The Echo Sport Podcast

The Echo Sport Podcast crew head into club championship mode but first, there's a look at the All-Ireland hurling final.

Limerick returned to the top of the pile in emphatic fashion, easily dismantling the Galway system of counter-attacking that derailed Cork in the semi. The Tribe's lack of nous and experience against Limerick's intensity and high press was telling. So how did Cork not keep their eyes on the sliotar to have another crack off the green machine? It's all about intensity, attitude and hurling to your strengths.

The All-Ireland football final takes place next Sunday, where it's difficult to look past yet another Kerry victory over Mayo. However, the focus on Leeside will be on the club scene.

It's the first round of the club football championships and we look at the teams to beat in each grade.

St Finbarr's, so narrowly beaten by Dingle in the Munster final last winter, have to be favourites but they did endure a fairly indifferent league. The key for the holders is how fresh their inter-county contingent, particularly Steven Sherlock, Ian Maguire, William Buckley and Brian Hayes will be.

Do Castlehaven have another kick in them? They edged out Knocknagree, a quality addition to the top tier, in a brilliant league final recently. Clon remain the dark horses but all three of those clubs, along with Ballincollig, semi-finalists last year, are in one stacked group.

Carbery were impressive in the divisional section while Douglas had a solid league and Carrigaline have the physicality and firepower, highlighted by their Division 2 league triumph, to impact. Newcestown pushed Nemo all the way to extra time last season. Can they push on from that outstanding campaign?

Outside of the Premier Senior Championship, we look at the matches to catch on the opening weekend.

The most likely county champions are picked across all the levels, Premier Senior, Senior A, Premier Intermediate, Intermediate A and Premier Junior.

Now in its fourth season, every Monday, Éamonn Murphy is joined by The Echo team, including Barry O’Mahony, Denis Hurley, Rory Noonan, John Horgan and more to discuss all the latest Cork GAA news on and off the field. You can listen on Echolive.ie/podcast or anywhere you get your podcasts.

Don't forget to log onto www.IrishExaminer.com as well to catch up on the best inter-county analysis including Dalo's Hurling Show and The Gaelic Football Show.
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The Echo Sport Podcast crew reflect on how the inter-county season panned out across both codes before we launch into a bumper three-and-a-half months of the best club action in the country.

With just one All-Ireland final reached, even if it did see the minor footballers rally from nine points down to wrestle the Tommy Markham Cup from Tyrone in a stone-cold classic, the 2026 campaign has to be classed as a disappointment.

Keith Ricken's U17 side were also the only Cork team to lift a Munster title, with the minor and U20 hurlers losing provincial semi-finals and the two senior teams falling to their great rivals Limerick and Kerry. It's no coincidence that those two counties are now in the All-Ireland final and firm favourites to return with the biggest prizes of them all.

The most galling disappointment was the hurlers' heavy defeat to Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final. Here on the podcast, we were extremely wary of the Tribe threat, given their excellence in the Munster final and how fortunate Cork had been to beat them in the league, but certainly it was a massive upset and particularly cruel on the Rebel faithful who had to witness another second-half fadeout.

On this show, we ask the key questions that Cork will have to answer from here. We look at what young players could be brought in to add further depth to the squad, with Timmy Wilk and Jack Leahy among the standouts. We also discuss how the Rebels can change their tactical approach and if there's an outside coach Ben O'Connor could add to his backroom.

On the football front, reaching an All-Ireland quarter-final and gaining promotion was certainly progress but there's a feeling of a missed opportunity after seeing Mayo power past Louth into a showdown with Kerry. John Cleary's side had enough chances to defeat the Connacht side two weeks ago.

At the same time, they still need to mix up their approach on the pitch, look to feed their forwards a bit quicker when they're on top in midfield and a find a couple of scoring options for an attack that relies too heavily on Steven Sherlock and Chris Óg Jones.

Now in its fourth season, every Monday, Éamonn Murphy is joined by The Echo team, including Barry O’Mahony, Denis Hurley, Rory Noonan, John Horgan and more to discuss all the latest Cork GAA news on and off the field. You can listen on Echolive.ie/podcast or anywhere you get your podcasts.

Don't forget to log onto www.IrishExaminer.com as well to catch up on the best inter-county analysis including Dalo's Hurling Show and The Gaelic Football Show.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Echo Sport Podcast crew go from the high of an epic All-Ireland minor final victory to the low of another Croke Park hurling collapse on the show this week as the inter-county season, from a Cork perspective, concludes.

Now in its fourth season, every Monday, Éamonn Murphy is joined by The Echo team, including Barry O’Mahony, Denis Hurley, Rory Noonan, John Horgan and more to discuss all the latest Cork GAA news on and off the field. You can listen on Echolive.ie/podcast or where you get your podcasts.

The minor footballers gave the whole county a badly needed lift with a sensational comeback on Sunday. Down by nine points early in the second half at Newbridge and being outplayed by a slick Ulster side who landed the title last season, they gritted their teeth and delivered the massive scores to get them over the line.

A massive Cork crowd more than played its part as a three-point salvo from Joe Miskella and a goal by sub Alex O'Herlihy sparked the Rebel revival. Keeper Rory Twohig and wing-back Éanna Lynch made goal-saving stops and an injury-time 1-1 from Eoin Ahern and Tom Whooley saw Cork snatch the title. Gabriel Oronsaye also had a stormer off the bench.

It was a masterclass from manager Keith Ricken, whose experience ensured the young guns never stopped firing even when the cause looked lost.

On another bitterly disappointing outing to Croker, the hurlers certainly didn't shoot the lights, aside from Brian Hayes, as they failed to build on a 1-12 to 1-7 advantage against a ravenous Galway.

The Leinster champions got on top just before half-time and squeezed the life out of Cork in the second half, where Ben O'Connor's side managed just six points, even if they did chase goals late on.

Their inability to win long puck-outs, losing nine of the 11 they attempted in the second half, meant they had no platform at all to get in behind Galway's defensive structure and they took just six shots outside of the 45. In the first half, a patient approach paid off but when Galway gathered momentum, Cork fell apart, not helped by Darragh Fitzgibbon's red card.

It leaves huge questions now for the players and management, with supporters particularly bewildered by William Buckley falling down the pecking order.

The big question is, where to from here after being leading contenders for three years running without landing the big prize?
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The Echo Sport Podcast crew has a bumper show this week as the inter-county season builds to a gripping conclusion.

Now in its fourth season, every Monday, Éamonn Murphy is joined by The Echo team, including Barry O’Mahony, Denis Hurley, Rory Noonan, John Horgan and more to discuss all the latest Cork GAA news on and off the field. You can listen on Echolive.ie/podcast or where you get your podcasts.

The Cork footballers' campaign ended on a low note. Not just that they were beaten by Mayo in a game they were slight underdogs in but it represented a superb chance to make the All-Ireland semis for the first time in 14 years, but because they had the chances to deliver.

They hit 14 wides to Mayo's seven, went in level at half-time having had a spell of real dominance in the first half, and coughed up three points because of technical frees. They were stronger on kick-outs, grabbing 14 of Mayo's 30 but just couldn't turn quality possession into a match-winning tally.

A haul of just 0-18 won't win a match at the business end of championship, under the new rules and there was a sense Cork fell back into some of their old habits. They certainly didn't kick enough into the inside line and there wasn't enough dynamic movement from Steven Sherlock and co up top.

Cork worked the ball around the arc looking to land two-pointers, their trademark in beating Meath and Donegal, far too often. Mayo had their homework done, tackled ferociously, but John Cleary and his players will know they should have been more urgent in their attacking approach.

It means Cork haven't won a championship game on Jones Road since 2013 and have lost in three of the last five All-Ireland quarter-finals. Without disrespecting Louth, who would have had no fear of Cork, it was an incredible opportunity to make the final.

The football season still has one more game to go, with Cork meeting Tyrone in Newbridge. The Red Hand are an underage powerhouse but Keith Ricken's young Rebels have every chance in the county's first minor All-Ireland final in seven years.

Both U17 teams are unbeaten across the campaign and it should be a terrific match that goes all the way to the wire.

The Cork hurlers are back in Croker next Saturday in what will be a sell-out All-Ireland semi-final showdown with Leinster champions Galway. Naturally, chasing a third successive appearance in the decider, the Rebels are favourites but on no level will Ben O'Connor's management be taking this game lightly.

In the modern era, Cork's record against the Tribe is very poor, going out at their hands in 2009, 2011, 2015 and '22, since the last win over them in 2008 when O'Connor and selector Ronan Curran were playing.

Cork have some selection headaches, depending on the fitness of Tim O'Mahony and Tommy O'Connell, particularly after Alan Walsh's two-goal first start in the Offaly win.
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The Echo Sport Podcast crew is back to discuss another bumper weekend of Cork GAA action.
Now in its fourth season, the podcast sees the Echo team discuss all the latest Cork GAA news on and off the field. In the wake of the Cork hurlers reaching the All-Ireland SHC semi-finals for the third straight year and the minor football team producing another fine display to get to an All-Ireland final, Denis Hurley is joined by Barry O’Mahony and Rory Noonan.
As Rory and Barry pointed out, Cork were caught between a rock and a hard place in terms of their All-Ireland quarter-final against Offaly – a big win would not necessarily give much insight whereas a tight battle would have raised plenty of questions.
In the event, Cork got the job done in a professional fashion, scoring six goals as they won by 26 points, and a semi-final with Galway looms as Ben O’Connor’s side aim to reach a third straight All-Ireland final – something Cork last did during the manager’s own playing days, 2004-06.
Four changes to the starting team meant a chance for players to stake their claims and Rory and Barry assess how they fared while also discussing the use of the Cork bench.
Cork’s win, and that of Clare against Limerick, mean that the All-Ireland semi-finals will once again feature three Munster teams – while the state of hurling is part of a wider discussion, the dominance of southern sides is something worthy of consideration.
For now though, the Cork journey continues while the last-four tie against the Leinster champions on Saturday, July 4 is again set to be close to a sell-out: at a time when it is so expensive to bring a family to a match, the dedication of the Cork support again comes in for praise from the panel.
The Rebel supporters will be on the road again this weekend, with Mayo the opponents for the Cork football team in the All-Ireland quarter-final at Croke Park.
Barry O’Mahony believes that it is as good a draw as Cork could have hoped for, with the westerners not the force they were when they were regularly reaching All-Ireland finals.
Both he and Rory expect a tough battle but with Cork given a great chance to reach the semi-finals for what would be the first time since 2012.
The big-ball code is on a roll on Leeside, with Keith Ricken’s side through to the All-Ireland final following a great win over Derry. Barry O’Mahony feels that the strength of the collective unit has come to the fore, with Rory Noonan singling out Ricken’s man-management skills and ability to develop young players.
You can listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.
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