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St Vincent’s 0-15
Castleknock 0-10

Kevin O’Brien reports from Parnell Park

ST VINCENT’S ARE the kingpins in Dublin once again.

Mossy Quinn rolled back the years and Diarmuid Connolly played an instrumental role from centre-forward as the Vinnies were crowned county champions for the 28th time.

Their third SFC title in four years wasn’t quite the blow-out many people were predicting before the game but nonetheless there was an assuredness and confidence about the display of the winners.

Appearing in their first ever Dublin SFC in only their 18th year of existence, Castleknock gave a good account of themselves but ultimately they hadn’t the firepower to live with the Marino-based club.

After under-performing in last year’s final defeat to Ballyboden, St Vincent’s are back on the top of the tree in the Dublin championship.

It was a defensive affair with Castleknock dropping a lot of bodies back behind the ball, which in turn forced Vincent’s to adopt a similar approach.

Diarmuid Connolly had a quiet opening half by his lofty standards. He was well-marshalled by Tom Quinn early on but by the end of the game the two-time All-Star was pulling the strings all over the field.

His link play with Quinn was a joy to behold. Connolly picked out the 35-year-old corner forward with a few delightful passes to set-up a few key scores after the break.

Quinn and former Mayo attacker Enda Varley were extremely accurate up front.

Vincent’s were leading by 0-11 to 0-7 after 45 minutes when Ger Brennan was dismissed for a second yellow card. That gave Castleknock a massive boost and they reeled off a couple of points to give them hope.

Ultimately though ‘Knock were relying on the placed balls of Des Carlos and Vincent’s had the experience and class to steer the ship home.

On a beautiful afternoon in a packed Parnell Park, Castleknock arrived into the game massive underdogs against the three-time All-Ireland champions St. Vincent’s.

With two 2016 All-Stars on show Castleknock played Kilkenny as the lone soldier in a one-man full-forward line, while Connolly lined out at 11 for Vincent’s.

St Vincent’s started the game firmly in control and eased into a three point lead inside the opening ten minutes with Quinn and Varley looking lively.

Castleknock, who were operating with Kilkenny in a one-man full-forward line, didn’t get on the score board until the 12th minute.

They visibly grew in confidence from that point and started to expose Vincent’s on the break. Kilkenny, Kevin Kindlon and Des Carlos found the target to leave the sides level at the break on 0-7 apiece.

Castleknock were slow starters to the second-half as two scores from Quinn and one from Shane Carthy sent Vincent’s into a three-point lead. The game was turned on its head by Brennan’s red card, for a high challenge on Kevin Kindlon.

That gave Castleknock hope and a couple of frees from Carlos left them trailing by 0-11 to 0-9 with 15 minutes left. James Sherry had a goal chance saved off the line and with that went Castleknock’s chance.

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Varley, Trailor and Joe Feeney were on target at the far end as Vincent’s saw the game home.

Scorers for St Vincent’s: Tomas Quinn 0-5 (0-3f), Enda Varley 0-4 (0-1f), Gavin Burke 0-2, Cameron Diamond 0-1, Shane Carthy 0-1, Ruairi Trainor 0-1, Joe Feeney 0-1

Scorers for Castleknock: Des Carlos 0-5 (0-4f), Ciaran Kilkenny 0-2, Mikey Galvin 0-1, Kevin Kindlon 0-1, Eoin O’Brien 0-1.

St Vincent’s

1. Michael Savage

2. Michael Concarr
3. Jarlath Curley
31. Craig Wilson

5. Brendan Egan
6. Ger Brennan
20. Cameron Diamond

8. Daithi Murphy
9. Shane Carthy

10. Gavin Burke
11. Diarmuid Connolly
12. Cormac Diamond

13. Ruairi Trainor
29. Enda Varley
15. Tomas Quinn

Subs:

Albert Martin for Murphy, 32 mins
Joe Feeney for Cormac Diamond, 40 mins
Adam Baxter for Varley, 60 mins

Castleknock

1. Morven Connolly

2. Paul Bourke
3. Peter Sherry
4. Eoin O’Brien

5. Graham Hannigan
6. Tom Shiels
7. Tom Quinn

8. Ciaran Kilkenny
9. Shane Boland

10. Des Carlos
11. Ben Galvin
12. Kevin Kindlon

13. Mikey Galvin
14. James Sherry
15. Colin Lynch

Subs:

Craig Brennan for M Galvin, 42 mins
John Kindlon for Lynch, 52 mins
Martin Brady for B Galvin

Referee: Darragh Sheppard

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Henry Shefflin and Ballyhale players celebrating their 2016 All-Ireland club final win.

Source: Cathal Noonan/INPHO

“WE WERE SLAGGING him actually that he was only back with the club a couple of months and was writing stories about how the club players were being treated!

“Jesus, if he’d been there for the last 13 years, that club players association would have been set up a lot sooner!”

Andy Moloney is laughing at his recollection of reading Henry Shefflin’s views on the plight of club players this summer.

Moloney and Shefflin go back to college days in Waterford IT, a firm friendship struck up with hurling as the bond between them.

Now ex-Tipperary and Waterford player Moloney is part of the Ballyhale management team, ex-Kilkenny player Shefflin one of the players he is in charge of.

The most celebrated hurler in the game called time on his inter-county life in March 2015. Eight days earlier he had scaled the peak of club hurling as Ballyhale flattened Kilmallock in Croke Park.

Since then Shefflin has been able to fully devote himself to improving of the fortunes of the Shamrocks. They fell short at the semi-final hurdle in Kilkenny last year, today they are back in the showpiece on Noreside.

Moloney has witnessed first-hand how Shefflin continues to orchestrate and influence, this year from the centre of the pitch as a midfielder.

“Henry’s a huge asset at club level, he’s very good for the young fellas.

“He doesn’t let them away with anything. He’s very focused on what he wants.

“That’s been his hallmark. He knows what he wants, he trains to get it and he expects everyone to be on the same page.”

Moloney is the managerial sidekick to Colm Bonnar, a Tipperary duo who are just as well-versed in Waterford club hurling.

They fetched up for the first time in Ballyhale in January 2014 and have marvelled at how this village in south Kilkenny continues to churn out players and teams that achieve All-Ireland greatness.

• All-Ireland Club – 6 (1981, 1984, 1990, 2007, 2010, 2015)
• Leinster Club – 8 (1978, 1980, 1983, 1989, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2014)
• Kilkenny SHC – 15 (1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1989, 1991, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014)

“You walk in and it’s just a simple set up, dressing-rooms and two playing fields. And that’s it.

“When the evenings are dark, we go to Piltown or Carriganore for training. We just get on with it.

“They keep everything simple and I think that’s the big thing with Kilkenny in general.

“When people talk about the All-Black’s in rugby, they say they do the simple things right 99% of time.

“With Kilkenny in general, it’s the same and that’s why they’ve been as successful as they have.”

Ballyhale attack the club scene in a relentless fashion. A long, exhausting campaign eventually took its toll in 2015. After their St Patrick’s Day win, they were back in Kilkenny championship action less than a month later.

By last autumn, they were running on empty and their challenge buckled under the strain.

2016 dawned and they fashioned a new challenge. It wasn’t straightforward, Moloney and Bonnar watched the All-Ireland winning side they constructed get picked apart.

Alan Cuddihy moved to Dubai. Conor Walsh has been out injured for the guts of 18 months now. Cha Fitzpatrick retired.

And then on that epic August night in Thurles, as Kilkenny and Waterford traded blows, they watched Michael Fennelly get struck down.

Michael Fennelly suffered his injury against Waterford in Semple Stadium

Source: Donall Farmer/INPHO

“Michael is a huge player for us, whether he’s playing at midfield or centre-back, he’s a huge player,” admits Moloney.

“When we saw him going out, we thought ‘here we go’. But you know what, it’s amazing when you lose a player of that calibre, the other players seize the opportunity to step up.”

That’s been assisted by the stream of young players flowing into the Ballyhale senior squad. Last weekend their minor side lifted the county crown in the A grade in Kilkenny.

“It adds a bit of impetus to the whole setup,” outlines Moloney.

“But because of the U17 rule, only two of them are eligible to play, Dylan Aylward and Darren Mullen. The rest of them aren’t eligible to play.

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“But we carry them with us to make numbers in training and also it’s a good experience for them as well to be in the same dressing-room as Colin (Fennelly) and Henry and TJ and these lads.”

Today’s Nowlan Park opponents are not unfamiliar. With Brian Hogan and Martin Comerford previously, and Mark Bergin and Mark Kelly currently, they are plenty Kilkenny senior hurlers that Ballyhale players have rubbed shoulders with.

When Ballyhale made a breakthrough in 2006 to land their first Kilkenny title in 15 years, O’Loughlin Gaels were the force they defeated.

Last year the city side knocked Ballyhale out in a Kilkenny semi-final. They had no qualms about that result yet the Shamrocks rich tradition means the current players strive for more silverware today.

“Their fathers would have been on that team in the 80’s, they like to emulate them and maybe get one over if they could.

“At the same time, there’s a great respect there for the younger players to the older ones. No one gets ahead of themselves. They keep their feet on the ground.”

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Kilkenny SHC final: Ballyhale Shamrocks v O’Loughlin Gaels, 3.15pm

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WHEN DAVY FITZGERALD decided to step down as Clare senior hurling manager on 21 September, he could hardly have envisaged that he’d be a more than interested spectator at Wexford Park for tomorrow afternoon’s county senior hurling final between Oulart-The-Ballagh and Cloughbawn.

But on the merry-go-round that is now senior inter-county management, Fitzgerald has hopped on in Wexford and will guide the fortunes of the Slaneysiders for the next three seasons, with a review planned after year two.

And so Fitzgerald will make a round-trip of some 400km tomorrow afternoon, from Sixmilebridge to Wexford town and back again, to run the rule over some prospective panel members before he gets stuck into a real job of work ahead of the 2017 campaign.

As things stand, Fitzgerald cannot rely upon the availability of three cruciate knee ligament victims next year.

Andrew Shore and Shane Tomkins both underwent surgery on the same day in June while it emerged more recently that McGovern sustained the dreaded injury on duty for St Anne’s against Naomh Eanna in August.

McGovern, along with Lee Chin, was one of Wexford’s most impressive performers in 2016 but Tomkins and Shore played no part in the championship.

Tomkins, on his day, is a more than useful and combative forward, a potential John Conlon-like figure for Wexford.

Wexford’s Shane Tomkins is recovering from a cruciate knee ligament injury.

Source: Cathal Noonan/INPHO

McGovern is a will-o’-the-wisp attacker, pacey, direct, low centre of gravity and well able to take a score, while Shore can play at centre-back but was earmarked for a centre-forward role during the summer by Fitzgerald’s predecessor Liam Dunne.

In that sense, Fitzgerald is behind the 8-ball straight away, while some of his early phone calls will be to ascertain Jack Guiney and Kevin Foley’s immediate plans.

Foley opted out for the championship gone by due to study commitments while Guiney decided to take himself off the panel in February.

Get those two back involved, pray for swift returns for the cruciate trio, and Fitzgerald will have something concrete to work with.

Davy Fitzgerald will be hoping that Jack Guiney (pictured) will return to the Wexford squad.

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

Speaking to Liam Griffin recently, the legendary 1996 All-Ireland winning manager believes that Fitzgerald is poised to profit from Dunne’s “fantastic” work over the last five years.

Griffin acknowledged that losing out on a sixth year at the helm is “tough” on Dunne, who was interviewed for the position but overlooked by county board chiefs in favour of ex-Clare boss Fitzgerald.

But he says that Dunne has left behind “a good legacy”, and he’s backing Fitzgerald to build on those foundations.

“Liam’s done a fantastic job, a very difficult job to rebuild the team from when he started out.

“It’s a natural progression, (it) took him that long to build a team and a squad and sadly for him, after doing all that, the general consensus was that a new voice was required.

“That’s the prerogative of the chairman and committee to come up with that decision.

Wexford’s 1996 All-Ireland winning manager Liam Griffin (pictured) is predicting success for Davy Fitzgerald in Wexford.

Source: Donall Farmer/INPHO

“It’s tough on Liam but Davy will be the beneficiary of the good work he’s done and in the evolution of management in any area, even in business, you start a business and the next person brings it to another level.

“Liam did a great job and that shouldn’t be forgotten. What’s left behind is a good legacy and it’s incumbent on everybody to get behind Davy in every way.”

Fitzgerald will be anxious to hit the ground running, beginning with the Model County’s opening Division 1B fixture against Limerick next year.

And Griffin predicts that Fitzgerald will bring a dash of spice to his new role.

Liam Dunne managed Wexford for the last five seasons.

Source: Cathal Noonan/INPHO

Fitzgerald won’t tolerate players not toeing the party line (Clare’s Davy O’Halloran and Nicky O’Connell will testify to that) and if nothing else, Wexford fans are in for an interesting couple of years.

Griffin says: “Davy, first of all, is a character, an interesting character.

You need characters in our game, warts and all. If everybody was the same, it would be a very sad situation.

“He’s been very successful as a manager and was over a team that won a League title this year, an All-Ireland in 2013 and he also brought Waterford to an All-Ireland final (2008).

“He must have learned on every inch of the road and hopefully that will stand him in good stead.

Liam Dunne commiserates with Davy Fitzgerald after the 2014 All-Ireland SHC qualifier replay.

Source: Donall Farmer/INPHO

“He has a good, young, emerging team. He doesn’t have a massive amount of players but he does have a good squad.

“If he gets the players not involved for the last couple of years, and the injured players back, he should make good strides and that’s what we all want.

That’s what Liam (Dunne) wants and I know Liam was one of the first people in Wexford to wish him well. Liam is a loyal son of Wexford and always was, and gave everything he had to the senior hurling team, on and off the field.”

But Griffin warned that Fitzgerald, who’s been given a three-year term, with a review after year two, will need time to deliver.

He said: “Wexford people need to be patient. He needs a bit of time to get used to the squad and if anything good happens in the meantime, that’s a bonus.

“Wexford have the capacity for a few big hits but to do it consistently is the challenge.

“Within the next two years, you could see 11 or 12 players under the age of 25.”

Fitzgerald has a core group of established players to work with, along with graduates from the U21 teams that won three successive Leinster U21 titles from 2013-2015.

Clare beat Wexford to claim a third successive Bord Gáis Energy All-Ireland U21 crown in 2014.

Source: Donall Farmer/INPHO

You could argue that there are parallels between Wexford’s underage success and the Clare teams that surged to three successive All-Ireland U21 titles from 2012-2014.

When Clare wrapped up the hat-trick, they beat Wexford but Wexford weren’t disgraced, losing out by 3-11 to 2-20.

Earlier that year, Fitzgerald won’t need reminding that it was Wexford who ended Clare’s reign as All-Ireland champions, defeating them after a replay in the qualifiers.

Fitzgerald knows there’s talent in Wexford and he’ll feel confident of harnessing it.

And while Dunne was deemed surplus to requirements, he still managed to bring Wexford to quarter-finals twice in the last three years.

And Fitzgerald, being Fitzgerald, will carry a burning desire to prove his doubters wrong.

He’ll view this as a challenge to relish, far from the snipers he feels were always lurking in the hills of Clare. Privately, Fitzgerald is deeply unhappy with the criticism that came his way from former players and ex-manager Ger Loughnane.

Fitzgerald prides himself on loyalty but towards the end of his Clare reign, he felt that was in short supply. It’s what he’ll demand of his Wexford players from the word go.

And if they reciprocate, who knows what Wexford could achieve?

Buckle up, this could be one hell of a ride.

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DCU were crowned champions in 2020.

Source: Bryan Keane/INPHO

THE DRAW FOR the quarter-finals of this year’s Sigerson Cup has been made today.

2020 champions DCU, who needed a last-minute penalty converted by Sligo’s Red Óg Murphy to overcome St Mary’s College a week ago, will take on Ulster University in Dublin on Wednesday, 2 February (5pm). 

University Limerick meet Queen’s University in Abbottstown on the same evening (7pm).

The previous day, Tuesday, 1 February, sees MTU Kerry take on Maynooth in Tralee (5pm), while NUI Galway face Letterkenny IT in Dangan (6.30pm).  

The @ElectricIreland Sigerson Cup Quarter-Finals

Big games ahead! Stay tuned for streaming details #GAA #FirstClassRivals #SigersonCup pic.twitter.com/A7sdIrfeop

— GAA Higher Education (@HigherEdGAA) January 27, 2022

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All-Ireland intermediate club hurling semi-final results

• Kilmoyley (Kerry) 2-15 Banagher (Derry) 1-12

• Naas (Kildare) 0-18 Tooreen (Mayo) 0-13

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THERE WILL BE a novel All-Ireland hurling final meeting involving the Kerry and Kildare club champions after today’s semi-final successes for Kilmoyley and Naas.

The two clubs, competing at the All-Ireland semi-final stage for the first time this afternoon after their respective historic Munster and Leinster triumphs, will meet in the intermediate final at Croke Park on the weekend of 5-6 February.

It will mark the first time that a club from Kerry and Kildare have contested an All-Ireland hurling final.

They'll see us coming to the @ConnachtGAA Centre if Excellence on Sunday pic.twitter.com/LyxqbYJqyx

— Kilmoyley HC (@KilmoyleyHC) January 21, 2022

Congratulations to our senior hurlers on reaching the All Ireland Intermediate Hurling Final with a very hard fought victory over @TooreenHurlers@NaasBall pic.twitter.com/2hp1JhDYRF

— Naas Hurling (@SHNaas15) January 23, 2022

Two goals from Maurice O’Connor inspired Kilmoyley to victory over Ulster champions, Banagher from Derry, to victory by 2-15 to 1-12 at the Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence in Bekan. Daniel Collins (0-9) and Jordan Brick (0-4) were also in exceptional point-socring form for the winners.

Kilmoyley suffered an early setback when Collins saw his penalty effort saved but they recovered to lead 1-2 to 0-3 at the water break and 1-5 to 0-6 by half-time, O’Connor raising his first green flag. 

But the Derry champions enjoyed a brilliant start to the second half with a Stefan McCloskey goal helping them lead 1-8 to 1-5 as they played against the wind. Then Collins stepped up for Kilmoyley with four points in a row to restore their advantage by the second water break. They pushed on in the final quarter with Brick excelling and O’Connor netting for the second time, although the ending to the game was marred for Kilmoyley by a red card for forward Adrian Royle.

Jack Sheridan was in superb form for Naas as he fired 0-9 in their success by 0-18 to 0-13 against Mayo’s Tooreen in Duggan Park in Ballinasloe.

Tooreen, competing in their third All-Ireland semi-final, made a bright start as they went ahead 0-5 to 0-3 by the 20th minute, but Naas fought back to go front 0-9 to 0-7 at half-time. Tooreen cut the gap to a single point twice in the third quarter, but Naas hit five points without reply to move ahead 0-16 to 0-10 entering the last ten minutes.

They were able to protect their winning position from there, Sheridan pointing the way and Brian Byrne scoring 0-3 overall. Shane Boland (0-6) and Cathal Freeman (0-2) were top scorers for Tooreen.

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THE LAST TIME an All-Ireland club football title was on offer, Kieran Fitzgerald was immersed in the heat of the action.

That was back in January 2020, his last act as a Corofin player was a winning one, he signed off on a joyous note as the north Galway club football dynasty completed three-in-a-row.

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It was their fourth national crown in six seasons but Fitzgerald had experienced the flipside when county and provincial titles could not translate into the greatest club prize of all.

In that 2020 decider they prevailed after extra-time in a gruelling battle with Kilcoo.
The Down club have returned to that final stage next Saturday, when they pit themselves against Kilmacud Crokes, and aim to complete a mission they have been on.

Since 2009, Kilcoo have won ten county titles and Ulster silverware has finally arrived in 2019 and 2021.

They just need an All-Ireland to complete the set and Fitzgerald can relate to the scenario where the pursuit of that trophy consumes a club.

“We were in that position down through the years where we were winning county championships and winning Connacht which was great but eventually you want to get to the next step and Kilcoo are at that now. They have won in Down, two in a row in Ulster and they nearly got there two years ago against us. I have no doubt that they are consumed by the pursuit of that All-Ireland championship.

“They play like guys who are thinking like that and from my experience from playing against them, they were like men possessed to get over that line. I can totally appreciate where they are coming from and in many respects for a rural club like that – like we were in Corofin – to get over that line you nearly have to be 24/7 thinking about it.”

Kilcoo’s style of football is well-defined and while Corofin faced an array of contenders in their various seasons playing on the Galway, Connacht and All-Ireland stages, Fitzgerald rates that 2020 battle as ‘one of the toughest games of club football’ he encountered.

“I’m really interested in it. There are loads of different ways of winning and that was what worked for us. What works for Kilcoo is a different form of football, that’s what they believe in, and best of luck to them. They nearly won it two years ago against us and we really struggled with that.

“They’re tough opposition, they made it so difficult for us, they were one of the toughest, most aggressive teams I’ve ever played against, and I mean that as a compliment.

“They made us earn that and it was one of the toughest games of club football I’ve ever played in. They nearly did it and I fancy them this weekend.

“Tackling, work rate, their organisation, their discipline in the defensive structure, the turnovers, the way they tackled, they led you up alleys, there’s a method to their defence, they encourage you to go up avenues then they turn you over and break.

Kilcoo manager Mickey Moran.

Source: Ken Sutton/INPHO

“They have very talented forwards and when they break they break well, wing-backs like the Branagans break at speed, Johnson up front. Mickey Moran has them well tuned and it’s going to be a very interesting final.

“They are going to have a massive test against Kilmacud Crokes, even though they are minus Paul Mannion. They are a fine outfit as well so it will be an intriguing contest, it will be low-scoring possibly and tight but I do fancy Kilcoo.”

Fitzgerald brought a decorated playing career to a close after that 2020 club final, moving into a role as part of the Corofin management team for the past two seasons, something which aided his transition.

“I had my decision made to retire coming up to the Kilcoo All-Ireland final which seems so long ago now. Then obviously Covid hit and there was no football at all, so everybody wasn’t playing, so it wasn’t only me. It was great to play for years under Kevin O’Brien but probably didn’t have a full realisation of the extent of the work those guys were doing behind the scenes to keep the Corofin machine going.

“It was an eye opener for me to cross to the other side and see how that worked and obviously I was happy to play a small part in it.”

The theme of change in Corofin’s fortunes has been created by new county champions in Galway for the past two seasons in Moycullen and Mountbellew-Moylough.

Going into 2022 they will have a new manager at the helm in Kevin Johnson after Kevin O’Brien brought his hugely successful spell to a close late last year.

Kieran Fitzgerald celebrating the 2019 All-Ireland final win with Kevin O’Brien and Ciaran McGrath.

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

After three All-Ireland club title wins as a boss, Fitzgerald feels O’Brien has the capability to move into inter-county management in the future if he desires.

“I don’t know what his ambitions are but he is very well capable of it. He is a hugely organised guy, very considerate and a great planner. He is so structured and organised, a great man manager.

“He has all the attributes to be an inter-county manager if that is the route he wants to go down but I am not sure exactly what his ambitions are. He is a super manager, he knows how players tick and I would not be surprised if he did go down that route.”

• Kieran Fitzgerald’s Laochra Gael episode airs on TG4 this week on Thursday night at 9.30pm

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WE’VE MOVED PAST the halfway point of the 2022 GAA football league as the action enters a decisive phase.

Eight teams are still awaiting their first win, frustrated in their four games to date and hoping for better luck as Round 5 fixtures await this weekend.

But who is feeling the greatest pressure as fears of relegation start to intensify?

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Division 1

Monaghan

The last day out against Kerry was Monaghan’s most dispiriting performance of the campaign, undone by the scoring magic of David Clifford and Sean O’Shea. Yet apart from that they have been highly competitive, and while that run has yielded no wins, they have a pair of points in the bag from draws against Tyrone and Armagh, along with a narrow defeat to Mayo.

They face into a difficult trip to Ballybofey on Sunday against a Donegal team buoyed by their recent win over Tyrone. The Round 6 game the following week against Kildare, a meeting of 6th and 7th currently in the table, may be the crucial one before they face Dublin on the last day. A long-running operator in the top tier, last year proved Monaghan have the wherewithal to escape from a tight spot.

Conor McManus.

Source: Ben Brady/INPHO

Dublin

The most high-profile of all the eigth sides still without a win in this spring’s football league. Having shared last year’s title and collected the silverware five times between 2013 and 2018, being rooted to the bottom of the table is a stunning scenario for Dublin to now face. It’s all the more striking because they are the only team in the country to have lost all four of their games to date.

The stakes are high as Dublin head into their final set of matches. Defeat on Sunday in Omagh could send them down, if Kildare have already won Saturday night in Armagh. Injuries have hurt their squad and there was improvements in their play last time out against Kildare, but it’s still a tough task to mount a rescue operation as Tyrone, Donegal and Monaghan await.

A dejected Dean Rock.

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

Division 2

Meath

Last June saw Meath lose out by three points to Kildare in a promotion play-off with Division 1 football the sizeable prize on offer. This time around it’s been a tougher season as they have travelled in the opposite direction in the second tier. They endured a horrible start, hit by the weather and a Galway onslaught in Salthill, before succumbing to Roscommon.

Meath’s last two outings have produced draws against Down and Offaly. Given those were against relegation rivals, the failure to win even one of those could be costly, albeit they were grateful for a last-gasp goal to save themselves in Tullamore. Sunday’s game against Cork looks highly significant, they have Clare and then high-flying Derry to come after that.

Cork

In a similar state to Meath as relegation concerns start to grow for Cork, and the potential knock-on impact of missing out on competing for the Sam Maguire in 2022. They have one point less than the Royals, a draw garnered against Clare their only positive outcome to date. There is vital context in their fixture list, Cork’s three losses to date have been against the three teams that will fight it out for promotion – Derry, Galway and Roscommon.

So the schedule looks kinder on paper from hereon in as they face fellow basement scrappers in Meath, Down and Offaly. But the pressure to get points on the board increases for new manager Keith Ricken, a county that finished 2021 by getting walloped by Kerry, have not seen 2022 begin in a more positive fashion.

Action from the recent Cork-Derry game.

Source: Lorcan Doherty/INPHO

Down

A draw with Meath is the only bright spot in the results record to date for Down. Similar to Cork, there is a source of comfort in that their defeats have been at the hands of this division’s dominant trio. Thus their next two games against Offaly and Cork, should in theory be less daunting.

The county did produce the All-Ireland club kingpins last month, but it’s not yet clear how many Kilcoo players will be available to fire Down’s charge. A critical eight-day period commences this Saturday night, having home advantage is a help against Offaly and the sense is they must win in Newry.

Offaly

After making the leap from Division 3 last year, Offaly will be aiming to avoid a swift return to that sector. They suffered two convincing losses to Clare and Derry to begin with, but their displays since were far more heartening against Meath and Galway. The issue is neither resulted in a victory, caught in sickening fashion by a late goal from Meath and ending four points in arrears in Salthill last Sunday, despite amassing 3-10.

Down on Saturday night is a critical encounter, then they travel to Roscommon and host Cork in their last game. At present they are bottom of the table but only on scoring difference as Cork and Down are also on a point each. Check out the scoring difference to be reminded of how tight it is – Cork (-23), Down (-24) and Offaly (-25).

Offaly boss John Maughan.

Source: Bryan Keane/INPHO

Division 3

Wicklow

Last June, Wicklow pulled off a shock in their relegation play-off, two points superior against the then Ulster title holders Cavan. That preserved their status in Division 3 but their manager that day, Davy Burke, departed last August and his successor Colin Kelly moved on last week ‘due to a change in work commitments’. This week saw Alan Costello and Gary Duffy both installed as joint managers for the remainder of the season.

That’s plenty turbulence off the pitch and on it they have sustained three losses at the hands of Westmeath, Antrim and Limerick to date. Those defeats have been by margins ranging from four to six points, so the gap is not vast, and they did draw with Fermanagh. But they need to prevent themselves getting cut adrift. The next two games are critical as they entertain Laois, who are sixth, this Sunday, and then travel to Longford, who are seventh, on Sunday week.

Aughrim, the home of the Wicklow footballers.

Source: ©INPHO

Division 4

Waterford

Waterford are the only side in this winless group, that do at least have the comfort that relegation will not come into play. Still an upturn in results would be something their camp would appreciate before Division 4 concludes. They fought hard in their first two games to draw with Tipperary and lost by a single point to London, before defeats to Carlow and Leitrim ensued.

They are away to Wexford this weekend and then Ephie Fitzgerald’s charges have two challenging assignments before they wrap up, at home to Sligo and away to Cavan.

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At the second and final 2020 presidential debate on Thursday, when asked by President Donald Trump if he would “close down the oil industry,” former Vice President Joe Biden said that he intends to “transition away from the oil industry, yes.” Republicans are working furiously to make this supposed admission into a scandal, hoping it will get Biden in hot water with oil-state Dems and swing voters and sow division in the party. The right sees energy as a key wedge issue as the election approaches.

Trump himself put it in the most dramatic terms:

After the last debate, Republicans hoped Biden’s refusal to ban fracking would get him in trouble with the climate left. That didn’t go anywhere, and my guess is that this gambit won’t either. So far, a few oil-state Dems have distanced themselves, oil companies have expressed “concern, not alarm,” and most everyone else seems distracted by a virus that is setting new case records and infecting White House staff.

However the politics play out in this instance, it’s important to consider the underlying dynamic of these recent energy disputes. It’s an extremely familiar dynamic that finally seems, in fits and starts, to be working in Democrats’ favor.

Let’s begin with a little armchair political science.

Americans want reform as long as it doesn’t negatively affect them

Social science suggests that most people, even most politically active people, don’t have particularly well-considered or coherent views on public policy issues. They vote based on identities and social affinities. Their opinions on issues are easily swayed by elite cues or the phrasing of poll questions.

In my experience, the one rule that reliably governs public issue polling is that the public likes things that sound good and doesn’t like things that sound bad.

If you poll a health care system that covers everything, with no copays and free choice of doctors, it does well. If you poll tax increases to pay for other people’s health care, it does poorly.

If you poll cleaner energy or less pollution, it does well. If you poll gasoline prices rising and fossil fuel workers losing jobs, it does poorly.

When polled on individual progressive policy goals, Americans tend to respond positively. Universal health care and clean energy sound good. When polled on ideological abstractions like “taxes” and “big government,” they tend to respond negatively. Giving up money to some distant bureaucracy sounds bad.

This is why there’s an unending argument over whether America is or isn’t a “center-right nation” — it depends on how you ask America. More or less everyone wants to improve the collective welfare, but not at their own expense. Depending on how they are phrased, these kinds of questions don’t so much uncover preexisting opinions as they guide and shape opinion formation. Trigger thoughts of things getting better, you’ll get good poll results; trigger thoughts of sacrifice, privation, or unfair burdens, you’ll get bad poll results.

Democratic politics isn’t much different. Reformers pushing for change guide attention to the collective good that will come of it. Reactionaries pushing against change guide attention to the risks and dangers.

These are not, unfortunately, parallel endeavors. Asking people to imagine an alternative future calls upon their thinking and imagination — their frontal cortex. Asking people to fear change calls upon something much deeper and older, their brainstem sense that it’s a dangerous world, they’re lucky to have what they have, and any disruption threatens it. The latter, when invoked, tends to drown out the former. That’s why progressive change is so difficult to muster and so easy to reverse.

But that’s the game in a democracy: changes that can improve collective circumstances versus the fear of personal loss.

Making the clean energy transition seem scary

This brings us back to Biden and energy. The core Republican approach, which they understand at a gut level even if there is no particular strategic intelligence at work in the Trump era, is to make change seem scary. They need to make Biden’s climate plan seem abrupt, alien, and threatening. That’s why they have resolutely ignored all the actual policies involved in the Green New Deal and instead made it a boogeyman, a repository for every conservative fear. They’re going to take your hamburgers and your SUV!

That’s why Republicans are so delighted to make a fracking ban — a policy that no president can pass and no Congress would pass — the center of discussion. And that’s why they are delighted when Biden says he will transition away from oil. These changes sound sudden and disruptive; they draw attention to what will be lost, not to what will take its place. They define a playing field favorable to Republicans.

There’s an element of play-acting to all this. For all the hue and cry about his gaffes, Biden’s climate policies are articulated quite clearly on his website. (No manned outpost on the moon, sadly.) He plans to ramp up clean energy and electrification while ensuring that affected communities, including fossil fuel communities, are taken care of through investments in infrastructure, clean energy projects, education, job transition, and other kinds of assistance.

Over time, clean energy will come to dominate the electricity sector (where Biden has targeted 100 percent net-zero by 2035) and from there it will expand to the rest of the economy (where Biden has targeted 100 percent net-zero by 2050). By 2035, coal will disappear, and by 2050, the US oil and gas sector will radically shrink. It’s just carbon math.

Some fossil fuels may survive at the margins to fill in the gaps in large electricity systems, attached to carbon capture and storage systems, or for some industrial applications or plastics. And it may be that some oil and gas companies are successful at pivoting away from their core products to clean energy (ahem, geothermal).

But the oil and gas industry as Americans know it, as a major source of jobs and profits, is going away in coming decades. It has to — it produces lots of carbon and carbon is frying the planet. Many oil and gas companies, especially in Europe, have acknowledged this inescapable reality and begun to transform themselves.

So when Biden says his plan will have the US “transition away from the oil industry,” he’s not saying something radical, unexpected, or mysterious. Any serious climate plan must do the same. It wouldn’t be a climate plan if it didn’t (no matter how many trees it planted).

But Biden was also being entirely accurate when he said to reporters later, “we’re not getting rid of fossil fuels for a long time.” And he was being entirely accurate when he said that he will not ban fracking.

These are not contradictory comments. The latter are not “walking back” the former, despite what reporters (goosed on by Republicans) project onto them. It’s not that hard to understand: Biden’s plan will gradually transition the US economy to clean energy, and while it’s happening, ensure that those who are negatively impacted receive assistance and new employment opportunities. Justice — for fossil fuel workers and other vulnerable communities — is at the heart of the new Democratic consensus on climate policy.

Biden needs room to maneuver

When speaking to the left, Biden emphasizes the transition away from fossil fuels to clean energy, and the environmental benefits; when speaking to audiences that contain persuadable voters in swing states (some of whom work in, or have family members who work in, fossil fuels), he emphasizes the gradual, carefully staged nature of the transition, and the economic/jobs benefits.

But in all cases, he’s referring to the same plan — which is, again, right there on his website.