Search Results for 'Cookstown'

Let the battles commence. With the greatest respect to the FBD league it all starts in earnest for Mayo on Sunday when they travel to Killarney to take on All-Ireland champions Kerry. The FBD league did show one thing, that Mayo are a little bit behind in terms of preparation after succumbing to a well prepared Roscommon outfit in the final game.

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.

The time has arrived again, another trip to Croker, our third semi-final in a row under James Horan, and it is time for all the talking to stop. It is game five of six as Mayo take on Tyrone in Croke Park on Sunday for a place in the All- Ireland final on September 22. I have one small fear ahead of the game, I’m sure it is only among the supporters and not the players, but a lot of people are dismissing Tyrone’s chances and are already wondering who Mayo will play in the final, I have never seen as many Mayo flags bought and as many green and red flags on cars and houses for a semi-final, we normally wait for a final for this to happen and that is a very dangerous way to be thinking before taking on the Red Hand. Confidence is one thing but cockiness is another. Have people forgotten that Tyrone have won three All- Irelands in the last 10 years and they completely demoralised far more superior Kerry teams than themselves in the not too distant past in finals. In the 2008 final, Kerry’s Tommy Walsh and Kieran Donaghy, the twin towers, were considered un-markable but Mickey Harte and the McMahon brothers found a way to do the job. Tyrone have an unbelievable capacity to frustrate you and get in your face, so to speak. They will annoy you and remind you of their success and Mayo’s failures in All-Ireland finals.

Brewster Park in Enniskillen is where all eyes in Castlebar will be focused tomorrow, when both St Gerald’s College, Castlebar, and Davitt College, Castlebar, go looking for a place in All Ireland finals. Gerald’s will face the MacRory Cup champions St Pat’s Maghera in their quest for a place in the Hogan Cup final at 3pm, with Davitt College taking on Holy Trinity, Cookstown, in the Vocational Schools semi-final. Both sides are in for very tough encounters with their Ulster opponents.

Fr Rocks, Cookstown 1-8

The Charlestown Sarsfield cavalcade will be making its way to Pearse Park, Longford, this Sunday where they will be dreaming of a place in this year’s All Ireland Intermediate Championship Club final. Standing in the Mayo and Connacht champions ways is Fr Rock’s, Cookstown from Tyrone. The Ulster men will be bringing with them on Sunday one of the most recognisable figures in recent GAA history, Eoin Mulligan. The bleach blonde full forward brings with him all the experience that being part of a three time All Ireland winning team comes with and will be the man, all of Charlestown will be looking to shut down. And the rest of his team-mates will also bring the experience of actually winning this competition in 2010, but were relegated to intermediate in Tyrone and have found themselves back in the intermediate grade. Charlestown are more used to senior competition having claimed the intermediate title at their first time of asking following their shock relegation in 2011. Sunday offers Charlestown a chance to make it into an All Ireland final for the first time, having come close in 2002 when they lost out in the senior last four to Nemo Rangers, while Fr Rock’s will be looking to make it back to the middle grades showpiece for the second time in three years.

Greenfields Hockey Club produced their best performance of the season to advance to the next round of the Irish Cup when overcoming Our Lady’s Terenure by 1 - 0 in Dublin on Saturday.

Two Derry GAA players who let off a little too much steam in a popular city centre pub following a Celebrity Bainisteoir match, managing to get arrested along with four other team mates, were given the benefit of the Probation Act after paying €300 each to the court poor box.

The ‘Seasons Beatings’ full contact kickboxing tournament proceded last weekend in Galway, but not quite as planned.

Davitt College, Castlebar, lost out to Cookstown last weekend in the All Ireland Vocational Schools u16A final when they were comprehensively beaten by Cookstown from Tyrone by 1-17 to 0-3. However it emerged that at the beginning of March Crossmolina had played a number of over age players in their Connacht final win over St Tiernan’s. When they found out about this they had no avenue to appeal as they had not made an appeal in time.