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2 months ago | 
balls.ie | Danny Byrne |Rob O'Halloran |Lee Costello |Eoin Harrington
Amidst the excitement of Ireland's hunt for the first Six Nations three-peat in the history of the competition and, the highs of the victory against England last weekend, debate continues to concern the number 10 role. The fly-half rivalry between Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley has been one of the major topics in this campaign, the latter first taking the jersey after Johnny Sexton retired in 2023.
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2 months ago | 
balls.ie | Eoin Harrington |Lee Costello |Danny Byrne
Liverpool are through to the EFL Cup final after a destruction of Spurs at Anfield on Thursday night. Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Arne Slot's men delivered a massive performance against a limp Tottenham side to romp home 4-0 winners and secure their place in the decider against NewcastleGoals from Cody Gakpo, Mo Salah, Domink Szoboszlai and Virgil van Dijk did the job on the night on another comfortable night for the Premier League leaders.
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2 months ago | 
balls.ie | Eoin Harrington |Niall McIntyre |Lee Costello |Danny Byrne
2024 was a vintage season of League of Ireland football. Despite a rich tapestry of storylines, the defining thread was undeniably Damien Duff's Shelbourne charging to a first title in almost 20 years. Ireland legend Duff led Shels to their first crown since 2006, with his intensity forging a siege mentality on Richmond Road. The "us against the world" attitude saw Shels come out trumps despite spending the entire second half of the season with their backs on the ropes.
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2 months ago | 
balls.ie | Lee Costello |Niall McIntyre |Danny Byrne |Eoin Harrington
Paul Merson was certainly in the mood when asked to give his thoughts on all of the talking points surrounding the January transfer window. Following Arsenal's defeat to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup, Merson is more convinced than ever that his former club need a top class striker, and there is only one that fits the bill.
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2 months ago | 
balls.ie | Lee Costello |Joshua Bell Curran |Eoin Harrington |Danny Byrne
Roy Keane has a reputation for being a bit hot heated, and younger fans might think that comes from his combative punditry style. However, those os us who saw the former Man United star play, will know that it was because he played with an edge, and was a very physical player. What made the Irishman so great was that he would fight for every inch, and put his body on the line, unfortunately this occasionally meant crossing the line.
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2 months ago | 
balls.ie | Joshua Bell Curran |Eoin Harrington |Danny Byrne |Niall McIntyre
DCU have delivered a massive shock in North Dublin this evening, knocking reigning champions Mary Immaculate out of the Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup with an odd-defying two-point win. The Dublin outfit were undeniable underdogs coming into the fixture against a star-studded Mary I who were not only the reigning champions but also boasted a lineup featuring the likes of Limerick's Shane 'The Bull' O'Brien and Clare's Adam Hogan.
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2 months ago | 
balls.ie | Danny Byrne |Eoin Harrington |Joshua Bell Curran |Niall McIntyre
With the 2025 campaign of the League of Ireland set to get underway in less than two weeks, a new fantasy football game has been released and is ready to play now. Fantasy LOI is up and running and now you can make your super team of SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division all-stars to prepare for the first matchweek.
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2 months ago | 
balls.ie | Danny Byrne |Niall McIntyre |Joshua Bell Curran |Eoin Harrington
Up-and-coming Irish defender Alix Mendez has taken the next step in her career as she moves from her native Cork City to mid-table of the Scottish Women's Premier League, Aberdeen, who could use some of her defensive prowess and versatility to boost their league status. Mendez started her youth career with Wilton before signing to Cork City at 15 years old to play in the National League. She then went to Treaty United for a spell of two years before returning to Cork City in 2023.
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2 months ago | 
balls.ie | Andrew Halligan |Donny Mahoney |Joshua Bell Curran |Danny Byrne
Now that the curtain has been brought down on the 2025 Dublin Racing Festival, all eyes move towards the Cheltenham Festival in March. With so many stand-out performances to note from last weekend's, Dublin Racing Festival, who are the ones that have enhanced the Cheltenham Festival credentials, and whose Cheltenham Festival dreams have been dashed?
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2 months ago | 
balls.ie | Donny Mahoney |Joshua Bell Curran |Niall McIntyre |Danny Byrne
Cork and Limerick played out a pulsating and temperamental 1-16 to 1-16 draw last night in damp conditions along the banks of the River Lee. If there was any doubt what is the best rivalry in GAA, the counties picked up where they left off in 2024. Cork were perhaps fortunate to eek out the draw but their injury list afterwards proved just how serious the battle was. As with most serious sporting rivalries, there was real needle between the two sides.
