Gaelic Games

Odhran Crumley
BBC Sport NI Journalist

Image source, Inpho

Armagh boss Kieran McGeeney is expecting Galway to visit the Athletic Grounds looking to "lay down a marker" in Saturday's Division One clash between the 2024 All-Ireland finalists [17:00 GMT].

The Orchard County opened their league campaign with an eye-catching 12-point win over Monaghan at Clones, scoring 1-27 with 11 different players registering scores.

In contrast, Galway were beaten 3-18 to 2-18 at home by Connacht rivals Mayo in their opener.

Saturday's game is a repeat of McGeeney's crowning victory as manager of his native county when they beat the Tribesmen in the 2024 All-Ireland final to bring Sam Maguire back to Armagh for only the second time.

"It'll be a tough game too, games between ourselves and Galway, there's never much between us, it's always a point either way and they'll be coming to the Athletic Grounds to lay down a marker. We know what's in front of us," said McGeeney.

"I'm happy with the performance [against Monaghan], again I thought we probably had three or four goal chances that we didn't either put over the bar or we missed, but there's still a lot to work on as well."

McKay unlikely to feature

Early points on the board, especially from an away fixture, will aid the Orchard cause as every county strives to secure their place in the top tier for next season.

The turnaround between league and championship will be quicker for Armagh as they will face neighbours Tyrone in the preliminary round of the Ulster Championship.

"I don't know if there's much freedom, it's Galway next and they're going to be hungry for points, so every game counts, and score difference counts too as we found out in the past to our detriment," McGeeney continued.

"Galway are always a big game. I'm sure they'll bring plenty as well. Every game you play in Division One, everybody knows my feelings on it, I think it should be expanded and not reduced."

McGeeney also confirmed that Armagh are likely to be without full-back Aaron McKay against Galway after he was withdrawn before the throw-in last weekend.

"Aaron hurt his hand, so we're hoping it'll only be a couple of weeks.

"Just at this time of the year, it's such a compact season, you don't want to be taking chances and probably be pushing bigger injuries further down the line, so we're hoping maybe not next [against Galway], but the week after he'll be fit for it."

Image source, Inpho

Derry manager Ciaran Meenagh does not believe home advantage will have a huge bearing on Saturday's Division game against Tyrone at Celtic Park [18:00 GMT, live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport NI website].

The Oak Leaf side host their neighbours and old rivals with both teams going into the game with a point to prove as they search for an opening win.

Meenagh's side fell to Meath in their opening game at Croke Park, but are back on home soil for this all-Ulster clash yet the Derry boss insists "it's not really an away fixture for Tyrone" who are used to playing at the venue.

"It's two neighbouring counties, so in terms of travel I don't think it will be much of an advantage for us," Meenagh told BBC Sport NI following Derry's defeat to Meath.

"We'll see how it goes, dust ourselves down and take the lessons from it [Meath defeat] and hopefully will improve.

"It's a big fixture but it's still January. It's big in terms of trying to get promotion, but overall there's bigger scheme of things."

Meenagh welcomed back Slaughtneil pair Brendan Rogers and Shane McGuigan last week following their club hurling championship exploits.

Both are still to get fully up to speed, but Meenagh feels that's true for every team as they build into the new season.

"Every team will be better after the first round, us included," he added.

"Playing games in other pitches with different conditions won't be as favourable as Croke Park is where the ball was greasy and it was windy, but that's winter football and I'm sure it will be like that for another few weeks."

Image source, Inpho

Antrim's National Hurling League Division 1B game against Clare will now be played in Cushendall on Sunday [13:00, live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport NI website].

The fixture was initially due to be played in Dunloy, but the recent spell of wet weather with further rain forecast has resulted in concerns whether the surface at Pearse Park would be playable.

Instead, the game moves to the Glens where there are pitch inspections planned for Páirc Naomh Mhuire on over the weekend if deemed necessary.

Antrim will go into the game against the 2024 All-Ireland champions hoping to put their opening round defeat to Wexford behind them.

Davy Fitzgerald's side led by two points in added time at Wexford Park in the opener when a late free for the hosts was brought forward and rifled to the net by Wexford goalkeeper Mark Fanning to snatch the win.

Clare opened their campaign with a 3-18 to 1-22 victory thanks to a stoppage time goal from Tony Kelly.

The last time Antrim and Clare met was a league fixture at Corrigan Park in 2021 when the Saffrons claimed a 1-21 to 0-22 victory.

Image source, Inpho

Oisin McConville believes switching back to the old system of the game-ending hooter would leave the GAA "less open to controversy".

All-Ireland champions Kerry claimed a dramatic Division One win over Roscommon on Sunday as Tomas Kennedy punched over a last-gasp winning point.

However, there was controversy as the score happened right on the hooter and Roscommon felt that Kennedy's point should not have counted.

Under new rules, the hooter signals the end of the game but the old system meant that play continued under the ball went out of play.

"I thought it worked a lot better under the old system where it was the final play," former Armagh All-Ireland winner and current Wicklow boss McConville said on the GAA Social podcast on BBC Sounds.

"It created the opportunity for a little bit more drama. The hooter just ending the game isn't for me.

"It would probably leave us open to less controversy too."

The change was implemented by the GAA's Football Review Committee (FRC) to try and stop too much additional time if teams did not put the ball out of play and to create greater urgency for scores.

The controversy surrounding Kennedy's score was not helped by the scoreboard at the Fitzgerald Stadium had five seconds remaining when Sean O'Shea took the free that led to Kennedy's point, while the TV broadcast on TG4 had two seconds left on the clock.

Speaking from his own experience working on BBC Sport's coverage, McConville pointed to how difficult it was to sync all the timing up to the exact second and that consistency was needed across the board.

"One thing we do know, to our cost, is the time on the clock on the TV does not always marry with what's going on with the officials.

"That's something you had to temper it with, but it seemed a very harsh way to lose a game.

"I think the system we had where play continued until the ball was out, I'm not really sure why we've gone away from that if we want to use the hooter."

Listen to the GAA Social podcast with Thomas Niblock and Oisin McConville on BBC Sounds.

David Mohan
BBC Sport NI Journalist

Image source, Inpho

Monaghan manager Gabriel Bannigan insists the absence of key players is "not an excuse" for his side's 1-27 to 0-18 defeat by Armagh on Sunday.

The Monaghan boss remains without the bulk of his Scotstown contingent, aside from Ryan O'Toole who started the Division One match, with Bannigan saying his "hand was forced" to start the defender having lost Ryan Wylie to illness overnight.

The Farneymen are without a host of injured players, including Conor McCarthy, while Davy Garland, Fionan Carolan, Alistair Stewart and Shane Hanratty have all joined the lengthy injury list since last week's Dr McKenna Cup final defeat by Donegal.

Still, Bannigan refused to use this as a reason for their poor showing, especially in attack during the first half he felt wasn't "up to the standards of Division One".

"It's well documented the amount of men we are missing from last year, but we have to talk about who we have and it's a steep learning curve," Bannigan said.

"On the positive side, I thought some of the newer players showed quite well. We had four debutants from the start and three more from the bench - a lot of lads in one go. We had to do that because at the moment we have to go with what we have.

"When it rains, it pours. We were already missing players and lost five more over the last week but that's not an excuse.

"We had a good enough team on the pitch in that first half and have to play a lot better than what we did, so we have to look in the mirror, take a lot of learnings and move on."

'We must improve for trip to Roscommon'

Next up for Monaghan is a trip to Dr Hyde Park to face Roscommon next Sunday [14:00 GMT] where Bannigan stressed his team "must be better" than their opening game.

The Rossies were pipped at the death against Kerry in Killarney in their opener, so will take encouragement from that performance according to the Monaghan manager.

"It's always a huge test going to the Hyde; I'm not sure how many years it's been since Monaghan won there," Bannigan added.

"Last year it was probably the toughest game we had in Division Two, so it will be a tough game.

"Roscommon will be buoyed by that performance down in Kerry, so we will have to be a lot better than today of we are going to put it up to him."

Image source, Inpho

Donegal manager Jim McGuinness feels his side's 1-20 to 0-20 win over Dublin at Croke Park will give him more "flexibility" for the remainder of their league campaign.

The Ulster champions enjoyed a good start to Division One with victory on the road and with two points on the board, McGuinness feels it eases a little bit of early pressure in a highly competitive division.

It was a return to the scene of Donegal's All-Ireland final defeat by Kerry last summer but this was not a factor for McGuinness who said their sole focus was on winning the game in front of them.

"It's always good to get a victory on the road, particularly in Croke Park," the Donegal manager told BBC Sport NI.

"We got a chance to look at a few lads tonight, following on from the McKenna Cup and getting the points on the board so early [in the campaign] is most important.

"It's two points and we won't be going much deeper psychologically. With points on the board it gives us more flexibility within the squad coming down the line.

"Dublin came hard in the second half and asked questions, but you're going to expect that and that's the challenge you want."

One of the new faces, Shea Malone scored the crucial goal in the first half, while McGuinness used the game to give league debuts to Kieran Gallagher, Turlough Carr and Conor McCahill.

Some of the established names such as Oisin Gallen, Michael Murphy and Shaun Patton are yet to filter back into playing contention with McGuinness confirming they are "all very close, but we won't be rushing them" as he reiterated his stance that he intends to use the league to bolster the panel.

"We're just looking a couple of things out of the league, stay injury-free as much as possible and develop a bit of depth in the squad," he added.

Image source, Getty Images

Brendan Rogers and Shane McGuigan will return to the Derry team for their Division Two National League opener against Meath at Croke Park on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Neither Rogers nor McGuigan featured for Derry during the Dr McKenna Cup with manager Ciaran Meenagh opting to give the Slaughtneil duo an extended break after their club's run to the All-Ireland club hurling semi-final.

Ryan Scullion has been handed the number one jersey with regular goalkeeper Odhran Lynch still sidelined.

The Oak Leafers are also boosted in defence with Padraig McGrogan and Conor McCluskey named in the full-back line alongside Diarmuid Baker.

Gareth McKinless who missed the entirety of last year's campaign has been handed the number six jersey.

Rogers will partner Conor Glass in midfield, while McGuigan will be joined in the full-forward line by Lachlan Murray and Niall Loughlin.

Despite naming a hugely experienced starting team, there's plenty of youth on the Derry bench with Conor McAteer, Sean Young, Sean Kearney, Patrick McGurk and the returning Jack Doherty providing options as replacements.

Eoin McEvoy and Dan Higgins remain sidelined as Derry begin their efforts for an immediate return to Division One.

Derry: Ryan Scullion; Conor McCluskey, Padraig McGrogan, Diarmuid Baker; Conor Doherty, Gareth McKinless, Shea Downey; Conor Glass, Brendan Rogers; Ethan Doherty, Niall Toner, Paul Cassidy; Lachlan Murray, Shane McGuigan, Niall Loughlin.

Subs: Shea McGuckin, Ruairi Forbes, Patrick McGurk, Mark Doherty, Conor McAteer, Matthew Downey, Jack Doherty, Ruairi O Mianain, Conall Higgins, Sean Kearney, Sean Young.

Image source, Inhpo

Derry manager Ciaran Meenagh says it's important his side do not become "too fixated on one team" as they begin their National League Division Two campaign against Meath at Croke Park on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The Oak Leaf County were relegated from Division One last season, failing to win any of their seven fixtures.

Former interim boss Ciaran Meenagh is now in charge of the team and his first task is guiding the 2024 league champions back to Division One.

On paper, Derry could not have been handed a more difficult start, taking on two of the sides that reached the last four of the All-Ireland series in Meath before hosting Tyrone in their second game.

"At the end of the day, we have seven games in nine weeks and if we're too fixated on one team," Meenagh told BBC Sport NI.

"We have Meath and then we have Tyrone at home and then we have Kildare away, coming week after week.

"I suppose the team we've got to fixate on most now is ourselves and how we can draw improvement from our own performance.

"The division is littered with dangerous teams, so yeah, that's a tough start, but there'll be no simple games."

Derry's Dr McKenna Cup campaign ended with a defeat to a strong Donegal side at the semi-final stage, but Meenagh was able to welcome back all-star midfielder Conor Glass.

Derry were also without the Slaughtneil duo of Shane McGuigan and Brendan Rogers who were given a break after their club's run to the All-Ireland club hurling semi-final.

"We were probably missing a number of those players that we would look towards in that case, and Conor Glass was only to play 40 minutes the night just to get him back up and running."