Gaelic Games

John McGovern
BBC Sport NI contributor

Image source, Inpho

Crossmaglen Rangers manager Shane Lennon says the heartbreak of last year's championship exit fuelled his side's determination to reclaim the Armagh Senior Football Championship title.

Rangers secured their 48th county crown with a 1-19 to 0-17 win over Killeavy in Sunday's final, with Pearse Blessing's second-half goal helping them pull clear at the Athletic Grounds.

Lennon recalled the pain of surrendering a nine-point lead against Cullyhanna with seven minutes remaining in last year's semi-final.

"There's a lot of hurt from last year," Lennon told BBC Sport NI.

"The feeling that we had in that dressing room and going back on the bus, it was unbelievable.

"It has driven everyone on. We started doing a bit of running just before Christmas last year and gradually built it up."

Lennon revealed that the squad had collectively committed to winning the championship following that disappointment.

"We sat down after that game and said in a meeting, 'How are we going to win a championship?'.

"Forty-two of us in the room, including the management, said yes, we're going to win a championship. Here we are."

"We took the toughest route we could. After the Clann Eireann game, we built on that performance to get to where we are today. It's unbelievable."

Despite the presence of established stars, Lennon reserved particular praise for Crossmaglen's younger players, including Blessing, who starred in the second half.

"People will naturally look at the O'Neills and McConvilles, but it's hard to believe Pearse Blessing is only 21. There are a lot of young lads chomping at the bit," he said.

"There were a few harsh truths throughout the league, but when a team produces that when the chips are down, it's a credit to them.

"We knew we weren't always going to get eight or nine two-pointers. We were going to have to graft and step inside."

With an Ulster quarter-final against Cavan champions Gowna awaiting, Lennon hopes the county triumph will allow his players greater freedom.

"We've taken the pressure off the lads, and hopefully we can express ourselves a little bit more now coming into the championship."

Odhran Crumley
BBC Sport NI Journalist

Image source, Inpho

Darren McCurry's last-gasp two-pointer for Edendork meant his side and Errigal Ciaran will have to do it all again after the Tyrone SFC final ended in a draw at Healy Park.

The game finished 0-15 to 1-12 with McCurry's late orange flag from south of 50 metres forced the replay having eventually been awarded by the referee after a dramatic period of consultation among the officials over a potential breach.

The first half failed to really catch fire as a fairly turgid opening concluded with Errigal leading 0-6 to 0-3 at the interval despite kicking nine wides.

A pair of two-point scores from Aodhan Quinn were the pick of the action for an Errigal side that played with the aid of the elements across the first half.

There was a caginess to Edendork and they took 11 minutes to register their first score, perhaps to be expected for a side appearing in their first ever Tyrone senior final.

That air of nerves quickly evaporated at the start of the second stanza however, when Conn Kilpatrick threaded through a pass to substitute Fiachra Nelis who fired into the back of the net soccer-style with his first touch.

Just as Edendork looked to be getting a real stranglehold on the game, Enda McGinley's side rattled over three unanswered scores, two from Peter Og McCartan and a fourth of the day from Peter Harte, to establish a three-point lead entering the final 10 minutes.

Edendork replied with three unanswered scores of their own, Darren McCurry, Patrick McLernon and Donal Maneely all landing to level the game with two minutes to play.

McCurry kicked Edendork ahead before substitute Eoin Kelly landed a huge two-pointer to give Errigal the lead entering the two minutes of additional time.

Aodhan Quinn's fifth score then put his side two ahead but the late drama came with McCurry's two-pointer eventually being awarded by the referee to seal the draw.

The two sides will do it all again on Friday 23 October back at Healy Park for a 19:30 BST throw-in.

Teams and scorers

Edendork: Niall Morgan; Donal Maneely (0-1), Fionn Devlin, Neil Kilpatrick (0-1); Conor Mallon (0-1), Ben Cullen, Correy Bell (0-1); Conn Kilpatrick, Luke Ferguson; Patrick McLernon (0-1), Harry Og Conlan, Jake Ferguson (0-1); Darren McCurry (0-6 2f, 1x2pt), Daire Conway, Rian Nelis.

Subs: Stephen Corr for D Conway, Fiachra Nelis (1-0) for R Nelis (both HT), James Fearon for H Og Conlan (58)

Errigal Ciaran: Darragh McAnenly; Cormac Quinn, Aidan McCrory, Ronan O'Sullivan; Tiarnan Colhoun, Niall Kelly, Peter Og McCartan (0-2); Ben McDonnell, Padraig McGirr (0-1); Pauric Traynor, Peter Harte (0-4 1f), Aodhan Quinn (0-5 2x2pt); Shea McDermott (0-1 1f), Odhran Robinson, Tommy Canavan.

Subs: Joe Oguz for T Canavan (HT), Ruairi Canavan for P Traynor (41) Eoin Kelly (0-2 1x2pt) for P McGirr (50), Michael Mullin for T Colhoun (58)

Referee: Paul Gallagher (Castlederg)

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Portaferry cruised to a fifth successive Down Senior Hurling title as they eased past Ballygalget 2-28 to 2-17 in the final at Pairc Esler.

Ballygalget led 2-11 to 1-13 at half-time after goals from Shea Pucci and Cathal Coulter.

But the holders were in blistering form after the break and claimed an 11-point win for the second successive year.

Portaferry have now won three consecutive finals against Ballygalget as they ended their championship season unbeaten.

Ciaran Milligan scored an early goal for Portaferry after five minutes but Ballygalget responded well as Pucci rattled in a goal on nine minutes.

Ballygalget managed to keep pace with their opponents for the majority of a back-and-forth first half and Coulter scored their second goal on 27 minutes.

A late Eoin Pucci free then gave them the slender advantage at the break, which was quickly extinguished after a fast start to the second period from Portaferry.

Eoghan Sands scored their second goal in a run of six successive scores which ultimately put the game beyond Ballygalget, who were unable to make much headway in chipping away at the sizeable gap.

Portaferry finished strong and had another dominant spell late in the game, registering the last seven points in a row to retain the title.

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St Eunan's claimed the Donegal SFC title with a late 1-16 to 1-15 victory over holders Naomh Conaill.

The Letterkenny club led 0-9 to 0-7 at the break, but an Ethan O'Donnell goal soon after the restart had Naomh Conaill back in the game.

James Kelly netted for St Eunan's before a two-pointer from Niall O'Donnell and a late effort from Ciaran Moore sealed victory for the side who get their hands on the Dr Maguire Cup again after winning it in 2024.

The result means that Finbarr Roarty's last game of Gaelic football for the foreseeable ends in defeat as he heads to AFL side Collingwood on a two-year rookie contract without another county title.

St Eunan's started well at MacCumhaill Park, registering the first three points of the afternoon.

The Glenties hit back to level with a point from John O'Malley and a two-point effort from Ciaran Thompson.

The two sides then traded points as Eoin Dowling and Thompson both recorded two-pointers, but consecutive scores from Shane and Niall O'Donnell gave St Eunan's a two-point advantage at the break.

After a slow start to the second half, Naomh Conaill roared back with Ethan O'Donnell netting on 38 minutes and Shea Malone tagging on a two-pointer.

St Eunan's responded well with a goal of their own four minutes later from Kelly and it was nip and tuck until the closing stages.

A Charlie McGuinness score had the holders two points ahead with a minute remaining, before Niall O'Donnell produced a moment of magic as he weaved his way from his own half before firing over a two-pointer to draw the teams level once again.

St Eunan's then snatched victory when Moore finished off a late break by slotting between the posts.

Image source, Getty Images & Inpho

Champions Wicklow have six players in the Tailteann Cup team of the year, while there are five representatives from beaten finalists Down.

Oisin McConville's side surged back from 13 points down to stun Down with a dramatic 1-21 to 2-16 victory in the Croke Park final in July.

Garden County captain Dean Healy, defenders Malachy Stone and Eoin Murtagh and forwards Padraig O'Toole, Oisin McGraynor and Kevin Quinn are all included.

Goalkeeper Ronan Burns, defenders Pierce Laverty and Shane Annett, midfielder Odhran Murdock and full-forward Eamon Brown make up Down's cohort.

Rounding out the team are Wexford defender Eoin Porter, Fermanagh's Ronan McCaffrey at wing-back and Offaly forwards Dylan Hyland and Jack McEvoy.

"It was an unforgettable year for Wicklow, winning a final that will go down as one of the very best ever witnessed at Croke Park," said GAA president Jarlath Burns.

"The increase in games makes the job of naming an overall team much more difficult and I congratulate all of those chosen, and thank them for all they have done to make this competition a success."

Tailteann Cup 2026 team of the year

Ronan Burns (Down); Malachy Stone (Wicklow), Pierce Laverty (Down), Eoin Porter (Wexford); Ronan McCaffrey (Fermanagh), Eoin Murtagh (Wicklow), Shane Annett (Down); Dean Healy (Wicklow), Odhran Murdock (Down); Dylan Hyland (Offaly), Padraig O'Toole (Wicklow), Jack McEvoy (Offaly); Oisin McGraynor (Wicklow), Kevin Quinn (Wicklow), Eamon Brown (Down).

Image source, David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Aimee Mackin has picked up September's The Croke Park Hotel/LGFA Player of the Month award after helping propel Shane O'Neill's to their first Armagh senior title.

The Armagh star is now a five-time recipient of the award, having previously been a recipeint in April 2023, July 2021, March 2019 and April 2015.

Mackin kicked 1-12 in the final win over Crossmaglen at the Athletic Grounds just over a fortnight ago and is now the owner of senior, intermediate and junior county medals with the Camlough club.

That followed an equally-impressive display by the 29-year-old in the semi-final when she hit 3-5 against Carrickcruppen.

The club title follows on from an outstanding inter-county campaign for Armagh which has earned her nominations for a TG4 All-Star and the 2026 TG4 Senior Players' Player of the Year award.

Shane O'Neill's return to action on Sunday when they travel to face Cavan champions Knockbride in their opening round-robin game in the AIB Ulster Senior Club Championship at St Brigid's Park [14:00 BST].

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Former All-Ireland winner John McEntee has been appointed Monaghan manager, replacing Gabriel Bannigan.

McEntee, who helped Armagh win the Sam Maguire in 2002, takes his first inter-county job after spending the past four seasons in charge of Monaghan club Inniskeen.

The 49-year-old's appointment was ratified at a county board meeting on Monday night, with his backroom team set to be confirmed over the next week.

"I'm really excited and looking forward to it. Really privileged and honoured to be asked to take on this role and I'm going to give it my best shot," McEntee told Northern Sound.

"There's been conversations about the Monaghan post for a number of weeks since it became vacant and there were opportunities for clubs to put names forward.

"I didn't entertain that at the time because I was focused on Inniskeen but I knew this was naturally going to be the end of my tenure with Inniskeen and I had alternative options but this was the one that excited me the most."

He replaces Bannigan, who said "the goalposts have moved" when announcing his departure after two years at the helm in August.

After succeeding former Armagh team-mate Oisin McConville, McEntee led Inniskeen to Monaghan finals in 2023 and 2025, losing both to Scotstown.

He also oversaw Clontibret's 2019 Monaghan SFC triumph while he guided his club Crossmaglen Rangers to the Ulster title alongside McConville in 2015.

McEntee's twin brother Tony - with whom he won the All-Ireland title - spent the 2026 season in the Down backroom team following a spell as Sligo boss.

Under Bannigan, Monaghan won the Division Two title in 2025 and reached successive All-Ireland quarter-finals, where they were knocked out by Donegal and Louth.

The Farney men were relegated from Division One this year after a tough league campaign in which they failed to pick up a point.

They bounced back well in the Ulster SFC with wins over Cavan and Derry but suffered an extra-time defeat against Armagh in the decider.

In the Sam Maguire series, Monaghan lost to eventual champions Mayo in round one but secured round 2B and three victories over Roscommon and Westmeath.

However, after losing influential goalkeeper Rory Beggan to injury, they fell to 0-27 to 2-18 loss to Louth in the quarter-final at Croke Park.

"I think there is a strong panel there with high quality players and it's a really good base to work from, but I think it's always good to bring talent through and I think that freshens up the squad," added McEntee.

"Gabriel left Monaghan in a really good place and we want to maintain those standards."

It was also confirmed on Monday that Tony Austin would take over as senior hurling boss after a spell in charge of club side Castleblayney, where he won four Monaghan SHC titles.

Image source, Inpho

Mayo All-Ireland winner Cillian O'Connor has announced his retirement from inter-county football.

The 34-year-old was part of the matchday squad for their long-awaited Sam Maguire Cup win against Kerry in the summer, but did not feature in the decider.

Indeed, injuries limited the forward to just two appearances in 2026 after he opted out of the entirety of the 2025 season.

A two-time All-Star, he was a regular for Mayo after making his debut as a 19-year-old under James Horan in 2011 and reached four All-Ireland finals in 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2017 which all ended in defeat.

The Ballintubber man then became the leading scorer in the history of the All-Ireland football championship in 2019 when he surpassed Kerry's Colm Cooper.

He also holds the record for the highest ever tally registered by an individual player in a championship game after he scored 4-9 in an All-Ireland semi-final victory over Tipperary in 2020.