Gaelic Games

Armagh are carrying the All-Ireland champions tag for the first time in over 20 years and will obviously have a huge say in where the Ulster Championship ends up.

This Armagh squad have been on the go a long time now and haven't managed to win an Ulster title, so that will definitely be in their heads. They've lost the past two finals on penalties and you'd expect them to be there or thereabouts again.

Obviously, Donegal are the holders and they're even stronger than they were last year.

They have a few big players back involved. Michael Murphy's the biggest one of those, Odhran McFadden-Ferry's back in there, Finbarr Roarty and Eoin McHugh too, so they've a deeper and better squad.

Jim McGuinness has always put massive stock on the Ulster Championship and this year will be no different.

Tyrone are an interesting case. They were relegated from Division One, but relegated with seven points and victories over Donegal and Dublin, which is pretty unique.

I don't think they will be overly concerned with where they're at. In fact, they will be relatively content, and knowing Malachy O'Rourke, Ryan Porter and Leo McBride, they will leave no stone unturned getting Tyrone ready to face Cavan in a fortnight's time.

For Monaghan, winning games has bred confidence. That's big going into a championship campaign, but it must be said that the standard in Division Two this year was quite poor.

A lot of Monaghan games I watched, they were very comfortable wins against Cork, Louth and Meath. The standard of those teams isn't comparable to what they'll face in Ulster.

Image source, Inpho

Ulster SFC preliminary round - Donegal v Derry

Venue: MacCumhaill Park, Ballybofey Date: Sunday, 6 April Throw-in: 14:00 BST

Coverage: Watch live on BBC Two NI, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website; text updates & in-play clips on BBC Sport website

Chrissy McKaigue says Brendan Rogers being ruled out of Derry's Ulster Championship opener against "overwhelming favourites" Donegal would be a massive blow for the Oak Leafers.

Rogers has been named at full-back for Sunday's Ballybofey contest which will be live on the live on BBC Two NI, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website but his fitness has been in some doubt after he was forced to miss Derry's final two Allianz Football League games as they eventually suffered relegation.

Paddy Tally's struggling side are already minus former All-Stars Gareth McKinless and Conor McCluskey in addition to goalkeeper Odhran Lynch and Anton Tohill because of injury.

Ciaran McFaul, Lachlan Murray and Niall Loughlin have also been bothered by knocks in recent weeks although McFaul and Murray have been named in the starting team with Loughlin included in the substitutes.

With Lynch ruled out, goalkeeper Neill McNicholl is one of three championship debutants alongside Martin Bradley and Dan Higgins, who will partner Conor Glass in midfield.

"It [Rogers being ruled out) would be massive and possibly a game definer," said McKaigue over the fitness concerns in relation to his Slaughtneil club-mate.

"If Donegal play Michael Murphy from the start which you would imagine on the edge of the square, Brendan is either going to be needed there or he's going to be needed to play against a lot of potential Donegal midfield pairings, Ciaran Thompson, Michael Langan, Hugh McFadden and the list goes on.

"Donegal are very strong aerially and Brendan will be needed at some end of the pitch."

Murphy and McBrearty named on Donegal bench

Neither Murphy, skipper Patrick McBrearty nor Oisin Gallen have been named in the starting Donegal team announced on Friday although the trio are included in the substitutes and with the caveat that late changes on game day have become the norm.

Defender Finnbarr Roarty is in line for a championship debut after being named at right full-forward while Hugh McFadden will partner Michael Langan at midfield with Ciaran Thompson selected at centre half-forward.

McKaigue helped Derry to back-to-back Ulster titles in 2022 and 2023 and last season's Division One title but announced his inter-county retirement in November.

Derry's slump was started when Donegal ambushed them in their Ulster Championship opener at Celtic Park last April and given their drop to Division Two, amid their injury crisis, few are backing them to upset Donegal at MacCumhaill Park.

"You can label it as excuses or whatever but there is a very simple reality that Derry are missing a lot of players this year due to injury and unavailability which hasn't given Paddy Tally an easy start," added McKaigue.

"[And] it seems from the outside that Jim McGuinness has methodically planned his way right to this point where he did his work early in the league and primed himself for a massive performance in the first round of the championship."

Donegal: S Patton; F Roarty, B McCole, C Moore; R McHugh, C McGonagle, P Mogan; H McFadden, M Langan; D O Baoill, C Thompson, S O'Donnell, C O'Donnell, A Doherty.

Subs: G Mulreany, M Curran, S McMenamin, K McGettigan, J Brennan, J Mac Ceallabhui, M Murphy, O McFadden Ferry, O Gallen, P McBrearty, J McGee.

Derry: N McNicholl; D Baker, B Rogers, M Bradley; C Doherty, P McGrogan, E McEvoy; C Glass, D Higgins; E Doherty, Paul Cassidy, C McFaul; N Toner, S McGuigan, L Murray.

Subs: B McKinless, N Loughlin, P McGurk, D Cassidy, B McCarron, M Doherty, C Devlin, C McMonagle, R Mulholland, C Diamond, K Quinn.

Image source, Inpho

Kerry GAA legend Mick O'Dwyer has died at the age of 88.

The Waterville native won four All-Irelands with The Kingdom as a player before taking over as manager and establishing the county as the game's dominant force in the 1970s and '80s.

During a period of fierce rivalry with Kevin Heffernan's Dublin, O'Dwyer's Kerry side lifted Sam Maguire eight times in 12 seasons.

GAA president Jarlath Burns said O'Dwyer would go down as "one of the greatest of all time."

"He will be ed as an outstanding manager, motivator and mentor," Burns said.

"He was someone who could take a team and make it greater than the sum of its parts.

"While it is a sad day, it is also an opportunity to reflect on somebody who really changed the way we think of a manager's role with a team. His achievements are incredible."

O'Dwyer also had a hand in 23 Munster titles and 11 National League titles during his more than three decades involved with his native county.

He stepped down from Kerry in 1989 and went on to manage Kildare, Laois, Wicklow and Clare.

With Kildare, he won a pair of Leinster championships and took the county to the All-Ireland final of 1998, their first since 1935, where they were beaten by Galway.

He would add another Leinster title with Laois in 2003, the county's first in 57 years, and won the Tommy Murphy Cup with Wicklow.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin called O'Dwyer "an icon of Gaelic Games".

The Irish Prime Minister said: "Micko lived and breathed Gaelic football. He embodied everything good about the game - dedication, ambition, positivity and community."

Image source, Inpho

Donegal selector Colm McFadden warns that Derry have "the ability to turn us over" in the Ulster Championship opener on 6 April.

Just one month after Donegal defeated Derry in Division One, the sides meet in the preliminary round of the provincial championship in Ballybofey.

Donegal finished fourth in Division One as the top seven teams were separated by just two points, while Derry were relegated after being cut adrift with just one point.

"We know what Derry can produce and they have quality all over the field," said McFadden.

"Our boys will definitely have to get their heads in the right place. We will head into the game in the right frame of mind to try and get a result.

"Anything less than that, we know Derry have the ability to turn us over."

Despite leading in Ballyshannon, Derry let a late lead slip in the Division One match between the sides on 2 March as Donegal ran out 1-22 to 1-19 winners.

McFadden said that if Donegal let Paddy Tally's side build up a significant lead in the Ulster Championship then "it will be too big a scoreline to claw back".

"We'll have to tighten up on that and not allow them that big of a lead," said McFadden, who added Derry were unfortunate not to win more matches.

"Before the league even started we knew the teams in Division One were all quality opposition and anyone can beat anyone.

"There's nothing between the teams in Division One and the top teams in Division Two. It's going to be a tight Championship, particularly in Ulster.

"It's going to be tough but the players will look forward to it."

Image source, Inpho

Offaly t-manager Mickey Harte "makes a difference everywhere he goes", says Oisin McConville.

Harte, along with Declan Kelly, guided Offaly to the Division Three title after a 2-17 to 1-18 win over Kildare in the final.

It is a sixth league title with four different counties for Harte, including four triumphs in the past five seasons with three different teams.

"Everywhere he goes he definitely brings something," McConville said on the GAA Social podcast.

"There is a massive respect there so he is going to get a response from players."

Sunday's victory at Croke Park with Offaly also means he has won the a league in his first year in charge of Tyrone, Louth, Derry and now the Faithful County.

After winning Divisions One and Two with Tyrone in 2003 and 2016, Harte guided Louth to the Divisions Four and Three titles in 2021 and 2022, before coming out on top with Derry in the top tier last year.

"Hats off to him. His record is phenomenal, you can't argue with that," added 2002 All-Ireland winner McConville.

"He seems to have given a massive bounce to Offaly."

• Listen to the GAA Social podcast on BBC Sounds

Image source, Inpho

Antrim and Fermanagh secured promotion and spots in the Ladies Football League Division Four Final after victories in high-scoring contests on Sunday.

The Saffrons earned a 5-8 to 3-10 win over last year's All-Ireland Intermediate champions Leitrim at Kingscourt with Fermanagh beating Sligo 5-12 to 3-13 at Tarmonbarry in county Roscommon.

Early goals from Omolara Danhunsi, Anna Mulholland and skipper Bronagh Devlin helped the Saffrons lead Leitrim 3-6 to 2-5 at half-time.

Nicole Jones fired in Antrim's fourth major in the second half with Devlin completing a 2-3 haul as she fired in the Saffrons' closing goal three minutes from time.

Fermanagh were determined to achieve promotion after losing in the Division Four semi-finals last season and Eimear Smyth's 1-8 and Joanne Doonan's 2-1 helped them battle past Sligo.

Sligo hit the opening three points but Doonan's opening goal in the 11th minute was soon followed by Smyth finding the net which helped the Erne women into a five-point advantage.

The Yeats County were back in front after Ciara Walsh and Cara King netted but their lead didn't last long as Doonan's second goal and a Cliodhna Martin strike left Fermanagh 4-4 to 2-6 up at the interval.

Fermanagh put further daylight between the teams after the resumption with a run of 1-3 which included their fifth goal from Sinead Barrett.

As the impressive Smyth continued to tag on points, Fermanagh were never really under threat in the closing quarter despite Carol Coleman's late Sligo goal and they can now look forward to the Division Four Final on 13 April.

In Division Two, Donegal were beaten 1-8 to 0-8 by Cork, who will face Galway in the decider, with the Rebels and Tribeswomen having secured promotion to Division One.

Cavan will meet Wexford in the Division Three Final safe in the knowledge that promotion has been secured.

The Breffni defeated Limerick 0-10 to 0-9 on Sunday in what was a dead rubber with both promotion and their final spot already achieved.

Lidl National Ladies Football League results

Division One

Dublin 2-12 Kerry 2-10

Kildare 4-10 Tyrone 2-8

Meath 2-12 Armagh 4-5

Waterford 2-13 Mayo 1-6

Division Two

Cork 1-8 Donegal 0-8

Galway 4-22 Clare 0-5

Westmeath 2-11 Monaghan 0-13

Tipperary 1-12 Roscommon 0-10

Division Three

Louth 7-12 Offaly 1-8

Cavan 0-10 Limerick 0-9

Down v Carlow - Down walkover

Wexford 3-9 Laois 0-10

Division Four semi-finals

Fermanagh 5-12 Sligo 3-13

Antrim 5-08 Leitrim 3-10

Image source, Inpho

Kerry clinched a 24th Allianz Football League title as they overcame Mayo 1-18 to 1-12 in the Division One Final at Croke Park.

The Kingdom fittingly became the first winners of the new Micheal O Muircheartaigh Cup being awarded to the winners of the Division One title in honour of the legendary Kerry native GAA commentator who died last June.

After the excitement of last weekend's final series of round-robin fixtures, the final was somewhat of a pedestrian affair with focus already turning to the championship which gets under way next weekend.

Mayo led 0-4 to 0-2 early on but Kerry suddenly were ahead as David Clifford intercepted a kickout from Mayo goalkeeper Colm Reape and set up Paul Geaney to find an empty net.

Kerry never trailed again as they led 1-9 to 0-7 at the interval with Clifford having ed 0-4 in the opening half.

A Ryan O'Donoghue point cut Kerry's lead to four after the restart but the Kingdom responded with four straight scores to lead by eight.

Mayo briefly rallied to reduce the the margin to three after 48 minutes as an Eoghan McLaughlin goal was followed by an O'Donoghue two-pointer.

However scores from Tony Brosnan and Clifford put Kerry back in firm control and the Kingdom superstar was close to notching a second goal late on when he struck the woodwork.

The six-point margin at the finish accurately reflected the 70 minutes of action as Clifford finished with 0-9 with his brother Paudie contributing 0-3 of Kerry's total.

In the curtain-raiser at Croke Park, Offaly t-manager Mickey Harte celebrated winning the Division Three title as the Faithful County edged out Kildare 2-17 to 1-18.

Offaly became the fourth county that Harte has won a Football League title with given his previous Division One and Division Two triumphs with his native Tyrone, Division Four and Division Three successes with Louth and last year's Division One victory with Derry.

Jack Bryant's early goal helped Offaly lead 1-10 to 0-10 at half-time.

An unanswered run of 1-3 - which included Cormac Egan's goal - kept Offaly in control even though Kildare did kick the final three scores.

Image source, Inpho

Tyrone have been relegated to Division Two of the Ladies Football League after losing out 4-10 to 2-8 against Kildare at Newbridge.

The sides were level three times in a close first half before Tyrone went in 1-4 to 1-3 in front at the break.

The Lilywhites netted first through Aoife Murnane before Chloe McCaffrey's deflected free found the Kildare net.

Kildare equalised on the restart before Róisín Byrne scored the first of her three goals with her second coming from a free on 37 minutes.

Byrne completed her hat-trick three minutes later when she flicked into the net from Gillian Wheeler's long punt.

Tyrone substitute Aoife McGahan netted on the stroke of full-time but the Ulster side fell well short and will be playing in Division Two next year.

Meanwhile, Armagh were beaten 2-12 to 4-5 by Meath in a Division One dead rubber at the Athletic Grounds.

The Orchard side had already secured a place in the final before Saturday's encounter.

Goals from Niamh Coleman, Kelly Mallon and Aoife McCoy helped Armagh to a 3-3 to 0-6 half-time lead.

Substitute Caoimhe McNally added Armagh's fourth goal but Meath hit back with Ciara Smyth netting before they levelled through Emma Duggan's goal.

Meath clinched victory when Duggan slotted over a free with the final play of the match.

Image source, Inpho

Three first-half goals into the wind proved crucial as Antrim defeated Clare 3-10 to 1-11 to clinch the Camogie League Division 1B title at Abbotstown.

The Ulster county led by two at the interval, 3-03 to 1-07, and kept the scoreboard ticking over to ultimately prevail by five.

Caitrin Dobbin's sixth-minute goal put Antrim four ahead by that stage and Katie Molloy added the second by blasting into the roof of the net at the beginning of the second quarter.

Caoimhe Cahill found the net for Clare in the 18th minute but Dobbin pounced on a mis-control by Rachel Daly to grab her second and Antrim's third goal in injury time.

Thereafter it was all about game management for Antrim as they had the elements in their favour.

The teams entered the final quarter with the scores level however but the Saffrons found another gear when they needed to, Roisin McCormick, making her first start of the season, landing a couple of frees to go with a score from play.

Cassie McArthur also shot three points from play and sub Eavanne Martin slotted over a beautiful score as Antrim pulled away to secure Division 1B camogie in 2026.

Antrim: C Graham, C McKillop, K Lynn, C McNaughton, E Coulter, S O'Neill, S Heggarty, A Boyle, N McAtamney, M Kelly, R McCormick 0-03 (2f), D Cosgrove 0-01f, C McArthur 0-03, K Molloy 1-01, C Dobbin 2-01

Subs: L McNaughton for Dobbin (37), E Martin 0-01 for Kelly (51), E Johnston for Cosgrove (57), J McIntosh for Heggarty (60+1)

Clare: R Daly, S Daly, M Powell, C Queally, L Daly, A Walsh, C Hehir, N Mulqueen, G Carmody, A Anderson 0-01, C Carmody 0-01, Á O'Loughlin, C Cahill 0-01, E Casey 1-01, Z Spillane 0-05f.

Subs: J Daly 0-01 for Powell (27), S O'Keeffe for Queally (HT), M Hanrahan for Walsh (HT); A Cooney 0-01 for Casey (44), H M Neylon for C Carody (57).

Image source, Inpho

Monaghan have secured the Division Two title thanks to a 1-26 to 0-19 victory over Roscommon at Croke Park on Saturday night.

A close first half ended with Roscommon going in with a 0-12 to 0-11 advantage at the interval.

Monaghan were leading 0-20 to 0-18 on 58 minutes when substitute Jack McCarron scored the only goal of the game.

The Ulster side pulled cleared in Dublin and eased to a 10-point success.

Roscommon moved 0-4 to 0-3 in front before Monaghan reeled off four straight points including a two-pointer from Conor McCarthy.

Back came the Rossies and they went in with a narrow lead at the break.

Monaghan opened up a five-point gap after keeper Rory Beggan followed up a two-pointer with another and then Micheal Bannigan also fired over a two-point score.

As with the first half Roscommon hit back and they were just two behind when McCarron netted from a Ryan McAnespie .

Monaghan built on the goal and Beggan slotted over a two-pointer as the Farney team stretched clear to become Division Two champions.

Image source, Inpho

Monaghan manager Gabriel Bannigan has made just one change from the defeat by Down for Saturday evening's Allianz Football League Division Two Final against Roscommon at Croke Park (19:15 GMT).

Stephen O'Hanlon is drafted into the attack as Kevin Loughran drops out of the defence with Ryan Wylie switching to right half-back.

Otherwise Monaghan's starting personnel is unchanged from the home loss against Down, which didn't prevent the Farney men from reaching the final as other results went their way.

Roscommon also make one change from their draw with relegated Westmeath in Mullingar last weekend with Dylan Ruane is named at wing-back and Daire Cregg dropping out of the matchday squad

Regular captain Brian Stack remains unavailable for the Rossies because of injury.

When the sides meet in the Division Two round-robin stage at Dr Hyde Park last month, Roscommon secured a 0-25 to 2-14 victory.

Monaghan: R Beggan; R Wylie, K Duffy, D Byrne; R McAnespie, R O'Toole, C McCarthy; J Wilson, M McCarville; S O'Hanlon, M Bannigan, C McNulty; D Garland, A Woods, J McCarron.

Subs: D Croarkin, J Irwin, G Mhillips, D Hughes, D Ward, G Mohan, B McBennett, A Carey, B McCaul, S Mooney, K O'Connell.

Roscommon: C Carroll; C Neary, D Murray, N Higgins; S Cunnane, R Fallon, D Ruane; E Nolan, K Doyle; C Lennon, E Smith, C Hand; D Murtagh (capt), D McKeon, C Murtagh.

Subs: A Brady, J McManus, R Daly, S Killoran, U Harney, T Lambe, B O'Carroll, C Heneghan, S Lambe, C Cox, D Smith.

Image source, BBC Sport

On this week's GAA Social podcast, Thomas and Oisin sit down with legendary Armagh footballer and former commentator Jimmy Smyth.

As captain in 1977, Smyth led the Orchard County to success in the Ulster Championship before they were beaten by Dublin in the All-Ireland final.

Named an All-Star that year, the Clan na Gael clubman would win one more Ulster title (in 1980) before managing his club to two Armagh titles.

He moved from the pitch and sidelines to the commentary box, spending two decades working for the BBC calling the action on his beloved sport.

In this wide-ranging interview, which you can now from BBC Sounds, the 76-year-old talks about having survived two heart attacks and how he is still involved in the game as chair of the Ulster Schools.

Image source, Inpho

Oisin McConville believes Derry face a huge task in attempting to regroup for their Ulster SFC opener against Donegal in less than two weeks after their hammering by Armagh on Sunday.

The Oak Leafers were already certain of relegation from Division One of the Allianz Football League after taking only a single point from their opening six games but in their last match before the Ballybofey contest, were on the receiving end of a 4-24 to 1-18 scoreline at the Athletic Grounds.

"It will be very difficult for Derry to pick it up now because you are only talking two weeks until they play Donegal," said former Armagh star and current Wicklow manager McConville on The GAA Social BBC gaelic games podcast which he presents with Thomas Niblock.

"And when you consider the league that Donegal have had – even though a bit of a dip towards the end for whatever reason – you would think it's very difficult for Derry to go in and win that game. It's not impossible but it's very difficult to see it right now."

McConville confessed to feeling a degree of sympathy for manager Paddy Tally, who was only appointed to the Oak Leaf role in the middle of November after Derry took four months to find a successor to Mickey Harte.

The BBC GAA pundit added that Tally's late arrival amid the advent of the new football rules and the suspension of the Dr McKenna Cup pre-season competition made his task even more difficult.

"The personnel that Paddy Tally has available to him is not what it was even 12 months ago but also the confidence is sucked out of you when you continuously come out on the wrong side of results.

"There were a couple of times when they could have picked up results. The Kerry game is the one that people keep coming back to because it looked as if they were home in that game and managed to contrive to lose it."

Derry were only two points in arrears when star forward Shane McGuigan was sent off at the Athletic Grounds just before half-time after getting a second yellow card and McConville said that "put the tin hat on" Derry's league campaign as they dropped to Division Two a year after winning the Division One title.

McGuigan was dismissed for two yellow cards so he will not be banned for the Ulster opener at MacCumhaill Park.

Image source, Inpho

Antrim's Ulster Football Championship fixture against All-Ireland champions Armagh will be played at Corrigan Park on 12 April.

Ulster GAA confirmed in a statement on Tuesday the match will take place in west Belfast with a 12:30 GMT throw-in.

The game had been moved to Newry's Pairc Esler following a meeting of the Ulster GAA Competitions Control Committee (CCC) on 6 March but in their statement, Ulster GAA said that they have agreed to reverse their earlier decision after being "satisfied with further assurances given by Antrim GAA".

There had been doubts over the fixture ever taking place after Antrim players said they wouldn't play the game unless it was at the Belfast venue.

Health and safety issues, largely concerning the big demand for tickets from the very well ed All-Ireland champions, had led the provincial body to move the game to Newry's Pairc Esler.

This only hardened the "Corrigan or nowhere" refrain from the Antrim players and indeed the county's GAA board which put the match in potential jeopardy.

That scenario could have led to Antrim's entire removal from the remainder of the football championship, which would have involved them being thrown out of the second-tier Tailteann Cup.

Antrim were first out of the hat in the Ulster SFC draw last October which normally means home advantage for that team.

Even with home advantage, the Saffrons will go into the contest as massive underdogs having suffered relegated to Division Four of the Allianz Football League on Sunday.