Crokes, lights, and the antics of Curran

Fri, Dec 06, 2013

As we expected Dr Crokes of Kerry won the Munster club title to set up an All-Ireland semi final with Castlebar Mitchels to be played next February. An old team mate of mine who now plays his club football in Clare told me last week that Cratloe had a fine team and were in no uncertain terms just going to make up the numbers. He advised me to have a bet on Cratloe using the handicap, as I was told there was no chance of them shipping a hiding, he was right and I didn’t listen. Cratloe, who boast seven of the Clare senior hurling team, threw the bookmakers’ odds out the window and went agonisingly close to causing an enormous upset. Any team with a backbone like that will be tough and in physically brilliant shape. I could only imagine the tension and excitement in the Castlebar camp as Cratloe took the lead with four minutes to go. Castlebar should not and will not fear anyone, but they would have loved to see Crokes who were going for a three in a row in Munster beaten. Crokes have an unbelievable team and I am sure they are thinking this is their best chance to win that elusive Andy Merrigan cup. I am sure they took their eye off the ball last Sunday and they got the fright they needed. I was very anxious to hear about Colm Cooper’s red card, to see if he was going to be suspended for the semi final against the Mitchels, thankfully it was just a second yellow. Part of me wanted him suspended (Castlebar would have a much better chance) but the football brain came into action and the most part of me wanted him available to see how he copes against a very good Castlebar defence. If Barry Moran appeals his red card (which he should) I hope it gets overturned as I fully believe his tackle on Karl Mannion merited a yellow card at worst. It would be better for football followers all over the country to see both teams going at it with a full panel to pick from. Dr Crokes players are household names at this stage, more well known than a lot of county players from outside division one. They have three current Kerry players in the Gooch, Kieran O’Leary, and Eoin Brosnan, and two other brilliant forwards in Brian Looney and Daithi Casey. It will be fascinating to see a brilliant forward line going up against a well oiled and organised backline next February, something has to give.

Never mind the rugby, Hyde Park was the place to be

Fri, Nov 29, 2013

While driving to Hyde Park in Roscommon last Sunday there were two things on my mind. The first, I was wondering what Santa Claus would bring me, the second, whether I would rather be at home watching the All Blacks against Ireland in the rugby where the All Blacks were bidding to make history by being the first team to go unbeaten in a calendar year. By all accounts the rugby was pulsating, but with GAA in the bloodstream I was definitely in the right place. The Connacht club final between reigning All- Ireland champions St Brigid’s and Mayo champions Castlebar Mitchels was one of the most intense and exciting games I was ever present at. It literally had everything. Brilliant goals, superb defending, disallowed scores, unreal goal keeping, dubious refereeing, and for the week that is in it a scene out of Monty Python when Shane Curran had to be man handled off the field, red cards, and last but by no means least, the last kick of the game levelling scores. I am sure everyone present will take a different memory home with them.

Rumley and Walsh to be honoured with Henry Downes award

Fri, Nov 29, 2013

Next Friday night (December 6) in the Welcome Inn Hotel the Mayo League will honour the best performers of the year at its annual awards night. The league has selected teams of the year across all five divisions of the Mayo League, from the Super League to League Two, and team of the year for the Masters competitions it runs. It will also announce on the night the player of the year in each division.

The Mayo League has also announced before the awards the joint winners of the prestigious Henry Downes Service to Football award, which this year goes to Tommy Rumley, Manulla, and Mick Walsh, Castlebar. These awards, introduced last year, are in honour of a man who dedicated so much of his life to the game in the county. Henry Downes served as chairman of the Mayo League from 1959 to 1989, an incredible length of time for any sporting volunteer which is unlikely to be repeated.

Carnacon on the drive for five

Fri, Nov 29, 2013

Familiar foes will square off in Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada in Carrick on Shannon on Sunday at 1.30pm, with the Dolores Tyrrell Cup up for grabs. For the second time in as many years, Mayo’s Carnacon will square off against Donaghmoyne from Monaghan for the right to be crowned the best club side in Ireland. The game also sees the meeting of the last two All Ireland champions with Carnacon preceding the Monaghan ladies as the holders of the title, having won their fourth All Ireland senior club title in 2011 with a win over Na Fianna from Dublin. While the Mayo ladies are going for their fifth national title on Sunday, the Monaghan ladies are looking for their fourth, having won the title in 2006 and 2009 to go with their win last year. The side from Farney County also have the upper hand over Carnacon when it comes to final meetings, having beaten the Mayo side twice on the big day, last year and back in 2006 when they claimed their first national senior crown.

Former Limerick hurler O'Connor appointed as Mayo hurling coach

Fri, Nov 29, 2013

The Mayo county board has ratified the appointment of former Limerick u21 hurling manager Leo O'Connor as Mayo hurling coach. O'Connor joins the Mayo hurling management team with fellow Limerick man Christy Phillips (manager) and Austin Kenny (selector) from Mayo champions Tooreen.

O'Connor first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Limerick u21 hurling team. In 1987 he missed out on the county's Munster final triumph over Cork, but was included on the starting 15 for the subsequent All-Ireland final. A 2-15 to 3-6 defeat of Galway gave O'Connor a coveted All-Ireland u21 hurling medal.

Mitchels come through when it counts

Sun, Nov 24, 2013

Castlebar Mitchels 3-13
St Brigid's 2-12

Mitchels men recall Douglas' last second leveler

Sun, Nov 24, 2013

The game was on the line, it was all or nothing when Neil Douglas stepped up and leveled the game up in Hyde Park on Sunday afternoon for Castlebar Mitchels. While it looked a simple free that any senior club free taker would slot over the bar, there was serious pressure on Douglas' shoulders as he did it. After the game we spoke to some of Douglas' team-mates and his manager as to what was going through their heads as Douglas placed the ball, took a few steps back and connected with the ball. Mitchels manager Pat Holmes, even admitted he did briefly consider bringing in veteran Kevin Filan to take the pressure kick for a few seconds. “My heart was in my mouth because he hadn't been hitting them all day and Tom had been hitting them and Tom had gotten the thing (knock in the build up to the free).We were considering putting on Kevin Filan to take it, but he would have been coming in cold and 'Duggie' in fairness took on the responsibility and buried it over.”

Happy Holmes praises teams effort

Sun, Nov 24, 2013

Twenty years ago he did it as a player with Castlebar Mitchels and on Sunday in Hyde Park, Pat Holmes from the sideline guided Castlebar Mitchels to their first Connacht title since the manager was lining out on the field himself in the red and yellow of the county town. Immediately after the game, Holmes said he was just happy to have got the win in the titanic struggle. “It ebbed and flowed up and down, it's hard to remember all the events that went on in the game. We're just delighted to have won the game.” Going in at half-time five points down and then managing to work themselves into a big lead midway through the second half, many would have expected that Holmes' gave some rousing speech at half-time to get his side riled up for the second half, but the main man himself said there was none of that at all. “We just knew that we hadn't played to our potential in the first half and we also said we'd been five points down against Corofin and we had won the game. So we knew that it wasn't insurmountable and that if we went out and played to our potential and the idea was to try and go out in the second half and work harder.”

Cycling results from Ballinrobe Cyclo Cross

Fri, Nov 22, 2013

It has been 12 years since Western Lakes CC last organised a Cyclo Cross event at the race course in Ballinrobe, and in that time the numbers that have taken up cycling has greatly increased.

The Kiltane victory was based on a solid backline

Fri, Nov 22, 2013

Kiltane are the 2013 Connacht Intermediate football champions after a very professional performance against Boyle of Roscommon last Sunday in Elvery's McHale Park. They were never really in danger in this game, albeit for a sloppy patch midway through the first half in which they conceded a goal and a point on the spin but that was as good as it got for Boyle. Kiltane are keeping the tradition going by being the third Mayo team in a row to win the Gene Byrne Cup. Little did they know the favours Davitt's and Charlestown did for them the two years previous by playing almost all of their games away from home resulting in the Mayo champs having three home games in this years provincial series. You cannot beat home advantage when you are entering the unknown. It is hard to believe this team could have been out of the championship if Drumcliff/ Rosses Point substitute Colin Ginty kept his head instead of fluffing his lines in the dying moments of the semi final when it looked easier to score. Upon such outcomes All-Irelands are won, most All-Ireland champions have a little bit of luck along the way and that most certainly was Kiltane’s. Their ambition now certainly has to be to claim more silverware in early 2014, a feat which Davitt’s and Charlestown failed to achieve.

Success for Mayo AC masters women athletes

Fri, Nov 22, 2013

Mayo AC's masters athletes competed on the Irish team in the 26th Annual British and Irish Masters International Cross Country at Bute Park, Cardiff, last Saturday.

Pauline Moran W55, Colette Tuohy W40, and Jim Gaughan M60 ran in their age category teams against the top masters runners from England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Mitchels have what it takes to bring down the Saints

Fri, Nov 22, 2013

Finally getting over the 20-year-old itch and winning the Moclair Cup looks to have freed this Castlebar Mitchels team from the nagging doubts that many had about their ability to press on and mark themselves out as one of the truly great Mayo club sides. They have another opportunity to kick-on again this Sunday, when they go toe-to-toe with the current AIB All Ireland club champions, St Brigid's in Hyde Park. While bookmakers may have the Roscommon men as 4/7 favourites and Castlebar as 15/8 outsiders, those numbers will been have paid little heed around Páirc Josie Munnelly, as Pat Holmes along with his management team of Alan Nolan and Shane Conway put their players through their paces in preparation for Mitchels first provincial final since 1993. Last Sunday, the Mitchels wrapped up the Mayo double with a comprehensive 2-15 to 1-2 league win over the previous holders of the Moclair Cup, Ballaghaderreen. In 10 league and seven championship games they have gone into battle in this year, Mitchels have only been overturned once, on the opening day in the league, when the side they saw off in the county final (Breaffy) edged past them on a boggy and misty spring day.

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