Gaelic Games

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Inniskeen will host the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Round 2A clash between Louth and Armagh on Sunday, 14 June at 13:00 BST.

Debate has swirled around where the fixture would take place following Tuesday morning's draw that gave Gavin Devlin's side home advantage against the Ulster champions.

With construction work taking place on a new home in Dundalk, Louth have hosted 'home' championship games outside the county.

In 2024, Inniskeen was the venue for their home wins against Meath and Cork, while last year they nominated Newbridge as a home venue when they faced Monaghan at the same stage.

Following Tuesday's draw, GAA president Jarlath Burns told BBC Sport NI that while Croke Park would make sense for the game, "it's a home game for Louth and if they want it in Inniskeen, then it will be in Inniskeen", while Armagh captain Aidan Forker insisted "it doesn't really matter to use" where the game takes place.

On Wednesday, the GAA confirmed the game will take place at the County Monaghan venue which has a capacity of around 6,000.

It will be the first of three Round 2A games set for Sunday with Galway's home clash with Westmeath and Tyrone's home fixture against Mayo to follow.

The other Round 2A game between Donegal and Cork will take place in the reopened MacCumhaill Park in Ballybofey on Saturday at 15:00.

Also on Saturday, there will be three Round 2B games, beginning with Monaghan v Roscommon in Clones at 16:30, while Kildare's home fixture against Kerry throws-in an hour later and Derry will take on Meath at Celtic Park at 19:00.

On Sunday, Cavan will welcome Dublin to Kingspan Breffni with Dubs' boss Ger Brennan set to return to the sideline following the end of his 12-week ban.

All-Ireland SFC fixtures

Saturday, 13 June

Round 2A

Donegal v Cork (Ballybofey, 15:00)

Round 2B

Monaghan v Roscommon (Clones, 16:30)

Kildare v Kerry (Newbridge, 17:30)

Derry v Meath (Celtic Park, 19:00)

Sunday, 14 June

Round 2A

Louth v Armagh (Inniskeen, 13:00)

Galway v Westmeath (Salthill, 14:00)

Tyrone v Mayo (Omagh, 15:30)

Round 2B

Cavan v Dublin (Breffni Park, 14:00)

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Kilkenny are searching for a new senior hurling manager with Derek Lyng ending his four-year tenure.

A six-time All-Ireland winner with the Cats as a player, Lyng took over when Brian Cody's 24-year reign ended in 2022 having led his native county to that year's All-Ireland U20 title.

In his first season, Lyng guided Kilkenny to an All-Ireland final where they were beaten by Limerick, while the would suffer back-to-back semi-final losses in 2024 and 2025 by eventual winners Clare and Tipperary respectively.

Although he also secured three provincial titles, this season saw Kilkenny finish fourth in the Leinster round robin, exiting the championship before the start of the All-Ireland series for the first time since the new format was introduced in 2018.

Despite having one year of a new two-year term remaining, the 47-year-old informed the Kilkenny County Board of his decision to step down with county chair PJ Kenny paying tribute to the "immense" contribution made by Lyng.

"Derek's contribution to Kilkenny hurling over almost three decades has been immense," Kenny said in a statement.

"His commitment to the county has never been in question, and he has always carried out his role with honesty, integrity and pride.

"On behalf of Kilkenny County Board and the people of Kilkenny, I would like to sincerely thank Derek for his outstanding service as a player, selector and manager.

"We are deeply grateful for everything he has done for Kilkenny hurling and wish him and his family every success in the future."

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Monaghan manager Gabriel Bannigan praised his side's character and spirit during their narrow 1-24 to 2-20 All-Ireland SFC first-round defeat by Mayo at Clones.

Mayo had an 11-point lead at the break after a ruthless display in the first half which included six two-pointers.

However, Monaghan fought back after the restart and were able to close the gap to just a point, but couldn't find the crucial score before the final whistle.

"The character and the spirit in those lads, they're just brilliant" Bannigan said.

"It's remarkable, no matter what's thrown at them, because we had lost a couple of big men with injuries. We lost Stephen O'Hanlon during the week in training and then we lost Bobby McCaul with that very nasty injury.

"So, for the boys to gather themselves together and produce what they did in that second half, I'm very, very proud of them. They put everything on the line again."

Bannigan made a double change at the break which included Bobby McCaul, who was returning from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury which sidelined him for a year.

The teenager made an instant impact and scored a goal and added a point to Monaghan's tally as they aimed to produce a late comeback.

However, he was stretchered off the field later in the half with Bannigan adding that the injury "doesn't look good".

"I'm particularly gutted for young Bobby," he continued.

"He's came off with a bad knee injury, just back after over 12 months out. It's an emotional dressing room, mainly because of that. He was brilliant. He was causing havoc.

"Whatever about the game, it's just such a shame to see a young lad like that coming off with a bad injury a second year in a row. It's a big blow. But he's made of good stuff and he'll be back."

Odhran Crumley
BBC Sport NI Journalist

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Aidan O'Shea says "the appetite is definitely there" after becoming Gaelic Football's first ever outfield championship centurion.

The Mayo stalwart made his 100th championship appearance as a second-half substitute, as his county survived a late Monaghan fightback to secure a 1-24 to 2-20 All-Ireland SFC first round win at Clones.

The Breaffy club-man is on a run of 89 consecutive championship matches in the green and red, missing only the 2012 Connacht semi-final against Leitrim, after making his debut all the way back in 2009.

"Right now it doesn't really mean a whole pile but obviously, it's a lot of games. When you start dividing up the number of championship games you play in a year, it's a long time," O'Shea told BBC Sport NI.

",My kind of ethos is I always to try and be available as best I can. The one I missed really still annoys me a little bit, the Leitrim game. I was probably just about right to get in the squad and James (Horan) decided to hold me back.

"As I tell young fellas coming in, be available. You never know when your chance will come knocking and then you've got to grab it. So look, delighted to make 100 appearances.

"I've still a long way to go to catch Stephen Cluxton and I think Murph (Michael Murphy) hit 90 last week. So there's plenty of ways of racking them up now in the new structure, so they'll surpass me pretty quickly as well.

"But yeah it's probably a nice thing to look back on in years to come."

Despite trawling for the Mayo cause for 17 years, O'Shea is adamant that his appetite is not wavering, if anything it's getting stronger.

" I suppose it's more acute now, isn't it, when you're at the other end of the career," O'Shea continued.

"I appreciate these even more. I think the appetite is definitely there and obviously disappointed not to start and no doubt I'll be back on the pitch during the week trying to get my place back and that's still happening, I'm 35 now and 36 next month."

The victory means the Connacht county progress to Round 2A and are potentially just one win away from a return to Croke Park and sealing their place in the quarter-final of the All-Ireland.

"Ultimately we just had to win and it gives us that opportunity now to go and put ourselves 70 minutes away from a quarter-final and that's the way we've got to look at it.

"We haven't been in Croke Park for a few years so we need to really kind of get ourselves together over the next couple of weeks and give ourselves a right crack at it."

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Derry boss Ciaran Meenagh said his side "didn't attack well enough" in their 1-18 to 1-13 defeat against Armagh in the first round of the All-Ireland SFC at the Athletic Grounds.

The Oak Leafers were back in action for the first time since they let an 11-point lead slip against Monaghan in the Ulster semi-final at the same venue last month.

They were ultimately left to rue missed chances, especially in the second half when they failed to really capitalise on Jason Duffy's black card for Armagh, who ran out comfortable winners.

"It was never going to be easy to win, but to not bring the game down the stretch when they had the black card and we brought it back to three, it looked like we had the potential to do it, but we didn't attack well enough and it's devastating the number of chances we didn't take," he said.

"To have a good day at kickouts and things we did well, it's a really disappointing result.

"At half-time we were in a good enough place but didn't put enough pressure on Armagh."

Derry will now drop into Round 2B and face a tough route to progress to the quarter-finals of the competition.

When asked if he believes if they can make it to the last eight Meenagh said he "would like to think they can".

"We've had some great days and some not so great in recent weeks but I believe in the quality of players there there's serious quality in the changing room and on the bench," he added.

"It's just a matter of getting one big result or scalp but we're running out of time and if we don't get it right over the next two weeks our season will be over."

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Armagh boss Kieran McGeeney felt the black card shown to Jason Duffy in their 1-18 to 1-13 win over Derry in their opening All-Ireland SFC game was "harsh".

Duffy was shown the card on 42 minutes for a late hit on Conor McCluskey but the Ulster champions still went on to claim a comfortable victory.

McGeeney was critical of the performance of referee Martin McNally and had made his feelings known to the officials at half-time after a perceived missed breach.

"There was plenty out there and that seemed to be the one that was punished. It was harsh, but what can you do," he said.

"The less I talk about referees the better. There's a lot of good referees out there trying to do well but I think our focus can be on the wrong things at times. I think we need to know what rules to ignore to tell our players," McGeeney also joked on the topic of officials letting more go.

"I think everyone needs to know the parameters of the game. I don't think it's that complicated. We have rules we don't enforce. You're getting me talking about referees again and it's not my favourite subject."

On his side's performance, McGeeney added that the Orchard County were "very workman like" in getting over the line.

"It was tough at times going down to 14 men, the fellas controlled the ball and didn't give too much away. Our efficiency in front of goal wasn't as good as we liked."

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Conan Canavan scored 1-4 as Tyrone powered past Derry with a 2-16 to 1-12 win in Letterkenny to retain the Ulster Minor title.

After Conor O'Kane's early goal for Derry, Canavan - nephew of Red Hand legend Peter - raised a green flag as the Oak Leafers led 1-7 to 1-5 at the break.

However, Tyrone pulled clear in the second half before Logan O'Connor's goal helped seal a seven-point win.

Having produced a stirring comeback to beat Cavan in the semi-finals, Gerard Donnelly's side now remain on course to defend their All-Ireland Minor title.

"We were very calm at half-time," Donnelly told Peter Canavan in a post-match interview posted on Tyrone GAA's social media channels.

"We were two points down but I think we had eight wides at half-time but we knew the chances were there."

Donnelly's side will face Galway in next week's All-Ireland quarter-finals, while Derry also advance to the last eight.

Tyrone will be hoping for more underage success when their Under-20s attempt to win a third successive All-Ireland title in Saturday's final against Kerry at Croke Park (17:00 BST).

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Mickey Harte paid tribute to "one of a kind" Frank McGuigan, as Ardboe came to a standstill on Thursday to say its goodbyes to the 71-year-old, who passed away on Sunday.

Harte and McGuigan played on the same Tyrone team that won the 1972 Ulster minor title before McGuigan graduated to the senior squad which lifted the Anglo-Celt Cup 12 months later.

While Harte says McGuigan is "without a doubt" one of the best footballers never to win an All-Ireland title, his exploits in the 1984 Ulster final when scoring 11 points from play ensures he will remain in GAA folklore.

"I don't think I've ever seen a footballer with as much natural talent as Frank McGuigan and I've seen a lot of players playing football - he was the best I've ever seen," Harte, who managed Tyrone to three All-Ireland titles in the 2000s, told BBC Sport NI.

"He could do everything: field ball with anybody, pass the ball, vision, power and was deceptively fast.

"He had this ability not many have where he floated in for a ball. You see people putting in a real effort to get a high ball, this man was effortless. He has the timing, positioning and used his back end quite a bit to keep the people getting close to the ball - a nice little skill."

Harte reflected on a man who "enjoyed life to the full" and while his footballing aptitude was beyond question, it was matched only by his unassuming nature.

"I always said you could play him from corner-back to corner-forward or even stuck him in goals nowadays and he would have excelled," Harte continued.

"There's very few you could say that about, but the biggest thing of all was his modesty. He was such a humble man, you wouldn't even know he played football but was the best who ever walked these fields I believe."

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Fermanagh have been tasked with an additional game in the Tailteann Cup as they were drawn out to host New York in the preliminary quarter-final.

New York enter the competition at this stage to face one of the Round 2A winners and it was Declan Bonner's side who were drawn out of the hat, with Antrim, Laois and Offaly avoiding this scenario and moving directly into the last eight.

Fermanagh were 2-20 to 2-13 winners over Wexford in Sunday which was their second victory in this year's competition after an opening round win over Longford, and while they have been handed one last hurdle to clear before the quarter-finals proper, they will have home advantage for the tie.

Down's defeat by Offaly on Saturday saw them drop into Round Three of the competition and Conor Laverty's side are tasked with a trip to face Longford for a place in the quarter-finals.

Longford bounced back from their opening round defeat by Fermanagh to eliminate Clare from the competition at the weekend.

In the other Round Three ties, Leitrim will have home advantage against Wexford, Oisin McConville's Wicklow host Tipperary and London will welcome Sligo to Ruislip.

The preliminary quarter-final and Round Three games are scheduled for the weekend of 6/7 June.

Tailteann Cup draw

Preliminary quarter-final

Fermanagh v New York

Round Three

Leitrim v Wexford

Wicklow v Tipperary

Longford v Down

London v Sligo