Gaelic Games

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Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney has made no changes in personnel for Sunday's Ulster Senior Football Championship final against Monaghan in Clones [16:15 BST].

The Orchard men were 28-winners over Down in their semi-final and the same 15 has been named, albeit with some positional tweaks.

Greg McCabe is named in the half-back line with Joe McElroy into midfield alongside Jason Duffy and Andrew Murnin selected in the forwards, while semi-final top-scorer Conor Turbitt will wear the number 11 jersey.

Blaine Hughes retains his place in goal behind a settled full-back line, while McKay's move into the half-backs will see him start on the opposite wing from Jarlath Og Burns with Tiernan Kelly in the middle.

McGeeney has been boosted by the return to the match day squad of 2024 All-Ireland winning captain Aidan Forker who has been absent through injury, but takes his place on the bench, while Ross McQuillan is also named among the subs after missing the Down game due to a calf strain.

Armagh: Blaine Hughes; Peter McGrane, Aaron McKay, Paddy Burns; Greg McCabe, Tiernan Kelly, Jarlath Og Burns; Joe McElroy, Jason Duffy; Darragh McMullen, Conor Turbitt, Tomas McCormack; Cian McConvile, Andrew Murnin, Oisin Conaty.

Subs: Ethan Rafferty, Gareth Murphy, Oisin O'Neill, Ross McQuillan, Daniel Magee, Ciaran Mackin, Barry McCambridge, Ryan Duffy, Aidan Forker, Tomas Galvin, Rory Grugan, Aaron O'Neill, Callum O'Neill, Padraig O'Keefe, Callum O'Neill.

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Monaghan will be without Louis Kelly for Sunday's Ulster final against Armagh in Clones [16:15 BST] but manager Gabriel Bannigan is boosted by the return of Gary Mohan and Ryan Wylie to the mach day squad.

Kelly, who started in the victories over Cavan and Derry earlier in the competition, is ruled out with an Achilles injury and in his absence, Karl Gallagher will move into midfield and Aaron Carey named in the half-forward line.

With Kelly out, Darragh McElearney gets the nod to start in defence but this is the only change in personnel from the semi-final win over Derry.

That means Bannigan has resisted the temptation to start Bobby McCaul who made a huge impact when introduced against the Oak Leafs, as the 20-year-old forms part of a strong bench that also includes Mohan, Wylie, U20 star Max Maguire, semi-final hero Jack McCarron and Ryan McAnespie who is still returning to full fitness.

While Mohan and Wylie are ready to be called upon, Sunday's final has come just a little too early for Fionan Carolan who is still recovering from a hamstring problem.

Monaghan: Rory Beggan; Darragh McElearney, Ryan O'Toole, Dylan Byrne; Cameron Dowd, Killian Lavelle, Dessie Ward; Micheal McCarville, Karl Gallagher; Aaron Carey, Micheal Bannigan, Stephen O'Hanlon; Conor McCarthy, Andrew Woods, Stephen Mooney.

Subs: Kian Mulligan, David Garland, Robbie Hanratty, Bobby McCaul, Gary Mohan, Max Maguire, Ryan McAnespie, Shane Hanratty, Oisin McGorman, Jack McCarron, Ryan Wylie.

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Tyrone remain on track for a third Under-20 All-Ireland title in a row after a 2-12 to 0-13 win over Kildare in a tense semi-final.

The Red Hands led by five points at the break as Kilare pushed the holders at Breffni Park.

Key forward Shea McDermott netted in the 29th minute as Tyrone led by 1-6 to 0-4 at half time.

Led by Jimmy Lynch, who ended the game with six points to his name, the Lilywhites cut into Tyrone's lead and the margin was down to one point as the game entered the final quarter.

But the Red Hands edged clear again when Conor O'Neill landed a two-pointer and Darragh Donaghy netted in the 49th minute, and that was enough to get over the line.

The Red Hands have won three of the last four deciders and are now one game away from a third title in a row.

They will face Kerry in the final after the Kingdom, who beat Roscommon by 3-17 to 0-17 after extra-time.

In a tense semi-final, Daniel Kirby, Paddy Lane, and Tomas Kennedy all netted in extra-time as Kerry pulled clear in the closing stages.

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Monaghan captain Micheal Bannigan feels Armagh are capable of repeating their impressive semi-final win over Down when they face the Farney men in Sunday's Ulster Senior Football Championship final in Clones [16:15 BST].

Less than 24 hours after Monaghan's thrilling semi-final victory over Derry, the Orchard men romped to a 28-point win which saw them through to a fourth-straight provincial decider.

While they have lost the past three in heartbreaking fashion, the manner of their victory over Down has Kieran McGeeney's side enter this final as favourites to end their 18-year wait for an Anglo Celt Cup triumph and Bannigan feels the challenge his team face is whether they can match that level of performance.

"I think they definitely can [repeat the Down performance]," Bannigan told BBC Sport NI.

"They performed very well the last two games and weren't bad against Tyrone either, but the question is if we can get up there and match them.

"It's another game of football. Win it and you get all the plaudits but you have to put in your head that you're playing Armagh in a game of football and can we be better over 70 minutes?"

It took a dramatic two-pointer from Jack McCarron after referee Noel Mooney initially thought the game was over before reversing the decision for Monaghan to force extra-time and then a two-pointer with the final kick by Rory Beggan to win it in the additional period.

Despite trailing by double digits in the second period, Bannigan always had faith they could keep their bid for a first Ulster title since 2015 on track.

"At half-time we said we'd given ourselves a mountain to climb, but we've put ourselves in that position before and came close to climbing it," he added.

"We know we can reel them back in with two-pointers so we never thought it was gone."

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Tyrone secured top spot in the Ulster Senior Championship round-robin with a 1-10 to 0-8 win over Armagh at Healy Park.

The home side led 1-7 to 0-5 after a lively first half before thwarting a late comeback from Armagh to secure the victory.

The result will boost Tyrone's confidence before the two counties meet again in the Ulster LGFA Senior Championship final on Sunday, 24 May.

Kelly Mallon may have registered the first point of the afternoon for Armagh, but Maeve Maxwell's goal put Tyrone ahead early on.

Niamh O'Neill and Niamh Reel traded points before Aoife Quinn fisted over as the busy half progressed.

Emma Conroy and Sarah Quigley then split the posts for the Orchard County, while Elle McNamee, Maxwell and Aoife Horisk slotted over for the hosts.

It was a much slower start to the second half with Red Hand midfielder Meabh Mallon scoring the opening point after 12 minutes before Tyrone responded through Maxwell once again.

Armagh pushed for a late comeback with points from Maeve Lennon and Eimear McConaghy closing the gap, but it was not enough and Tyrone sealed the win with a late point from Horisk.

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Antrim are off the mark in the Joe McDonagh Cup with a 1-22 to 4-9 victory over London in Ruislip.

Following a turbulent couple of weeks which followed their defeat by Laois, the Saffrons held on in the face of a late London rally to significantly ease any relegation fears, with the Exiles now rooted to the bottom of the table.

It was something of a stress test for Davy Fitzgerald's side that looked to be powering home when leading by nine with 10 minutes to play, but the hosts made it an uncomfortable finish with three goals down the stretch before losing Padraig Muldoon to a second booking and James McNaughton's pointed free finally put the issue to bed.

There was little to choose between the teams for much of the opening half with Seaan Elliott landing half of Antrim's 10 points, while Ronan McGrady notched four for the hosts, yet Antrim held a 0-10 to 0-7 advantage with Conal Cunning (two), Keelan Molloy, Conor Johnston and Conall Bohill also on target.

Paul Boyle stretched the gap early in the second period before London hit the first of their goals through Paul Kennedy and a McGrady free levelled it.

Antrim replied with the next three points and after London's Sean Glynn hit back, Cunning found the net for Antrim who tagged on another four points to move nine ahead.

Glynn replied with London's second goal, but points from Jack McCloskey, Molloy and McNaughton initially eased Antrim nerves.

However, goals from Jack Morrissey and Conor Byrne reduced the gap to three in added time as London threatened a great escape, but Muldoon's second caution was further punished by McNaughton from the free as Antrim claimed a badly-needed win.

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Down suffered their first defeat in the Joe McDonagh Cup as they fell to a 3-17 to 2-17 loss against Carlow at McKenna Park.

After two wins from their first two games, the Mourne men were beaten in Ballycran, despite a spirited second-half display in which they fought back to wipe out a 10-point deficit at one stage.

The two teams traded early scores before Carlow rattled off six successive points to pull ahead.

They added a goal on the stroke of half-time as Martin Kavanagh fired home beyond Pearse Smyth to give the Barrowsiders a 1-9 to 0-5 lead at the break.

Down were playing with the wind in the second half, but were dealt an early blow when James Doyle netted a second goal for Carlow soon after the restart to further stretch their advantage.

The hosts responded well to the setback and reduced the gap with a goal of their own as Donal Hughes found the net.

They would then score the next eight points to move into within touching distance, before a second goal from Pearse Óg McCrickard drilled them into the lead for the first time since the early stages of the game.

Momentum then swung back in the favour of Carlow, with Kavanagh, who notched 1-10 in the game, key to them getting back on level terms, before a third goal saw them retake the lead.

Paddy Boland rattled home with Kavanagh adding three late frees to give Carlow a narrow three-point victory.

Image source, BBC Sport NI

This week on the GAA Social, Thomas Niblock and Oisin McConville speak to former Tyrone footballer Catriona McGahan.

McGahan has been a wheelchair user since suffering a fall while on holiday with her husband Glen in France last summer.

While she says she does not remember the accident, she explained her mindset since returning home from France.

"I'm going to keep tipping away, I'm going to keep working away at my exercises," she said.

"That's it for me. That's the way I look at it. We do our exercises Monday-Friday, small bits of movement around the pelvic area.

"I'm from a Pilates background and I'm thinking about pelvic flow and all of that. To me, it's tiny, but it's a small inch I'll take, end of."

Graham also said she has been touched by the support she has received after Ulster Ladies Gaelic organised a wheelchair football tournament in Tyrone last month.

"I'm completely blown away. The GAA family in particular, the Tyrone ladies, Ulster ladies, my team-mates from that have all travelled in for the wheelchair games.

"The football family has just been amazing and to [former Tyrone player] Eilis Gormley, on a personal note she has been a phenomenal girl."

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Armagh's Jarly Og Burns said the side will "be leaving no stone unturned" before their Ulster Senior Football final against Monaghan on Sunday 17 May.

A record-breaking 3-33 to 0-14 victory over Down in Sunday's semi-final sealed Armagh's spot in their fourth successive Ulster final.

Despite winning their second All-Ireland title in 2024, the Orchard County have not lifted the Anglo Celt Cup since 2008 after losing the past three finals.

"We've been here three times, we've had experiences, but not the experience of winning it yet," Burns told BBC Sport NI.

"The hunger is still there and very much in the semi-final, our wants had to be higher than theirs [Monaghan's].

"We still want it and we'll be leaving no stone unturned in two weeks."

Armagh have had injury concerns during recent weeks with wing-back Ross McQuillan injured before the semi-final and midfielder Ben Crealey sidelined after breaking his ankle during training.

However, Burns added that the side have plenty of players "waiting in the wings".

"It's next man up and you know there's players waiting in the wings, waiting for an opportunity and they're taking it," added the Silverbridge club-man, who scored 0-4 in the win over Down.

"Look they are huge losses to this team and leaders but, again, that's what's all about.

"You're waiting in the wings for an opportunity and when it comes, you have to take it, or you'll be back of the line."

Former Armagh All-Ireland winner Oisin McConville says Monaghan "absolutely have a chance" in the Ulster SFC final, despite Armagh's impressive dismantling of Down in Sunday's semi-final.

Monaghan fought back from 10 points down in normal time to beat Derry 1-30 to 3-23 in a dramatic semi-final on Saturday to reach the decider for the first time since 2021.

Armagh, meanwhile, booked their place in a fourth successive final with a thumping 3-33 to 0-14 victory over Down at St Tiernach's Park and will go into the decider on Sunday, 17 May as favourites.

But McConville believes the Farney men will put it up to Armagh as they have been galvanised in the championship after a tough league campaign.

"Of course they have a chance, absolutely they have a chance," McConville told the GAA Social podcast.

"They have weapons and it will be a cracker of a final, Monaghan will bring plenty. They are coming from a different place and when they won there was a celebration, rightly so, but there was no reveal about how they went about it, all it was about was we ticked that one off and we have a home Ulster final.

"The year Monaghan have had, and the bounce they have had since the championship is massive."

They will have to produce a complete performance to see off the Orchard County, who in scoring 42 points, broke the record for the highest single-team score in an Ulster SFC match, a mark they set in last week's quarter-final win over Fermanagh.

McConville described their performance in Clones as "awesome" and acknowledged they will be clear favourites to end their wait for a first Ulster title since 2008.

"Armagh have a few players playing at the peak of their powers, Oisin Conaty [who was named man-of-the-match after kicking 0-5] is next level at this stage," he added.

"If you think of last week, the one thing you could have thrown at Armagh was too much of a drop off in the second half, they couldn't afford that again and what did they do? [They] kicked on and it was a pretty awesome performance from Armagh regardless of how Down were."

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Tyrone eased into the Ulster Ladies Senior Football Championship final thanks to a 4-10 to 2-7 victory over Donegal in Lifford on Sunday.

Defeat for Donegal sees them exit the championship after they also lost their round-robin opener against Armagh last weekend.

Donegal held an early lead before Tyrone took control and two goals from Chloe McCaffrey helped them move nine points in front.

Sorcha Gormely fired over three points for last year's All-Ireland Intermediate winners while Aoife Horisk and McCaffrey also split the posts.

Tyrone led 2-5 to 0-2 at the break and they made a blistering start to the second half to extend their advantage.

Slaine McCarroll added a third goal before the outstanding McCaffrey completed her hat-trick.

Donegal did manage a response with goals from Evelyn McGinley and Ciara McGarvey, but it was a comfortable win for the Red Hands.

Tyrone and champions Armagh - with one win apiece in the three-team competition - are already assured of their place in the decider before what will be a dress rehearsal between the teams in next weekend's final round-robin game.