Search Results for 'Cathal Carolan'

The battle to win the Sweeney Cup and progress to the senior championship next year moves up a gear this weekend when the quarter-finals of the Mayo intermediate championship takes place.

Who will follow in the footsteps of Belmullet last year and claim the Mayo intermediate title and make the jump up to the big show for next year?

The start of the National Football League on Saturday evening will see thousands flock into MacHale Park to see the new season get under way properly. The league is often seen as time for guys to be given a chance to impress in the early rounds and stake their claim for a place later on in the year. But is this really the case?

It’s a long way from the business end of the year, but the determination shown by Mayo to dig out what looked like an impossible victory as the game moved towards the end of normal time and they trailed by five points is something that will warm the spirits of the Mayo faithful ahead of their league opener against Monaghan in a fortnights time.

It may still only be January, but the meeting of Mayo and Roscommon at any stage of the season is always an encounter to look forward to, and on Sunday Mayo will make the long trek to Kiltoom to take on their neighbours in the final round of the FBD League.

Last years beaten finalists Breaffy made it to their third Mayo senior semi-finals in four years on Saturday afternoon after a hard fought win over Crossmolina Deel Rovers in MacHale Park. Peter Ford and Shane Conway’s side were pushed right to the wire by a battling brave Deel Rovers side, with the displays by the likes of Fionan Duffy, Conor Loftus and Cathal Carolan pointing towards a very bright future for the north Mayo men. There were also very good showings for the beaten side by goalkeeper Patrick Loftus and veteran Peader Gardiner who almost caused a major surprise against a much fancied Breaffy side.

The weekend after the nation celebrated the 1916 Rising, Mayo are looking to stage their own rising in the U21 ranks and will head to the ground named after Countess Markievicz in Sligo tomorrow evening to do so. It has been seven years since Mayo last claimed the JJ Fahy Cup, in the same venue, beating Sligo 3-14 to 1-8 in the provincial decider.

Mayo manager Stephen Rochford named his starting 15 for Sunday’s league showdown with Roscommon on Sunday afternoon on Friday night. The team named from one to 15 shows three changes from the side that started against Kerry a fortnight ago with Chris Barrett, Evan Regan and Conor Loftus coming into the side with Donal Vaughan, Kevin McLoughlin and Cathal Carolan making way.

Earlier this week the names of a number of returning and new faces who have been invited into the Mayo panel for the early stages of next year's campaign emerged into the public sphere, with the likes of Jason Gibbons, Cathal Carolan, and Shane McHale being mentioned as coming back into the fold alongside the likes of David Kenny, Shane Nally, and Caolan Crowe amongst others.