Search Results for 'James Gill'

Mayo manager James Horan has thrown a wildcard into the mix this week, with the news that former Ireland and Connacht rugby player Gavin Duffy has joined up with the Mayo senior football squad. Duffy who was a Mayo minor star on the team that lost the 1999 All Ireland minor final was recently released by Connacht after his second stint with the province where he played 173 games scoring 83 points. His period at Connacht was interrupted by a spell in England with Harlequins from 2003 to 2006 where he played 110 times and won the Challenger Cup in 2004 scoring a try in their final win over AS Montferrand. Duffy played ten times for Ireland over his rugby career scoring 18 points, getting his first try in his second cap against Scotland in the 2005 six nations. He was also part of Eddie O’Sullivan’s squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

The club championship kicks off this weekend. It is a fact that the majority of teams that play this weekend believe they will be good enough to win their respective matches. However 2011 will undoubtedly cough up its fair share of surprising results. We also have sufficient proof that, on any given Sunday, the majority of teams in the county are capable of beating each other. Form in the league counts for nothing when championship comes around. We have several teams sprinkled around the county that excel in beating more fancied opponents. Our Crossmolina boys are off to Garrymore this Saturday evening to play against a team that rarely suffers in the confidence department! I am very aware of how formidable they can be in their own back yard.

The club championship kicks off this weekend. It is a fact that the majority of teams that play this weekend believe they will be good enough to win their respective matches. However 2011 will undoubtedly cough up its fair share of surprising results. We also have sufficient proof that, on any given Sunday, the majority of teams in the county are capable of beating each other. Form in the league counts for nothing when championship comes around. We have several teams sprinkled around the county that excel in beating more fancied opponents. Our Crossmolina boys are off to Garrymore this Saturday evening to play against a team that rarely suffers in the confidence department! I am very aware of how formidable they can be in their own back yard.

A little bit earlier than some would have liked the Royal Theatre Senior Football Championship roars back into life for 2010 on Saturday evening. First up in the championship are the champions and the new kids on the block in the solitary five team group in Charlestown at 7pm on Saturday. West Mayo will bring the combined forces of Islandeady, Parke, Louisburgh, and Balla together under the guidance of Padraig Walsh to try to topple Ciaran McBrien’s men in the championship opener. Charlestown will go into the game as hot favourites, but they have been known to be slow starters in the championship, and this early outing could prove to be a tricky encounter if the amalgamated side manage to click on the field. Players like Ollie Feeney, Jarlath O’Malley, Peter Collins, Simon Cloherty, and Conor Walsh will be watched to show they have the class to make the step up from the junior ranks to senior football.

By the time you read this the semi-final pairings for the TF Royal Theatre football championships will have been revealed with the draw taking place late on Thursday evening. But last weekend’s action in the senior championship in McHale Park was an engrosing weekend of football. Saturday started off with Breaffy looking to get one over the experienced heads of Crossmolina in only their second ever quarter final at this grade and ultimately coming up short, while it concluded in a barnstorming game of football, where Ballintubber will be ruing the fact they let a Ballaghaderreen side with posssibly the longest list of mentors ever to grace a programme back into a game.

The wearing of county jerseys has become extremely fashionable in recent times. It affords the wearer an opportunity to advertise his or her identity in a subtle way that often leads to a conversation about the chances of their team in an upcoming championship encounter. I was descending Croagh Patrick last Thursday morning when I noticed a family bedecked in their county colours. This Fermanagh family was heading for the summit to plant their county colours ahead of the Ulster final replay between Fermanagh and Armagh. Having stopped briefly to engage with them and to offer my best wishes I recognised a striking resemblance of the father of this particular family to that of Marty McGrath, the towering Fermanagh midfielder. He excitedly told me that he was indeed Marty’s brother and, as he would normally travel to climb on Reek Sunday, the clash of fixtures left him with no option but to travel west a few days in advance.

With the front door closed by Galway after the Connacht final, Mayo go in search of squeezing themselves through the back door starting with Tyrone tomorrow afternoon. The two-time All Ireland champions, who were kicked to touch at the quarter-final stage of the Ulster championship by Down and have come through the first two rounds of the qualifiers, seeing off Louth and a 13-man Westmeath side last weekend, to arrive in Croke Park with a bit of steam built up.

The prolific Shell to Sea activist Maura Harrington faced dangerous driving, assault, and public order charges at Belmullet District Court on Wednesday, while her brother also appeared on foot of public order charges.

Retired school principal and prolific Shell to Sea activist, Maura Harrington, Tullyaghanbawn, Geesala, Belmullet, was sentenced to 28 days in jail and recommended to undergo psychiatric assessment, by Judge Mary Devins at Belmullet District Court on Wednesday, after Harrington was convicted of a section two assault on retired garda Eamon Berry on June 11 2007 during a protest at Pullathomas Pier. The defendant, who was also bound to the peace for 12 months for a public offence on a different date, failed to sign the bond. Due to her contempt of court Harrington was sentenced to jail a further two days concurrent.

We are officially up and running now, with the championship opening in 16 days on another continent all that we were waiting for was the 30 names who would make up the championship panel for 2009. When the list was announced on Sunday evening there were no major surprises as John O’Mahony and his backroom team set out their stall for the summer. As was widely expected James Nallen, Keith Higgins, David Heany, and Trevor Howley were all included in the panel despite none of them taking part in the league campaign. In total 22 of those picked for last year’s squad at the same stage of the year were selected again this year, with the likes of Colm Boyle, James Gill, and Michael Mullins all not making the cut this time around. While the veterans Nallen and Heany were included Aidan Higgins, whom many thought might have got the nod, was not selected despite lining out in a recent challenge match against Offaly in Castlebar.