Until last Saturday evening, Ciarán Murphy doubted that he’d ever see a sideline ball that would come even close to matching the quality of Maurice Fitzgerald’s point for Kerry against Dublin in an All-Ireland quarter-final a quarter of a century ago. But then Jack McCarron produced that wonder score for Monaghan to force extra-time against Derry. And now Ciarán has to decide which was the greatest of all. It’s a close-run thing.
Damien Comer and Shane Walsh have contributed their fair share of decent scores for Galway down the years, the pair both returning from injury last month and set to feature in Sunday’s Connacht final against Roscommon. But without them, Galway had still been racking up the scores, Gordon Manning taking a look at their impressive attack.
Tipperary’s footballers, meanwhile, are limbering up for the start of their Tailteann Cup campaign on Sunday, the panel still reeling from the death of manager Philly Ryan last October. Gordon talks to forward Seán O’Connor about the loss of Ryan and the efforts to carry on his legacy.
In rugby, Ireland’s women take on Wales in Belfast on Saturday, John O’Sullivan hearing from forwards coach Alan O’Connor ahead of the game. The Skerries man is the head of rugby development at Ballymena Academy but joined the women’s set-up for this Six Nations campaign.
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In football, Gavin Cummiskey was in attendance when the FAI’s director of football John Martin spoke to the media for the first time since his appointment last September. His in-tray is overflowing, with contract extensions for Heimir Hallgrímsson and members of his staff to be sorted. And he is also awaiting the outcome of a Fifa investigation in to Michael Noonan’s move to Shamrock Rovers last year, when Martin was the club’s chief executive.
Paris Saint-Germain remain on course to defend their Champions League title after getting past Bayern Munich in the semi-finals, Arsenal their opponents in the final on May 30th. If Mikel Arteta’s crew can win that game, as well as the Premier League? “It would top anything any group of Arsenal players has achieved.”
It would be hard, too, to top what Dara O’Shea achieved with Ipswich this season - he played every second of their 46 games and didn’t pick up a single yellow card along the way to captaining the side to promotion. Some going.
In golf, Rory McIlroy’s rivals will be disappointed to hear that he feels “more motivated after what happened at Augusta this year than I’ve ever been”. Philip Reid reports on his return to action at this week’s Truist Championship at Quail Hollow, a tournament he has won four times.
McIlroy’s fellow northerner Graeme McDowell has been talking, pretty bluntly, about his decision to join LIV. “I regret a few things I said in the beginning, stuff like growing the game. I should have just said it for what it was: this is good for my bank account.”
Few bank accounts are healthier than the one owned by LeBron James, and as Dave Hannigan tells us, at 41 he’s still turning back the clock and putting on a show, still chasing his fifth NBA crown.
TV Watch: Rory McIlroy is in the field at Quail Hollow for the Truist Championship in North Carolina, Sky Sports Golf’s coverage of round one beginning at 5.30pm. And at 8pm, it’s Aston Villa (0) v Nottingham Forest (1) in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final (Premier Sports 1 and TNT Sports 1), and Crystal Palace (3) v Shakhtar Donetsk (1) at the same stage of the Conference League (Premier Sports 2 and TNT Sports 2).
