Connacht did everything to keep Henshaw

Fri, Feb 19, 2016

Connacht left no stone unturned in their bid to stop Robbie Henshaw from heading to Dublin. The 22-years-old Connacht and Ireland centre confirmed his departure from his home province on Sunday, before signing with Leinster on Monday evening for the next three seasons. Connacht coach Pat Lam says Connacht, with the help of the IRFU, did everything possible to keep Henshaw at the Sportsground, but in the end it was the Athlone native's decision to leave.

Back to league action after cup break

Fri, Feb 19, 2016

After a few weeks of action in the Connacht Junior Cup it is back to the home ranch for the sides in the Connacht Junior League this weekend. Last weekend Westport booked their place in a third successive Connacht Junior Cup final with a 30 point win over Tuam last Sunday in Carrowholly. There could yet be an all Mayo final with Ballina currently waiting for Monivea and Galwegians to get to grips with each other this weekend to see who they will face in the semi-final on Sunday week.

But back to the action this coming weekend in the league, and league leaders Westport will be looking to get to further strengthen their grasp on top spot when they take on bottom side Connemara in Clifden on Sunday. Westport are currently sitting two points in front of Ballina in the league standings with both side having three games to go.

Conway and Murtagh win in Ballinrobe

Fri, Feb 19, 2016

The ninth edition of the annual spring Ballinrobe run bike run event was hailed as the best yet despite the cold wet conditions, a change to the first run meant all participants had 1.5k extra to cover, there were bigger gaps than normal between the bikers which made for a harder event.

Browne’s ladies are aiming for big things

Fri, Feb 19, 2016

The Mayo ladies' senior football team have got their season off to the perfect start with three wins from their opening three games. On paper it looked like the toughest of starts that Frank Browne's side could have had away to the defending All Ireland champions Cork, before Dublin came to Mayo the following week, and then a trip to Tuam to take on a Galway side that have claimed the last four Connacht titles. But Mayo have come out of those three games with three wins out of three and have set themselves up nicely for a crack at the league title.

Heart and guts from Castlebar see them edge a thriller

Fri, Feb 19, 2016

Castlebar Mitchels are through to their second All-Ireland club final in three years after a heroic semifinal win over club kingpins Crossmaglen Rangers in Breffni Park last weekend. It really was a battle royal with both sets of players getting stuck into each other from the get go. I don’t imagine either team came up against such intensity in their run to the semifinal.

There are so many talking points, so many key moments, that ultimately decided the game. Crossmaglen hit the ground running and had their first score on the board inside the first minute. Things looked ominous for the Mayo champions in that first half as Jamie Clarke most definitely brought his A game and terrorised the Mitchels defence and Tom Cuniffe in particular. The message from the Castlebar management was simple — in Tom we trust, he is their best man marker, however he was very isolated in his full back line in the first half and Clarke took full advantage. Clarke finished the half with 0-3, it could easily have been 1-04 or 2-03 had he taken all the chances offered to him. In fairness, Turbo Tom was on a hiding to nothing as Clarke was given some unbelievable passes by the three Kernan brothers which were simply impossible to defend against if on your own.

Coen confident as Mayo look to down the Royals

Fri, Feb 19, 2016

The Mayo senior hurlers got their National League season off to a winning start last Sunday, when they saw off Donegal in MacHale Park in round one of the league. This year sees Mayo drop down to the Nicky Rackard Cup for their championship campaign in the summer time and we caught up with Mayo senior hurling manager JP Coen during the week to look ahead to the season and what he expects from his charges.

Feeney goal seals opening day win for hurlers

Sun, Feb 14, 2016

A Kenny Feeney goal 20 minutes from time was the deciding moment in this entertaining encounter that saw Mayo get off to a winning start in the National Hurling League in Castlebar on Sunday. Feeney and Keith Higgins were the main men for Mayo with the two scoring a combined 1-9 between them over the 70 minutes.

Mitchels show the heart of champions to book final spot

Sun, Feb 14, 2016

If anyone had any doubts about how much Castlebar Mitchels want to be bringing the Andy Merrgian Cup to Castlebar in March, they got their answer in Breffni Park on Saturday night. Mitchels are a team packed full of talented footballers from one end of the field to the other, but on Saturday night heart, guts, fight and determination were as much responsible for their one point win over Crossmaglen Rangers as any amount of talent.

Mitchels look to make their mark

Fri, Feb 12, 2016

When St Patrick's day rolls around Castlebar Mitchels will be hoping they are preparing for a perfect ten out of ten record in championship games in the All Ireland final. The Mayo and Connacht champions have played in and won eight championship games since they opened their account on a rainy Saturday evening in Josie Munnelly Park against Ballaghaderreen early last summer.

Mayo showed what they are made of

Fri, Feb 12, 2016

Last Saturday can only be described as a Super Saturday within Mayo GAA circles with three big games on — However none of the results matched the excitement within the county. The All-Ireland champions Dublin travelled to Elvery’s MacHale Park for what was meant to be a walk in the park for them, given Mayo’s performance the previous week in Cork. What ensued was everything but as a very different Mayo made them fight to the bitter end, only for Dublin to scrape home by two points.

Conditions in Castlebar can only be described as Baltic yet over ten thousand hardy souls turned out to support their teams. The swirling hail stone shower as the teams warmed up brought back horrible memories as to how difficult it was to play in such conditions. I wasn’t built to play football in the Arctic and wasn’t envious of the players on the field. I don’t recall a Mayo team playing in the last 15 years in any competition where the bookmakers were offering 4/1 for them to win, even at home. A bookmakers odds normally very indicative of what might occur and they were expecting the Dubs to run riot as were most of the supporters in the large crowd, including yours truly.

Draws set up some mouth watering encounters

Fri, Feb 12, 2016

The focus of all the GAA clubs in Mayo was sharpened this week when the draw for the senior, intermediate and junior football championships were made in MacHale Park. In the senior championship the defending champions Castlebar Mitchels were pitted in a group with two of the heavy hitters from the recent past with Ballina Stephenites and Crossmolina Deel Rovers in the pool with them. Joining those three sides are Ballinrobe who'll fancy their chances of turning over at least one of the former giants.

Last years beaten finalists Breaffy have landed themselves in the south Mayo 'battle royale' group with Davitts who nearly cut Breaffy's run off at the knees before it got going last year, Garrymore and Claremorris making up the four team group. Ballintubber will open their championship run at home to last years intermediate champions Hollymount-Carramore who only finished their season last weekend, the other two sides in the group are the east Mayo heavyweights Charlestown and Aghamore. With Ballintubber on paper, favourites to take at least one of the two last eight spots. the second place in the quarter-final is sure to be a hotly contested one. The final group in the senior championship looks to be another tight affair, Knockmore and Ballaghaderreen look to be the two heavy hitters, but Kiltane and Ballyhaunis won't let them have it all their own way

Mayo look to make it three in a row

Fri, Feb 12, 2016

Mayo made it two wins from two in the National Football League last weekend when they saw off Dublin by two points in Swinford Amenity Park. This win, backing up their victory over Cork the previous weekend has laid down a serious marker of intent from Frank Browne's ladies for the season ahead.

E-paper

Read this weeks E-paper. Past editions also available from within this weeks digital copy.