Search Results for 'Stephen Rochford'

Not many players involved with Mayo have had quite the chequered history with the Green and Red jersey as Charlestown Sarsfields midfielder Tom Parsons.

Come 5pm on Sunday evening, Mayo's 10 game odyssey through the All Ireland championship will have come to an end (but don't discount a replay - the way this year has gone). Hopefully green and red ribbons will be hanging off the handles of Sam Maguire, and Cillian O'Connor getting ready to lift the old trophy high in the air in the hands of a Mayo man for the first time in 66 years.

Between the years 1947 and 1955 Rocky Marciano entered the squared circle 49 times and remained undefeated against all challengers. The reasons are many, including his relentless fighting style, punching power, stamina, and iron chin. However, at the end of his career, 49 pros had thrown everything they had at him, and he always found a way to survive. And win. Retiring with a perfect record 49-0 and an 88 per cent knockout rate, he stands as one of the undisputed greatest boxers of all time. Dublin footballers now stand on the cusp of such immortality with a possible three in a row of titles on the horizon.

"We’ll be competitive and we’ll be looking for a performance every day that we go out and we can be honest in ourselves and we did ourselves and the county proud and we’re going the right direction towards what our goals will be.” That's what Stephen Rochford said back in December 2015 — two days after he was appointed Mayo manager. While there have been days when things haven't quite gone to plan they have always been "honest" in themselves as a team and that's what has brought them to where they are right now, 70 minutes away from their final goal.

This win wasn’t lucky, it wasn’t by chance, it came about through sheer hard-work, believe in themselves and by playing some breathtaking football. It has taken Mayo 21-years to beat Kerry again in the football championship, but the jubilant Mayo faithful - who roared on their hero’s from the first minute to last, know that there is still a big job to do in three weeks time. But that doesn’t mean that this game is not to be savoured.

Opinions are like a certain body part - everyone has one - or so the saying goes; and since 3.34pm last Sunday - when Aidan O'Shea swung left and headed back towards the Davin Stand, plenty of them have been expressed on where he headed and where he stayed for the next 70 odd minutes.

Dear me, not again. The winners of this year’s Sam Maguire will have their name etched on the famous trophy but there is absolutely no doubt Mayo’s 2017 championship campaign will command the most paragraphs in the championship 2017 yearbook. Bizarre does not even go close to explaining it. Mayo supporters again travelled in their tens of thousands clogging the N5 and N4 all the way to the capital from early morning. It is very obvious that football is more important than Christmas for the supporters of the green and red who now have to contend with a ninth championship game in 2017 after another heart stopping semifinal clash with Kerry in Croke Park. They will not have a cent left for the festive period.

There’s no easy way to win an All Ireland, and boy are Mayo doing it the hard way. It’s back to headquarters on Saturday for another swing at Kerry as the look to book an All Ireland final date in Croke Park in September.

Not long after Mayo rattled in their third goal in the first half of their All Ireland quarterfinal replay win over Roscommon, the thoughts of plenty of Mayo supporters wandered to what will we do to stop Kieran Donaghy, the man who has inflicted more pain on Mayo in recent years than probably anyone else on big days.

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.