Hurling:
Tipperary manager Liam Sheedy pinpointed the number of tight matches his side experienced in this year's league campaign as one of the main reasons they ended up on the right end of a 1-19 to 1-13 scoreline against Cork yesterday.
The Premier men ended over 80 years of Championship disappointment on Leeside, and left many wondering if this ageing Cork side have it in them to come back and mount a serious challenge for the Liam McCarthy Cup.
'We finished very strong,' Sheedy said. 'When we got the lead we really kicked on. We had a lot of tight matches in the league campaign and that stood to us today.
'We said if we can keep this thing tight until the last 15 minutes we are still in with a chance. We are in good shape and we have a lot of work done.' (Irish Times)
Tipp's substitutions worked a treat on the day, with both Pat Kerwick and Micheál Webster making telling contributions. But Sheedy was quick to dismiss any talk of tactical wizardry.
'To be honest you don't set out to make bad changes. You make a change and it works, it is a good change. It doesn't work and you are a fool.' (Irish Times/The Star)
Sheedy's Cork counterpart, Gerald McCarthy, had nothing but praise for his side, especially the veterans.
'Even today some of the older players, they showed it all; in how they played. Their dedication has to be seen to be believed. Seán Óg (Ó h'Ailpín) gave an absolute display of power hurling. These kind of players come around once in a lifetime. They did us proud really.' (Various)
Justin McCarthy's successor as Waterford manager could be decided as early as tonight. The Déise's county board will hold a full meeting at 7.30pm.
It is believed that Sunday Game analyst Davy Fitzgerald and former Waterford star Peter Queally are the two men on a shortlist that has been drawn up. (The Star/The Mirror)
Football:
Dublin captain Alan Brogan said that yesterday's second half performance in the 1-22 to 0-12 (left) win over Louth proves that the Metropolitans are a force to be reckoned with when they put their minds to it.
The St Oliver Plunkett's/Eoghan Ruadh clubman, who shot 1-07 at Croke Park, said: 'We stood off them in the first half and we were really under pressure. But when we step up to it we are good, we are a really good football team. I think there was a lesson to be learned there.' (Irish Times/The Star)
Louth manager Eamonn McEneaney was unhappy with some aspects of the loss, but also felt his side were not afforded any luck on the day.
'A defeat like this is hard to take. We train so hard – as hard as Dublin. But we didn’t get the breaks. Some boys played until the final whistle. Some boys did not. I would be disappointed by that.' (Various)
And the Louth supremo was even less impressed by a journalist in the post-match press conference who questioned the quality shown in the first half at Headquarters.
'A game between two pub teams?,' repeated McEneaney. 'I don't have to answer a question like that – that is insulting to my team and to the Dublin team.' (Irish Times/Irish Examiner)
Offaly manager Pat Roe refused to be too downbeat about his side's Leinster SFC exit at the hands of neighbours Westmeath on Saturday evening.
'Those players have worked as hard as any bunch of players I've ever worked with,' said Roe. They've worked hard since the end of October. We wanted to get out of Division 4. I'm not going to fault them. They've made a supreme effort. On the day it didn’t happen for us. We didn't play the way we expected to and wanted to play.'
And Roe remains optimistic his side can make a reasonable fist of the back-door route.
'When it comes to the qualifiers we'll be ready. We'll get back to training, and training hard, and see what happens.' (Irish Times)
Westmeath boss Tomás Ó Flatharta put the poor fare shown at O’Connor Park, Tullamore, to 'two borders meeting each other'.
'It’s a local derby you know; what you're going to get is a very tough encounter. Sometimes it can be physical. Sometimes the marking can be very tight. Lads are very passionate about their own county. It's good to see that. I felt there was some good football played there in the second half.' (Irish Times)
The only sour note on the night for the Lakesmen was when midfielder Martin Flanagan was forced off injured with what could be a cruciate knee ligament injury.
'We don't know at the minute but we fear it could be cruciate,' said Ó Flatharta. 'Martin was a big loss to us. He had been playing great but hopefully we'll have him back again.' (Irish Independent/The Star)
Down midfielder Dan Gordon did not get overly-excited about his side's excellent comeback from seven points down at once stage to force a draw with Tyrone in their Ulster SFC quarter-final in Omagh yesterday.
'Well, there was still nothing achieved today,' insisted Gordon. 'A draw is as good for them as it is for us. But we have another game next week, and we'll see what happens there. We fought hard out there, but we have fought hard all year. We've realised we've had enough hard luck stories.'
His team-mate and centre-back Liam Doyle praised the replacements who came on for the Mourne men.
'When the team was named on Thursday night, I know there were four or five players very disappointed not to make it. Them boys got their chance in the second half, like big Ambrose Rodgers, and made a big difference. The bench told on the day, but we needed them, especially on a hot day like that.' (Irish Times/Irish Examiner)
Tyrone manager Mickey Harte was happy enough to escape with a draw and have a replay in Newry next Saturday to plan for.
'Maybe there was a little bit of complacency on our part. But that’s what happens when you have what looks like a good lead. Players just don't stay as focused as they ought to... We got plenty of warning signs that Down were on their way back, and the fact that we didn't deal with them was worrying, to say the least. It made for a long second half.' (Irish Times)
Laois forward Michael Tierney is a major injury doubt ahead of the O'Moore County's Leinster semi-final clash with Wexford on 22 June.
The Ballyroan clubman sustained the injury in the narrow win over Wicklow, and it forced him to miss a challenge match win over Kildare at the weekend.
Brendan Quigley has definitely been ruled out following his work accident, but Pauric Clancy should be available after coming through the 70 minutes against the Lilywhites. (Various)
Galway are sweating on the availability of defender Kieran Fitzgerald. The former All Star is carrying a hamstring injury and is considered a major doubt for Sunday's Connacht semi-final with Leitrim.
Matthew Clancy (shoulder) and Niall Coyne (ankle) are also doubtful, but are expected to recover in time. (Irish Times/The Star)
Miscellaneous:
Munster Council chairman Jimmy O'Gorman insisted that the ground capacity for Páirc Uí Chaoimh was not exceeded for yesterday's Cork v Tipperary game, despite the fact that a number of fans spilled out of the stands and sat and watched the game from just behind the Blackrock end goal.
O'Gorman said the attendance was in the region of 42,000, which is 1,500 below capacity.
'The decision to let patrons into the sideline was taken by the gardaí after a sizeable crowd had gathered at the entrances at the Blackrock end of the ground,' he said.
'I would like to emphasise, however, that we were under capacity at Páirc Uí Chaoimh by at least 1,500 spectators. In the interest of health and safety the gardaí decided, with the co-operation of the stewards, to use the sideline at the back of the Blackrock goal to take the overflow of spectators.' (Irish Examiner)
Former Armagh manager Joe Kernan has said the current controversy over standards of refereeing can be solved by consistency and respect.
And 'Big Joe' says he disagrees with Colm O'Rourke's assertion that only 'big men' should be in charge of crunch Championship ties.
Kernan said: 'We all say some things we live to regret and the way Colm said it, it probably came out wrong.
'Refereeing is a hard task. There's many the day I get frustrated with them and many the day I say 'job well done'.
'Consistency in refereeing is the one thing we need to sort out. Hopefully in the near future the players, managers and referees will sit down and get that type of respect we want on the field.' (The Star/The Sun)
