Defeat last Sunday would have caused unknown damage to Mayo football
Fri, Jun 03, 2011
I didn’t travel to Ruislip last weekend to see Mayo’s opener in the Connacht championship. I am glad I didn’t. I did, however, listen to the coverage in its entirety on the radio. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that I had a knot in my stomach for most of the match. I had an uneasy feeling that we were going to be beaten and I was considering the type of damage a defeat would cause to the future of Mayo football. Andy Moran, Mayo’s vice captain, is credited with a post-match statement that Mayo players aren’t working hard enough. Do the players realise that once they pull on a Mayo jersey they have a responsibility to themselves, and also to the county, to work hard? In the past lesser players were capable of standing up for themselves and the county whenever they were pressed. There was invariably a manliness about the majority of players picked to represent this county. I, like many others, am a fiercely proud Mayo man. I love this county and I love football. The majority of my close friends within this county are football people. They, like me, are genuinely saddened by the pitiful nature of the performance(s) of the Mayo senior team, not just last Sunday but in recent times.
Read more ...Juniors look to set the standard
Fri, Jun 03, 2011
Everyone is still recovering from the great escape in Ruislip last Sunday, when Mayo were put to the pin of their collar by London in the Connacht Senior Championship. This Friday offers a welcome distraction in the form of the Connacht Junior Championship final in Charlestown which will throw in at 7.30pm. This evening’s game will offer Mayo the chance to dethrone the current All Ireland champions from the Yeats County, who will be under the guidance once again of their senior inter-county manager Kevin Walsh. Mayo for their part have John Kelly running the line for them, with Ray Connelly, Jarlath Cunningham and Vinny Gavin also on sideline duties. In the quarter final Mayo saw off the challenge of a tough Leitrim side after Mickey Moran’s side pushed into an early lead, while in the last four of the competition Roscommon were defeated in Ballyhaunis.
However that win over Roscommon came at a cost, with Michael Forde from Ballycastle, who had been one of the stand-out players against both Leitrim and Roscommon, coming off with a shoulder injury; Forde’s form had seen him drafted in for training with the Mayo senior squad at that point. But the roster has been boosted with the addition of David Kilcullen to the set up. The Ballaghaderreen man has had experience with the senior set up in the past and is eligible to line out for Mayo as he didn’t play with Ballaghaderreen in the county senior championship last season. Another player to come into contention recently is Burrishoole’s James Moran, who stared for his club in their run to last year’s Mayo Intermediate Championship final. He put in a number of eye-catching displays that saw him called up to James Horan’s senior squad earlier in the year. Swinford’s Colin Dempsey, who top scored in both the quarter-final and semi-final, will be one of the main men for Mayo in attack along with Davitts sharpshooter Michael Conroy who, seven years ago, managed to hit the back of the net for Mayo in the All Ireland senior final against Kerry. Other players who will be key to Mayo’s challenge include Islandeady defender Ollie Feeney, Davitts wing back Colm Boyle and Balla’s Connor Walsh. There is a doubt over the fitness of centre half forward James McAndrew going into the game, but Kelly’s men have proven to be a very resourceful side this year already when the chips are down, most notably on the first day out against Leitrim in the quarter-final. It’s been a couple of years since Mayo last claimed this title and this evening they have the look of a team who will be celebrating a Connacht title win come about 9pm.
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Super Sunday evening in Super League
Fri, May 27, 2011
Castlebar Celtic will be hoping to cut their nearest challengers off at the pass on Sunday evening as the Mayo Super League season comes up near its midway point for the year. Declan Kilkelly’s charges go into their sixth game with four wins out of five so far on Sunday. Their nearest challengers are Super League newboys Claremorris who are hot on their heels, only one point behind the leaders. Celtic dropped two points when they drew with Swinford in round two, while Claremorris’s only blotch on their copy book so far came when they lost by the odd goal in five to Manulla in the same round.
Read more ...‘The road less travelled’
Fri, May 27, 2011
I’ve worked hard to convince friends that cycling is a tough sport and that those who compete at the highest level in the sport are mentally and physically superior to the average human being. I had a few of those friends with me last Sunday and Monday as we completed two stages of this year’s Ras. By now they need absolutely no convincing whatsoever that professional cyclists are as tough as nails. I don’t want to confuse the situation here by suggesting that I was riding with the professionals last Sunday and Monday. Far from it…those guys are in a different league.
Read more ...Tough conditions for bog week cycle
Fri, May 27, 2011
Strong winds and heavy rain made the going really tough in Tully Cross for the first Bog Week two-day stage race. JJ Flaherty of Western Lakes CC was the race director for the weekend. A smaller than usual turnout from the Connacht cycling clubs didn't dampen the racing even if the rain did.
Read more ...Horan shuffles the deck as half a dozen make debut
Fri, May 27, 2011
Mayo manager James Horan has named six players who will make their championship debut on Sunday in London. The game against the exiles will be Horan’s maiden championship contest in the Bainisteoir’s bib. The half dozen who will make their first championship starts are Robert Hennelly in goal, full back Alan Feeney, and his brother Richie Feeney at wing back. The midfield pairing of Jason Gibbons and James Kilcullen will also be making their first championship start, while Jason Doherty, whose goal-getting ability lit up Mayo’s National Football League campaign, has unsurprisingly been given the number 15 shirt for the championship opener.
Read more ...From Mayo to London, via Toronto
Fri, May 27, 2011
“I’ll be supporting London, which will be strange because normally I’d be backing Mayo.” London GAA PRO Yvonne Morley is steeped in the tradition of Mayo GAA, despite being born and raised in Toronto, Canada. Her parents John and Kathleen Morley are from Knock and Claremorris respectively and will be making the trip to Ruislip on Sunday to support the green and red, while Yvonne will be squarely behind the exiles’ charge to knock Mayo out of the Connacht Championship. “They’re making the trip to the game, my dad is a football fanatic and was massively involved in the GAA in Toronto and we used to make the trip to New York for the game over there when Mayo came over, but I’ll have to be supporting London this time around.”
Read more ...Strategic plan passes, but steering committee goes in a different direction
Fri, May 20, 2011
On Wednesday night the revised Mayo GAA Strategic Plan was passed at a county board meeting bringing to an end a messy week inside of Mayo GAA. On Monday morning the Mayo GAA Strategic Action Plan committee, who had been brought in last year to steer the direction of the plan, released a statement disassociating themselves from the draft plan published by the county board which was passed on Wednesday night. The committee, which was chaired by Liam Horan, produced their report last February and it has been a hot topic of debate ever since in Mayo GAA circles.
Read more ...Interfims and society competition in Ballina this weekend
Fri, May 20, 2011
Balla
In the men’s competition sponsored by Roche’s, Balla, last weekend, Richard Murphy was the winner with a score of 52. He finished three ahead of PJ Brett in second place with Bob Leggett taking third spot. In the ladies’ competition Mary Conlon was the winner finishing with a score of 51. She was closely followed by Catherine McNulty and Mary Brett. The gross prize winner on the day was Dermot McMahon with a score of 64. With two rounds of the golfer of the year competition gone, Richard Murphy leads the gents’ section with Aine McDonald out in front in the ladies’. The next club presentation night will take place on Friday week, May 27 in Mannions Bar, Balla, at 9.30pm all prize winners are asked to attend.
Lap of the Mask a big success
Fri, May 20, 2011
A large group of leisure cyclists took on the 64k lap around Lough Mask last Saturday. This was the fifth annual running of Western Lakes Cycling Club’s Lap of the Mask, which raised funds for the Cystic Fibrosis West Building Fund.
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