Banty makes like Clint Eastwood and blows the bad guys out of the water in the end, Colm O’Rourke signs on for the Meath sequel and hot-head Connolly needs protecting in today’s Hospital Pass.
Banty bows out with both guns blazing
Seamus McEnaney may be gone but he left with a bang on RTÉ’s Championship Matters show.
After confirming he will not be putting himself forward for a third year as manager of the Royals, refusing to rule himself out of the running for the vacant manager’s position in his native Monaghan and conceding that Dublin look like they’ll be dominant in Leinster for a long time to come, Banty rounded on the stand-in presenter Pat Spillane.
On the Sunday Game last week the Kerry man had a pop at Banty’s longtime coaching partner Martin McElkennon, claiming that he was overrated. McEnaney came into the studio last night clearly with both barrels loaded,
“There was one thing that really annoyed me during the week. On the Sunday Game last Sunday night you (Spillane) had a personal attack as far as I was concerned on Martin McElkennon, without any personal knowledge of the type of character that Martin is,” Banty said to the Kerry legend before continuing.
“For me, this was Pat Spillane being anti-Ulster, anti-Ulster coaches, anti-Ulster teams, anti-Ulster full stop. Martin McElkennon has a wife and five kids, watched the Sunday Game and might not have slept since last Sunday night.
“He’s a top class coach, has trained five inter-county teams. All the players he has trained would have a seriously high regard for him,” finished McEnaney, who isn’t the only person who has taken issue with comments from a Sunday Game analyst this week.
Off the couch and into the fire?
Speaking of the Sunday Game, which analyst is being tipped to replace the departing Banty?
Well it’s none of the analysts you’d want, as the media are gathering around Meath great Colm O’Rourke and anointing him the chosen one to lead the Royals back to grandeur.
Despite the fact there are no quotes from the man himself, it’s expected that he’d be interested in his native county’s position, despite rejecting other offers before him in recent times.
Good luck dealing with Barney Allen rather than Des Cahill if so, Colm.
Diarmuid Connolly needs ‘protecting’
After being sent off against Wexford in the Leinster semi-final for digging an opposing player, Dublin boss Pat Gilroy said his forward Diarmuid Connolly needs protecting.
“People can get targeted. Then the opposition are going to do something to them just because they’re fellas who might have a name for something like that,” said Gilroy of his fellow St. Vincent’s man.
“They should be protected by the referees. I’m not just saying it for him. There are other players. Paul Galvin seems to be in a similar situation. A lot seems to happen to him that goes unpunished. So there is a flip side to it.
“Dermot is a smart enough guy and I think we’ll be safe enough to use him in the future,” Gilroy finished up.
Connolly has a record of losing the head in matches and maybe that’s something that should be worked on concurrently.
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