Search Results for 'Liam McHale'

Two schools from Mayo won big at the recent Bord Gáis Energy Student Theatre Awards.

The 13th season of Laochra Gael, the popular TV series that profiles legendary figures in Gaelic games will resume next Tuesday, February 3. Kicking off the series, the first episode will look back on the career of one of Mayo’s most famous footballers of the last 30 years, Liam McHale.

They knew they didn’t do themselves justice last year when they crashed out of the Mayo Senior Championship at the quarter-final stage and Ballintubber used that loss as motivation to drive them on this time around.

Anytime you win a county senior title is a good time but there are certain times when it can be more favourable than others.

The widely anticipated County Board meeting passed off relatively peacefully last Thursday night with a few members of the board resigning over the process in which the new Mayo managers were appointed. The story had gained national headlines for all the wrong reasons and certainly it was a little embarrassing the way matters were conducted in appointing Pat Holmes and Noel Connelly. An apology was offered as there were and still are a lot of disgruntled people in the county. I am sure Kevin McStay and Liam McHale are bitterly disappointed at what happened, and some gesture or apology to both men should be offered as both are true Mayo Gaels who gave an awful lot to the green and red and they deserved at the very least an interview before been told they did not have the job. I am sure anyone reading this has heard the vile rumours about players not wanting McHale, which I am told could not be further from the truth. It is amazing how widespread the rumours went and pretty much to the point that people started to actually believe them. Liam McHale suffered a severe character assassination over the last few weeks and did not deserve it. Good luck to Pat and Noel; it is time to let them at it. The new management team along with selector Michael Collins and strength and conditioning coach Barry Solan from Ballaghaderreen were deep in discussion and taking lots of notes during the senior semi finals last Sunday. I am a little surprised a forward coach/selector was not incorporated in the set up, I guess they will be basing their team on a strong defence. I feel someone like Kevin O’Neill would have been a great addition to offer some insight into good forward play. I am delighted Barry Solan has finally been given a chance with his own county. Apart from working with Laois and Kildare he has also done a lot of work with Katie Taylor so there is obviously good pedigree there. If Hollymount/Carramore win the intermediate title on Sunday and get a good run in the Connacht championship, Noel Connelly’s wife Valerie and their children may not be seeing a lot of him for the next few months.

Two of the potential names in the hat for the vacant Mayo senior manager’s job have spoken to the Mayo GAA County Board in relation to the job, the chairman of the board, Paddy McNicholas, told the Mayo Advertiser this week. The closing date for nominations for the post was 11pm last night. Speaking to the Advertiser yesterday morning, McNicholas said: “We’ve two men who are interested in the job, with Noel Connelly backed up by Pat Holmes and Kevin McStay who is backed up by Liam McHale. We’ve spoken to both men about the job, one in person and the other on the phone recently. There are a few other names out there, but none of them have come to any of us about it yet.” When asked how many nominations had been received as of yesterday morning, a number of hours before the deadline closed, McNicholas said that he was not aware that any official nominations had been submitted at that stage, but expected them to come in during the course of the day.

Castlebar Mitchels are 60 minutes away from the holy grail of club football. To join the elite clubs like Nemo Rangers, Crossmaglen Rangers, and indeed our own Crossmolina Deel Rovers and Ballina Stephenites would be nothing short of a miracle. It took them 20 years to win the elusive Moclair Cup, now their eyes are firmly set on the Andy Merrigan. Castlebar have beaten the three hot favourites for the competition along the way to the final in Corofin, St Brigid's, and the dead certs until last Sunday, Dr Crokes of Kerry. There will not be a dry eye in Mick Byrne’s if they succeed.

I have never hidden the fact that dubious refereeing and bad decisions by referees during games are pet hates of mine and make my blood boil. Before I attract the wrath of every ref in the county I must admit it is more so at a national level than within the county itself. There have not been many games I attended this year that I left thinking the man in the middle did a really good job.

Finally getting over the 20-year-old itch and winning the Moclair Cup looks to have freed this Castlebar Mitchels team from the nagging doubts that many had about their ability to press on and mark themselves out as one of the truly great Mayo club sides. They have another opportunity to kick-on again this Sunday, when they go toe-to-toe with the current AIB All Ireland club champions, St Brigid's in Hyde Park. While bookmakers may have the Roscommon men as 4/7 favourites and Castlebar as 15/8 outsiders, those numbers will been have paid little heed around Páirc Josie Munnelly, as Pat Holmes along with his management team of Alan Nolan and Shane Conway put their players through their paces in preparation for Mitchels first provincial final since 1993. Last Sunday, the Mitchels wrapped up the Mayo double with a comprehensive 2-15 to 1-2 league win over the previous holders of the Moclair Cup, Ballaghaderreen. In 10 league and seven championship games they have gone into battle in this year, Mitchels have only been overturned once, on the opening day in the league, when the side they saw off in the county final (Breaffy) edged past them on a boggy and misty spring day.

Kiltane are the 2013 Connacht Intermediate football champions after a very professional performance against Boyle of Roscommon last Sunday in Elvery's McHale Park. They were never really in danger in this game, albeit for a sloppy patch midway through the first half in which they conceded a goal and a point on the spin but that was as good as it got for Boyle. Kiltane are keeping the tradition going by being the third Mayo team in a row to win the Gene Byrne Cup. Little did they know the favours Davitt's and Charlestown did for them the two years previous by playing almost all of their games away from home resulting in the Mayo champs having three home games in this years provincial series. You cannot beat home advantage when you are entering the unknown. It is hard to believe this team could have been out of the championship if Drumcliff/ Rosses Point substitute Colin Ginty kept his head instead of fluffing his lines in the dying moments of the semi final when it looked easier to score. Upon such outcomes All-Irelands are won, most All-Ireland champions have a little bit of luck along the way and that most certainly was Kiltane’s. Their ambition now certainly has to be to claim more silverware in early 2014, a feat which Davitt’s and Charlestown failed to achieve.