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Just as Halloween is about to roll around again for another year, one of the other seemingly annual events is also coming up this weekend, Carnacon are in a Connacht senior club final and the favourites for victory.

The Mayo ladies senior footballers enter the All Ireland series tomorrow when they head to Pearse Park in Longford to take on Westmeath in round two of the championship.

our county champions Castlebar Mitchels take on the might of Corofin in the Connacht club semi-final. It really is a step into the unknown for Pat Holmes’ team who look set to have to plan without ace midfielder/attacker Danny Kirby who was red carded in the county u21 football final last Friday. There will be arguments all over as to whether Kirby’s suspension should follow through to the senior grade, but the fact that this was his last game as an u21 player meant he had to be suspended for something. He should not have put his team or manager in this predicament and I am sure ‘Holmesy’ was raging, as Kirby is a vital part of the Castlebar game plan. Corofin seem to have their eyes on bigger prizes this year and next, they will see Sunday as a means to an end. They also had the luxury of cantering home in their county final against a very disappointing Salthill/Knocknacarra on a score line of 2-13 to 0-7. Playing two weeks before the Mayo final also gave Crossmolina native and Corofin manager Stephen Rochford the ideal situation of being able to watch Castlebar in full tilt in the county final (as if he did not know enough already). I myself have been on the wrong end of a pasting from Corofin in the Connacht Club Championship. In 2009 they came to Charlestown and destroyed us on our own patch in the Connacht final. We were literally beaten all over the field. That game was due to go ahead a week previous but was postponed due to a water logged pitch after two weeks intensive rain, however what I ultimately remember from the whole experience is the day before the postponed game was to go ahead, Corofin had three officials in Charlestown for the pitch inspection, checking that matters were conducted correctly. They leave no stone unturned such is their professionalism. Gary Sice was their main man in the county final scoring 1-04, the Galway star seems to have found the form which his talent suggested, but they have match winners all over the field. Kieran Comer is a proven handful for whoever he has come up against and watch out for pocket rocket Joe Canney, (not to be confused with hurler Joe Canning) he destroyed us in that final in 2009. There is no doubt this will be the best team Castlebar have come up against in the last few years. They will need to be at full tilt to have any hope in this game, the Mitchell’s have some brilliant individuals who are capable of going toe to toe with anyone, but when big team performances are needed I cannot see past the well oiled machine that is Corofin.

Castlebar Celtic will live out the dreams of every soccer player in the country on Sunday when they take to the field in the Aviva Stadium in the Women’s FAI Cup final. The game itself will also be broadcast live on RTÉ Two television at 12.20pm giving everyone who cannot make it to the Dublin 4 venue a chance to see the girls do their stuff on the big day. The Celtic girls and management team know they will be going into the big game as underdogs against Raheny United, having lost to the same opposition in the league a fortnight ago 9-2, but that is not something Celtic manager Adrian Carrberry is putting much stock into ahead of the game. “The result wasn’t a fair reflection on our team, we matched them for the first half and we were probably the better side in that half,” he said. He also lamented the fact that his side conceded two penalties in that half which was very out of character.

St Brendan’s Park, in Birr, will host the next stage of the Mayo ladies’ senior team’s road towards a fifth All Ireland senior title and a first in a decade. On Saturday at 12.30pm they will face off against Kerry in the All Ireland quarter-final having seen off Westmeath with ease in the last round of qualifiers after they were beaten by Galway in the Connacht final in Tuam.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, Mayo were the dominant force in ladies’ football, winning all before and behind them. While Mayo slipped down the pecking order over the past decade, Cork stepped up and grabbed the top spot in the pecking order and have remained there more or less ever since.

Mayo overcame Dublin in a tense encounter at Naomh Mearnog last Sunday to book their place in the league semi-final. Mayo were the quickest to settle and they had two points on the board before Dublin were able to get any sustained possession thanks to good scores from Aileen Gilroy and Niamh Kelly who benefited from great work by Claire Egan. Dublin’s first score came from Lindsey Davey who struck a good point on the run but again Mayo replied well with a great score from corner back Kathryn Sullivan. However Dublin settled thanks to the growing influence of Noelle Healy in the Dublin midfield. Healy scored two points herself as Denise McKenna added two points from frees, and Leah McCaffrey added a fine score after turning over Mayo in their own half back line. However Mayo replied well with the half time whistle fast approaching, scoring the last two points of the half, one from Aileen Gilroy and another from Deirdre Doherty to leave the scores at half time Dublin 0-6 to Mayo’s 0-5.

Not too long after the final whistle on Sunday evening, Mayo will be heading in one of three different directions. Leap-frogging Cork into the semi-final round of the league, retaining their division one status and their league season coming to an end on Sunday, or falling through the trap door and into division two of the league for the first time since the mid-nineties (the early part of the 2000s saw division one divided into two different sections).

Galway will host a feast of university women’s soccer next week with three finals taking place on March 19.

The Mayo ladies’ senior side will look to build on their good start to the National Football League when they welcome Clare on Sunday at 2pm. New Mayo manager Fr Mike Murphy and his charges got off to a perfect start when they saw off the challenge of local rivals Galway on a scoreline of 3-14 to 1-7 in Tuam Stadium on Sunday. Cora Staunton was once again the go to person bagging 2-9 of Mayo’s total over the 60 minutes of action. Staunton grabbed her first goal just before the interval and converted her second from the penalty spot after Yvonne Byrne was fouled in the aftermath of a good move involving Staunton, Kathryn Sullivan, and Sinead Murphy. Mayo’s third goal came from the boot of Martha Carter who drove home her major with a snap shot from the 30 metre line.