Search Results for 'Damien Mulligan'

Garrymore picked up the first piece of senior silverware on Easter Monday, when they saw off Castlebar Mitchels to claim the Michael Walsh Cup in Ballinrobe, but this weekend the action proper gets under way with the first rounds of games in the Breaffy House Senior Football Leagues. The action in Division 1A, 1B, and 1C will throw in on Saturday evening, with Division 1E, 1D, and 1F getting under way on Sunday afternoon.

Elvery’s MacHale Park is the place to be this weekend, when the best eight senior club teams in the county do battle for a place in the semi-finals of this year’s club championship.

With just two league games under their belts for the 16 senior clubs in the county, the race for the Moclair Cup gets under way this weekend with eight games across the four groups in the Treanlaur Catering Mayo GAA senior football championship getting going to the whistle over Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.

The senior club championship kicks off this weekend and to be honest I am getting excited and a little nervous because of it. All the dreaming, planning, and orchestrating for a crack at winning the title will be put to its first big test on Sunday. The weather forecast is good and the fact that it is a long weekend should guarantee a bumper crowd at the games, which will surely bring a smile to the face of what is normally a very serious looking county treasurer! The real secret of the GAA's success is that it is so fervently supported at community level, and this weekend will see thousands turning out to support their respective clubs all over the county. You don't have to be interested in football — everyone goes to support their parish or their club. Gaelic is easy to watch. It is free flowing and robust with a lot of scores, and that's attractive for punters who are used to watching soccer where there is maybe one goal in the space of 90 minutes (Wednesday’s European cup final being an exception, when we could sit back and marvel at the flamboyant skills of Barcelona). There are very few things in life that create the excitement of a good club championship match and I personally love the build up to championship Sundays.

I arrived home last Sunday evening from McHale Park exhausted after our championship match against Ballaghaderreen. Anyone involved in team management might understand what I am talking about here. Championship football really does sap the energy and those on the sideline, more often than not, end up suffering greater fatigue than those who actually play the game. It’s hard to explain, but the adrenaline starts to pump, in my case, as early as the Saturday morning, the day before the game. Our pre- match routine involved us meeting up as a group in Crossmolina at 11am for a kick about and a team meeting. It is at this time, when we began to discuss and analyse the strengths and perceived weaknesses of the opposition that the butterflies started to flutter.