Search Results for 'Kenneth Mortimer'

It may not be officially sanctioned by the GAA anymore, but come Saturday afternoon in Clonberne when Mayo and Galway meet in the final of the Gaelic Masters Series at 2pm, it will be as hotly contested as any game where the right to be declared the best is down for decision.

Although it is only round three of the National league on Sunday when Mayo take on Kerry, it literally is a league defining match (There will be more on rounds of a different kind later on). The winners of the game have a chance of making the semi-finals; the losers are staring relegation in the face. Mayo have had some good results against Kerry in the league in the last number of years and no question they will not fear them particularly with Colm ‘Gooch’ Cooper sidelined for the year . It is sad for us as footballing fans that we will not see the eight-time All-Star in action this year however I am sure there are many a manager and defender quietly delighted they will not have to endure the full wrath of his skills in the summer of 2014. Cooper’s last championship game, last year’s All-Ireland semifinal against the Dubs, was arguably one of his best in a Kerry jersey. I was secretly hoping Kerry would win that game as I felt Mayo would have had a better chance against them in the final. Kerry are under transition at the moment and very regularly line out with players we have not really heard of just yet, so now is a good time to play them.

I was in the Neale last Sunday morning for an u15 semi-final and there, taking pride of place, was the Pete Mc Donnell junior cup sitting on top of the gated entrance to the field. There were many gravelly, tired sounding, voices in the small compact stand, which is very understandable considering this was their first and only adult title of their 110 year history and no doubt a long night of celebrations had taken place.

The bookmakers have it that it will be a clash of north against south for the Moclair cup come next month, and while that may be where the money is going, it would be a foolish man who is counting out the chances of the men from the west ahead of Sunday.

I know what it feels like to lose, having been there on several occasions throughout my sporting career. It never gets any easier and you just cannot prepare for it. I was in the losers’ enclosure with the Crossmolina football team again last Sunday, having come up short against Knockmore for the second year running. It is standard practice that the manager of a team would say a few words on such occasions and it is not an easy thing to do. I tell them that the hurt they are feeling can help to push them on for next season. The ugly feeling can propel them to greater heights if channelled in the right direction, and there is no point in apportioning blame on anyone or anything just now. It is not a time to be feeling sorry for themselves, but I can and do fully understand why they look so weary and broken-hearted. I tell them how proud I am of their efforts and in my eyes they are not losers. These lads prepared as professionally as any inter-county team. They are ordinary lads with ordinary jobs who made an extraordinary effort over the past eight months. Many postponed holidays, left building sites hours ahead of schedule to train with the club. I acknowledge that enormous effort, but at the same time I tell them that there are no guarantees in sport. Winning a county title does not come easy, irrespective of what people might think. I mention the enormous effort and sacrifices men made decades earlier just to get to see a football match never mind play in them. There is no point lamenting what might have been, but the preparation for next year must start now. It is important that young footballers continue to grow and develop and equally important that they do not give up after a defeat. Crossmolina are top of the league table with four games left and we will be doing our best to win that title. It is important that we do not throw away the opportunity to continue to progress.

Ballintubber v Ballina

There was plenty of anticipation in the Café Bar of the Royal Theatre last Tuesday night as the winners and losers of the senior, intermediate, and junior championship group stages gathered to find out their fates for the last weekend in August. Only those sides in the senior and intermediate championship which finished in the no-man’s-land of third place in their group had no interest in the draw, with quarter final and relegation pairings to be decided by the luck of draw from the hat (or Pyrex glass bowl in this case). With the draw about to begin, the unmistakable theme tune from the 1980s classic TV show and 2010 summer blockbuster flop The A-Team pierced the ears of those in attendance, but the errant ringing phone was quickly silenced as there was important business to be taken care of.

For three of the four groups in this year’s Royal Theatre Mayo senior football championship it is D-day this weekend. With every group still in the melting pot it promises to be an exciting weekend of action across the county.

A week after one of the lowest ever ebbs of Mayo football, it’s back to home turf for all the players involved when the second round of the Royal Theatre football championships throws in this weekend across all three grades. The senior championship is where most eyes will be, last weekend the last round one game was played when Aghamore were able to pick up a win against Moy Davitts. In section one John Maughan’s Crossmolina will be hot favourites to see off Claremorris. The south Mayo men were given a hammering by Garrymore in the last round, and while Crossmolina were made sweat against Ballintubber in the last round they should have more than enough to win this one.

While the post-mortem on Mayo’s inglorious exit from the Connacht championship went on over the week and will go into the future, it’s back to basics this weekend for the inter county football panel when they rejoin their club mates for the first round proper of action in the Royal Theatre senior and intermediate championships.