Gaelic Games

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All-Ireland winner Niall Grimley has confirmed he has stepped away from the Armagh panel, but has not ruled out a return to inter-county action in the future.

Grimley was a key member of Armagh's Sam Maguire-winning side in 2024, earning an All-Star nomination after starting and scoring a point in the final victory over Galway.

The 31-year-old, who helped Madden win their first Armagh title in October, spoke about his decision to step back from county duty on an Armagh GAA, external podcast.

"I met the boss man (Kieran McGeeney) a couple of months ago and made the very tough decision to step away," he said.

"It's not a decision that I have taken lightly, a lot of thought has went into it.

"Obviously, I have two kids at the minute, Olivia is coming three [years old] and Kaden's only coming three months, so it's just very busy."

Grimley, who made his senior Armagh debut in 2016, was coy on potentially returning to the Orchard fold in the future.

"I'm just taking time to step away, it could be for three months, could go back next October and give it another rattle, might never go back," he added.

"I know the lads [have been] unbelievable, they're only going one direction. It's been a decision I've had to make for myself. I've been on the road 10 years, the past couple of years haven't been easy with injury.

"I've two kids now, a lot going on, tough, tough decision. I'd do anything for the Armagh lads, some of them are the best friends in the world, Joe McElroy is as close to me as my brothers.

"It was a tough decision, but it is a decision that I am happy with and one that is right for me and my family right now."

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Former Republic of Ireland international Eunan O'Kane has been appointed manager of Derry GAA club Banagher ahead of the 2026 season.

O'Kane, 35, was previously involved with Banagher during Paul Bradley's time in charge and was also part of the coaching set-up of the Moneyglass side that reached this month's All-Ireland Ladies Club final alongside his father Charlie and Maxi Curran.

A Banagher native, O'Kane represented Northern Ireland at underage level before switching to the Republic of Ireland.

He earned seven caps for the Republic of Ireland but narrowly missed out on selection for Euro 2016.

O'Kane played in the Premier League for Bournemouth, while he also had spells with Torquay, Leeds and Luton before injury issues forced his retirement in 2021.

Banagher have never won a senior Derry title and were knocked out of the 2025 championship by Glen.

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Scotstown goalkeeper Rory Beggan said "you can't pay a man enough" to match the feeling of ending his club's Ulster championship drought.

Beggan, who won inter-county provincial titles with Monaghan in 2013 and 2015, kicked 11 points at the Athletic Grounds on Saturday as his side outlasted Kilcoo in an extra-time thriller.

The 33-year-old briefly pursued a career in American football through the NFL's International Player Pathway last year, but there was nowhere he would rather have been than Armagh as Scotstown claimed their first Ulster title since 1989.

"You can't pay a man enough to be in these shoes," he said.

"Unbelievable. This is so much for this club."

Scotstown had led by five points at half-time and extended their advantage out to eight after the restart. Kilcoo, however, sent the game to extra time with the penultimate kick of normal time.

Despite that setback, and the weight of history, Beggan always felt convinced his side would be victorious.

"We weren't being beaten," he said.

"I just knew it the last two weeks, I knew it after the Newbridge [semi-final], what it meant to this group.

"We've been through the ringer with this competition, but the rewards will come, you just have to be patient.

"It's been too long, 36 years is too long for the club to not be winning this competition."

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Slaughtneil's All-Ireland club hurling semi-final against Loughrea will take place at Parnell Park in Dublin on Sunday, 21 December [13:30 GMT].

The Ulster champions are bidding to reach the final for the first time in what will be their sixth appearance at this stage of the competition.

Parnell Park has been the venue for two of their previous five semi-finals, including their 3-15 to 3-8 loss against Limerick's Na Piarsaigh in 2018 and their five-point defeat by Waterford's Ballygunner in 2022.

Paul McCormack's side retained their provincial crown with a 13-point victory over Antrim champions St John's last month, having won the Derry title for a 13th-straight year.

Loughrea retained their Galway title with a one-point victory over St Thomas' in November and moved straight into the All-Ireland series.

On the same day, Carrickmore will take on Mayo's Tooreen in the semi-final of the All-Ireland intermediate championship at Breffni Park in Cavan at 14:00.

The Tyrone side won the Ulster title for the first time with a six-point victory over Fermanagh's Lisbellaw on 1 December, making up for three previous defeats in the provincial final.

Tooreen won their fifth Connacht intermediate title with victory over Galway's Meelick-Eyrecourt and are bidding to return to the final after their appearance in the 2023 decider when losing out to Limerick's Monaleen.

On Saturday, 20 December, Burt will face Sligo's Easkey in the semi-final of the junior championship in Ballyshannon at 13:00.

The Donegal club lost their county semi-final to Setanta, but navigated a path through Ulster, defeating Lavey in the final after extra-time.

Easkey won the Connacht title for the first time in a low-scoring final against Galway's Ballygar.