Search Results for 'Barry Solan'

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Connelly looks forward to the next challenge

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For a number of Mayo players it was their fifth Connacht title in a row on Sunday in Hyde Park, but for the Mayo management team of Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes it was their first in the senior job. Speaking after the game Noel Connelly said that, “We were pleased with the performance, everybody worked hard and that’s all you can ask of them going out and they delivered in fairness to them and now it’s about moving on to three weeks time.”

Result was more than a minor surprise

I thought I was hearing things when I tuned into Midwest radio last Saturday evening to see how our minors were getting on against our bitter rivals Galway. I did not make it to the game because of the lure of what was on TV as I wanted to see how Roscommon would respond after their embarrassing defeat at the hands of Sligo. Mayo’s defeat to Galway by a whopping 17 points has to go down as one of the darkest days in Mayo football at minor level. I do not recall any Mayo minor team taking a pasting of that magnitude.

Mayo fit and ready to go ahead of Yeats challenge

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Diarmuid O'Connor is the only potential doubt for Mayo ahead of their Connacht Senior Football Championship final against Sligo next weekend, but joint Mayo manager Noel Connelly expects the Ballintubber man to get over his fractured wrist in time for the game. Connelly said this week: "Diarmuid O'Connor has a slight hairline fracture on his wrist, he's a x-ray during the week, but all the indications are that he's fine and will be fit to play. But he hasn't been playing contact football with us since the Connacht semi-final, and he hasn't played for Ballintubber in either of the club championship games, but we're hoping to have him this weekend. If not, if the doctors say to be better not to chance him for the [training] game on Sunday we won't, but we're still hoping to have him for selection the next weekend."

Mayo playing the waiting game this year

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The Mayo senior football panel and management were in Portugal this week taking part in a five-day training camp in Browns Sports and Leisure Club as they begin their preparation for their championship opener in June. The players jetted out on Monday after completing the first round of action in the club league season last weekend.

Mayo footballers jet off to Portugal for training camp

The Mayo senior football squad flew out to Portugal last Monday morning for a five-day warm-weather training camp to begin the countdown to their Connacht Championship semi-final in June, according to the Mayo News.

Higgins tastes victory in first game as full-time captain

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Keith Higgins got his tenure as the permanent Mayo captain off to a winning start in Killarney on Sunday, while he was happy to get the points the Ballyhaunis native isn’t getting carried away just yet.

Not our proudest few weeks, but it is time to let the lads at it

The widely anticipated County Board meeting passed off relatively peacefully last Thursday night with a few members of the board resigning over the process in which the new Mayo managers were appointed. The story had gained national headlines for all the wrong reasons and certainly it was a little embarrassing the way matters were conducted in appointing Pat Holmes and Noel Connelly. An apology was offered as there were and still are a lot of disgruntled people in the county. I am sure Kevin McStay and Liam McHale are bitterly disappointed at what happened, and some gesture or apology to both men should be offered as both are true Mayo Gaels who gave an awful lot to the green and red and they deserved at the very least an interview before been told they did not have the job. I am sure anyone reading this has heard the vile rumours about players not wanting McHale, which I am told could not be further from the truth. It is amazing how widespread the rumours went and pretty much to the point that people started to actually believe them. Liam McHale suffered a severe character assassination over the last few weeks and did not deserve it. Good luck to Pat and Noel; it is time to let them at it. The new management team along with selector Michael Collins and strength and conditioning coach Barry Solan from Ballaghaderreen were deep in discussion and taking lots of notes during the senior semi finals last Sunday. I am a little surprised a forward coach/selector was not incorporated in the set up, I guess they will be basing their team on a strong defence. I feel someone like Kevin O’Neill would have been a great addition to offer some insight into good forward play. I am delighted Barry Solan has finally been given a chance with his own county. Apart from working with Laois and Kildare he has also done a lot of work with Katie Taylor so there is obviously good pedigree there. If Hollymount/Carramore win the intermediate title on Sunday and get a good run in the Connacht championship, Noel Connelly’s wife Valerie and their children may not be seeing a lot of him for the next few months.

Managerial appointment hits the headlines

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Last night’s county board meeting of Mayo GAA took centre stage both nationally and locally following the recommendation of Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes as the new senior football managerial team last Saturday night. The handling of the appointment has been the hot topic of discussion around the country since it was announced on Saturday night.

Kiltane are on the march

Oh to have a crystal ball to see what fortunes lie ahead for Mayo football in 2014. One thing for sure, one Mayo club — Kiltane have a superb chance to claim one of the early pieces of silverware when they take on Truagh of Monaghan in the All-Ireland intermediate final in Croke Park on February 9, a feat my own club Charlestown should have accomplished last season but for some calamitous decisions when they were coasting against eventual winners Cookstown of Tyrone in the All- Ireland semi final. Kiltane were simply brilliant last Sunday. If you were to tell me before the game that star attacker Mikey Sweeney and Tommy “Goals” Conroy were not going to score against Clyda Rovers, I would have re-mortgaged the house on Clyda.

Early season top of the table clashes

The third round of the Breaffy House Senior Football League will take place across the top divisions of the league this weekend. At the top of division 1a after two rounds, Ballina Stephenites, Davitts, and Breaffy are all locked at the top with the maximum four points each after the two opening games. One of Breaffy or Ballina will lose their 100 per cent record this weekend when the sides meet in James Stephens Park on Sunday at 3.30pm. Last weekend Breaffy made it two from two against their neighbours with a come from behind win against Ballintubber at home. Tommy O’Reilly’s goal with a minute left in normal time was the critical score bringing his side back into the game, with fellow sub Liam Irwin levelling the game shortly after, before Alan Durcan won the game with a late, late free. The other talking point in the game was the return to action of Alan Dillon who came on as first half sub for Ballintubber and he will continue his return to full fitness this weekend against Charlestown.

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