Madden ousted, chaos in Kerry & Farragher still firing

A dethroning, a controversial county title victory and an age-defying performance were among the highlights of the weekend in the GAA club championships.

There is nowhere better to start than in the cathedral city of Armagh, where reigning senior football champions Madden were denied back-to-back titles after they suffered defeat at the hands of Clann Eireann in their quarter-final showdown at the Athletic Grounds on Saturday.

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The Lurgan outfit secured a five-point win over the Raparees by a scoreline of 1-13 to 0-11 to continue their push to return to the top of Armagh football, as they last did in 2024.

Madden's Joe Sheridan scored the game's first point before Clann keeper Eoghan Mulholland was forced to stop Niall Smith's effort from giving the champions a four-point lead early on.

Cohen Henderson scored the game's only goal, with Armagh senior county star Conor Turbitt registering four points to help see his side through to the semi-finals, where they will face 2023 champions and resurgent side Crossmaglen Rangers after their nine-point win over Culloville on Sunday, with Oisin O'Neill scoring a whopping 2-10 for the black and amber.

The other semi-final will see Dromintee take on 2026 Armagh Senior League winners Killeavy for a spot in this year's Orchard county final.

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Rathmore win first Kerry title in 15 years

In Kerry, this year's senior champions have been crowned with Rathmore defeating Dr Crokes by 2-10 to 0-12 in an east Kerry derby final at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney for their first title in 15 years.

This year's success is just their second such victory, and it was all the sweeter as their four-point win denied their divisional rivals a third Kerry crown in a row.

Crokes were up against it from the start, with an early red card shown to Michael Burns after he pushed a Rathmore physio during an altercation on the field of play; the physio was cautioned and Cathal Ryan of Rathmore was shown a black card for his part.

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Early in the second half, Dr Crokes let the challengers off the hook, with Tony Brosnan, who finished the game with eight points, blasting a penalty over the bar.

Fionn Murphy and substitute John Moynihan scored goals for the Rathbeg outfit, who were managed by two-time All-Star and five-time All-Ireland SFC winner with Kerry, Aidan O'Mahony.

The traditional 'Monday Club' celebrations were left up in the air as O'Mahony revealed after the game that his wife is on holiday in Spain and he was on the school run duties with his two daughters Lilah and Lucia, so he would not be able to bask in the warm glow of his club's historic county title win.

Farragher aging like fine wine

Finally, in the Galway Senior Hurling Championship, former All-Star Ger Farragher proved that in the GAA age is but a number as the Castlegar forward scored 1-7 in his side's loss to reigning champions Loughrea at 43 years of age.

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Farragher's total included an impressive sideline score; however, it was not enough to stop the onslaught of back-to-back winners Loughrea, who went on to record a four-point win in the preliminary quarter-final meeting at Athenry.

Farragher's goal gave the 17-time Galway champions some hope late in the game, but Loughrea continued their push for a three-peat, with last year's All-Ireland Senior Club Championship runners-up taking on Athenry in the last-eight.

He played for Galway 33 times in nine years between 2002 and 2011, during which he won a National Hurling League title in 2010 and an All-Star in 2005, topping the All-Ireland hurling championship scoring charts that year.

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