Casey's Call

Fri, Jun 14, 2013

Welcome to my first column as a writer. For the rest of the summer at least, I intend to discuss, analyse and give my opinion on all matters GAA at club and inter-county level. Feel free to e-mail me any comments or opinions you may have. For the week that’s in it my mind in focused on one thing only and there’s no prizes for guessing what that is. Mayo welcome Roscommon to Castlebar on Sunday for the Connacht semi-final and a right to play either London or Leitrim in the Connacht final. It sounds a bit surreal, but yes, London could be in a Connacht final. With the current upheaval in Leitrim and four players designated to the scrapheap for disciplinary reasons I may just fancy a flutter on London to make the final. Leitrim have a small enough panel to pick from without losing players, most notably Wayne McKeon, arguably one of their best players, but that’s for another day.

Hands up if you could see Mayo disposing of Galway with such ease (my hands haven’t left the keyboard). Some very wise men expected something of an ambush in Salthill, I expected a very keenly contested game that would go to the wire and was a worried Mayo man as injuries mounted and Galway received a huge morale boost after their u21s bagged another All-Ireland title. For anyone that wasn’t at it, Mayo should have beaten Galway in Tuam in the u21 Connacht semi-final. The sheer difference in physicality between the teams in the senior game in Salthill was there for all to see; boys against men springs to mind. The battle hardened Mayo players looked determined, focused and physically in great shape and wanted to prove they were not scarred from the All-Ireland final loss to Donegal, while the Galway players looked like they had all celebrated the u21 victory a few weeks previous. History suggests it was one of the most comprehensive Mayo victories over Galway on record. There are too many positives to take from this game given the poor quality of the opposition but here are three. (1) Mayo forwards tackled with extreme intensity, (2) Mayo were able to cope without a lot of key players. (3) Alan Dillon and Andy Moran got valuable game time.

Feeney gets the nod to fill O’Connor’s boots

Fri, Jun 14, 2013

Castlebar Mitchels man Richie Feeney has been handed the number 11 shirt for Sunday’s Connacht Senior Football Championship semi-final against Roscommon in McHale Park. The versatile Feeney will replace the injured Cillian O’Connor who dislocated his shoulder in a club championship match for Ballintubber against Claremorris, the week after Mayo’s opening round victory over Galway in Salthill.

Horan looking for more progress next Sunday

Sun, Jun 09, 2013

In the build up to Mayo's Connacht semi-final showdown against Roscommon next Sunday, Mayo manager James Horan has said that he doesn't mind Mayo being grouped in as potential All Ireland winners as that's where his team want to be. When asked did it bother him at last weeks pre-game press conference the Mayo manager said “Not at all, we're an ambitious team, we're looking to be as good as we possibly can and we feel that we have a lot of ability and that's OK, we'll take that. We're making progress and we're going the right way. So we're just going to June 16 and see can we take the next step.”

However he did repeat his warning to supporters not to be getting to carried away just yet. When asked about the warning to supporters he issued last week as to why he felt that way, he said that. “I suppose the couple of hundred people who have said to me it's great to have Cillian and Micky Conroy back for August. We're not in a Connacht final, we're in a Connacht semi-final, never mind an All Ireland quarter-final. That's the game that we have to play, that dictates then what happens next. Any of that kind of talk is just daft, it's natural, but it's daft in terms of our preparation, but thankfully we have a lot of smart guys that just can see through that and are really focused on each session we have.”

Mayo prepare for Roscommon challenge with victory over Cavan

Fri, Jun 07, 2013

With time ticking down to next Sunday’s Connacht semi-final against Roscommon in McHale Park, James Horan and his managment team took the chance of last Monday’s challenge game with Cavan in James Stephens Park to run the rule over a number of fringe contenders for a place in next Sunday’s side. Kenneth O’Malley in goal with Kevin Keane, Shane McHale, and James Burke were all given chances to impress in the defence, while Jason Gibbons put in a good shift, especially in the second half while partnering Aidan O’Shea in midfield. In attack Richie Feeney stepped into the number 11 shirt vacated by Cillian O’Connor because of his shoulder injury, while Darren Coen started at corner forward with Andy Moran in the other. The Ballaghaderreen man got some good game time under his belt in his battle to get back to full match fitness as soon as possible.

Benson storms into Yellow with another win

Fri, Jun 07, 2013

Already 114 riders have participated in this year’s Mayo Cycling League with youth, ladies, club, junior and senior racers in the mix. Karl Benson of Castlebar took his second win of the league last Wednesday night in Swinford to take the leader’s yellow jersey out-sprinting the bunch on the drag to the finish. With the notable absence of the yellow jersey and the fact that Western Lakes was sending a racing team to Ras Dhun Na Gall the pressure was on the other contenders to place and try to take something from the race.

The 50k lumpy route started in Swinford heading for Ballyvarry, on to Balla via the Prison Road, left before Balla into Kiltimagh, and right after Kiltimagh back to Swinford, finishing on the N5. In the shake-up Castlebar's local knowledge managed to secure five top 10 spots. Cunga also performed well with Jarlath Togher second and Gary Collins fifth. David Brody completed the podium taking third. In the team classification Castlebar are now 300 points clear of Westport Covey Wheelers who are in second with 486 points, just ahead of Western Lakes on 468 points.

Ballina Town race clear at the top

Fri, Jun 07, 2013

Is the race for the Elverys Sports Super League over already? With four games gone from 14 for six of the eight sides, Ballina Town have found themselves six points clear at the top of the table with four wins from four. Packed neatly behind them on six points are three sides, Ballyheane, Manulla, and Snugboro United, with Castlebar Celtic and Westport United tied together on four points in fifth and sixth places. Claremorris and Iorras Aontaithe make up the bottom two, with Claremorris just one point behind the two flagship names of Mayo soccer, and Iorras Aontaithe who have only played three points have just a point to show for their efforts so far.

Glamour ties for Connacht in Heineken Cup

Fri, Jun 07, 2013

Connacht’s third foray into Heineken Cup Rugby will see French giants Toulouse return to the Galway Sportsground next season. Connacht have been drawn in pool three with Toulouse, English premiership side Saracens, and also familiar RaboDirect Pro 12 opponents, Italian side Zebre. With the three fellow Irish clubs all in tier one, Connacht were poised to draw Clermont, champions Toulon, or Toulouse. In steering clear of Clermont in pool 4, they also avoided meeting Conor O’Shea’s Harlequins again, but for a second successive year they will face Zebre.

Connacht will relish another crack at the three-times cup winners Toulouse, coached by the legendary Guy Noves. Their arrival in the Galway Sportsground two seasons ago was a huge occasion for the province in their first Heineken Cup. But, in front of more than 9,000 supporters, Connacht players always felt they had failed to do justice to themselves, losing 36-10.

Connacht Gold Cup action takes centre stage

Fri, May 31, 2013

While most eyes last weekend were on Westport United’s big game in Lecarrow in the Connacht Junior Cup, there were still three rounds of games in the Elverys Sports Super League. Ballina Town made it three wins from three with a 7-2 win over Claremorris at home. That is 19 goals scored in three games by the north Mayo men, who are laying down a serious assault on this year’s title. Their goals came from a David O’Mahony hat-trick with Barry Higgins, Daniel Gorman, Pat Duffy, and Ben McGarry all chipping in with goals.

Females shine at National championships

Fri, May 31, 2013

An extremely large entry into the 2012/2013 National u18 championships last weekend saw the first session of boxing on Friday last take the full seven hour shift to complete. Seventeen Mayo boxers, a combination of both male and female, weighed in on Friday morning. Two female boxers added a pair of additional titles to the 32 already won by Mayo boxers this season. Lycia Heneghan (Ballinrobe BC) and Kathy Higgins (Ardnaree BC) were successful in their attempts to include national titles on their records.

Tommy Joe is right on time in Ballindine

Fri, May 31, 2013

The soggy weather did not deter organiser in chief, Dave Huane, from clocking up his fifth Annual Ballindine "Guess your own time" four mile road race last Saturday evening. A good field assembled at the top of the hill start at Ard Lugalisheen and all were checked over for watches and other timepieces, having 'guessed their own finishing time' when they entered.

The summer starts now for club stars

Fri, May 31, 2013

The hard yards put in on the muddy fields from Belmullet to Shrule over the wild winter and soaking spring will be put to the test this weekend when the first ball is thrown-in in this year’s Mayo club championships. From Saturday evening to Sunday afternoon, across 16 games in the senior and intermediate championships the shape the summer will take for 32 clubs will start to form.