Search Results for 'Tommy Carr'

On Tuesday September 10 the Sam Maguire will be visiting the McWilliam Park Hotel, Claremorris.

Mayo 2-13

Mayo 2-13

Mayo 2-13

The fixture gods deemed it fitting that Mayo would have to face Donegal in the senior quarter-final on Sunday afternoon, however they weren’t so kind as to place the county’s minor side on the same billing. Instead Enda Gilvarry’s men will be the opening act of a double bill of minor quarter finals in O’Connor Park in Tullamore on Monday afternoon, while the Kerry minors have been given the matinee slot in Croke Park the day before against Tyrone. However Mayo minor manager Enda Gilvarry isn’t complaining and is just looking forward to getting on with the job in hand. “To a certain extent we can't control the day and venue, any pitch is the same. It would have been nice to be with the seniors but it wasn't to be. It's the same for Westmeath, they would have looked forward to playing a quarter-final in Croke Park the same as we were.”

Oh what an unforgettable day. It had everything. Great weather, huge numbers of good humoured supporters, great company for my journey up and down and, above all, an excellent game with the best outcome! This was a Gaelic football match that had everything you could hope for at the difficult business end of the season. Here we had a match that had many similarities with what we had witnessed the previous Sunday: brilliant scores, top drawer saves, magnificent fielding, and a dramatic finish. I listened to Eugene Magee being interviewed on Today FM as I travelled to Dublin on Sunday morning. You will be aware that Eugene is heading up the task force known as the ‘Football review committee’ to investigate areas where the game can be improved. He remarked that the “sky was the limit” in terms of the possible changes that could be made. Surely this group will now recognise that there is very little wrong with the game when it is played like it was last Sunday.

Our photograph today is of a 1950s soccer team representing Our Lady’s Boys Club, taken in Terryland where facilities were quite primitive at the time and, as you can see, the preferred mode of transport apart from shank’s mare was cycling. The team is, back row, left to right: Patsy Burke, Richie O’Connor, Brod Long, Brendan Dowling, Paddy Power, Tommy Carr, Paddy Beatty. In front are Danny Collins, Billy Carr, John Rushe, Steve Mannion, Gus O’Connor, and Barney Birkett.

I arrived early at GAA HQ last Sunday as I like to soak up the pre match atmosphere of All-Ireland final day. Normally there is a great buzz in and around Croke Park from about 10am and last Sunday was no different. I was privileged to have been asked to do co-commentary for the minor game and match analysis on the big one, so I had to be in the grounds by 12.45. As it happened, I also received an invitation from the GPA to attend a pre-match reception in Jurys Croke Park at 12 noon. It was a gig for former inter-county footballers and was an excellent idea as the opportunities to meet and chat with former players from other counties are few and far between. In fact during our playing years we would barely look at each other never mind hang about for a chat after matches. So unless you participate in some of the GAA golf classics, you rarely get a chance to say hello. And I don’t play golf! My friend Pat Holmes had arrived at the reception before I got there and, unfortunately for me, had devoured most of the sandwiches. Notwithstanding that minor complaint, the 30 minutes I spent at the pre match event was pleasant. I chatted with Greg Blaney, the former Down centre-forward, and John Lynch, corner back with Tyrone in the eighties. I asked both for their pre match predictions. Neither of them could see anything other than a Kerry victory. And that was the general consensus in and around Croke Park prior to the match, with the exception of the Dublin folk of course.

A week, they say, is a long time in politics. A week in football can be an eternity. Wee James McCartan was being championed as the Messiah last week before the final, the man who resurrected the fortunes of a Down side whose season was full of mediocrity up until the back door stage. He was being hailed as the man who re-energised his troops after they were beaten in the Ulster championship by Tyrone. In fairness, his Down side were liberated once they went in through the back door to begin their tour of the country and there was an incremental improvement in each and every performance as they progressed towards last Sunday’s final. This week McCartan’s performance as manager is being scrutinised in great detail with many in his native county questioning some of his decision-making on the line. I can understand why, as a narrow defeat normally means a huge post-mortem of the losing team’s performance. Before last Sunday’s match everyone suggested that the midfield sector was going to be crucial. It was generally perceived that if Down could manage a supply of decent ball into their pacey forwards, they would be in with a mighty chance of success. Last Sunday they were annihilated in this crucial sector. Cork won 70 per cent of the kick outs and the scale of their dominance was key to their triumph. The Down goalkeeper, Brendan McVeigh, on the other hand, never varied his kickouts throughout the afternoon and it does beg the question why he persisted in making heroes out of both Nicholas Murphy and Aidan Walsh. A more puzzling decision was the substitution of Paul McComiskey with 15 minutes remaining on the clock. He was playing brilliantly all afternoon, kicking three points and giving his opponent the run around. That decision left many perplexed.

This Saturday provides a great opportunity for football folk in the region to meet a host of former and indeed some current greats of the game as they gather to launch the new fire and stove centre at Cempo Interiors Ltd in Blyry, Athlone.