Cathal Kiely proved the hero for Offaly as his personal tally of 0-20 helped the Faithful County to dispatch Dublin by the bare minimum after extra time in their Bord Gáis Energy Leinster U20 Hurling Championship quarter-final at Parnell Park last night.

A disastrous start to their Joe McDonagh Cup campaign has left Offaly in a battle to avoid relegation to hurling's third tier.

"I had a bad injury myself in that area, and my young lad had as well. It's life-changing."

Anthony Daly has defended his former teammate Davy Fitzgerald’s use of the sweeper system, though he doesn’t agree with the Wexford manager’s attack on Daly’s fellow RTÉ pundits Michael Duignan and Henry Shefflin, writes Larry Ryan.

It wasn’t all about Shefflin and Duignan, you know.

Davy Fitzgerald opened two barrels on RTÉ’s hurling pundits’ criticism of the sweeper system after Wexford’s qualifier defeat earlier today, writes John Fogarty.

Offaly great Michael Duignan has revealed his deep frustration with the state of hurling, claiming that the most talented players are being straight-jacketed by defensive tactics.

A young Wicklow father and his accomplice, who had robbed a taxi driver, were caught after they drove off in his car and ran out of petrol.

BIGGEST hurling story of 2015, thus far? No question there: Henry Shefflin’s retirement.

Wexford boss Liam Dunne has taken aim at pundits Michael Duignan and Ger Loughnane for remarks they made about his team two years ago.

Armed detectives continued a high-speed chase of a getaway car despite believing they had been shot at, eventually arresting two gunmen, a High Court judge was told yesterday.

Start Henry Shefflin and Tommy Walsh — that’s Michael Duignan’s advice to Brian Cody for the All-Ireland final replay later this month.

The good times are back in Wexford. Win, lose or draw on Sunday, the Model must now push on to the next level

Hurling review committee chairman Liam Sheedy has pledged his support to retaining the structure of the provincial championships.

At half-time, nobody had expected this contest to be so one-sided.

Jim Nolan tells Marjorie Brennan how his play is inspired by the triumph of the human spirit in the face of fundamentalist hysteria.

Christmas highlights include Mrs Browns Boys and a documentary on Dermot Morgan.

Wondering why Championship 2013 has been this strange, goal-free wilderness?

Wexford chairman Diarmuid Devereux has slammed The Sunday Game for gross inequality in their analysis of games.

Wexford legend Larry O’Gorman almost drove his foot “through the television” after Michael Duignan slated the Slaneysiders on RTÉ’s The Sunday Game.

Former player Tom Dempsey is unhappy with what he believes is the one-sided nature of heavy criticism aimed at Wexford following last Saturday’s controversial Leinster SHC quarter-final replay against Dublin.

A MOUTH-WATERING Easter egg with up to €775,000 in grant aid and supports is currently whetting the appetite of five rural communities.

We can wonder just why Lar embraced his unusual assignment with such diligence

Michael Duignan’s plea could have served as an entreaty for all manner of frustrated parties.

Crossmaglen were 14 points to the good with three minutes left when Óisín McConville was called ashore and the near-10,000 crowd rose in unison to applaud him off the field.

Crossmaglen 2-19 Garrycastle 1-7

Crossmaglen joint-manager Tony McEntee claimed the threat of suspension precluded him from speaking out against referee Rory Hickey’s performance on Saturday.

Crossmaglen (Armagh) 0-15 Garrycastle (Westmeath) 1-12

Joe McQuillan’s final whistle was still ringing in Anthony Cunningham’s ears when the first wave of St Brigid’s players and coaches were shaking his hand and offering whatever assistance they could for next month’s All-Ireland final.

IF YOU’RE a sportswriting fan – and given what you’re holding in your hands, you probably are – you’ve noticed the recent explosion in the number and variety of Irish sports books.

WESTMEATH’S Leinster club SFC hoodoo was broken in dramatic circumstances by substitute Conor Cosgrove’s injury-time winning free in Tullamore yesterday.

Garrycastle 1-8 St Brigid's 0-10

A SEASONED Garrycastle had the necessary know-how to chisel out a hard-earned victory over a youthful Athy at Newbridge yesterday, and book their place in the Leinster Club SFC final.

MASS MARKETFICTION

MASS MARKETFICTION

The autobiography of one of the greatest jockeys of all time and two books on Gaelic games have been shortlisted for the Irish Sports Book of the Year.

KEY personnel looking after the children in one of the country’s most disturbing abuse cases felt “vilified” and “crucified” and left hung out to dry by health service management when details of the case emerged.

THE sports autobiography follows a generally predictable arc — promise, achievement, graceful decline — so it’s good to come across a book that breaks out of that strait-jacket.

A last-minute point by James Dolan earned holders Garrycastle a second chance after an exciting battle with Mullingar Shamrocks in the county SFC final at Cusack Park, Mullingar, yesterday.

THOUSANDS of staff in universities will have to undergo Garda vetting under the current terms of a draft bill because of the small number of students under the age of 18 attending colleges.

RTÉ received three complaints about the bad language picked up by a sideline microphone during their live coverage of the Waterford-Limerick Munster SHC semi-final on Sunday afternoon.

THE managing director of RTÉ Radio, Clare Duignan, told the High Court she had become aware of plans for Celebrity Bainisteoir about three years before a man who has now brought a legal action for damages against the station claiming it was his original idea and had allegedly been stolen by RTÉ.