Search Results for 'Kieran Donaghy'

Early season predictions would have envisaged Dublin, Kerry, and Mayo making it to the semifinal of the championship with Tyrone getting a few hesitant votes because of a poor ending to their league campaign.

A week is a long time in politics, bu it seems that eight days in football can be even longer. Having struggled to impose themselves for long enough periods to win the first day against Roscommon, Mayo hit their neighbours with everything they had on Monday and ran out more than convincing winners. Right from the throw-in four days ago, you could see that this Mayo team were a very different animal to the one that that had turned up eight days previously.

Sitting in the stand in Croke Park on Sunday afternoon after Kerry beat Galway easily by 1-18 to 0-13 in the All-Ireland quarter-final, it was hard not to feel quite deflated and disappointed.

The groan that echoed around the ground at the 70-minute mark was perhaps the most vocal reaction inspired by this lacklustre game before an audience of 65,000.

It has often been said a week is a long time in politics - it also applies to sport.

It was a devastating loss for Castlebar Mitchels when they came up against a far superior and prepared Ballyboden St Enda’s yesterday. The comprehensive 13-point victory, wasn’t at all flattering on the Dublin men. Despite all the hype around Castlebar and through Mayo over the last few weeks, the huge support that came out to back them left Croke Park with heartbreak once again. From as early as the first minute when Colm Basquel burst through the Castlebar rearguard to finish in fantastic style, Castlebar were in trouble.

There will always be quibbles with the referees decisions in games, there were plenty to pick over from Rory Hickey’s display. In particular in the 26th minute when Aidan O’Shea was manhandled to the deck by a couple of Kerry players including Aidan O’Mahony, who were aided by Kieran Donaghy testing the strength of the material in the black and lime Mayo jersey. Aidan managed to scoop the ball over the bar somehow from being right under the crossbar for a point, but Hickey should have blown for a penalty before he ever got the shot off. But it wasn’t refereeing decisions that cost Mayo in MacHale Park, it was just bad decision making, poor execution of skills and just not being at the races in the final 35 minutes, all their own doing.