Keegan and McCann lose out to Royal duo

Fri, Aug 31, 2012

Dessie Keegan and Joe McCann’s long held dream of a senior softball title was well and truly shattered once again as the Ballaghaderreen duo had to give second best to the impressive Tom Sheridan and Brian Carroll of Meath in the senior decider at Abbeylara on Saturday last.

Connacht Gold semi-finals take centre stage this weekend

Fri, Aug 31, 2012

With the Super League title wrapped up a couple of weeks ago and the FCS Cup also in the bag following a tight win over Ballina Town a couple of weeks ago, Westport United look to further cement their dominance in the game in Mayo by booking their place in the final of the Connacht Gold Cup on Saturday evening. Tomorrow evening’s meeting of the two sides separated by only a few miles, should have a real cup tie feel to it. Westport United will be the hot favourites, while the Clew Bay neighbours will be coming in as complete underdogs looking to upset the apple-cart. Clew Bay United this year have failed to challenge for the top spots in the Premier A (the division below Westport United) and are instead currently tied in on 10 points with three games left with Bangor Hibs and find themselves only two places off the bottom. However, bottom placed Swinford are only two points behind them and both sides have to meet again on the final day in the league. Tomorrow evening’s clash should be a forgone conclusion, but Clew Bay United will be relishing the chance to put their league problems behind them and go out and have a go at the best in the county.

Large Mayo field in national half marathon

Fri, Aug 31, 2012

The national half marathon takes place next Sunday, September 2 at Athenry at 1pm. Mayo AC will have 38 athletes in the field competing in all categories as individuals and teams. This represents their largest team ever at a national championships. All Mayo AC team members are asked to be at Race HQ in the Presentation College beside the arch at Athenry by 11.30am to enable team declaration and registration. Members not running are encouraged to go along in support.

Ten reasons why we can win on Sunday and ten for us to worry about

Fri, Aug 31, 2012

I think Mayo have a great chance of beating the Dubs on Sunday. Luke Dempsey called earlier in the week to discuss Mayo’s chances. He too believes Mayo will win. He suggested that the Dubs need twice as much possession as most teams to manage a victory. He believes many of their players are lacking in some of the fundamental skills of the game. I too have suggested that many of the Dublin footballers appear to be manufactured footballers, ie, many are not naturally talented. Of course they are much better than the three teams we have played in this year’s campaign so far, but are the Dubs that good? I do not think so.

Dublin to have too much for Mayo

Fri, Aug 31, 2012

Having watched Donegal in the flesh last weekend in their awe-inspiring victory over Cork, it is difficult to see either Mayo or Dublin stopping them taking Sam back to the hills for the first time in 20 years.

Their second-half performance and the displays of Karl Lacey, Neil Gallagher, Frank McGlynn and Mark McHugh were stunning. Their conditioning and fitness was sensationally high. Has there ever been a fitter team in Gaelic football?

Metropolitans stand in Mayo’s way

Fri, Aug 31, 2012

It has taken a little over 210 minutes of championship football to get here. Leitrim, Sligo and Down all stood in the way, but were not up to the challenge. On Sunday things get very real, but this is what Mayo have been preparing for ever since the final whistle blew in the same venue in last year’s All Ireland semi-final against Kerry. They are back to where they want to be, their fourth championship game in a five game series they hope will end in victory and a place in the All Ireland final for the first time in six years and another crack at bringing Sam Maguire back to Mayo. But that is another battle to be fought at a later date, and all that will be on Mayo minds on Sunday is the game ahead of them.

Mayo fall short when final place was there to be taken

Sun, Aug 26, 2012

Meath: 2-10
Mayo: 1-11

Major minor matters on Sunday

Fri, Aug 24, 2012

Once in a while, it can be good to get things wrong. Not too often, but calling the result of Mayo's All Ireland minor quarter final against the defending All Ireland champions Tipperary at the start of the month was something that a lot of people called wrong. And were glad too. Tony Duffy's side put on a performance of class and determination in sweeping aside the Munster champions in Croke Park that day. It was as unexpected as it was refreshing, and exciting to see a Mayo side take to the turf in headquarters and play without any fear but total abandon and take to the game to a supposedly stronger side and put them to the sword. Their reward for that victory is a place in the All Ireland semi-final this Sunday against beaten Leinster finalists Meath for a place in next month’s All Ireland final.

Keegan and McCann bid for senior glory this weekend

Fri, Aug 24, 2012

On a particularly busy weekend for handball with the first series of all-Ireland adult and juvenile finals, the overall picture was one of great joy for many of Mayo’s contenders although there were some disappointments also.

Dessie Keegan got the weekend underway as he faced All-Ireland senior singles champion Robbie McCarthy for a place in this year’s showcase decider at Abbeylara. It was level pegging for much of the first game as the sides were level at 6 aces and 8 aces each, but McCarthy slowly asserted his dominance and racked up 10 aces without reply. Keegan added two more to his tally but lost out 21 aces to 10 at the finish. McCarthy assumed control of matters after that and ran out a comfortable winner of the second. Dublin’s Eoin Kennedy won the other semi-final in impressive fashion to set up a repeat of last year’s final at the Longford venue in two week’s time.

Ballina’s Gavin Duffy to lead Connacht again this season

Fri, Aug 24, 2012

Gavin Duffy has been selected as the captain of Connacht Rugby for the upcoming season.

Town girls keep the winning streak going

Fri, Aug 24, 2012

On Thursday evening last Kilmurry u18 girls travelled to Moneen to take on league leaders Castlebar Town. Town unusually started the game slowly letting the Kilmurry girls dictate the early play with the first five minutes played in the Town half, but the Town defence stood firm marshalled by captain Michelle Kelly and Danielle Caldwell with Aoife Brody and Melissa Patterson covering the flanks.

McGuinness deserved to be credited for turning Donegal’s fortunes

Fri, Aug 24, 2012

There’s something heart warming about Donegal. Their team ethic is not based on fancy individuality that can so often lead to failure, but on the values of hard, honest toil and a simple, effective game plan. They have a manager who doesn’t care in the slightest what the football fraternity think of him or his team. He has set out his stall and is sticking by it. The whole world was down on top of them last year, (myself included) because of their ultra defensive dour style of play. Jim McGuinness was vilified for tarnishing our ‘beautiful game’ with such an ugly conservative style of defensive system that saw supporters, including many from his own county, walk out in disgust from Croke Park, when Donegal missed a glorious opportunity to defeat a Dublin side that were there for the taking. In fact, I spent most of last summer hoping they would be beaten as I genuinely hated their style of play. The reality is, they have some fantastic forwards, last year, inexplicably, they utilised them so far from goal that they rarely got an opportunity to do serious damage to any opposition. Six points against Dublin in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final is a case in point. This year they are unquestionably easier on the eye and appear to have realised that they have the ability to be serious contenders for an All-Ireland title if they are prepared to play a more attacking expansive brand of football. I admire them for that and for the fact that they have refined their system which now has seen them score an average of 18 points per game in the five games they have played in this year’s championship. They have also retained their air tight defensive system, only conceding a single goal from open play. And to be fair Jim McGuinness deserves great credit for turning the fortunes of a county whose team, up to last year, were the party, fun loving boys of the inter-county scene.

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