Subscriber OnlySports Briefing

Croke Park toddler a reminder of how sport can be magical and beguiling

Rory McIlroy prepares for British Open at Scottish Open; Paddy Bradley speaks highly of Derry’s midfield

A young Kilkenny fan watches on. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho

John O'Sullivan's face
John O'Sullivan
Thu Jul 13 2023 - 09:42

James Crombie’s brilliant photograph of two-year-old Fionn McGivern from Antrim, standing on the steps at Croke Park in a Kilkenny jersey watching the Cats beat Clare in the All Ireland Hurling semi-final last Sunday, inspired a trip down memory lane for Ciarán Murphy, who recalled his inaugural visit to GAA headquarters.

“My first trip to Croke Park was for the 1991 All-Ireland football final between Down and Meath. The moment they were kept apart in this year’s Tailteann Cup draw, I hoped they’d win both their semi-finals, and give me a chance to luxuriate in nostalgia.

“I was a very serious-minded nine-year-old. I remember my dad telling me on the Friday night before that he was going to bring me to Croke Park, and I immediately ran off to read the chapters (already well-thumbed) of Raymond Smith’s The Football Immortals that related to the Down team of the 1960s.”

Gordon Manning talks to former Derry star Paddy Bradley who contends that his country’s current midfield axis is the best in the country. Bradley explained: “A big thing for me is the matchups, midfield is going to be massive. The Kerry midfield is formidable, but I think Derry are arguably the best midfield in the country.

READ MORE

“Conor Glass is a fantastic leader and someone who plays that cover role in defence really well, puts out so many fires because his positional sense is excellent and Brendan Rogers is a real Rolls-Royce of a player in terms of someone who breaks lines, wins free-kicks, kicks scores.”

St Patrick’s Athletic 2-1 defeat away to Dudelange followed hot on the heels of Shamrock Rovers’ 1-0 home defeat to Iceland’s Breiðablik so Derry City and Dundalk will be hoping for better fortune when they begin their European adventures in the Faroe Islands and Gibraltar respectively.

Gavin Cummiskey, who is in Brisbane for the Women’s World Cup writes about Barbra Banda the Zambian striker who caused the Republic of Ireland problems in Tallaght and who was again to the fore in a friendly against Germany in Germany, in which the African side prevailed 3-2.

“Banda was banned from last year’s African Nations Cup after a gender verification test found her natural testosterone levels were too high to compete as a woman. Human Rights Watch branded the sex testing procedures as flagrant human rights violations’, especially considering this ruling came after Banda scored back-to-back hat-tricks against the Netherlands and China at the 2021 Olympic Games.

“Fifa cleared Banda to play on grounds that teams are responsible for carrying out their own internal investigations into high testosterone levels, the Daily Mail has reported, but German media outlet Bild states that a move to Real Madrid was scuppered by the controversy surrounding the player.”

Rory McIlroy returns to the fairways in Europe this week when he tees it up in the Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club. Philip Reid listened as the Northern Ireland golfer offered a few thoughts his hopes ahead of next week’s British Open at Royal Liverpool.

“I think [it’s important] just to get some competitive golf under my belt, get a scorecard in my hand and play. It’s not pure links at this place, but it’s linksy enough conditions that at least you’re playing in a bit of breeze and you’re maybe getting some visuals that you would get at a links course. So I think just all of that will obviously be good with one eye towards next week, and The Open.”

ON TV

GOLF: Sky Sports Golf, 8am-6.30pm Scottish Open

CYCLING: Eurosport 1, noon-5pm; ITV4, 2pm-5pm; TG4, 1.20pm-5.10pm Tour de France

TENNIS: BBC 2, 12.30pm-9pm; BBC 1, 1.45pm-6pm; Premier Sports, 11am-9pm Wimbledon

Reader Survey

Finally, we always appreciate feedback from our readers and you can help us provide the best newsletter service possible by filling out this quick survey.

Please rest assured that your responses will be held in strict confidence and will not be shared with anyone outside of The Irish Times Group. Thank you.