Search Results for 'Gary Sice'

After every victory, no more than after every loss in a football game, people look for something to take out of it and work on for the next game. Scoring 6-25 in a provincial final win makes everything appear rosy on the the attacking side. But questions are also asked about the quality of the team you have just beaten. Add in the fact that you also conceded 2-11 to a team you were so far ahead of on the field of play, to go with the 2-8 you shipped against Galway in the Connacht semi-final win, and the attention on Mayo has switched to their potential defensive frailties.

The Galway footballers produced a solid workmanlike performance in horrible conditions at Pearse Stadium on Saturday evening to deservedly beat Derry by 1-11 to 0-8 in Round 3B of the qualifiers. 

The reward for Galway's hard-fought three-point victory over Armagh (1-12 to 0-12) on Sunday at the Athletic Grounds is a home tie with Derry this Saturday evening (5pm) at Pearse Stadium. 

Mayo continued their dominance over fiercest Connacht rivals Galway with a hard fought four point win in Salthill last Sunday. Galway, obviously reeling after four successive defeats against the green and red set the tone early on with some big hits as they let the visitors know they were not going to roll over this time around.

Mayo made it five wins in a row in Salthill last Sunday against Galway in the first real test of the Holmes and Connelly era with a bit to spare. While the gap was only four points at full time whistle in reality, Mayo always had the Tribesmen fended off apart from a brief period at the tail end of the first-half that culminated with Gary Sice's thunderbolt of a goal.

It started and ended with a handbags being thrown, but in the seventy odd minutes in between Mayo did what they needed to do and saw off Galway in a sun splashed Pearse Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The main man on the day for Mayo was Aidan O’Shea who put in a show stopping performance where he tormented the Galway defence for the full seventy minutes. The big Breaffy man was hauled to the ground so often in desperation by Galway defenders that his knees will be sore for a few days from the impact of landing.

Not to be bullied around the middle third

It’s been a long wait and it's nearly over. Since Mayo last tasted competitive action almost every other county has been involved in championship action, with Sligo the only side to have not got their summer underway by the time Mayo throw in against Galway on Sunday. This will be the first proper test of the Holmes and Connelly management ticket in the white heat of championship action and they couldn’t have asked for a more traditional joust than a meeting with Galway in their own back yard.

The Galway senior football squad fly from Shannon Airport today (Thursday) to JFK airport ahead of the start of the Connacht Championship against New York on Sunday evening (8pm Irish time).

The Galway footballers will head into the up-coming championship in three weeks’ time against New York with a little bit of momentum behind them after recording two victories in a row, over Roscommon and then Kildare last Sunday in the last round of the league.