Mayo fall short when final place was there to be taken

Sun, Aug 26, 2012

Meath: 2-10
Mayo: 1-11

Major minor matters on Sunday

Fri, Aug 24, 2012

Once in a while, it can be good to get things wrong. Not too often, but calling the result of Mayo's All Ireland minor quarter final against the defending All Ireland champions Tipperary at the start of the month was something that a lot of people called wrong. And were glad too. Tony Duffy's side put on a performance of class and determination in sweeping aside the Munster champions in Croke Park that day. It was as unexpected as it was refreshing, and exciting to see a Mayo side take to the turf in headquarters and play without any fear but total abandon and take to the game to a supposedly stronger side and put them to the sword. Their reward for that victory is a place in the All Ireland semi-final this Sunday against beaten Leinster finalists Meath for a place in next month’s All Ireland final.

Keegan and McCann bid for senior glory this weekend

Fri, Aug 24, 2012

On a particularly busy weekend for handball with the first series of all-Ireland adult and juvenile finals, the overall picture was one of great joy for many of Mayo’s contenders although there were some disappointments also.

Dessie Keegan got the weekend underway as he faced All-Ireland senior singles champion Robbie McCarthy for a place in this year’s showcase decider at Abbeylara. It was level pegging for much of the first game as the sides were level at 6 aces and 8 aces each, but McCarthy slowly asserted his dominance and racked up 10 aces without reply. Keegan added two more to his tally but lost out 21 aces to 10 at the finish. McCarthy assumed control of matters after that and ran out a comfortable winner of the second. Dublin’s Eoin Kennedy won the other semi-final in impressive fashion to set up a repeat of last year’s final at the Longford venue in two week’s time.

Ballina’s Gavin Duffy to lead Connacht again this season

Fri, Aug 24, 2012

Gavin Duffy has been selected as the captain of Connacht Rugby for the upcoming season.

Town girls keep the winning streak going

Fri, Aug 24, 2012

On Thursday evening last Kilmurry u18 girls travelled to Moneen to take on league leaders Castlebar Town. Town unusually started the game slowly letting the Kilmurry girls dictate the early play with the first five minutes played in the Town half, but the Town defence stood firm marshalled by captain Michelle Kelly and Danielle Caldwell with Aoife Brody and Melissa Patterson covering the flanks.

McGuinness deserved to be credited for turning Donegal’s fortunes

Fri, Aug 24, 2012

There’s something heart warming about Donegal. Their team ethic is not based on fancy individuality that can so often lead to failure, but on the values of hard, honest toil and a simple, effective game plan. They have a manager who doesn’t care in the slightest what the football fraternity think of him or his team. He has set out his stall and is sticking by it. The whole world was down on top of them last year, (myself included) because of their ultra defensive dour style of play. Jim McGuinness was vilified for tarnishing our ‘beautiful game’ with such an ugly conservative style of defensive system that saw supporters, including many from his own county, walk out in disgust from Croke Park, when Donegal missed a glorious opportunity to defeat a Dublin side that were there for the taking. In fact, I spent most of last summer hoping they would be beaten as I genuinely hated their style of play. The reality is, they have some fantastic forwards, last year, inexplicably, they utilised them so far from goal that they rarely got an opportunity to do serious damage to any opposition. Six points against Dublin in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final is a case in point. This year they are unquestionably easier on the eye and appear to have realised that they have the ability to be serious contenders for an All-Ireland title if they are prepared to play a more attacking expansive brand of football. I admire them for that and for the fact that they have refined their system which now has seen them score an average of 18 points per game in the five games they have played in this year’s championship. They have also retained their air tight defensive system, only conceding a single goal from open play. And to be fair Jim McGuinness deserves great credit for turning the fortunes of a county whose team, up to last year, were the party, fun loving boys of the inter-county scene.

Kelly's men look to become tomorrow’s heroes

Fri, Aug 24, 2012

It may have taken only two games to get this far, but come 2.30pm in Ennis tomorrow and the chance to win a Celtic Cross over the next 60 minutes, every ball will be contested as ferociously as if it were the senior equivalent in Croke Park on Sunday September 23.

Monaghan stand in Mayo's way

Fri, Aug 24, 2012

It's Ulster opposition once again for the Mayo ladies senior football side as they aim to make it back into the All Ireland semi-final tomorrow. The ladies this time will meet old rivals Monaghan for a place in the last four of the competition. Mayo picked up the pieces from a shattering defeat to Galway in the Connacht final late on to see off the challenge of Tyrone in the last round of qualifiers with a 3-12 to 1-4 win over the O'Neill county girls, thanks in no small part to the talents of Cora Staunton, which continue to be one of the major driving forces in this side. The Carnacon sharp shooter scored 3-11 of Mayo's total that day as part of an amazing performance.

No new major injury concerns for Mayo ahead of Dubs clash

Fri, Aug 24, 2012

Mayo manager James Horan has no fresh injury worries so far in the build up to Sunday week’s All Ireland semi-final against Dublin. Speaking to the media this week in the lead into the game the Ballintubber club man said: “No, not outside Andy [Moran], we’re in pretty good form, and training well. Ronan McGarrity has a sore calf muscle. But outside that we’re in good shape.”

Filling the hole left by the Mayo captain will be one of the big talking points ahead of the game in nine days time, but Horan is confident that the players are there to come in and step up to the plate come Sunday week. “As we said before, Andy will be a huge loss but we're very lucky, we've an extremely strong panel and we saw that when Andy got injured in the game when the subs that came on actually increased the tempo in the game and we kicked on again, which was a good sign for me. And that's been the way in training since, and we've four or five guys who have shown really well since and we’re happy with the way things have gone and we've had a positive bounce from the Andy injury.”

Referees announced for semi-final showdowns

Fri, Aug 17, 2012

With the club championship providing plenty of distraction last weekend from the impending All Ireland semi-final with the defending All Ireland champions, this weekend the build up to the showdown really cranked up.

Keeping tabs on home from afar

Fri, Aug 17, 2012

I am in Chicago for a week's holiday, visiting my daughter Tressan and some friends so I didn't get to see any of the club action last weekend. However, while out at a rather quiet Gaelic Park last Sunday I was given a detailed run down on all of the club championship games by a very enthusiastic Ballintubber native, Vincent Finnerty.

Incidentally, he is convinced now that it is almost a certainty his home club will not be stopped from a three in a row which, if it happens, will be a fantastic achievement. However, that kind of talk is a little premature at this juncture as Crossmolina must be bang in form after their emphatic victory over Westport. Castlebar Mitchels will, understandably, be extremely disappointed not to have advanced to the semi-finals and, for the third year in a row, for failing to beat Ballintubber in the Championship. I spoke with Pat Holmes, the Castlebar Mitchels manager, before I departed and he was reasonably confident that his charges could not be in better shape for the challenge. To be perfectly honest I wasn't as convinced, not because I didn't think they were good enough, but because this Ballintubber side have really matured into a very good team and are proving very difficult to beat. Their success has clearly demonstrated that they are as hungry now for this year's title as they were three years ago. Watching them over the last few years, what has become evident is that not alone have they a number of key individuals to turn to when the going gets tough, but their trade mark cohesiveness and manic-like work ethic for one another are still to the fore. This kind of camaraderie is not unusual for 'country' teams and it is clear that the Ballintubber lads have a great unity of purpose when the pressure is at its greatest. They really do look formidable again this year and with the minor adjustments made to their style of play by successive managers, one would have to agree that they will be the favourites to land another Moclair this year. However, I know from my involvement with Crossmolina over the last few years that they (Crossmolina) will not be in any fear of playing the two-time champions in a couple of weeks time. They have made an enormous improvement over the last two months and, having progressed to a quarter final by the skin of their teeth, maybe lady luck is smiling down on them in 2012. They were savaged by injuries to a number of key players for a couple of the earlier rounds and having watched how poor they were in the defeat to Ballinrobe during the Group stages, the spot light will undoubtedly focus a little more closely on them at this stage of the competition. Ballaghdareen's progress to the semi- final stages of the championship is not a surprise and their clash with Knockmore in the other semi-final will be equally fascinating.

Captain’s prize up for grabs in Balla this weekend

Fri, Aug 17, 2012

Balla
It was a very busy week in Balla Golf Club at the turn of the month with the Balla Open Classic taking place over the course of seven days. The competition was won by the team of G Kilgallon, C Henry, K O’Connor, and M Flanagan on a score of 118. The men’s team prize went to D Dempsey, D Roche, L Timmiss and P McDonnell, with M Gormally, M Flanagan, G Kilgallon, and C McNulty taking the ladies’ prize. The visitors prize was won by the foursome of M Walsh, P Tawse, M Sullivan, and N Moran. There were also holes in one from Kevin Bourke on the seventh and Geraldine O’Malley on the 13th.

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