Gaelic Games

Odhran Crumley
BBC Sport NI Journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Tyrone have been dealt a blow ahead of the beginning of the All-Ireland SFC as forward Cathal McShane has stepped away from the panel.

McShane's last appearance for the Red Hands came last month as he was drafted into Malachy O'Rourke's starting 15 for their Ulster Championship opener against Cavan with Darragh Canavan ruled out through injury.

The All-Ireland winning forward was not named in the matchday squad for Tyrone's semi-final defeat to Armagh as Canavan and Mark Bradley returned from injury.

The Owen Roes attacker made just one National League appearance this season, coming off the bench to kick a point in Tyrone's defeat at Mayo in February.

McShane made his inter-county debut a decade ago against Donegal in 2015 and throughout his time in red and white he picked up three Ulster SFC medals (2016, 2017 and 2021) alongside his All-Ireland SFC medal in 2021.

McShane won an All-Star for his performances in 2019, finishing as the All-Ireland SFC's top scorer, kicking 3-48 in nine games.

He suffered a serious ankle injury in a league game at Galway at the beginning of the 2020 season before returning to help Tyrone win the All-Ireland title in 2021, scoring goals off the bench in their semi-final win over Kerry and in the decider against Mayo.

The 29-year-old's absence will prove a blow to O'Rourke and the wider Tyrone squad as they head into an All-Ireland round-robin series starting with a trip to the Ulster champions before hosting Mayo and taking on Cavan at a neutral venue.

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Galway's 1-17 to 1-15 Connacht Final win over Mayo means the Tribesmen will join Dublin, Derry and the losers of next Saturday's Ulster Final between Armagh and Donegal in what has been dubbed the 'group of death' in the All-Ireland Football Championship.

With Padraic Joyce's Galway side now confirmed in group four, Mayo will be placed in group one alongside Tyrone, Cavan and the winners of the Ulster Final.

Kerry's 4-20 to 0-21 Munster Final victory over Clare means the Kingdom face a rematch with Cork in a group two that will also include Roscommon and the losers of next Sunday's Leinster Final between Louth and Meath.

Clare's defeat puts them in group three alongside Monaghan, Down the winners of the Leinster Final in what is being regarded as the weakest of the four groups.

The Tribesmen won the Connacht decider for a fourth consecutive year after being pushed all the way at MacHale Park.

Mayo started well and went ahead through Darren McHale's early goal, but then went 25 minutes without a score as Galway upped the tempo and edged ahead before they were awarded a penalty.

Matthew Ruane pulled back Johnny McGrath and Matthew Tierney scored from the spot with Galway tagging on some late scores to lead by eight points at the break.

Mayo managed to level midway through the second half but Galway went back in front and held on to claim a two-point win.

At the Fitzgerald Stadium, the Munster final was over as a contest after 35 minutes with Kerry having found the net four times in a ruthless dismantling of Clare as they claimed a fifth successive title.

They had a 15-point advantage at half-time, with Micheal Burns and Barry Dan O'Sullivan scoring and the impressive David Clifford netting twice as well as kicking five points.

Clare, who were playing their third consecutive Munster final against the Kingdom, outscored Kerry in the second half, but could only reduce the deficit to 11 points by the end of the game.

Odhran Crumley
BBC Sport NI Journalist

Image source, Inpho

Tyrone retained the Ulster under-20 title with a 1-19 to 2-14 win over Donegal after extra-time at Owenbeg.

Ruairi McCullagh kicked 0-9 as the Red Hands claimed a third title in four years.

The real winning of the game came with three two-pointers in the first four minutes of extra-time as the holders exerted their dominance.

Paul Devlin's side will now meet Munster champions Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final on the weekend of 10 May in a repeat of last year's decider won by Tyrone.

McCullagh and Kevin Muldoon led the charge for their sides in a first half which really failed to catch light.

Tyrone kicked eight wides to Donegal's two but led by the minimum at the break as 0-5 played 0-4.

The Tir Chonaill emerged sharpest for the second stanza kicking two, two-pointers in as many minutes with Shane Callaghan and Conor McCahill firing over.

Tyrone responded from the very next play as Liam Og Mossey's attempt at a point cannoned off the post and into the hands of Joey Clarke, who fired to the roof of the Donegal net.

The sides traded scores before the pace of Muldoon burned a hole through the heart of the Tyrone defence, he slipped Cathal O Gallchoir through, he hit the net and Donegal led by two with 10 minutes to play.

Throughout Donegal refused to engage beyond their 40-metre arc as McCullagh levelled with two scores.

The holders would keep the ball for almost four minutes at the end before Conor O'Neill's effort tailed wide, sending the game to extra time at 1-9 apiece.

The game would burst into life in extra-time as three two-pointers from Eoin McElholm, Shea McDermott and McCullagh put Tyrone into a seven-point lead.

Seanan Carr replied with a fine individual goal for Donegal as three separated the sides heading into the final period of extra-time.

Drama would follow as Donegal chased the game at the death and with two between the sides, the Tir Chonaill men were punished for failing to keep three defenders in their own half allowing McCullagh to slot over and put three between them.

Tyrone netminder Conan McGarvey would prove the hero as he saved Conor McCahill's goal bound effort with the final action of the match.

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This year's beaten Ulster SFC finalists - Armagh or Donegal - will drop into the so-called 'Group of Death' in the All-Ireland series.

The losers of the Ulster final on 10 May will be placed into Group Four alongside the beaten Connacht finalists - either Galway or Mayo - as well as Dublin and Derry.

"Can I be the first to call it the 'Group of Death', please?" said the GAA's Director of Player, Club and Games Administration Feargal McGill during Wednesday's draw.

The Ulster champions will drop into Group One with the winners of Sunday's Connacht final between Galway and Mayo, Tyrone and Cavan.

On paper, Group Four certainly looks to be the toughest with all six potential teams having reached last year's knockout rounds.

Derry and Dublin are guaranteed to be a part of it with both counties hoping to rebound from disappointing provincial campaigns.

Derry lost to Donegal in the Ulster preliminary round, while Dublin were stunned by Meath in last weekend's Leinster semi-final in Portlaoise, setting up a first Leinster final without the Dubs since 2010.

The first round of Sam Maguire games will be played on the weekend of 17/18 May, with the Connacht and Munster finalists among those in action.

The Ulster and Leinster finalists will begin their campaigns the following week.

Armagh are hoping to retain their All-Ireland title after winning Gaelic football's biggest prize for the second time last summer.

Having lost last year's Ulster final to Donegal on penalties, the Orchard County navigated their way through a Group of Death that contained Galway, Derry and Westmeath before beating Roscommon, Kerry and Galway in the knockout rounds to lift Sam.

Down, who earned a spot in the Sam Maguire series by winning last year's Tailteann Cup, will face the Leinster winners, the Munster runners-up and Monaghan in Group Three.

In the Tailteann Cup, Antrim will face 2022 winners Westmeath, Limerick and London, while Fermanagh will take on Wexford, Carlow and Longford.

Antrim, who were relegated to Division Four before losing their Ulster quarter-final to Armagh, have reached the Tailteann Cup semi-finals in each of the past two seasons.

This is the last year of the current All-Ireland format with the group stages set to be scrapped for 2026.

All-Ireland SFC

Group One: Armagh/Donegal winners, Galway/Mayo losers, Tyrone, Cavan

Group Two: Kerry/Clare winners, Louth/Meath losers, Roscommon, Cork

Group Three: Louth/Meath winners, Kerry/Clare losers, Monaghan, Down

Group Four: Galway/Mayo winners, Armagh/Donegal losers, Dublin, Derry

Tailteann Cup

Group One: Kildare, Sligo, Leitrim, Tipperary

Group Two: Offaly, Laois, Wicklow, Waterford

Group Three: Westmeath, Limerick, Antrim, London

Group Four: Fermanagh, Wexford, Carlow, Longford

Image source, BBC Sport

On this week's GAA Social, Oisin and Thomas are joined by Cork legend Jimmy Barry-Murphy.

A multiple All-Ireland winner in football and hurling as a player, Barry-Murphy also managed his native Cork to the Liam MacCarthy Cup in 1999.

In a wide-ranging interview, the trio go into Barry-Murphy's long career in the sport, including his experiences with former Manchester United footballers Denis Irwin and Roy Keane.

You can listen to the GAA Social on BBC Sounds right now

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The 2025 Ulster Senior Football final between holders Donegal and last year's beaten finalists Armagh will be played on Saturday, 10 May at Clones.

The game will have a 17:25 BST throw-in and will be the second of a double-header with the Ulster Ladies Football final between the same counties.

The throw-in time for the Ladies final has not yet been confirmed.

Croke Park had been touted as a potential venue but Ulster GAA confirmed fixture details shortly after Donegal's semi-final win over Down on Sunday.

Donegal beat Armagh in a penalty shootout in last year's final.

Image source, Inpho

Down boss Conor Laverty admitted to being left "bitterly disappointed" by his side's six-point Ulster SFC semi-final loss to Donegal.

Donegal led by eight points at half-time but Down failed to make life more uncomfortable for Jim McGuinness' side after missing goal chances in the second period.

Shay Miller was denied by Shaun Patton before Eugene Branagan lashed a shot wide when he was bearing down on goal.

"We're bitterly disappointed with how the game finished," Laverty told BBC Sport NI.

"There was a period in the second half where we felt we got to grips with the game and we had opportunities to close the gap.

"They kept us at arm's length. They had goal chances but if our chances go in it gives us serious momentum going into the home straight."

Having won last year's Tailteann Cup, Down have an All-Ireland campaign to look forward to.

And while Laverty admits his panel have not had enough exposure at the highest level, he feels his players are trending in the right direction.

"This is a young squad and they maybe haven't had the exposure of playing at that level," added the Kilcoo club-man.

"Division Two helped us this year, playing against Armagh in the semi-final last year and Donegal today.

"We're closing the gap, I still feel there are three or four teams in Ulster that are ahead of everybody but as a group we're closing that gap."

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Donegal captain Patrick McBrearty insists his side must make "big improvements" if they are to overcome Armagh in the Ulster SFC final after beating Down in Sunday's semi-final in Clones.

The holders saw off Down 1-19 to 0-16 but the Mournemen passed up three goal chances that would have made life difficult for Jim McGuinness' side.

And McBrearty says Donegal must find another level in order to secure a repeat of last year's provincial decider success over the Orchard County.

"Job done. We knew coming into today, it was a very capable Down team," man of the match McBrearty told BBC Sport NI after scoring 1-4 against Down.

"We were probably a bit tetchy for the first 15 minutes but I thought we found our groove then and settled into the game and got the goal obviously.

"But big, big lessons to learn from today and big improvements if we're going to beat Armagh in the Ulster final."

He added: "I think we played them [Armagh] three times last year and there was only a point in it over so many hundred minutes.

"We know Armagh and they know us and it's going to come down to inches. It's how we prepare now until Sunday week but it's great to be involved in those types of days."

Armagh booked their place in a third straight Ulster final on Saturday with a 0-23 to 0-22 win over Tyrone and McBrearty admits Kieran McGeeney's side looked "very impressive".

"It went down to the wire and they showed great character," he said.

"Most other teams would have folded but Armagh have been in big games in recent years and have that big-game experience and they showed it last night."

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Paddy Burns joked that the Armagh players "owe our fans an apology" after putting them through some torment before snatching a dramatic 0-23 to 0-22 victory over Tyrone in the opening Ulster Football semi-final at Clones.

The All-Ireland champions looked in a degree of control as they led 0-18 to 0-12 after 47 minutes.

However, as has become the norm under the new rules, two-pointers helped Tyrone fight back to lead by two with eight minutes remaining before Armagh hit the final three scores, with Rory Grugan's last-kick free clinching victory.

"We don't like to make it easy and I'd say there were plenty of hearts in mouths," said Burns of the Armagh fans, who again travelled to Clones in huge numbers.

While Armagh methodically worked to secure their match-winning free after the hooter had sounded, the defender in Burns was pleading with his team-mates to "kick the ball dead".

"That's all I was thinking. If it goes to extra-time so be it," said the corner-back, who plays his club football with Down outfit Burren.

But his team-mates had other ideas and after they poached yet another of Niall Morgan's kickouts, a foul on Conor Turbitt secured the 21-metre free which Grugan was never going to miss.

Burns himself was given the onerous task of marking Tyrone's big forward threat Darragh Canavan and performed the job admirably by restricting the Errigal Ciaran star to only two points from play.

"With a boy like Darragh, you just have to do your best to get close and sometimes hope for the best. He got a few shots away that he didn't convert too."

While Burns' smile said it all, Tyrone manager Malachy O'Rourke rued his team's inability to close out the game after seemingly timing their run perfectly to move into the lead with less than 10 minutes remaining.

"We got ourselves in a good position and we're just disappointed we didn't see it out," said O'Rourke, who praised his side's "character" in fighting back from six down to lead.

The Tyrone boss lauded the contribution of young substitute Eoin McElholm who kicked two points after his 47th-minute introduction.

"He was a sort of a spark that lit up the forward line to a degree when he came in. He caused Armagh a lot of trouble and got a couple of great scores and just was a threat straightaway."