Mayo’s highly anticipated first round game in division one of the national football league will now not go ahead as planned in McHale Park on Saturday night February 6. The game will now throw in the following day on Sunday, February 7 at 2.30pm rather than at 7.30pm under the new floodlights, at the multi million euro redeveloped county ground.
The game against Joe Kernan’s Galway side was scheduled to be launch of the grounds’ new lighting system, however the An Bord Pleanála appeal by residents on the neighbouring McHale Road to the decision of Castlebar Town Council to grant retention planning permission for illegal works carried out on site means the county board is unable to play the game on the Saturday night.
More third level tests for Mayo
Following on from their opening round win over NUIG in the FBD League last weekend, Mayo will face a second third level examination of their credentials in as many weeks when they take on IT Sligo this Sunday in Charlestown at 2pm. Last weekend’s run out against the Galway students was always going to be a more of a learning exercise for all concerned as both sides got to grips with the new rules which were introduced for the provincial leagues and later the national league. John O’Mahony’s decision to go with 10 of the starting line up who started against Meath in the All Ireland quarter final defeat, came as a surprise to many who thought that this was a time for experimentation before the real action gets under way. Of the five players to come into the side the only real new face was Castlebar Mitchels’ Alan Feeney at full back. Feeney, who caught the eye over the past couple of seasons, really impressed last season with his club form and was rewarded with a place in the starting 15 last Sunday. The Castlebar man did well for the hour and did not look out of place, but sterner tests await him. Other newcomers to the panel to get a look last weekend included James Burke who came on for the second half in the half back line and put in a solid shift, while Neil Douglas, who started for both club and county u21s last year, got a run out in the half forward line during the second half and bagged himself a point. Garrymore’s Jimmy Killeen also grabbed himself a point when given his chance on his home patch, while Shrule Glencorrib’s Kevin Walsh also got a run out. But the real star of the show for Mayo was Walsh’s club mate Mark Ronaldson who scored seven points for Mayo over the hour and engaged in a shoot out with NUIG’s Sean Armstrong for the man of the match award with Armstrong scoring six points.
On Sunday in Charlestown, Mayo will face a strong challenge from an IT Sligo side which has always proved competitive in this competition. Last weekend the Yeats County students picked up a win in their first round game against Roscommon and it was a Mayo man who was the hero. Alan Freeman came on from the sidelines for the students and scored two points, the second of them, a 58th minute free, turned out to be the winner. The college saw off the challenge of Fergal O’Donnell’s men by 1-7 to 1-6 with a helping hand from a Freeman and a couple of other Mayo natives. Crossmolina’s Seán Kelly scored for the students, while former Balla and Mayo underage Mayo footballer Alan Costello, who now plies his trade in Sligo and is a member of the senior inter-county panel also lined out for the students.
