It was a decidedly damp start to the GAA’s league seasons, but only weather-wise – much of the action was of the decidedly dramatic kind. If we were to give you a link to every one of our match reports from the weekend’s action, the Morning Briefing would take on War and Peace proportions, so just click here and then scroll about the place to find your match of choice.
In football’s Division 1, Seán Moran was at Pearse Stadium to witness a “chaotic contest” between Galway and Mayo; Ian O’Riordan saw Ger Brennan’s Dublin reign begin with a defeat to Donegal in Croke Park; Roscommon hearts were broken by a late Kerry winner in Killarney, and Armagh started their campaign with a blistering win over Monaghan in Clones. And on the women’s side, Kerry kick-started their league campaign with victory over All-Ireland champions Dublin.
In hurling’s Division 1A, Malachy Clerkin took himself off to Semple Stadium to see All-Ireland champions Tipperary get the better of Galway; Kilkenny prevailed at Nowlan Park, but were pushed hard by Offaly, and Cork’s Ben O’Connor era began with a 14-point demolition of Waterford. It was, writes Denis Walsh, “the kind of performance that had illuminated their best days last season”, but we won’t know for a bit yet whether the scars from that All Ireland final defeat have healed.
The Arsenal faithful will wonder if the scars from losing to Manchester United on Sunday will ever heal. It was, says Ken Early, “a victory for improvisation over scripting, for football against rugbification”, a risk-averse Arsenal now left with “15 nerve-shredding tests between them and their first title in 22 years”.
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In his Green Shoots column, Conor McEvoy rounds up news of how the Irish abroad fared. It was yet another good week for Troy Parrott, but a miserable Sunday for Caoimhín Kelleher and Nathan Collins.
In rugby, Leinster rained all over Connacht’s parade on the night they opened their new Clan Stand, Gerry Thornley reporting on their 34-23 URC victory at the Dexcom Stadium. Putting a dampener on that triumph, though, was the injury to Jack Boyle, Connacht prop Billy Bohan replacing him in the Irish squad. Seán Edogbo shone on his debut for Munster in their 22-20 win over the Dragons, but Ulster fell to a shock last-minute defeat away to the Scarlets.
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry’s challenge at the Dubai Desert Classic petered out in disappointing fashion, the tournament won by Patrick Reed. The American, writes Denis, was “the most disliked man on the PGA Tour” before he left for LIV, and now he’d quite like him back to add a pinch of saltiness to the game because it’s become far too sugary.
And in racing, the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) has scrapped the two positions that used to be held by its top former security and investigation officials. So, Brian O’Connor wonders, when it comes to investigations, where does that leave their fact-finding capacity?
TV Watch: TNT Sports’ live coverage of the Australian Open continues until 1.30pm this afternoon, and at 8pm this evening TG4 have highlights of the GAA weekend and Sky Sports bring you the Premier League meeting between Everton and Leeds.
