Leinster Senior Football Championship

My granddaughter is on the Dublin Minor panel for the last two years, ladies football.

And last year they were playing a Leinster Championship game against Kildare.

And Kildare, which was supposed to be a home game for Kildare, but Kildare ladies football could not get a GA club in County Kildare to give them a pitch.

They had to forfeit home advantage.

Right

... with a partner the day after scoring a stupid amount against Kildare in the Leinster, in the Leinster Championship.

It's impressive.

Yeah.

But John Heston also signalling as well his intent to play for Westmead's footballers again next year if his body allows it.

The St. Lomans forward came out of retirement to be part of their Leinster Football Championship success and he's set to follow manager Mark McHugh in committing to another season in 2027.

McHugh, Of course, linked with Galway, linked a bit with Monaghan as well.

Confirmed on Friday night, he is 100% committed to Westmeath for another year.

He alluded to... you know visits to Kerry and talking to Kerry people and you know Kerry people being very knowledgeable about the quality of player in Kildare he listed off four players who he said Kerry people were telling them would be absolute stars in Kerry that you know but they just don't seem to have the belief in Kildare to bring them on so later on it was asked of the chair what the objectives were for Brian Flanagan next year And he stated that they were to get out of Division 3 and to reach a Leinster final.

And Martin again jumped on that and said, why not win it? And he said the message that has to be going to those players going into this season is that they're going in to win the Leinster Championship.

Not the All-Ireland, but go in and win the Leinster Championship.

And their aim shouldn't be just to crawl out of Division 3, but they need to be getting up to Division 1 and into the top five of division one and stay there um you know pretty sharpish so

tell me tell me one of the ocean is going to do trouble for talking some ways like that down in kerry was it last year the year before with jack o'connell and jack o'connor but uh do you think the intervention of of an ex-player of the status of martin o'neill that would go down well with the fans

I mean, I'm not joking, but that was the one thing.

Yeah, that's what Martin Lynch was saying.

Promotion is the bare minimum and Leinster Championship

eventually the Leinster final was played it was Dublin versus Carlo it was in November and Dublin won by 4-6 to 1-4

which of course on another week that was I think it was another week that was we mentioned this that was the latest Leinster Final played Leinster Football Final played until Meath played their 1991 Leinster Final having you know spent four games beating Dublin and two games beating Wicklow and so on so There you go.

Now, Katie Taylor's fighting on the 5th of September.

Correct.

The pair then replaced Mick Bowen at the helm ahead of the 2025 season.

They guided the Dubs to an All-Ireland and Leinster Championship victory over Meath in their debut campaign and retained their provincial title in 2026 as well.

Elsewhere, Oshie McConville has extended his stay with the Wicklow men's footballers.

The Cross McLennan native began his management stint with the Garden County in 2023, winning the Tallteen Cup this year.

And he is obviously well known for his undertaking business, which has been taken on by the family since.

But his sporting achievements are making the headlines in the Tribune, pointing to his first great success in 1960 and 1961, Leinster Senior Football Championship with Tullamore, and he was also winged back to Offaly as they lost...

in a famous All-Ireland senior football final in front of a record attendance in Croke Park in 1961.

So a very highly regarded sportsman who has passed away.

They'll always be I suppose in three years, if we can get out of Division 3 in the next two years, obviously Division 3 is very tough this year, but I think obviously we'll be one of the top three or four teams in that division to try and get out of it.

Obviously Westmead will be favourites after the role they went on, but if you look at Division 3 this year, all the teams you're playing are Kildare, Leash, Longford, Westmead, they're all close by you, so they won't have far to travel, but I think if they could be in the top three or four in the league this year maybe, get a good run in the Leinster Championship.

But I think the two things we need to do in the next three years, the question you've asked me, Will, is we have to get out of Division 3 and we have to win the Dolphins Cup if we don't automatically qualify for the All-Ingland Series before that.

I think that's the objective.

It's about winning a- and they're disappointed if they don't win, and that's, that's good, and I think that came out of Mayo.

But when you talk about the joy of winning, yes, Mayo, but, like, you looked at the other ones, and you went down sort of off Broadway slightly, and you saw the joy of the Westmeath supporters winning the Leinster Championship for only a second year.

You saw the joy of the Wicklow supporters winning the Taltean Cup in, in, in, in Croke Park.

You saw the joy of the Roscommon supporters, all the thousands in Dr. Hyde Park.