Search Results for 'All-Ireland Under 21 Football Championship'

At least the GAA have done something right for us Mayo fans when combining the Junior All-Ireland final with our Senior quarter-final on August 8. It will be a long sitting in Croke Park however, for Mayo fans with the junior game throwing in at 2pm and the senior game expected to throw in  at 6pm. It is a great opportunity for the juniors and I am glad they are getting a run out on the hallowed turf. It may be a first and last experience for some of them as players so I am sure they will cherish it.

Kerry, the aristocrats of Gaelic football, have struggled badly against the top Ulster teams in vital games over the past 12 years and it is very plausible that trend will continue this Sunday.

Mayo can get to another All-Ireland final

After conceding 3-14 to Mayo, 4-12 to Tipperary, and 1-20 to Kerry in three consecutive championship games, there can be no denying Galway have major issues at the back.

First things first, win on Sunday and Mayo can look forward to a National League semi-final on Sunday week. That is the only thing that James Horan will have had his side concentrating on this week following last Saturday night’s draw against Dublin. It was a game they should have won, having a man advantage for 45 minutes and leading the game by six points with 20 minutes to go, and not seeing out the game is something that you can get away with in the league and learn from rather than have it happen in the championship.

In what will be a welcome boost to the coffers of Mayo GAA, there will be four home games for Mayo in the proposed fixtures for Division 1 of the Allianz Football league next year. The draft fixtures which were released this week will see Mayo entertain Kerry, Tyrone, Kildare, and in a repeat of this years All Ireland final, Donegal in Elvery’s McHale Park. They will be on the road to Dublin, Down, and Cork in their remaining three games. The fixtures will see Mayo open up at home to Kerry on Sunday February 3, and follow that up with another home game against Tyrone the following Sunday. After a couple of weeks break they will be back in action on Saturday March 2, in the first of two away games in a row, on a Saturday night against Dublin, they will follow that up the next Saturday night away to Down. They will be back home the next Saturday night, March 16, against Kildare, before hosting Donegal the following Sunday, March 24, in Castlebar. They will round off the group stages of the competition away to Cork on Sunday, April 7. Mayo will have three Saturday night games and four Sunday afternoon games in the proposed fixtures.

I think Mayo have a great chance of beating the Dubs on Sunday. Luke Dempsey called earlier in the week to discuss Mayo’s chances. He too believes Mayo will win. He suggested that the Dubs need twice as much possession as most teams to manage a victory. He believes many of their players are lacking in some of the fundamental skills of the game. I too have suggested that many of the Dublin footballers appear to be manufactured footballers, ie, many are not naturally talented. Of course they are much better than the three teams we have played in this year’s campaign so far, but are the Dubs that good? I do not think so.

Saturday February 4 - Laois v Mayo (Rd 1)

We are down to the last nine in the football championship with all of the main protagonists still standing. Kerry are still my favourites to land Sam this year. They should beat Limerick with scores to spare on Sunday. They definitely appear to be focused and sharp this year. From what I hear they are putting in an extra effort to ensure that one of their favourite sons, the ‘Gooch’ has the opportunity to walk the steps in September. Extra miles on the clock and All-Ireland medals in the back pocket tend to blunt hunger levels, but Kerry look ferociously hungry. A number of their players, namely Declan O’Sullivan, Kieran Donaghy, Darren O’Sullivan, and Donnchadh Walsh, have been particularly outstanding for them. I believe they played a challenge last week against Roscommon in Limerick and, despite pulling off half of their first 15, managed to win by seven points. And the word from that game was that the two best players on show were….. you guessed it…… Tomas O’Se and Paul Galvin.