The Mayo Senior championship was in overdrive last weekend (I am sure James Horan was waiting anxiously by his phone to ensure all his players came through their respective games ) and while I was not surprised and had predicted most of the results, the drubbing Castlebar dished out to Breaffy left me a little shocked especially as I had them pencilled in for my “value bet of the week”.
Castlebar are not going to be far away again in 2013. Danny Kirby and Aidan Walsh made light of the fearsome reputation of Mayo’s number one midfield partnership while Richie Feeney had a huge influence at full forward for the Mitchell’s .
The other big winners of the weekend were Charlestown, who went to the “Parish of the Backs” and came away with a huge victory, and were the first quarter final qualifiers of the weekend. David Caffrey completely nullified the threat of county star Kevin McLoughlin and the decision by the Sarsfields to fly Paul Mulligan and Tom Parsons home is proving to be a correct one. The latter having a blinder at midfield. In my biased opinion Parsons is good enough for the Mayo senior squad, already a tremendous fielder - his game has become much more aggressive in the last two years. The final game between Westport and Knockmore in this group will be a humdinger with the winners qualifying. Ballina and Ballintubber qualified from their group as expected, Ballintubber’s wealth of talent allowing them to rest influential Alan Dillon. What an abundance of midfielders at James Horan’s disposal, Jason Gibbons the star of the show in this game. A message from Evan Regan to the Mayo management “don’t forget about me” as he scored a very impressive 3-2 for the Stephenites. Ballagh got back to winning ways with the terrible two — Moran and Regan — causing Garrymore an abundance of problems. Ballinrobe put a real spanner in the works beating Aughamore to throw this group wide open with all four teams still capable of qualifying. One thing for sure, I can feel the tension at Mayo training from here.
London keep on fighting
Who would have thought London would play three games in the Connacht Championship in 2013, (already as many as Mayo will have to play to win the title ) they may even play a fourth. They were within a hair’s breadth of reaching their first Connacht final after Crossmolina native Sean Kelly bagged himself a late goal and almost upset the odds and sent the exiles into football dreamland. I have to admit I would love to see a London/Mayo final, not for the intensity, not for the match-ups – just for the novelty. I hope they have not blown their chance. I watch almost every GAA match that is on TV if I am not already at a game and while it is enthralling to see the Donegal, Mayo, and Dublin squaring up to each other, I get a real kick out of watching and listening to games like the Leitrim and London game, especially when they are so close and are literally decided by the last kick of the ball. It was far more exciting than the Donegal and Down match. Why didn’t Donegal play like that against us last September? Mayo will have to wait until next Sunday evening to see who they will square up against. London have been taken to the hearts of the nation over the last few weeks, and while most of us feel it very unfair and costly to make them travel back again a week later for their replay rules are rules, and that’s what was decided by the powers that be when London were allowed into the Connacht championship in the seventies. Ireland West Airport coffers will be boosted by at the very least 40 extra passengers next weekend.
Our minors eventually got the job done against Leitrim after a shaky enough first half, and they have to be the biggest beneficiaries of the drawn game in Carrick as Enda Gilvarry’s team get the chance to precede the replay and play in front of a bigger crowd. In my opinion all minor teams should get a chance to play before their senior team, it makes it such a big day for any 17 or 18-year-old. Let’s hope they get over Galway and we have two teams in Connacht finals.
