Sunday match reports

*Photo: Irish Times (Matt Browne/Sportsfile)*

I’m off down the road to Croke Park in a bit – and what a day for football it is too – but first it’s only right to do a quick post providing links to the games involving us played this weekend.

Friday evening’s All-Ireland Minor defeat was as disappointing to us as it was thrilling for Galway, the neighbours’ joy then hitting new levels with their decisive All-Ireland semi-final win over Derry yesterday. These sure are good times to be a Galway football supporter.

Like many, I wish them well in the final. It’s a match they’ll undoubtedly be underdogs in but a contest that Padraic Joyce, who knows a thing or two about winning Sam, will surely relish.

If they do win it then such an outcome would, of course, be tough for many Mayo supporters to take as it would mean that, after all our near-misses, they swan along and win one in their first final appearance in twenty-one years. Seeing as we’ve been in eight finals since they were last in one, however, we can’t really complain if they do it and, on yesterday’s evidence, they’re well capable of sealing the deal. More power to them.

From our perspective, all our focus is now on the county’s women footballers who upset the odds in fine style yesterday to beat Cork in the LGFA All-Ireland quarter-final. With Dublin also eliminated yesterday, this year’s Brendan Martin Cup decider will be the first since 2002 that won’t feature either of the two counties who have largely dominated the game over the past two decades.

We’re playing Kerry next weekend and after yesterday’s stirring performance we’ll rightly fancy our chances of making the final the end of this month. Our shouting isn’t, then, done for the year just yet.

Right, onto the online coverage of the weekend’s two matches involving us.