Duffy’s minors look to dethrone champions

Fri, Jul 13, 2012

Tony Duffy is in his third year as Mayo minor manager and on Sunday he’s looking for his latest batch of minors to pick up a second provincial crown in those three years. This year Mayo will have to do it the hard way by going to the their opponents backyard to win the title.

Mort bows out before the century

Fri, Jul 13, 2012

On Wednesday the Mayo GAA rumour mill was at full steam with talk that Conor Mortimer had decided to leave the Mayo senior panel, only a matter of days before Sunday’s Connacht Final. The former Shrule-Glencorrib man, who along with being Mayo’s all time leading scorers, has been one of the most colourful and charismatic players to every wear the green and red for Mayo.

Mayo need to keep their eye on the prize

Fri, Jul 13, 2012

The distraction of Wednesday’s news that Conor Mortimer has decided to leave the Mayo senior panel is the last thing that Mayo manager James Horan will have wanted ahead of Sunday’s Connacht final showdown with Sligo in Hyde Park. Horan’s side had only just been announced by the county board online and through traditional methods a matter of hours when news broke of Mortimer’s decision to leave the panel, bringing the eye of the national and local media on Mayo ahead of Sunday for reasons other than what happens on the field. Mortimer being the second member of the panel to make themselves unavailable for Mayo in a matter of weeks, following Robert Hennelly’s decision leave the panel due to work commitments a few weeks ago.

Mayo sides get ready for Féile and Connacht competitions

Fri, Jul 06, 2012

The National u14 Feile na nGael championships this year will see two hurling sides from Mayo taking part in Dublin from July 5 to 7. Tooreen will represent Mayo in division four, as they are hosted by the Naomh Mearnog Club in Portmarnock. The side are also grouped with Tomas Davis in Tallaght and Dungannon (Tyrone). The Tooreen side go to the festival in high hopes of progressing out of their group, with one eye also on the division four final in Croke Park. Tooreen’s last national title was in 2004, as they overcame Middletown of Armagh in the division three final in Navan to claim the Michael Cusack Trophy. Many of that Feile na nGael winning side are now members of the Tooreen and Mayo Senior Hurling teams.

Action on the sideline as intriguing as the game itself

Fri, Jul 06, 2012

Having been involved in team management for so long, I find myself drawn towards the action on the sideline as well as the football game itself. I am intrigued by the body language and the general dynamics of the managers who patrol the sidelines.

Funding distributed to 41 sports and recreation groups by Mayo Sports Partnership

Fri, Jul 06, 2012

At a recent Mayo Sports Partnership Board meeting almost €18,000 was allocated to 41 clubs / organisations in Mayo through both the Partnerships 2012 special participation and Bike Week grant schemes. In announcing the funding chairman of the Sports Partnership Cllr Henry Kenny complimented the work being done on the ground by many volunteers in tough times. “Volunteers are the lifeblood of sport across this county and I would like to put on the record our appreciation for all their hard work. While amounts in this funding scheme are not huge, it’s amazing what can be done with little resources.” The aim of the Sports Partnership is to increase participation in sport / physical activity and it is envisaged that all projects will help to do just that particularly in disadvantaged sectors of the population. This year the Partnership was able to distribute €5,000, through funding from the Department of Transport, for recreational Bike Week events which took place from the 16th – 24th June.

Westport keep up lead at the top

Fri, Jul 06, 2012

By the end of this weekend, Westport United’s lead at the top of the Super League table will probably be down to seven points as the Covies have no game this weekend. Neither Westport or second placed Ballina Town are in action this weekend and Castlebar Celtic will be able to leapfrog Westport into second place. But the Covies are still red hot favourites to take the title, with the half-way point in their league campaign reached they will have a seven-point lead in their back pocket at the very least by the time they next play in the league. Last weekend Westport were 2-0 winners over Iorras Aontaithe thanks to goals from David Hoban and JP O’Gorman in either half, while Balllina saw off Fahy Rovers by the same score and Castlebar Celtic were made to work hard to come away from Foxford with the points. Castlebar Celtic needed a Ger O’Boyle goal late on to go home with a 3-2 win against the side who are rooted to the bottom of the Super League. Stephen Moyles put Straide and Foxford United in front early on, James Minogue pulled the game level before the break with Stevie Ryan putting Celtic in the lead just after the break. Paul Fitzpatrick levelled the game not long after and it was a close range finish from O’Boyle late on that sealed the win for Celtic.

Mayo to take new look Galway in Connacht final

Fri, Jul 06, 2012

Just under two months after they took apart the challenge of Galway in the division two league final, the Mayo ladies will once again face off against the Tribeswomen with some silverware at stake. On Sunday afternoon in McHale Park at 4pm both sides will go toe to toe in the Connacht final. In that final Mayo ran out 4-17 to 2-7 winners with Cora Staunton once again leading the line for Mayo scoring 2-11 of that total. That win propelled Mayo back into division one after a year in a second tier and has set them up well for a crack at Sunday’s Connacht final.

However it will be a much different looking Galway side that Mayo will face on Sunday afternoon from the one they saw off by 16 points in that league final in Parnell Park. In the interim Gabrial Naughton has taken over in charge of the side from Con Moynihan and a slew of big name Galway players have come back into the reckoning such as Annette Clarke, Lorna Joyce, Aine Seoighe, Marian Hernon, Joanna Connolly, Edel Concannon, Maria Connell, Roisin Leonard, and Niamh Duggan.

Connacht boost ranks ahead of new season

Fri, Jul 06, 2012

Connacht Rugby has bolstered its squad for next season by signing exciting centre Danie Poolman from the Stormers. With the Heineken Cup returning to the Sportsground next season Eric Elwood continues to build and develop the team and has signed the 23-year-old on a three year deal.

Pretoria born Poolman has excelled for the Cape Town based team in an international backline that includes Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana, and Gio Aplon. He will be joining a settled Connacht side which has been strengthened by some astute signings in recent months and when the RaboDirect PRO12 kicks off in September Eric Elwood will be able to call on Heineken Cup finalists Nathan White and Willie Faloon, as well as former international Dan Parks.

5K summer series continues to grow

Fri, Jul 06, 2012

Last week’s second leg of the Mayo AC 5K summer series saw Timmy Glavey cross the line in first place in a time of 16.36. Brendan Gill followed him home in second place in a time of 17.02, with Cian Mooney nine seconds further back in third place. The ladies’ section was won by Sarah Syron in a time of 20.10 with Ann-Marie Egan in second place in a time of 20.37 and Laura Langan finishing in third place in a time of 20.45. More than 50 per cent of those who took part finished in under 25 minutes, which was up from 44 per cent in the first leg which took place in Castlebar. The final leg will take place next Tuesday evening in Ballinrobe where there will be a party afterwards to celebrate the success of all the runners who have taken part in the series.

It’s time to shout stop

Fri, Jun 29, 2012

Walking into McHale Park last Sunday I met friend and former Leitrim footballer Vinny Wrynne. We chatted briefly about Leitrim’s chances. He suggested that Leitrim had travelled more in hope than any form of confidence. As it transpired Vinny more than likely realised that Leitrim hadn’t a pup’s chance of beating Mayo last Sunday. In fact the scoreline tells the story. There was a period in the second half, such was Mayo’s dominance, when it was hard to believe that this was a Connacht football championship match. The 22 points between the teams at the end of the game only served to underline what was an embarrassing situation for Leitrim in particular and one that clearly does nothing to advance the game in either county. Let me say straight away that no blame should be levelled at the feet of this young Leitrim football team or indeed at their management as they prepared their team to be the best they possibly could be against a Mayo team that is simply at a different level. And, in fairness, Mayo should not be censured for subjecting their opposition to such a humbling annihilation either. Sentimentality rarely comes into play on days like last Sunday even though I was hoping that Kevin McLoughlin would tap the ball over the bar, instead of scoring Mayo’s fourth goal, when put through on the Leitrim goal in the final few minutes. At that stage I was genuinely feeling sorry for the Leitrim players and management, not to mention the loyal Leitrim supporters around me, who persevered right to the very end.