The story of the first of the Tailteann Cup semi-finals, as told through a selection of tweets from the official Fermanagh account? Go on then.“A slap of a goal after a turnover for Down,” set the tone. “This is a cat start.”“Down point after a questionable number of steps,” continued the feed.Fermanagh began to spurn some good opportunities. “Jesus were gone [sic] rue these missed chances aren’t we?” came the rhetorical question.The designated tweeter wasn’t overly impressed by the officiating.Big Darragh with four men on top of him bearing down on goal finally wins a free. I mean lads…Jones pointsFermanagh 1-6Down 1-13— Fermanagh GAA (@FermanaghGAA) June 20, 2026
“Big Darragh with four men on top of him bearing down on goal finally wins a free. I mean lads ...”Tempers frayed at half-time, with Down leading by seven.“Bitta handbags, Ryan McGill asking big Darragh where he got his haircut ...”Further rustic observations (“Not dying about this ref”) followed, along with some constructive criticism of Ultan Kelm (“Jesus Kelm creates such positions but will not shoot”).Then, Kelm hit the target – “I take it all back. Kelm can in fact shoot!” – and Fermanagh found themselves right back in it, the excitement summed up in one three-worder: “Jesus Christ above.”The final tweet, then, was hilariously fatalistic: “Fermanagh 1-21 Down 2-19. It’s the hope that kills you.”Meath bursts Meath’s position as football’s streakiest side was copper-fastened when, up by seven at half-time, they fell to Mayo on Saturday. Similar happened against Cork in round one, with the Royals blowing an eight-point interval lead.Against Westmeath in Leinster, they trailed by 10 with less than 20 minutes remaining, and managed to cut the gap to two before a buzzer-beating goal saw them lose by five.Last year, Robbie Brennan’s men trailed Offaly by 10 at half-time and won pulling up; next day out, they opened a 0-17 to 0-5 lead against Dublin, which the Dubs reduced to two on the home stretch.Against Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final, they found themselves a point down at half-time, soon went six up, then three down – and won by a point.Consistent Kerry do it againDavid Clifford enjoyed his day in Killarney as Kerry beat Armagh. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho Although David Clifford was fairly chilled after the game (“a sunny day in Killarney, what more can you ask for really?”), there’s no doubt the pressure was on Kerry on Saturday.Had Armagh won in Fitzgerald Stadium, it would have marked the first time the Kingdom hadn’t made the All-Ireland quarter-finals since they were introduced in 2001.Even more impressively, since 1994, there has only been one season in which Kerry have not been among the last eight teams still standing in the All-Ireland, regardless of championship format.Kerry have been in an astonishing 22 All-Ireland semi-finals this century, too. Armagh, surprisingly, have only made the last four once in the last 21 years – defeating Kerry, as it happened, in 2024 en route to Sam.The best young place-kicker in Gaelic football Cork's Rory Twohig. Photograph: Tom Maher/Inpho Rory Twohig – remember the name.The Cork minor goalkeeper may just be the best young place-kicker in Gaelic football. The Kilmeen man scored 0-9, including a hat-trick of two-pointers, in the All-Ireland quarter-final against Meath, with one of those coming from more than 60m out.Twohig scored 0-4 in a narrow extra-time win in the Ulster finalOn Saturday, the goalie landed 0-5 (including two 45s and a magnificent free from the sideline) as the Rebels defeated Derry to return to the All-Ireland final for the first time since 2019, where they will meet Tyrone, who are the defending champions.Quote“Ger Brennan brings his side over to the shade of the Hogan Stand to recover and the Donegal men stay out in the sun. So a bit of cuteness from him there ...”Peter Canavan, on analysis duties on TV, with an interesting observation at half-time in extra-time of the Donegal-Dublin clash.Number: 1-17 to 1-4The second-half score in favour of Wicklow over Offaly in the Tailteann semi-final. It’s the second year in a row that a Division Four side has reached the final, with Limerick losing to Kildare last season.
