Mitchels do the double as they wrap up league title

Sun, Nov 01, 2015

Just a week removed from their second victory in three years in the Mayo Senior Football Championship, Castlebar Mitchels wrapped up the double when they claimed the Mayo GAA SFL Division 1A title on Sunday morning. A much weakened Castlebar Mitchels side from the one that lined out the previous week and will take to the field next Sunday in the Connacht GAA Senior Football Championship semi-final were still much to strong for the challenge posed by the former kingpins of the game in the county, Crossmolina Deel Rovers running out 3-14 to 0-8 winners in Castlebar. Mitchels led 1-11 to 0-1 at the break and were able to ease off the gas over the final 30 miniutes ahead of their big game next weekend.

Douglas delights the Mitchels faithful

Sun, Oct 25, 2015

Three Neil Douglas goals eased Castlebar Mitchels to a 29th Mayo senior title on Sunday in MacHale Park, the Mitchels marksman along with Danny Kirby and Richie Feeney were too hot to handle for the Breaffy defence as their side ran out 13 point winners.

Breaffy and Mitchels to battle it out to be the best

Fri, Oct 23, 2015

Since the last time that these two neighbours came together in the senior championship, Breaffy have won their two league meetings, a 2-13 to 0-7 win in 2014, and a 3-9 to 1-12 victory in the spring of this year. But it is the meeting before those two that was the last big one, with Mitchels claiming their 28th senior title on a rain soaked day back in 2013.

Timeline for new senior manager put in place

Fri, Oct 23, 2015

Mayo hope to have a new senior manager in place by the third week in November, it was revealed this week. Speaking at the October meeting of the Mayo GAA county board, chairman Mike Connelly said the board had now opened up nominations for the position and the nominations process would close on Sunday November 1.

Senior final should be one to savor

Fri, Oct 23, 2015

Sunday’s senior final between neighbours Breaffy and Castlebar is likely to be an enthralling affair and I cannot wait. It is bizarre that the junior, intermediate, and senior finals were/are all local derbies in 2015. There are some big hitters squaring up to each other on Sunday which will make it compelling viewing. Aidan O'Shea has bulldozed Breaffy and Mayo to victory in many games this year so of course the big talking point is what Castlebar will do to negate his effectiveness.

Ardnaree end four decade wait in style

Sun, Oct 18, 2015

When a game ends with such a comprehensive a gap between the sides, all there is to do is to sit back and marvel at the performance of the victors. For Ardnaree, it’s been a long 44 year wait since they last claimed the Mayo junior title. There have been plenty of close misses over the years since then, no more than in the past decade where they have had to head back to their enclave on the north side of the Moy after tasting defeat in the 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013 finals.

Hollymount-Carramore make it back to the big time

Sun, Oct 18, 2015

It wasn’t a classic, by any means, but Hollymount-Carramore won’t care a thing about that. When they hit the training field on the cold and wet nights in south Mayo at the start of this year, there was only one objective in their minds and they achieved that in MacHale Park on Sunday. After being on the losing side in last years final, they were determined to put that wrong to right and they did that with a hard working performance.

A feast of sport and a turn up for the books

Fri, Oct 16, 2015

What a feast of sport we had last Sunday. Two quality performances by Breaffy and Castlebar in the Mayo championship semifinals followed by as gutsy a performance as you are likely to see by the Irish Rugby team, only to be deflated by the Republic of Ireland soccer team failing to gain automatic qualification for the Euros when they were defeated by Poland.

I know it did not take a rocket scientist to decide to bring the Mayo semifinals forward but whoever did make the decision boosted the crowd in McHale Park by a few hundred people at the very least as the country is gone rugby mad, and anyone with sport in the bloodstream was certainly not going to miss Ireland’s much anticipated game with France.

Breaffy lay down a statement of intent

Mon, Oct 12, 2015

If Breaffy are going to claim their first ever senior county title, they are certainly going to earn it. After topping a group that included fellow semi-finalists Knockmore, they saw off arguably the fourth best team in the county in Garrymore in their quarter-final win. On Sunday they backed that up with a steamrolling of the defending county champions Ballintubber to set up a final on the bank holiday weekend against fellow local rivals Castlebar Mitchels. This will be a repeat of the 2013 final between the sides, with a few little angles thrown into the mix.

Mitchels see off Knockmore in high scoring encounter

Mon, Oct 12, 2015

It’ll be a red v blue final in MacHale Park in a fortnights time after Castlebar Mitchels secured their place in the county senior decider for the fifth time since 2010 on Sunday afternoon with a solid display against Knockmore.

A week is a long time in football

Fri, Oct 09, 2015

Mayo are on the look out for a new senior football manager after the inevitable resigning of joint managers Pat Holmes and Noel Connelly last Friday night. It was a somewhat embarrassing saga in the Mayo GAA family that such an event occurred. By the time Noel and Pat resigned I had simply had enough. I was so drained from talking about it and anxiously waiting for any developments that I was relieved there was closure.

Familiar faces square off again in hurling decider

Fri, Oct 09, 2015

The Mayo hurling fraternity will be out in force on Sunday afternoon, when the latest chapter in one of the greatest battles of the ages is written in east Mayo. The meeting of these two near neighbours in the county decider has become an annual event in recent times, with the hosts on Sunday having the upper hand in recent years. Tooreen may be the grandaddies of the game in the county with 27 titles under their belts, but Ballyhaunis are most certainly the team of this millennium, having won all of their 10 titles since 2002.In that time span they have put together a three-in-a-row run and more impressively a five-in-a-row sequence stretching from 2008 through to 2012. The team that stopped them making it six-in-a-row was, of course, Tooreen who claimed their first title in 10 years in 2013 with a memorable 4-10 to 1-6 win in Ballyhaunis.

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