are grand, but the amount a game like this will bring the players on but it’s another seven months before we play again.

“That’s a crazy system on one hand, but you can’t reward teams for losing matches either, so you have to have a balance.”

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Nster.com