Breaffy take down Mitchels in style

Sun, May 18, 2014

In a repeat of last years county final Breaffy and Castlebar met in round two of the Mayo GAA SFL league in Breaffy on Saturday night and it was the hosts who came out on top with a 2-13 to 0-7 win over their neighbors. The visitors lined up without Richie Feeney and Barry Moran at their services, while Breaffy weren't able to call on Seamus O'Shea who picked up a knock in their defeat against Ballintubber the previous week.

Back to normality and back to the club scene

Fri, May 16, 2014

With all the furore, excitement, and stories from my recent visit to New York for the start of the Connacht championship I did not leave many column inches for the most important part, the match. It was amazing the amount of Mayo supporters who expressed concern to me before the team departed from Dublin for the Big Apple. I was regularly asked if they would win in New York, and the number of times I heard “they’ll hardly mess up, will they?” made me snigger to myself. Supporters were concerned after the performance against Derry in the League semi-final, but you were dealing with three in a row Connacht champions and double All-Ireland finalists here against a bit part team made up of a sprinkling of average county players and mostly of average club players. The result was never in question, but it took until the last kick of the game when Enda Varley goaled to seal my prediction of Mayo winning by at least 20 points. New York’s so called bigger players, Brendan Quigley and Ross Wherity, completely faded into obscurity as they were overwhelmed by Seamus O’Shea, Jason Gibbons, and Donal Vaughan. It was a difficult game to watch and even more difficult to talk about as New York had 13 men in their own half for long periods to basically try to keep the score down.

Superior fitness and physique would always come to the fore in a game like this. Despite been told New York only had one challenge game against Toronto to prepare, I did find out they played Leitrim (the New York Club) in a match but it had to be abandoned after 10 minutes because of a mass melee. It took until the second half for the goals to arrive for Mayo, with the first from debutant Diarmuid O’Connor after a sublime one two with Andy Moran. Mayo ended up making seven substitutes (one a blood sub after Kevin McLoughlin got a dirty smack in the nose) Tom Parsons and Enda Varley being the most impressive. It was great to see Alan Dillon back and despite his not setting the world on fire it is games he needs to bring him on. I hear his fitness levels are as high as they have ever been.

Fear of failure drives Centra sponsored cycling team for An Post Rás

Fri, May 16, 2014

The Mayo Centra team will be the only Connacht team in the 2014 An Post Ras. The once amateur race has seen more professional teams enter over the last five years, and it is only a few years away from being a fully professional event.

‘Same as it ever was’ for Westport

Fri, May 16, 2014

Outside the Box was on a sabbatical overseas last week, but did make it back in time for the Connacht Junior Cup final in Milebush last Sunday and you can read all about that at www.advertiser.ie/mayo/article/69409. While Castlebar Celtic were suffering a heartbreaking defeat to Ballinasloe Town in the provincial cup decider, the team who lost to them in the previous year’s final, in a similarly heartbreaking way, were cementing their position at the top of the Elverys Sports Super League table.

Celtic women look to bring home the glory

Fri, May 16, 2014

Following on from the defeat of their senior men’s side in the Connacht Junior Cup final last weekend, it’s the turn of Celtic’s women’s team to head into final action this weekend. It’s been an eventful season for this current Celtic side after they made it all the way to the FAI Women’s Senior Cup final in the Aviva Stadium only to lose out in extra-time.

On Sunday they will make the long trip to Ferrycarrig Park in Wexford to take on Wexford Youths in the divisional final. Celtic booked their place in the final pairing thanks to a 3-1 win over Peamount United at the end of April to gain some revenge over the side who beat them in this competitions final last year.

Duffy joins back up with Mayo

Fri, May 16, 2014

Mayo manager James Horan has thrown a wildcard into the mix this week, with the news that former Ireland and Connacht rugby player Gavin Duffy has joined up with the Mayo senior football squad. Duffy who was a Mayo minor star on the team that lost the 1999 All Ireland minor final was recently released by Connacht after his second stint with the province where he played 173 games scoring 83 points. His period at Connacht was interrupted by a spell in England with Harlequins from 2003 to 2006 where he played 110 times and won the Challenger Cup in 2004 scoring a try in their final win over AS Montferrand. Duffy played ten times for Ireland over his rugby career scoring 18 points, getting his first try in his second cap against Scotland in the 2005 six nations. He was also part of Eddie O’Sullivan’s squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

Kiltane prepare for National Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta Finals

Mon, May 12, 2014

Kiltane GAA club are priming with confidence ahead of the National Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta Finals in Moycullen over the June Bank Holiday weekend after the clubs double success at the Mayo Comórtas Finals held recently on Achill Island. The Bangor club strode to victory over Kilcommon in the Mayo Senior final on a score line of 4-12 to 1-08 with man of the match Ultan Corrigan, Barry Mc Andrew and Tommy Conroy all finding the net over the hour.

Castlebar Mitchels pick up where they left off

Sun, May 11, 2014

Defending senior county champions Castlebar Mitchels got their league campaign off to a winning start on Saturday evening in Josie Munnelly Park with a 2-12 to 0-10 win over Charlestown Sarsfields. Mitchels place kicker Aidan Walsh was the top man on the scoreboard at the end of the day with seven points (two in the first half and five in the second) over the hour. Danny Kirby chipped in with two goals for Mitchels, one in either half, the second one from the penalty spot. Mitchels went in at the break leading by 1-6 to 0-5 with Colm Maye kicking five points for Charlestown in reply to Mitchels opening salvo which saw Richie Feeney kick two points in the first 30 minutes with Cian Costello and James Durcan also getting in on the act. Kirby's second half penalty killed off the challenge of the visitors who kept their scoreboard ticking over with scores from Gareth O'Donnell and Maye to keep the gap down to eight points at the end. Next up for the county champions is a short trip to Breaffy next Saturday evening for a repeat of last years county final.

Celtic dreams crushed from the penalty spot

Sun, May 11, 2014

After 110 minutes of hard work, sheer will and effort Castlebar Celtic saw their dreams of a tenth Connacht Junior Cup come cracking apart in the most heartbreaking of ways in a penalty shoot-out. The Hoops will feel hard done by, having made most of the running during a game played in wild and wet conditions in Milebush Stadium. But Ballinasloe were the ones to get their hands on the old trophy thanks to a 4-2 win from the spot kicks. Jason Hunt slammed home the first kick of the shoot-out for Celtic, with Ballinasloe Town captain Peter Keighery responding in kind. Both sides also converted their next kicks, with Ronan O'Boyle doing the necessary for the Castlebar men and Gary Egan for the Roscommon League side. Gerry Hunt tried to replicate his brothers effort with Celtic's third penalty, but his effort was scooped over Aidan Fallon's bar, Mark Duffy saw his effort just about get past Stephen Cafferkey to hand the advantage to Ballinasloe Town. Up next was Celtic full-back Stephen Walsh, who had been excellent all day. But when it came to the crunch his effort clipped the top of the bar and cleared the target, leaving David Cullen with the chance to win the cup. The Ballinasloe Town full back took the route one option and drove it down the middle of the goal and past Cafferkey to ensure his team retained the title they won last year.

Clynch clinches it at the death for Meath

Sat, May 10, 2014

Mayo will still go into the quarter-finals of the Christy Ring Cup in a few weeks despite their narrow defeat at the hands of Meath on Saturday afternoon in a blustery MacHale Park. A late free from Meath captain Stephen Clynch at the end of normal time was the difference between the two sides on the day. The Royals number six showed nerves of steel to stroke the ball right over the black spot under pressure to send Meath straight into the semi-finals of the competition. Mayo did have a chance right at the death, but Sean Regan was unable to direct his sideline cut from 21 meters out under the stand over the bar.