By John Martin
JASON McManus won't be so much fulfilling a dream when he lines out for Fermanagh in the Ulster senior hurling championship on May 11 as fulfilling a long overdue fixture.
The Erne hurling stalwart of 20 years' vintage will face...>>> more
By John Martin
AS the business end of the season approaches, teams are starting to get close to their strongest side with the championship just a few weeks away.
Well at least they should be. The general theory goes that as the game has become more...>>> more
By John Martin
GARETH 'Magic' Johnson wants to get his hands on a trophy before the year is out. And the six-foot-two target man believes that the new sense of solidarity brought about by manager Jim McKernan will provide the perfect platform for...>>> more
By John Martin
Last week Antrim unveiled their proposals for the restructure of the All Ireland senior hurling championship, putting forward three options for consideration. In a presentation to Nickey Brennan and Pauric Duffy, Antrim officials...>>> more
The decision by the Central Competitions Control Committee to refuse to re-fix the throw-in time of Antrim's National League clash with Waterford last weekend has left me more than a bit disillusioned.
Not because it is an insult to Antrim hurling...>>> more
IN the not too distant past, a one point defeat by Derry would have been an acceptable result for Armagh's hurlers. But after Sunday's 3-11 to 2-13 loss, the Orchard men were positively fuming.
The gap between third and fourth place in Ulster's order...>>> more
BY JOHN MARTIN
columnists@gaeliclife.com
'WILL DICK hang up his hurl?' 'Was that Ally's last game?' 'Patch will pack it in after today.' The thoughts and fears of the Dunloy supporters at Clones on Sunday centred a lot on the future of the side's...>>> more
BY JOHN MARTIN
columnist@gaeliclife.com
IT'S been almost five years since Birr and Dunloy last met. That was in the 2003 All Ireland final when Birr made their competitive record against the Antrim men P 4 W3 D1 L0.
It is only right then that the...>>> more
By John Martin
Be careful for what you wish, because you may get it, and, as American satirist Henry Louis Mencken pointed out, sometimes you get it good and hard. The Antrim hurling management would well do to take this well-worn piece of advice on...>>> more
By John Martin
It is now over five years since John Gough proclaimed "that hurling in Belfast is dead", and even in January 2003, many within the county viewed his comments as overdue.
Leaving aside the obvious 'what took you so long?' question, the...>>> more
DOMESTIC action is taking centre stage in several Ulster counties as the race for the various league and championship titles gathers pace.
Brackey's Ruairi Kelly secured the first major senior title of the Tyrone handball season at the weekend when...>>> more
By John Martin
The greatest player ever to play for my club was a man named Gerry Cullen. He was born in the USA and came to Ardoyne via County Cavan and soon became a regular fixture in the Kickhams' hurling and football teams, as well as the county...>>> more
ENTRIES are currently being sought for the Irish National Handball Championships, the finals of which are due to be held at Kilkenny venues on March 15 and 16 next.
Qualifier rounds in the competitions will be held at venues throughout the country...>>> more
Derry hurling and football great Brian McGilligan has warned the county's dual stars that they are "being used" by Paddy Crozier to plug gaps left by injury and the unavailability of college players during the Gaelic Life McKenna Cup.
McGilligan, who...>>> more
By John Martin
IT'S the first issue of the New Year, so it must be prediction time. Unlike the grants issue which will no doubt provide many twists and turns over the next few months, the quest for the Liam McCarthy Cup is unlikely - yet again - to...>>> more
By John Martin
AS THIS is the last column of 2007, it is an appropriate a time as any - in the fine tradition of lazy, pre-Christmas journalism - to look back over the past year.
It wasn't a classic All Ireland hurling championship but it had its...>>> more
By John Martin
The hurling All Star managers were announced this week for the biannual trip to far off lands for our hard done by senior county stars. Brian Cody and Richie Bennis will be the men on the sidelines this year as the hurlers jet off to...>>> more
YOUNG players from throughout Ulster are among those dreaming of a trip to America for the USHA Championships in the next few months.
Trials for the competitions begin this week in a number of different grades from Boys U-15 and under to U-19 and...>>> more
By John Martin
HURLING Development Committee (HDC) Chairman Ned Quinn admits he will be "amazed" if the current proposals for the restructuring of the National Hurling League and Liam McCarthy Cup last for more than three seasons.
The HDC have been...>>> more
By John Martin
Just seven-and-a-half miles separate Loughgiel and Dunloy so the players hardly need introducing to each other ahead of Saturday's Sporttracker Ulster Club Hurling Division 1 final at Casement Park (5pm).
They have also already met...>>> more
1. Waterford 3-17 Limerick 1-14
Dan 'the man' Shanahan shines
After scoring 3-3 in another tremendous All-Ireland final Shanahan won man of the match for a remarkable performance. To use boxing parlance, if his points were his jab, then it was...>>> more
By John Martin
ALL the pre-match predictions turned out to be correct. In fact they were unerringly accurate. The forecasters only fell down on how quickly Limerick were put to the sword by the all-conquering Cats.
The loss of captain Henry Shefflin,...>>> more
By John Martin
A COUPLE of weeks ago I caught the last hour of the film 'Miracle' on RTE1. I'd seen it before, and being a true story it was fairly easy to pick up the storyline anyway.
Miracle tells the tale of the 1980 US ice hockey team's...>>> more
By John Martin
ONE of the many stories involving Eamonn Coleman recounted in the days after his passing involved Brian McGilligan. On returning to the Derry dressing room carrying a limp after a hurling game, Coleman roared at the Dungiven man to...>>> more
By John Martin
THE contrast in the Derry and Dublin under-21 hurlers couldn't be more stark. The Dublin panel has been groomed from under-13 level as part of the massive underage drive designed to bring the Liam McCarthy Cup to the capital.
The...>>> more
By John Martin
ARMAGH'S hurlers travelled to Croke Park last Sunday to take in the triple-header which included the All-Ireland quarter-final between Waterford and Cork, and the Kilkenny-Wexford semi.
It's not that they would have had any trouble...>>> more
By John Martin
Michael McCambridge has been on the Antrim senior hurling panel for long enough to be considered one of the squad's 'experienced' players. He's seen a few false dawns, a few of those flash in the pan results that the Saffrons are...>>> more
JAMESIE O'Connor may be stating the obvious when he says that "Antrim will never have a better chance of beating Clare than this weekend", but the double All-Ireland winner is also quick to point out that his native county have not become a bad team...>>> more
There is nothing that followers of Gaelic games would like to see more than consistency when it comes to dealing with indiscipline. I'm no different. But like everyone else, I'm not holding my breath.
Everyone sings from the same songbook when I...>>> more
The 2007 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship is over. It only lasted four weeks from start to finish but it seemed a lot longer. That is not usually a good sign. Take going to the cinema as an example. When a movie seems to be dragging on a bit, you...>>> more
By John Martin
JASON McManus won't be so much fulfilling a dream when he lines out for Fermanagh in the Ulster senior hurling championship on May 11 as fulfilling a long overdue fixture.
The Erne hurling stalwart of 20 years' vintage will face...>>> more
By John Martin
AS the business end of the season approaches, teams are starting to get close to their strongest side with the championship just a few weeks away.
Well at least they should be. The general theory goes that as the game has become more...>>> more
By John Martin
GARETH 'Magic' Johnson wants to get his hands on a trophy before the year is out. And the six-foot-two target man believes that the new sense of solidarity brought about by manager Jim McKernan will provide the perfect platform for...>>> more
By John Martin
Last week Antrim unveiled their proposals for the restructure of the All Ireland senior hurling championship, putting forward three options for consideration. In a presentation to Nickey Brennan and Pauric Duffy, Antrim officials...>>> more
The decision by the Central Competitions Control Committee to refuse to re-fix the throw-in time of Antrim's National League clash with Waterford last weekend has left me more than a bit disillusioned.
Not because it is an insult to Antrim hurling...>>> more
IN the not too distant past, a one point defeat by Derry would have been an acceptable result for Armagh's hurlers. But after Sunday's 3-11 to 2-13 loss, the Orchard men were positively fuming.
The gap between third and fourth place in Ulster's order...>>> more
BY JOHN MARTIN
columnists@gaeliclife.com
'WILL DICK hang up his hurl?' 'Was that Ally's last game?' 'Patch will pack it in after today.' The thoughts and fears of the Dunloy supporters at Clones on Sunday centred a lot on the future of the side's...>>> more
BY JOHN MARTIN
columnist@gaeliclife.com
IT'S been almost five years since Birr and Dunloy last met. That was in the 2003 All Ireland final when Birr made their competitive record against the Antrim men P 4 W3 D1 L0.
It is only right then that the...>>> more
By John Martin
Be careful for what you wish, because you may get it, and, as American satirist Henry Louis Mencken pointed out, sometimes you get it good and hard. The Antrim hurling management would well do to take this well-worn piece of advice on...>>> more
By John Martin
It is now over five years since John Gough proclaimed "that hurling in Belfast is dead", and even in January 2003, many within the county viewed his comments as overdue.
Leaving aside the obvious 'what took you so long?' question, the...>>> more
DOMESTIC action is taking centre stage in several Ulster counties as the race for the various league and championship titles gathers pace.
Brackey's Ruairi Kelly secured the first major senior title of the Tyrone handball season at the weekend when...>>> more
By John Martin
The greatest player ever to play for my club was a man named Gerry Cullen. He was born in the USA and came to Ardoyne via County Cavan and soon became a regular fixture in the Kickhams' hurling and football teams, as well as the county...>>> more
ENTRIES are currently being sought for the Irish National Handball Championships, the finals of which are due to be held at Kilkenny venues on March 15 and 16 next.
Qualifier rounds in the competitions will be held at venues throughout the country...>>> more
Derry hurling and football great Brian McGilligan has warned the county's dual stars that they are "being used" by Paddy Crozier to plug gaps left by injury and the unavailability of college players during the Gaelic Life McKenna Cup.
McGilligan, who...>>> more
By John Martin
IT'S the first issue of the New Year, so it must be prediction time. Unlike the grants issue which will no doubt provide many twists and turns over the next few months, the quest for the Liam McCarthy Cup is unlikely - yet again - to...>>> more
By John Martin
AS THIS is the last column of 2007, it is an appropriate a time as any - in the fine tradition of lazy, pre-Christmas journalism - to look back over the past year.
It wasn't a classic All Ireland hurling championship but it had its...>>> more
By John Martin
The hurling All Star managers were announced this week for the biannual trip to far off lands for our hard done by senior county stars. Brian Cody and Richie Bennis will be the men on the sidelines this year as the hurlers jet off to...>>> more
YOUNG players from throughout Ulster are among those dreaming of a trip to America for the USHA Championships in the next few months.
Trials for the competitions begin this week in a number of different grades from Boys U-15 and under to U-19 and...>>> more
By John Martin
HURLING Development Committee (HDC) Chairman Ned Quinn admits he will be "amazed" if the current proposals for the restructuring of the National Hurling League and Liam McCarthy Cup last for more than three seasons.
The HDC have been...>>> more
By John Martin
Just seven-and-a-half miles separate Loughgiel and Dunloy so the players hardly need introducing to each other ahead of Saturday's Sporttracker Ulster Club Hurling Division 1 final at Casement Park (5pm).
They have also already met...>>> more
1. Waterford 3-17 Limerick 1-14
Dan 'the man' Shanahan shines
After scoring 3-3 in another tremendous All-Ireland final Shanahan won man of the match for a remarkable performance. To use boxing parlance, if his points were his jab, then it was...>>> more
By John Martin
ALL the pre-match predictions turned out to be correct. In fact they were unerringly accurate. The forecasters only fell down on how quickly Limerick were put to the sword by the all-conquering Cats.
The loss of captain Henry Shefflin,...>>> more
By John Martin
A COUPLE of weeks ago I caught the last hour of the film 'Miracle' on RTE1. I'd seen it before, and being a true story it was fairly easy to pick up the storyline anyway.
Miracle tells the tale of the 1980 US ice hockey team's...>>> more
By John Martin
ONE of the many stories involving Eamonn Coleman recounted in the days after his passing involved Brian McGilligan. On returning to the Derry dressing room carrying a limp after a hurling game, Coleman roared at the Dungiven man to...>>> more
By John Martin
THE contrast in the Derry and Dublin under-21 hurlers couldn't be more stark. The Dublin panel has been groomed from under-13 level as part of the massive underage drive designed to bring the Liam McCarthy Cup to the capital.
The...>>> more
By John Martin
ARMAGH'S hurlers travelled to Croke Park last Sunday to take in the triple-header which included the All-Ireland quarter-final between Waterford and Cork, and the Kilkenny-Wexford semi.
It's not that they would have had any trouble...>>> more
By John Martin
Michael McCambridge has been on the Antrim senior hurling panel for long enough to be considered one of the squad's 'experienced' players. He's seen a few false dawns, a few of those flash in the pan results that the Saffrons are...>>> more
JAMESIE O'Connor may be stating the obvious when he says that "Antrim will never have a better chance of beating Clare than this weekend", but the double All-Ireland winner is also quick to point out that his native county have not become a bad team...>>> more
There is nothing that followers of Gaelic games would like to see more than consistency when it comes to dealing with indiscipline. I'm no different. But like everyone else, I'm not holding my breath.
Everyone sings from the same songbook when I...>>> more
The 2007 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship is over. It only lasted four weeks from start to finish but it seemed a lot longer. That is not usually a good sign. Take going to the cinema as an example. When a movie seems to be dragging on a bit, you...>>> more
