Search Results for 'Sean Cavanagh'

My grandfather John Francis Silke, who lived and farmed in Corrandulla, Co Galway, used to tell me when I was a youngster that as you get older the years really start to race by.

There were no surprises across the GAA world as all the expected teams made it through to the next round of their provincial championships in both hurling and football. There was almost a shock of epic proportions in Fraher Field in Waterford as the home side were on the brink of an historic win against Cork in the Munster football championship only for two late points to see the Leesiders through by the slimmest of margins.

When word filtered through that Cavan had drawn with Kerry at half time in this encounter, the permutations and combinations of results that would be needed for Mayo to stay up in division one if they couldn’t come home from Omagh with win under their belts were being worked out by the supporters. But come full time in this one Mayo had put their destiny back in their own hands, thanks to Kevin McLoughlin’s brilliant winning score.

Connacht Championship quarter-final

He is the man who has guided the team who have become the story of the championship to an historic first All Ireland semifinal since 1935, and he is the man who is looking to mastermind Mayo's downfall on Sunday. Liam Kearns has been around the block in the senior inter-county game over the past 16 years. He took charge of Limerick back in 1999 and managed them for six years, bringing them to a Munster final 13 years ago and turning them into force in Munster football, but was unable to get them over the finishing line and claim a provincial title. Since then he managed Laois for two years, but he was not able to repeat the trick, and more recently he was involved with John Evans' management ticket where he was the forwards coach for two years.

Now that was more like it. We asked for a performance,we wanted passion,we got them both in abundance. Mayo produced their best display in 12 months to send Ulster champions and hot favourites Tyrone packing out of this year's championship. The game was not the best advertisement for Gaelic football but it was intriguing, intense, and tactical and had everybody on the edge of their seats right until the final whistle.

At the end of the day, the result is all that matters. It wasn’t the prettiest of games in Croke Park, but it was intense, intriguing and full of industry and some moments of pure inspiration. Mayo are in the All Ireland semi-final in two weeks time and that’s exactly where they want to be. They dug in and put in the hard yards on the field in Croke Park and thanks to Lee Keegan’s point five minutes from the end, that seemed to take at least five minutes before it dropped over Niall Morgan’s bar they won the day and moved step closer to their ultimate goal.

The reputation of Connacht football rests firmly on Mayo's shoulders after Galway's no show at HQ last weekend against a rampant Tipperary. The scoreline was flattering for Galway but it should have been a lot worse had Tipperary taken all their chances, they ripped Galway asunder. In a year that promised so much for Connacht football it all boils down to Mayo's performance against Tyrone on Saturday evening.