Search Results for 'Pat Holmes'

John O'Mahony will be the first to admit that it just wasn't good enough, the county in general welcomed his appointment as manager back in 2006 and with some good reason he had brought Galway to two All Ireland's and done great work with Leitrim before that. But the way this championship went was just horrific, to loose to Sligo and no disrespect to them was very disappointing, but to loose to Longford in the manner we did was just something I'm in disbelief off. It seems that since the National League final defeat against Cork, the belief just drained out of the players and apart from Alan Freeman and Alan Dillon there's not one player who could hold their hands up and say that they preformed well on the day against Longford. I don't think that Mayo has seen any darker days on the football field.

I was in Aughamore with Crossmolina for a challenge match against the local club last Friday night. It was an opportunity for both sides to have a workout as they try to shake off their winter coats before the commencement of the league in a few weeks time. Aughamore have really impressive facilities and their flood lit pitch, in particular, is a credit to everyone involved up there. We were delighted with the opportunity to stretch the legs, after a number of weeks of circuit training, against a young talented team that have caught the eye in recent times. The underage structure in Aughamore is very obviously paying dividends at senior level and having seen them up close I now appreciate that they will have no problem whatsoever in mixing it with some of the big boys in the senior championship later this summer. Incidentally they were deserving winners on the night.

Mayo will start their defence of their Connacht u21 title tomorrow in Fr O’Hara Park in Charlestown with the visit of Liam Sammon’s Galway side. Since the trio of Pat Holmes, Noel Connelly, and Mícheál Collins took charge of the side in 2006 they have at the least managed to claim the Connacht title, in their first year in charge they landed the top prize seeing off Cork on an unforgettable day in Ennis.

The rapid fire nature of the u21 championship means it’s all over from start to finish in little under two months. So there is no rest for Mayo this weekend, who seven days on from their nail biting win over Galway last Saturday in Charlestown will host Roscommon in the same venue tomorrow. The 2-6 to 0-11 win over Galway last weekend was a lot closer on the scoreboard than in it was in general play on the field, an issue Mayo manager Pat Holmes hopes will be rectified this weekend. “We were delighted to get over last weekend, it was a tough battle at the end, which we knew it would be but we came out on top. We are going to have to be even better this Saturday as this Roscommon side won the All Ireland minor title three years ago and will be a tough task on the field.” Mayo’s lack of proficiency in front of the posts against Galway is something that needs to be rectified before Roscommon cross over the border, and Holmes has faith that his side will be able to do it. “We have to take our chances against Roscommon, because we won’t get as many against them as we did against Galway. The frees didn’t go as well as we would have liked last weekend, and we have to up our accuracy on that if we are going to make the Connacht final.”

After the speeches and the euphoria had died down in the home dressing room, following Mayo's thrill-a-minute win over Roscommon in the Connacht under 21 semi-final, Pat Holmes was a happy man as his walking wounded were given treatment for injuries picked up over the course of 80 minutes of breakneck football.

For the 10th year in a row, Mayo will contest the Connacht u-21 football final. In the past nine years the JJ Fahy Cup has been presented to a Mayo captain on six occasions and Mayo captain Tom Parsons will be hoping that he becomes the seventh man in a decade to lift the trophy. Mayo have won the competition 22 times already while their opponents on Sunday have yet to claim the title.

For what it’s worth, and irrespective of what you might have heard on the streets since, I didn’t meet a single person who believed that Mayo would beat Galway before last Sunday’s game in Tuam. That is why that one point victory had people giddy with excitement after the match. It was an incredible result. Let’s be honest here for a minute. The form shown in Ballina exactly one week earlier against a mediocre Dublin outfit was to say the least very ordinary. Yet here, a week later, 14 of that very same starting 15 are brimming with confidence after taking the scalp of the form team of 2009. It’s not too difficult to analyse the reasons for the victory. Put the maroon and white of Galway in front of a green and red jersey and you have a different attitude and approach to the whole occasion. Clearly it’s a mindset. There is no doubt that there would have been lots of smiles, not to mention a bounce in the step of all who participated in the morale boosting victory last weekend. Because the win is worth an awful lot more than the two points on offer that more or less saw Mayo scramble away from the relegation zone and into mid- table that will surely guarantee Mayo division one football next year. This victory reminded everyone that the age-old rivalry that exists between these two teams is very much alive and well. Long may it continue! Both sides just love having a go at one another, out on the pitch and extending into the terraces too.

Mayo 3-14

Standing at the back of the crowd who had gathered in front of the stand in Sligo on Saturday evening to witness Tom Parsons lift Mayo’s fourth JJ Fahy cup in a row, Pat Holmes was a happy man. In the four years since he has taken over the side with his joint manager Noel Connelly they have not failed to deliver a provincial title and they bagged one All Ireland in their first year in 2006. While the celebrations went on in front of him Holmes was happy to take it all in from the back of the crowd and reflect on the game and what lies ahead for his side. “It is nice, each year there has been a different bunch of players and it is always very nice to win a Connacht title.” This year’s crop of players had come through two tough games against Galway and Roscommon to get to the final, in both those games they let big leads slip, something that Holmes had drilled into his side they couldn’t afford to do this time. “In the last two games we had let big advantages slip and that is something we have worked on, and we were very conscious at half-time that we couldn’t afford to take our foot off the pedal, and that we had to keep working hard.”

McHale Park will get its first airing this season on Sunday when the All Ireland champions Tyrone come to town for the final round of the Allianz National Football League. Mayo will be looking to pick up where they left off against Galway in Tuam Stadium a fortnight ago, where a stunning second half performance saw John O’Mahony’s side overturn a six point half time deficit to squeeze past Galway by a single point and secure a one point win. The win leaves O’Mahony’s side in fourth place in the division one table on six points, equal on points with Mickey Harte’s side. A draw on Sunday would ensure both sides’ status in division one for next season, but a defeat coupled with a high scoring win by Dublin over an already relegated Westmeath and a win by Donegal over Derry could drag either side back into the bottom two of a very tight division one table.