The best player not to get picked for the county!

Fri, Nov 21, 2008

Most inter-county football managers have been appointed and are bedding in with their respective counties at this stage. For those stepping into management for the first time it is an exciting time. There will be lots of enthusiasm to get the show on the road. Because of the lengthened closed season this year, however, they are forced to wait a little while longer before they get the opportunity to see the talent or, in some cases, lack of talent at their disposal. For the likes of Kevin Walsh, Luke Dempsey, Mickey Moran, John Morrison and Glen Ryan, to name but a few, there will be all sorts of advice flowing from various quarters regarding players who maybe didn’t play the previous year. Most of these players didn’t feature under the previous management for a combination of reasons no doubt, but there are many who will argue that some of these lads never got a fair chance under the previous regime. Others may have missed out because they were studying abroad and just couldn’t give the required commitment. Some may have been injured and did not make it back onto the championship panel.

TG4 coverage keeps the diehards ticking over during the winter

Fri, Nov 21, 2008

It is impossible not to be a major fan of the terrific coverage that TG4 are providing and have provided over the past few years of Gaelic games at club level every Sunday during the winter and spring periods. And their highlights package on Monday evening at 8pm is in the not-to-be-missed category for any genuine dyed-in-the wool GAA enthusiast.

This Sunday at they are showing live the Connacht Senior Football final between Corofin (Galway) and Eastern Harps (Sligo). Then they broadcasting the deferred coverage of the Leinster Senior Football semi final between Kilmacud Crokes (Dublin) and Navan O'Mahonys (Meath). Both games look exceedingly attractive, well balanced and should provide for some top-class entertainment.

Carnacon go looking for two in a row

Fri, Nov 21, 2008

With the winter biting at their heels when they take to the field in O’Connor Park in Tullamore on Sunday, Carnacon go searching for their third All Ireland senior club championship crown and their second on the trot. Some things in life are inevitable such as death and taxes, but so it seems are Carnacon at the business end of the club championship season. It seems like a lifetime ago when another Mayo club was able to escape their clutches and try and make a steal into Connacht and beyond.

Killala go for glory

Fri, Nov 21, 2008

Killala are looking to pick up their second Connacht junior championship in four years this Sunday in Dr Hyde Park, Roscommon when they take on Kilglass Gaels from Roscommon. The north Mayo men who claimed the Mayo title after a nail-biting final against The Neale saw off the challenge of Eslin from Leitrim in the sem-final, while their opponents received a walk-over to get to this stage, thanks to the Galway championship not being finished in time.

Killala will head into the game knowing that having been at this stage before in the recent past they know what needs to be done to bring home the trophy and they can launch a serious attack on the All Ireland championship if they come through Sunday’s examination.

Mayo athlete nominated in the 2008 National Athletics Awards

Fri, Nov 14, 2008

One of Mayo’s top young athletes is in with a chance of walking away with an award at next weekend’s Athletics Ireland National Athletics Awards. Pamela Hughes from Westport AC is nominated following her impressive performances this season. The second annual National Athletics Awards, which are in association with Waterford Crystal, will honour the best Irish athletes, clubs and coaches from across the country.

Coyle ready for home debut

Fri, Nov 14, 2008

Henry Coyle is counting down the hours to his first professional fight in Ireland after relocating to Chicago to turn professional. Tomorrow night he will step into the ring to take on Delroy “Sweet Dee” Mitchell in the Breaffy House International Sports Hotel. Coyle is aware that the there will be a lot of pressure on him when he walks into the ring. “There is a lot of pressure on me, this being my first fight back in Mayo. I’m looking forward to showing off my skills and abilities in front of my home crowd, but with that comes added pressures.”

Officals do it for the love of the sport too

Fri, Nov 14, 2008

I received a call on Monday evening from a GAA colleague in another county informing me that their county football secretary had just decided not to run for re-election at the forthcoming convention. It appears the secretary in question heard there was a mini coup in the making and decided enough was enough, so he declared his intention not to seek re-election. I happen to know the secretary in question and he has served his county well over the last number of years, working his way up through the lower ranks within the hierarchical system that is the GAA executive to eventually become county secretary, a position that carries a little clout on the local scene at least! He was, I know, a little hurt that he wasn’t allowed a more dignified exit. The least he would have expected was a departure on his terms, having sold his soul to the county board over the last number of years.

Facilities all clubs should aspire too

Fri, Nov 14, 2008

As Roy Keane famously pointed out in one of his numerous dialogues – “The only thing that drifts along are dead fish”. And having been in and observed St Brigid’s GAA club’s fantastic facilities last weekend at the Corofin v Castlerea game, it was obvious to the majority of us that some clubs in comparison have been drifting along for the past few decades from an infrastructural point of view.

Mixed weekend for Mayo club sides

Fri, Nov 14, 2008

It was a mixed weekend for the Mayo club sides involved in intercounty action in both mens and ladies’ football. Ballaghaderreen were unable to shake off their post-Moclair Cup celebrations and the loss of Pearce Hanley as they surrendered their ambitions of adding a Connacht title to their Mayo one. They went down to Easher Harps 0-12 to 0-9 in the Connacht club championship in Sligo. Carnacon booked their place in the VHI All Ireland final thanks to a 1-11 to 1-5 win over Donaghmoyne last Sunday. Predictably Cora Staunton was the talk of the game as she scored 1-7 over the 60 minutes only to disrupt the day with a sinbinning in the dying stages of the contest. There wasn’t such good news for Mayo in the intermediate semi-final where The Neale finally came acropper in Emyvale going down 5-10 to 1-4. But Knockmore made it two out of three when they saw off the challenge of Truagh by 3-10 to 1-7.

Mayo head north in season opener

Fri, Nov 14, 2008

Mayo will make the long trip north this weekend to take on the Inishowen league in their opening game in this season’s Oscar Traynor Trophy. For the second year in a row Castlebar Celtic manager Declan Kilkelly will be taking charge of the side and after narrowly missing out on qualifiying from the group stages last year Kilkelly will be hoping to at least improve on that this season. This year’s competition sees Mayo in a three team group with this weekend’s opponents the Inishowen League and the Galway League and with only one team to qualify for the next round of the competition.

Moylette brings home the gold

Fri, Nov 07, 2008

News last week of St Anne’s Boxing Club’s Ray Moylette’s progress through the early stages of the World Youth Boxing Championship to guarantee himself a medal was greeted with joy and pride. But as the weekend progressed the remarkable young boxer kept the good news coming all the way to the gold medal.

Over the course of seven days he took on five opponents and beat them all to claim the gold medal in the 60kg grade, seeing off Danilyar Yeleussinov of Kazakhstan in a nerve- racking final by 3-1 to write himself into the record books of Irish and international boxing.

Another successful year’s rallying for Mayo and District Motorsport Club

Fri, Nov 07, 2008

With the motorsport season drawing to a close for another year, Mayo and District Motorsport Club members have once again upheld local honours, winning overall and class awards on some of the major international and national rally championships. On the international scene, Kiltimagh’s John Higgins has been competing on the Tesco 99 Octane British Rally Championship. With one round of the series still to run, John, who co-drives for Cork’s Brian O’Mahony in a Renault Clio Super 1600, holds a comfortable class lead in the rally three category, while the pair are also featuring strongly in the overall championship table.

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