Lady Captain’s day at Claremorris this weekend

Fri, Jul 02, 2010

Balla
Last weekend’s Stableford competition sponsored by Lawnmower and Tool Hire, Castlebar, was won by Gary Heneghan with a score of 43, Oliver Moran came second on 40, and Michael Durkan third on 39. The ladies’ section was won by Mary Fahy with a score of 40, Mary Gillard came second with 36, and Kitty O’Connor third on 35. The category prize went to Carmel Henry who hit a 32 on the back nine. The youths’ section was claimed by Marissa Brett with a score of 19. This weekend’s competition is being sponsored by Durkan’s Bar, Balla, and the Lady Captain’s prize will take place on Sunday July 11. A time sheet will be in operation for this event and posted in the club house. The draw for the junior and senior scratch cups has been made players should check the notice board in clubhouse for your match.

Achill half marathon takes centre stage

Fri, Jul 02, 2010

Next weekend all roads lead to Achill for the fifth annual Achill half marathon on Saturday July 3. If it is entertainment you are after then you will not be disappointed with events being organised in the various hostelries for the marathon weekend. The race begins at 11am with the athletes being sent off along the course to the strains of the traditional Achill sound of the Dooagh Pipeband. To accommodate the 2,000 participants, registration will open at the marquee in Keel on Friday afternoon at 2pm and close at 11pm, and will open again on Saturday from 7.30am until 10am.

Cycling for all events lined up around the county

Fri, Jul 02, 2010

This week Western Lakes Cycling Club launched its three main events of the year in Inches Bar, Ballinrobe. Over the past five years these events have grown from strength to strength, and Western Lakes CC hopes that this year will be no different. The three events are the Polkadot leisure cycle challenge which will be held on July 18, the Ballinrobe two day event on August 7 and 8, and the Mayo Sports Partnership cycle to the castle on September 12 which will be part of the Mayo cycle for fun series. More information on that below.

Celtic feeling the economic pinch as playing resources run thin

Fri, Jul 02, 2010

Castlebar Celtic have started to feel the pinch of the economic downturn and on the playing front their Newstalk A League side are starting to feel the effects.

Iorras look to keep hold of top spot

Fri, Jul 02, 2010

Michael S Togher’s Iorras Aontaithe went back to the top of the Super League last weekend thanks to a comprehensive 3-0 win over the previous table toppers Westport United in Carne, it was the second time in a couple of days the teams had faced each other. Westport United won the first meeting 2-1 to take the lead in the Super League table before the Barony men struck back in the second tie to go two points clear of Westport.

This weekend Iorras will look to keep that lead intact when they make the trip to take on Damien Burke’s Castlebar Celtic side on Sunday morning. Celtic did themselves a big favour in the battle to stay out of the bottom four last weekend when they saw off Straide and Foxford United in Green Road by 2-0, thanks to goals from Shane Smyth and Eamon Crean in the second half. That win saw Celtic pull level on points with Straide and Foxford in the table, but this weekend’s task will be a lot tougher for Celtic and grinding out the win against Iorras may be a bridge too far for them. Westport United will be looking to get back on track when they host fourth place Swinford in the Sportspark on Sunday at noon. The newly promoted east Mayo men have had an impressive return to the Super League this season, and they continued that last week with a 2-1 win over Ballyheane thanks to a late winning goal from Gordon Carter after Theron Coghill had equalised Tom Kavanagh’s opening goal for Swinford. After going down to Iorras last weekend, this will be a tough test for Barry Kilgallon’s men. Ballina Town, who booked their place in the Connacht Senior Cup final last week, kept themselves in second place in the Super League last weekend thanks to a 3-0 win over a struggling Manulla side. This weekend they will be looking to take advantage of any slip up by Iorras when they host a Snugboro United side who were hammered 6-0 by Fahy Rovers last weekend to leave them rooted to bottom spot of the table.

Galway hurling legend launches new Belmullet hurling club website

Fri, Jul 02, 2010

Galway hurling legend Gerry McInerney was on hand this week to officially launch the new Belmullet hurling club website www.belmullethurling.ie. The Kinvara native who won back-to-back All-Ireland medals with the Tribesmen in 1987 and 1988 said he was delighted to support a rural club that was at the heart of the community.

Mayo Soccer Fixtures

Fri, Jul 02, 2010

Saturday July 3

Where to now and who to blame?

Fri, Jul 02, 2010

I travelled to Pearse Park, Longford, last Saturday, not quite sure what to expect. It was awful stuff, arguably as bad as I have witnessed from any Mayo team at this level. It is difficult to apportion blame to any single individual. There is a collective responsibility on everyone involved to shoulder some blame for the embarrassing display. The team definitely looked demoralised, in some cases disinterested, with a few others clearly not physically fit enough to play and win at this level. However despite this I did send a text to a number of people at half time suggesting that Mayo would probably win the match, not because we were playing any better than our opposition, but because Longford were dreadful.

Who’s next for the hot seat?

Fri, Jul 02, 2010

So Mayo have hung the ‘help wanted’ sign outside the front door again. Once the final whistle was blown in Pearse Park at around 8.25pm last Saturday, there was never going to be any other option. John O’Mahony wasted no time in putting to an end his four seasons in charge of the side once the dye had been cast and the terminal whistle on the game and his managment of Mayo was blown by Gearoid Ó Conámha in the fading midlands sunlight.

Do or die for a lot of clubs this weekend

Fri, Jul 02, 2010

A week after one of the lowest ever ebbs of Mayo football, it’s back to home turf for all the players involved when the second round of the Royal Theatre football championships throws in this weekend across all three grades. The senior championship is where most eyes will be, last weekend the last round one game was played when Aghamore were able to pick up a win against Moy Davitts. In section one John Maughan’s Crossmolina will be hot favourites to see off Claremorris. The south Mayo men were given a hammering by Garrymore in the last round, and while Crossmolina were made sweat against Ballintubber in the last round they should have more than enough to win this one.

Minors our last hope of success this year

Fri, Jul 02, 2010

So with the seniors out of the championship before June was finished, the u21 season over, and the Mayo ladies in an even worse mess than the men’s senior team all hope of provincial and national success rests on the tender shoulders of the Mayo minor squad of 2010. That is a lot of pressure, and that kind of pressure should never be applied to this or any batch of 17 and 18-year-olds who are still only learning their trade in the game. And the real Mayo supporter will never place that kind of pressure on the latest batch to don the green and red for the minor side, no matter how success starved they are.

It’s so far so good for Tony Duffy and his back room team. Last Saturday as the vast majority of Mayo supporters made the journey to Longford to see the senior side crash out in ignominy, his minor team were getting their championship under way in the low key surroundings of an almost deserted McHale Park. Cillian O’Connor played the captain’s role to perfection scoring 1-6 of Mayo’s 1-11 in a three point win over Roscommon to set up this Saturday’s semi-final against Leitrim on the under card of the Sligo v Galway Connacht SFC semi-final clash in Sligo. With no back door for the minor championship until the provincial final, the win was all important last weekend and Mayo minor manager Tony Duffy was delighted to get it. “It was a good win, it might not have been pretty to watch but it was all about making sure we had the win at the end of the game. We always knew it was going to be tough against Roscommon, they were good in the league, and we knew that there was high hopes within Roscommon for this side doing well and making an impact so we’re really pleased to have got over them.”