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Castlebar Celtic will live out the dreams of every soccer player in the country on Sunday when they take to the field in the Aviva Stadium in the Women’s FAI Cup final. The game itself will also be broadcast live on RTÉ Two television at 12.20pm giving everyone who cannot make it to the Dublin 4 venue a chance to see the girls do their stuff on the big day. The Celtic girls and management team know they will be going into the big game as underdogs against Raheny United, having lost to the same opposition in the league a fortnight ago 9-2, but that is not something Celtic manager Adrian Carrberry is putting much stock into ahead of the game. “The result wasn’t a fair reflection on our team, we matched them for the first half and we were probably the better side in that half,” he said. He also lamented the fact that his side conceded two penalties in that half which was very out of character.

Castlebar Mitchels county champions 2013 has a nice ring to it particularly if you are from the county town. The Mitchels won with a bit to spare, however they did their level best to keep us on the edge of our seats giving Breaffy a glimmer of hope with some wayward shooting, they did not put this game to bed until the 56th minute despite being so comfortable. When you are only a goal up there is always a chance your opponents could sneak in against the run of play. It is hard to believe it is 20 years since Castlebar won the Moclair Cup. Little did Tom Reilly know when he captained them back in 1993 he would have two sons playing against each other in a county final. I could still nearly name the Castlebar team that claimed that crown.

Three sporting clubs in the Foxford area have joined forces to stage a fantastic night of white collar boxing. Knockmore /Foxford boxing club, Moy Davitts (GAA), and Straide and Foxford United (soccer) will put on an exhibition of boxing that is certain to entertain the large attendance expected as ticket sales are soaring at present. Under strict coaching by the KFC boxing coaches the participants are almost fully prepared to step between the ropes for the first time in competition this Sunday October 27 in Foxford Sports and Leisure Centre.

James O’Donnell of Bikefit.ie has teamed up with Deirdre O’Toole of Yoga Ripples to offer yoga at the gym in Drom, home of Salthill Devon Football Club in Galway.

Westport United’s Dave Hoban has been selected as part of Ireland manager Gerry Smith’s panel for the Quadrangular Umbro trophy in Limerick next week. The four team trophy will be contested by the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Northen Ireland, and the Isle of Man from October 3 to October 5. Hoban is one of only two Connacht players to make the 20 man squad for the competition. The Republic of Ireland will kick off the competition on Thursday October 3 against Scotland at 3pm at Pike Rovers, before taking on the Isle of Man on Friday in Janesboro at 1pm and wrapping it up against Northen Ireland on the Saturday at 3pm at the Fairgreen ground in Limerick.

The news that came out way last night that compromise has been reached in the ongoing campaign to have a single unified team representing Galway city and county in League of Ireland football is to be welcomed. Although, as is the case with most compromises, the solution is not ideal for all parties who may have had to budge from their original positions, it is good news for the football fan who has missed the fortnightly trips to Eamonn Deacy Park.

Galway FC should be ready for Eamonn Deacy Park action in 2014 as the newly formed club will make a licence application to play in the Airtricity League next season.

And then there were two. Dublin qualified for a place against Mayo in the All-Ireland final after an epic battle with Kerry in arguably one of the best games of all times. As a neutral watching my heart missed the odd beat such was the excitement and tension, I can only imagine what it must have been like for supporters of both teams. You have to give Dublin credit for the way they came back after conceding some real sucker punch goals, and as I have always stated you need the odd decision or bounce of a ball to go your way to be successful. In my opinion this game hinged on three defining moments. First of all the placing of Cian O’Sullivan on Colm ‘Gooch’ Cooper after half time. Cooper had run Ger Brennan ragged in the first half with a superb display, he was like a quarter-back orchestrating his team, he was simply untouchable, with O’Sullivan’s superior pace he was not nearly as effective in the second half. Secondly and most importantly the failure of referee Cormac Reilly to issue Johnny Cooper a second yellow card after a deliberate trip on namesake Colm, he would have definitely received a yellow had he not had one to his name already. Surely Dublin would not have survived with 14 men in a game of that intensity. Last, by no means least, after Declan O’Sullivan missed a glorious chance to put Kerry ahead in the 68th minute, David Moran and Marc Ó Sé challenged each other from the resulting kick out, Michael Darragh McCauley pounced on the loose ball to free Kevin McMenamin whose tame effort at a point went over Brendan Kiely’s head and into the back of the net. Game over. It truly was an immense game with some brilliant goals scored and some phenomenal build up play. It gives James Horan and co plenty to think about.

A judge suggested a drugs conviction might benefit a local football team in that the subsequent travel restrictions on its clubman would at least stop the club from losing one more player.

For those of us for whom Friday nights were irrevocably changed when top flight football left Terryland, there will always be a memory of the cups of Bovril and the smell of wintergreenand the smack of leather on a hardened hip in the days before the Dyke Road venue became one of the best football stadiums in the country. Back then with the pitch facing a different alignment, the cold breeze coming in off the Corrib on those winter’s days hardened many a memory in the minds of football fans across not just the city and county, but beyond. Back then when the man after whom the ground is now named marshalled the centre of the pitch, when the Bovril in your cup rippled with every thundering tackle from Miko Nolan, when Kevin Cassidy ran Mario Kempes-style through the hearts of many a defence, when Philip Fay and Carl Humphries threaded the ball down the sidelines like needles in the hands of a seasoned seamstress, they created a sort of magic for every youngster in the ground. And later when Ricky and Jumbo and Donie et al carried that magic to Glenina and back, there was a feeling that no matter the result, you never went home feeling cheated from a day out at Terryland.