Search Results for 'Roscommon footballer'

Travelling to Garrymore is a rare adventure for me. In fact it is one of the few grounds in this county that when I travel to it I invariably get lost along the way. Instead of taking the more direct (if you could ever use the word ‘direct’ in association with any passage to Garrymore) route via Claremorris, I thought I remembered the less travelled road up through Mayo Abbey being a little more interesting and so I veered right at the top of Balla village and not for the first time.

I’ve worked hard to convince friends that cycling is a tough sport and that those who compete at the highest level in the sport are mentally and physically superior to the average human being. I had a few of those friends with me last Sunday and Monday as we completed two stages of this year’s Ras. By now they need absolutely no convincing whatsoever that professional cyclists are as tough as nails. I don’t want to confuse the situation here by suggesting that I was riding with the professionals last Sunday and Monday. Far from it…those guys are in a different league.

I walked into Maughan’s bar last Sunday evening in Crossmolina and noticed that the Donegal v Antrim Ulster Championship match was still on. It was showing on the big screen, but to be honest it was a match that would have been more appropriate for a small black and white monitor such was the poor quality of football. Maybe it is too early in the year? I am not sure what the reason is, but it was awful stuff. I turned away after a few minutes of watching for no other reason than the fact that I lost complete interest in it. From what I could see there weren’t too many other patrons that interested either. Maybe people are not quite into championship mode yet.

In between managing his home town side Crossmolina as they build up their preparation towards another crack at the Moclair Cup this summer Mayo Advertiser columnist John Maughan will be taking on the Rás challenge later this month. The former Mayo manager is taking up the challenge to raise funds for the Irish Cancer Society and will be taking on two of the gruelling legs of the Rás. Maughan will be joining a number of well known GAA personalities on the challenge which is being organised by former Roscommon footballer Paul Early. “It’s for a great cause and it’s something I’m really looking forward to getting involved in. It’s going to be a tough challenge, but I’ve been putting in the training for it, each leg is about 100 miles so I know it’s going to be a tough event” he said.