Search Results for 'Gavin Duffy'

Former Irish rugby player Ciaran Fitzgerald will be inducted into the Connacht Clan Hall of Fame on Saturday.

The last time Mayo faced Monaghan in the National Football League was four years ago, they lost out to the Ulster men by two points in the village of Inniskeen. Mayo’s visit back then to the home of Patrick Kavanagh gave them plenty of food for thought and set them off on an adventure that would see them reach two All Ireland finals and two All Ireland semi-finals over the next four summers.

Pat Holmes and Noel Connelly had to make the first big decisions of their tenure as Mayo joint managers when culling the panel after a recent challenge game against Clare. The two biggest and most talked about casualties are Gavin Duffy and Enda Varley. Duffy’s inclusion in the panel last year certainly gave the county a lift with his professional athletic background and obvious experience of big match days. However as the year went on and there was no sight of him in a Mayo jersey his much anticipated return to a Mayo jersey became more of a fascination with “what was the point in having him in the panel”. I was at every Mayo match last year and on every occasion his whereabouts was discussed by media men and women from all over the country.

Following Mayo's defeat to Roscommon in MacHale Park for the first time since 1986 in the FBD League on Sunday afternoon, it's all eyes on Mayo's next game against Kerry in the opening round of the National Football League on the first Sunday in February. Speaking after the Roscommon game, joint Mayo manager Pat Holmes said that his side have a few injury worries still to clean up ahead of the contest. “Injuries are clearing up and we're hoping that Keith Higgins would be back playing football next weekend. Aidan O'Shea is a wee bit away and Ger Cafferkey has a back strain, so were getting closer to a full panel. We're happy from that point of view” he said. As for the two most experienced outfield players in the panel Andy Moran and Alan Dillon, it will be a bit further into the Spring before we see them in green and red he said, “They will be more long term, they won't be playing football for the next month or so anyway.”

Despite being named in the program to start the game at midfield Ballina native Gavin Duffy was a late withdrawal from the starting line up before throw-in on Sunday in the second round of the FBD League against IT Sligo in Ballina.

So far so good for the new Mayo senior management team of Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes as their side picked up their second win of the year with a comprehensive nine point win over the visitors IT Sligo in James Stephens Park, Ballina on Sunday.

The games are about to begin and the goal is set. Connacht, with greater expectations than before, head into a new season with a single ambition - to qualify for the European Champions Cup through the Guinness Pro 12.

Salthill-Knocknacarra qualified for an exciting county senior football quarter-final against Milltown in the next round of the Galway club championship when they proved too strong for Micheal Breathnachs last Sunday evening in a rain-drenched Moycullen.

Mayo County Council is forking out some €15,000 over the coming weeks to deal with the gooey mess that is gum litter on Ballina’s main thoroughfares.

Eight new players, including the province’s biggest addition Mils Muliaina, signals Pat Lam’s first full squad selection since taking over the reins from Eric Elwood.