Connacht continue to be hit by injury crisis for New Year interpro with Munster

Fri, Dec 30, 2016

Connacht, in need of some much-needed New Year cheer when they host Munster at the Galway Sportsground on Saturday, have a record number of players sidelined through injury.

With no light at the end of Connacht's lengthy casualty list, coach Pat Lam has 22 players carrying injuries ahead of the New Year's Eve interprovincial with Pro 12 league leaders Munster. And, after a poor result against Ulster pre-Christmas, a cherished win against Munster would certainly help ease that pain.

From Rio to Rovers there’s been plenty highlights

Fri, Dec 30, 2016

In August all of Mayo were rooting behind one man, when Castlebar's Nicholas Quinn became the first Mayoman since 2008 to take part in the Olympic Games. The 23-year-old student won his heat in the 200m butterfly in a time of 2:11.67 but just missed out a place in the next round of the competition. He also took part in the 100m butterfly finishing fourth in his heat. The young Castlebar man returned to the county town to a hero's welcome after his efforts in Rio.

Club v county, I have seen it from both sides

Fri, Dec 02, 2016

The age-old debate of club versus county seems to raise its ugly head year after year. For a county like ours with such a prominent senior football team that has been in so many All Ireland finals of late it seems we still cannot get the balance right between club and county. The same problem occurred again this year with a fixture pile up as our county champions and genuine All Ireland contenders Castlebar Mitchels had to play six games, six weeks in a row, eventually losing to now Connacht champions Corofin in extra time having run out of gas during that period of extra time. Some may be wondering what about Westport? They had the same conundrum. They even had to replay a county semifinal against Shrule/Glencorrib mid-week such was the backlog of games. However, Westport were not on the go for a continuous 18 months as the Mitchels were, and Westport had plenty in the tank at the final whistle of all their games.

Mayo's big two scrum down this weekend

Fri, Dec 02, 2016

The two heavyweights of rugby in the county will pack down against each other this Sunday at 2.30pm in Heffernan Park. Hosts Ballina, have backed up their historic junior cup win last season with a brilliant start to this season and currently sit on top of the Junior 1A table with seven wins from their opening eight games, their only loss coming thanks to a narrow three point defeat by Connemara at home a month ago.

Mayo look to get it done at second time of asking

Fri, Dec 02, 2016

Tomorrow afternoon in Ballinagh, in Cavan, the masters of the game from Mayo and Cavan will do it again with the All Ireland Masters Championship up for grabs after their first final meeting ended in a stalemate after extra time. The masters from Mayo will be hoping to fare better than their senior counterparts who also went to a replay in the All Ireland final only to come undone at the end of the game by the narrowest of margins.

Mayo sides in FAI Junior Cup showdowns

Fri, Dec 02, 2016

Two of the three Mayo sides in FAI Junior Cup action have home advantage this weekend in the fifth round of the FAI Junior Cup, with just Super League champions Westport United hitting the road to take on Swords based outfit Rivervalley Rangers in the nation's capital.

Mayo beat Santry to stay top of the table

Fri, Dec 02, 2016

Mayo Volleyball Club made the journey to north Dublin to face second place Santry in a battle for top spot. Santry who are playing in division two after being relegated from the top tier last season therefore provided an unknown quantity as they benefited from the experience of playing sides in a higher division week in week out.

Strong showing for Mayo AC in Hollymount

Fri, Nov 25, 2016

The familiar setting of Hollymount’s main street was the backdrop to the traditional November road race on Sunday afternoon. Bib numbers were collected at the community centre. Warm-ups along the local arteries got the blood going ahead of the task – lungs and legs engaged and put through their gears.

Boxing is the winner as young fighters are taken out of comfort zone

Fri, Nov 25, 2016

A team selection from Mayo’s Boxing Development Unit clashed with their Donegal counterparts in St Anne’s boxing club Westport. Designed to take our young prospects out of their comfort zone, these inter-county tests produce some extraordinary performances.

Time for Castlebar to take a well earned break

Fri, Nov 25, 2016

Technical problems and a corrupt USB data file meant last week’s column vanished into thin air just before the paper went to print. Obviously for the most part the article was about Castlebar’s agonising defeat to Corofin after extra time. There was another part issuing a slight warning to Westport before they took on Leitrim champions Sean O’Heslin’s, based on the fact that it took Hollymount/Carramore extra time to see off last year’s Leitrim champions Melvin Gaels. I also felt Louisburg were going into the unknown against Creggs in Kiltoom and would need a big performance to emerge victorious.

I have no doubt Castlebar will look back on their defeat to Corofin with regret, the game was there for the taking in normal time, the wide count says it all, 14 for Castlebar and four for Corofin, the majority of these coming in the first half from really good scoring positions. Despite all those wides the Mitchels found themselves only two in arrears at the break, having only scored four themselves, three points from frees from Neil Douglas and, worryingly, only one from play from Mayo star Paddy Durkin.

Disappointment for Mitchels as Corofin come good in extra-time

Fri, Nov 18, 2016

Corofin’s 0-17 to 0-14 triumph over Castlebar Mitchels after extra-time on Sunday in McHale Park sees the club into its seventh Connacht club final in 11 years and searching for a fourth title since 2008.

Land of the Giants Duathlon goes from strength to strength

Fri, Nov 18, 2016

Claremorris will host the Land of the Giants Duathlon for the sixth time on Wednesday December 28. Last year saw a bumper crowd of more than 250 participants, and organisers are expecting even bigger numbers this Christmas.

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