GAA:A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Finalists reap the benefits of underage work
THE ADVANTAGE of a bit of underage success is clearly visible from the CVs of the teams on Sunday. Down have reaped a decent harvest from their All-Ireland minor winning teams of 1999 and 2005. Of the first team, Benny Coulter and John Clarke started the semi-final win over Kildare.
From the later team of five years ago, Martin Clarke, Peter Fitzpatrick, Conor Garvey and Paul McComiskey lined out just over two weeks ago. The captain of the team, James Colgan, came into the match as a replacement.
Cork haven’t the same pedigree at minor level, with only Noel O’Leary of the team that started against Dublin surviving from the minors who succeeded Coulter’s Down side in 2000.
The Munster side’s real underage impact was made at under-21, in which grade two of the past four All-Ireland titles have been won. The 2007 side, which defeated Laois, featured Ray Carey, Michael Shields, Paul Kerrigan and Daniel Goulding, all of whom lined out against Dublin, plus Colm O’Neill and Eoin Cadogan, who made a big impact coming on as replacements.
Another two starters, Aidan Walsh and Ciarán Sheehan, were on the under-21s who won last year’s title in dramatic fashion, beating a Down team featuring Paul McCumiskey with an injury-time goal in the final.
Success really does breed success when it comes to Down
FOUR OF the Down panellists have fathers who won All-Ireland medals for the county. Corner back Daniel McCartan, brother of manager James, is following in his father’s as well as his brother’s footsteps. Jim Snr won two titles with the county in 1960 and ’61 – and was Footballer of the Year in both seasons – whereas James was a star on the 1991 and ’94 teams.
Captain Ambrose Rogers, who is battling with a knee injury to be fit, saw his late father, also Ambrose, come on as a replacement for Peter Withnell in the 1991 final.
In the same year centre back Kevin McKernan’s dad, Brendan, played at right corner back on the side that beat Meath.
Finally, substitute Aidan Carr’s father, Ross, was on the 1991 and ’94 teams and was an All Star in the first of those years. Aidan Carr and Daniel McCartan also have the distinction of their fathers having managed the county – Ross Carr up until last year and Jim McCartan in the 1970s.
Cork have just one player, Paul Kerrigan, seeking to join the second-generation club. His father, Jimmy, played on the team that won the 1989 final against Mayo. Like his Down counterpart, Cork manager Conor Counihan has won two All-Irelands and two All Stars.
Clarke following in illustrious AFL footsteps
DOWN’S MARTIN Clarke, who came home from a promising career in Australia with AFL club Collingwood, becomes the latest of the GAA’s footie graduates to make an appearance in an All-Ireland final.
Last year Tadhg Kennelly concluded a one-year sabbatical from the Sydney Swans by snapping up an All-Ireland medal plus an All Star – as well as committing one of the more notorious fouls of recent years on Nicholas Murphy in the opening minutes of last year’s final.
Others to have made it all the way from Australia to an All-Ireland final include current Ireland international rules manager Anthony Tohill, who was with the Melbourne Demons and who returned to win a senior All-Ireland with Derry in 1993.
Brian Stynes, brother of Jim, also came home from Melbourne to win an All-Ireland medal in 1995. Others, including Cork’s Colin Corkery, Kildare’s Niall Buckley and Colm McManamon from Mayo, were less successful, losing finals in 1993, ’96 and ’97 and 1998 respectively.
Awkward one for title sponsor
THERE WAS a clash of sponsors in last month’s semi-final when rival mobile telephone companies Vodafone and O2 lined up on the jerseys of Dublin and Cork respectively.
Unusually, Vodafone is also one of the football championship’s title sponsors and the disappointment at seeing the Dubs lose the semi-final will be sharpened by the sight of a competitor sharing the big day this weekend.
Down will be familiar with such conflicts. Sponsored by Ulster Bank in 1994, the county found itself having to black out its sponsor’s name in the final, as that was the year the GAA first acquired named sponsors for one of its championships.
Bank of Ireland was first into the fray as the sole named sponsor of the football championship, whereas Guinness followed a year later as hurling sponsors, an association that still survives. Because of Bank of Ireland’s overall sponsorship, the rival bank had to remove its logo from the jerseys.
