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Though the Cork footballers won just one Championship game in 2020, Ian Maguire feels his side are making progress.

After the high of beating Kerry with a last-gasp winner in the Munster semi-final, Cork lost to Tipperary in a historic decider.

"It was the fourth year in a row we lost the Munster final," said Maguire, speaking at the launch of Sports Direct's five-year sponsorship deal with Cork GAA.

"These are all missed opportunities. They all hurt. It's not good enough, personally would be my opinion.

"We definitely made strides. We qualified from Division 3. We won all our games. There were a lot of different experiences there. We played teams like, for example, Leitrim, something I never would have thought of five years ago.

"New players came into the panel, the U21s were integrated. You saw from the Munster final lineout how many young players with limited appearances actually played.

"Cork won a knockout game. That's something I feel hasn't happened for a while, or there hasn't been enough of those wins. We won a high-pressure knockout game, which is a great experience.

"It's six of one and a half dozen of another in that we've definitely made progress but ultimately it was disappointing. We're definitely going in the right direction.

"I'm sick of chasing the top, I'd rather be at the top."

Cork GAA football captain, Ian Maguire, pictured following the announcement of Sports Directs new five-year sponsorship deal with Cork GAA that will see Sports Direct support the mens senior, Under 20 and Minor teams in both codes and provide a new personalised boot partnership for the senior panels. Photo credit: INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Maguire feels complacency was not an issue within the panel heading into the Munster final.

"I suppose the complacency element is something youll always consider when you beat a big team but because of Covid - we beat Kerry and while there may have been a few drinks or whatever in other years, that didnt happen because of Covid," said the Cork captain.

"You got dressed, you went home, it was a very different experience and I would have said that protected us against complacency because we were back training, back into a routine.

"Ive watched the game about a thousand times, Tipperary came with an intensity that we just didnt match from player 1 to player 24. They brought the fire.

"They targeted our half back line on their kick-out Colin ORiordan playing half forward obviously, hes an exceptional fielder, hes not in the AFL for no reason. They got good supply into their forward line and they played on the front foot, we were playing from behind and they have some good players.

"What would you do differently? Its a tricky question. I suppose there were missed opportunities in that game and in the modern game, the main KPI is turnovers and we did not mind the ball in that game, we had too many of them. My lasting recollection of that game is how many times did we turn the ball over on their 45, leaving a large amount of space in front of Quinlivan and Sweeney inside which is just easy to attack. I think thats where our main failing was.

"Can you put that down to tactics or down to players? We were far too careless with the ball. We werent quick enough with our transitions. There was a lot of things that we didnt do that we should have done. I suppose Tipperary punished us as a good team would do."

When Maguire joined the Cork panel in 2014, there were numerous players who had been part of the All-Ireland winning team four years earlier. More than a decade on from that victory, Ciaran Sheehan is the only one with a medal remaining.

"For me personally, and obviously representing Cork, the goal is to win an All-Ireland and I know people will probably laugh at that," Maguire said.

"Its something thats always talked about in the dressing room, its always the goal. I could be delusional, and maybe thats a good thing, but ultimately the aspiration is an All-Ireland. It should always be an All-Ireland."

The new Cork GAA jersey was also launched today and celebrates the three core pillars of clubs, schools and county, that together, form the foundation of Cork GAA. The newly-launched jersey is now available exclusively through Sports Direct Ireland online https://ie.sportsdirect.com/, until stores across the country re-open.

Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile

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'The Goal Is To Win An All-Ireland, I Know People Will Probably Laugh At That' - Balls.ie

So its raining cats and dogs every day? Threat of snow? A team frustrated after three league defeats on the spin with little or no goal-scoring capability? Fan base up in arms? Well, Ive got the answer to you. Warm weather, sunshine, a pint, some tapas, maybe some flamenco guitar for good measure. Such was the tonic that Big Sam and his squid provided a Harry Kane-included Spurs squad yesterday. It couldnt have come at a better time.

As for the game, of course, we dominated. Of course, we wasted our best chances for fifty minutes until we didnt. Kudos to Hojbjerg for threading the pass to Kane, to Kane for a clinical finish, and to Lucas and others who set up Son for an even easier finish to salt this game away. But of course but for a bit too much eagerness on behalf of their striker, there were the dangerous balls into the box that on a different day v a different side might easily have yielded a goal or two and denied us the victory.

But this isnt the time to harp on negative thingsAurier was back and effective, Sanchez and Toby were acceptable, the midfield was more aggressive (Lamela and Lucas both making contributions) and our finishers finished. So while Champions League looks a remote possibilityand probably best won through the Europa League, a top seven finish is still attainable. Weve got that going for us which is nice.

But lets face itthat isnt what Jose was hired to do. The midweek games over the next three weeks are the ones he was brought here to win. So farand admittedly the opposition has been poor but for a good Championship side in Brentford and Chelsea who we escaped from via penalties before their previous manager had figured out how to play his team (well, maybe he never did)Jose hasnt lost a knockout game yet.

The Toffees are a tough draw coming after their spirited late comeback at Old Trafford yesterday with a dangerous front line against our leaky defence, Calvert-Lewin in particular seems primed to cause trouble. But this is the type of game where our manager can set us up in a way that gives us our best chance. Surely it will be largely a counter-attacking approachwith possibly the same lineup we saw today except for Sissoko or Doherty starting in place of either Lamela or Lucas and Aurier.

And if we win he can then decide just how much priority to give to what surely is the toughest league game remaining on the fixture listCity at the Etihad after they will have journeyed to Wales to play Swansea. Im thinking that AVB has time on his hands, and is schooled in how to produce a 6-0 defeat because maybe the Wolfsberger game a week Thursday is the bigger of the two. So bring him in to be the guest coach.

We might just see a sacrifice on the weekend because, despite our surprising success against Pep these past three years, this seems a huge mismatch. But that is why Levy pays Jose the big bucksfor all the problems, away wins in trophy competitions the next ten days will give the final three months of this season some real focus. At least we can enjoy the respite from the slog for a few days.

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Opinion: The tonic which Tottenham needed - The Spurs Web

BEING wheeled down the corridor signing consent forms, Shea Downey wasnt even sure which hospital he was in.

Hours earlier, hed looked the cut of his uncle Henry, stationed at centre-back as Lavey overcame their old adversaries Dungiven in a first round Derry SFC match.

Nothing had happened to make him feel the pain in his stomach that he was experiencing the next day. By night, it was a quick run up the road to Antrim Area and a rapid diagnosis.

They said my appendix was about to burst and they had to operate, he recalls.

Lavey would reach the county final for the first time in 25 years but it would be the following April before Downey would play again.

Despite having been called into the senior Derry setup almost straight out of minor, he is yet to make his championship debut.

Its not for any lack of ability or application.

His appendix operation initially appeared to have gone as routine, but in the months afterwards, he was dogged by an infection that just wouldnt clear.

They did it and the doctor was happy enough how it went, but it was whatever way I reacted to it. There was still an infection there.

They sent me home but I was still getting bad pains in that area, so I had to go back into hospital. I stayed in for a good few days. It took me ages to get over it.

It was a few months before I could even run. I just couldnt get rid of it.

We ended up going to Kingsbridge [private hospital in Belfast] then to get it sorted, I got a scan done up there and they said there was a bit of an infection there and they gave me something to get rid of it.

It was just a waiting match then, you had to wait until the infection died down before you could even start. I was trying to do a bit of jogging to get back for Lavey, they were doing well, but it just wasnt happening.

I couldnt jog at all with the pain, I could barely move.

It was around the same time as Tottenham Hotspurs Eric Dier had the exact same issue. While he returned to playing, it took him many months to properly get the better of feeling sore and ill.

With his father Seamus and great-uncle John Brennan at the helm, Shea could only watch on as Lavey embarked on their run to the Derry final, in which they were left to rue a poor first half against Coleraine.

You could see about the place when we got to that final, it was a big deal in the parish. It was covered in orange and black flags, there was a scarecrow, a painted car and everything. It was hard watching that, not being able to play in it.

After every game boys were asking me and I said Id be back for the next round. But I was trying to do a bit at the pitch and it just wasnt happening.

I was still in the changing room. I togged out in the final, I dont even know why for I wasnt getting on. That was the only game I togged out.

We came back well after half-time and thats why its so hard to watch nearly, youre jumping out of your seat and you just want to go and help out. Thats just the way things happen. Hopefully we can get back and go that step further.

It was January before he hit the field in Owenbeg to resume training with Derry. But having recovered from the appendix issue, his hamstrings started playing up. They havent stopped since.

The second training session with the county side, he popped the hamstring. Its been such a regular occurrence on both sides that hes not even sure which side went first.

Turned 23 last week, it had been anticipated hed be a regular in the Derry team by now. Instead, hes still yet to make his championship debut and has only played in a handful of Allianz League games.

The injuries themselves have been unkind, but so too the timing.

He missed the whole of 2019s inter-county campaign with the hamstring issue that flared up in that first session.

Indeed, a final year Business Studies student at Ulster University, he is set to finish up without kicking a ball in the Sigerson Cup unless he goes down the post-graduate route.

Through work with S&C coaches Ollie Cummings (2019) and Peter Hughes (2020), as well as medical and physio teams, he has built his hamstrings up.

He had a good run at it during the early part of the 2020 league and the lockdown allowed him to work on at them, but a concussion suffered in the first club championship game set him back. He was only able to return for Laveys knockout game against Magherafelt, and the hamstrings were acting up again after the layoff, causing him to be pulled late from Rory Gallaghers squad for the Ulster SFC loss to Armagh.

It hasnt been an easy ride, but then if anyone has the bloodline to overcome the early setbacks, its a son of Seamus Downey.

This was the man who tore his cruciate in 1989, a time when it was a career-ending injury.

But he rebuilt the knee without an operation, doing relentless, gruelling rehab to eventually win an All-Ireland at full-forward four years later, scoring Derrys goal in the final win over Cork.

Shea Downey and his three brothers have kept each other in company over lockdown. Enda, Oran and Calum, along with cousin Matthew and the upcoming Conor, will mean the Lavey team will have six Downeys on it in a very short space of time.

Theyre sports nuts too. As he takes the call, theres just enough gap between Tottenham-West Brom and Ireland-Wales, followed by Liverpool-Man City and the late-night shift for the SuperBowl.

His soccer allegiances fall the way of Sunderland, where his mother has cousins that theyd have visited as youngsters, and ended up at the Stadium of Light for several north-east derbies with Newcastle.

Shea Downeys just about had his fill of watching and not playing, though you wouldnt quickly detect any impatience.

Whats done is done. Theres no point dwelling on it, you just have to focus on getting right and hopefully this year Ill get a clean run at it. Im just looking forward to playing games.

With any luck, the world will see him at his best in 2021.

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Shea Downey's had enough of being Down on his injury luck - The Irish News

Anthony Joshua bagged a dominant win over Kubrat Pulev on December 12th by stopping The Cobra in the 9th round of their main-event clash. Relying on his uppercuts and thunderous hooks, Joshua looked confident from the beginning.

In Round 3, he almost outpointed Pulev with brutal shots and many believed it to be a stoppage. However, the referee let the show go on and Joshua had to dig deep till the 9th round to regain his knockout game. While he could have bagged an early win in Round 3, Joshua found it beneficial to go the distance.

In conversation with Sporting News, Joshua recalled the fight and revealed how he pulled off the big win. I have got a lot to lose and a lot to gain. So, I boxed with boxing IQ and I just dont go out there and its not a street fight.

I have an understanding of what the sweet science is about. So, I hit and I dont get hit. Pull, counter, Boom! That aggression in me is always there, so I wanted to take him out, said Joshua.

He added, I felt like the referee should have stopped the fight, but in a way, I think its good because being out for a year, 9 rounds was perfect.

Following the victory, he called out Tyson Fury to face him in an ultimate heavyweight title unification showdown. WBC champion Fury also accepted the offer, and we may see them collide by the end of this year.

READ MORE- Michael Coffie Gives Insight on Training With Deontay Wilder

At this stage, Tyson Fury is the only relevant option for the unified world champion. But if the fight doesnt happen, WBO has unearthed some solutions for AJ.

As per the new WBO rules, Anthony Joshua will have to defend his strap against the winner of Joe Joyce vs Oleksandr Usyk if he doesnt fight Fury. So, AJ is set to be a busy man in 2021.

As he finds his way back to winning ways with a knockout, the world wants to see him butt heads with the best. Do you think Anthony Joshua will depart 2021 as the world champion?

READ MORE- Winner of Oleksandr Usyk vs Joe Joyce Will Fight the Winner of Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury Within 180 Days Says New WBO Order

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Anthony Joshua Explains How the Referee Not Stopping the Kubrat Pulev Bout in Round 3 Helped Him - EssentiallySports

Opinions of Monday, 8 February 2021

Columnist: Gertrude Agyemang

COVID-19 cases in Ghana keep rising

The coronavirus outbreak has had its toll on every continent of the world as such, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a pandemic last year in March. Upon declaration, several behavior-related facts were emphasized to minimize the spread of the deadly virus. The deadly virus is easily spread by close contact between people without a mask on, as well as droplets from infected people through coughing, sneezing or even talking. Another way one may catch COVID-19 is by touching a contaminated surface and then their face, nose, ears or mouth.

The World Health Organization (WHO) strongly encouraged certain behavioural change like the frequent washing of hands for at least twenty (20) seconds, the wearing of mask, eating fruits and vegetables, exercising and importantly, keeping a social distance to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In view of these directives, particularly in Ghana, government sectors, corporate institutions, non-for-profit organisations and the mass media took it as a responsibility to engage in various campaigns to help prevent the spread of the disease. However, the campaigns seem to produce no satisfactory impact on the change in behaviour of the general public as the number of active cases in Ghana keep on rising.

The behavioural change proposed for the general public of Ghana is quite different from our usual way of life before the outbreak of the virus and it competes with already existing lifestyles. It is very difficult for individuals to change from a particular pattern or trait all of a sudden by just giving them information and expecting them to simply comply by it. Unless, there is a voluntary behaviour change by individual, positive outcome is quite challenging to achieve. However, changing behaviour patterns voluntarily is also very much complex as it entails an understanding of the changed behaviour and under what circumstance such behaviour is desired.

With this situation in place, having an in-depth knowledge of Social Marketing which spans across sociology, psychology, economics and anthropology can help in the understanding of individuals behavioural change. Through the application of Social Marketing, many countries have successfully implemented social marketing techniques to achieve various social objectives through behavioural change intervention programmes of smoking cessation, road safety, disease prevention and screening, physical activities and environmental issues. Social marketing is a systematic process of influencing behaviour change of different target market segments by utilizing a planning process that applies marketing principles and tactics to deliver positive societal benefits.

Thus, the primary objective of Social Marketing is not to sell goods and services rather to influence targeted markets to adopt a desired behaviour. An individuals behaviour can be influenced in one of the four ways, firstly to accepting a new behaviour, for instance, wearing a mask; rejecting an undesirable behaviour such as overcrowding; modifying a current behaviour like washing of hands frequently and abandoning an old undesirable behaviour of coughing here and there.

In applying the concept of Social Marketing in eliminating the spread of the pandemic in Ghana, at least four broad aspects must be emphasized: first, a clear definition of the problem at hand; second, a thorough environmental scan to segment the entire market and analyse the target audiences characteristics to influence their behaviours through the right message circulated at the right media and location; third, an analysis of social norms, potential barriers and competitions toward the desired behaviours and fourth, establish the monitoring policies and criteria for evaluating the intervention programme. As it stands now, many countries are now experiencing what could possibly be a second wave.

Therefore, it is high time for the authorities to understand the underpinning attitudes and beliefs held by the general public in Ghana regarding the WHO prescribed desired behaviours. Gaining information on the current status of people's new behavioural acceptance can provide insights on the reasons behind the compliance and non-compliance of the desired behaviours. Understanding the difficulty in changing to desired behaviours through environmental scanning demands a clear segmentation or division of communities before communicating the message of behavioural change in Ghana. This could be done by dividing the entire populace based on geographic (according to cities, neighbourhood), demographic (according to age, education level, gender) and psychographic (according to attitude, beliefs, values, social norms, needs).

Each segment is unique and thus may respond differently to campaign elements, therefore, different techniques must be utilized to reach and motivate the different segments. The creativity of the message, use of words, images and its explanation should be tailored to a particular segment's characteristics to get maximum reach of the target audience. With the attainment of the division of segments and its different communication techniques achieved, the next step is to understand the existing social norms, potential barriers of behavioral change and competing behaviours (which are the behaviours that the general public would prefer to do).

It is important to make the desired behaviours attractive as possible to adopt, by emphasizing on the dangers and risk one may go through because of the disregard of the preventive measures put in place. There is also a need for consistent and continuous monitoring to minimize the spread of the virus. Specific criteria-based evaluation of intervention programme at a specific interval can also yield actionable insights about what worked well and what did not. The risk of infection is still prevalent and therefore, there is no other alternative than to adopt these new and desired behaviours to combat the spread in Ghana.

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Halting the spread of COVID-19 in Ghana: social marketing, the answer? - GhanaWeb