March date for the Dubs rematch

Fri, Feb 17, 2012

On and off again became the theme of Mayo’s National Football League meeting with Dublin over the past week. Saturday night’s match against the All Ireland champions was abandoned by referee Marty Duffy at half time, when a thick blanket of fog descended on McHale Park shortly before the median whistle and showed no signs of clearing after a prolonged half time break, forcing the Sligo whistler to abandon the game.

Davitts dreams go down in Croker

Sun, Feb 12, 2012

Milltown-Castlemaine 1-13
Davitts 1-6

Silver for Mayo AC ladies team in Masters Cross Country Championship

Fri, Feb 10, 2012

Lough Key Forest Park was the setting for another great performance by Mayo AC at Woodie’s DIY AAI Masters Cross Country Championships on Sunday. A mild misty day is usually welcomed by athletes, but many struggled in the tough conditions over hill and hollow.

Four Celtic girls called up for international duty

Fri, Feb 10, 2012

Republic of Ireland senior coach Sue Ronan has called up Emma Mullen, Castlebar Celtic, to the Irish Women’s Senior Squad to play in the Algarve Cup.

Connacht must continue Heineken Cup form in the Rabo

Fri, Feb 10, 2012

From the high of their Heineken Cup victory over Harlequins and a two week break, Connacht return to competitive action in the Pro 12 when they travel to Cardiff to take on the Blues this evening. The challenge for Eric Elwood's men is to deliver the type of performance they displayed in Europe in the bread and butter competition of the Celtic League. If they do not, they will languish at the bottom of the table where Italian strugglers Aironi are poised to overtake them, while a win could see them leap the Dragons.

That is the stark reality facing Connacht as this next series of fixtures begins. Connacht do have continuing injury concerns - some 11 this week - but there can be no excuses. If they can produce a winning display against the English premiership leaders, there is no reason they cannot do it in the Pro12. Now after a much-needed two week break from competition, Elwood says his players have returned refreshed and determined to build on their Heineken Cup campaign. "We certainly needed the break. We had a lot of broken bodies. The lads had gone to the well for 13 weeks on the bounce and, to be honest, we would put our hands up and say 'thank God for the rest'," Elwood says. "Obviously we were on the wrong end of defeats. We had that monkey and it was a huge demand both physically and mentally, but in fairness the players stuck to the task and got their just rewards in the end."

Davitts on the doorstep of destiny

Fri, Feb 10, 2012

It is a normally a once in a lifetime thing for most people, some get a second chance at it, but for the vast majority it is a one shot deal. Getting to an All Ireland Club final is the most special occasion for anyone involved in a club. It is the pure essence of what the GAA is about, the smallest unit of the organisation, making it all the way to the greatest stage that it possibly can. While the All Ireland senior club championships have been one of the highlights of the GAA calendar for decades now, the introduction of the All Ireland championship at junior and intermediate level has brought the ability to achieve the ultimate to every club in the country which has a rutted field, a run down club house, and puts out a team into championship action every year, against the odds of modern life, the depopulation of rural Ireland, and the mass youth emigration that is currently happening across the isle.

The Dubs to test Mayo’s metal on Saturday night

Fri, Feb 10, 2012

A crowd of some 10,000 people are expected to descend on McHale Park on Saturday evening, when the All Ireland champions Dublin come to town for the second round of the Allianz Football League. Tomorrow night’s game will throw in at the earlier time of 6.30pm from the rest of Mayo’s Saturday night league schedule to avoid a clash with Ireland’s RBS Six Nations game with France in Paris which gets under way at 8pm. But the attraction of a Saturday night game and the box office attraction of last year’s All Ireland champions is expected to swell the attendance in McHale Park.

Ladies look to build on good start

Fri, Feb 10, 2012

The Mayo ladies’ senior side will look to build on their good start to the National Football League when they welcome Clare on Sunday at 2pm. New Mayo manager Fr Mike Murphy and his charges got off to a perfect start when they saw off the challenge of local rivals Galway on a scoreline of 3-14 to 1-7 in Tuam Stadium on Sunday. Cora Staunton was once again the go to person bagging 2-9 of Mayo’s total over the 60 minutes of action. Staunton grabbed her first goal just before the interval and converted her second from the penalty spot after Yvonne Byrne was fouled in the aftermath of a good move involving Staunton, Kathryn Sullivan, and Sinead Murphy. Mayo’s third goal came from the boot of Martha Carter who drove home her major with a snap shot from the 30 metre line.

Other Mayo players to get on the scoreboard included Fiona McHale who chipped in with two points and Deirdre Doherty who scored three points. With Clare coming up this weekend it represents a good chance for Mayo to make it two wins out of two, especially if Staunton can keep up her good scoring form in front of the posts.

Mayo pick up the points with strong second half display

Sat, Feb 04, 2012

Mayo 1-11
Laois 0-8

Kilkelly back in charge of Celtic

Fri, Feb 03, 2012

Castlebar Celtic has re-appointed Declan Kilkelly as manager of the club’s Super League side in a surprising turn of events over the past week. Kilkelly had been in charge of the side up to the end of last year’s Super League campaign when he led the hoops to a well deserved league title. Kilkelly had also been in charge of Celtic during their time in the League of Ireland A League and coached the youths’ side to a win in the FAI Youths Cup in 2007. Kilkelly still lined out for Celtic on a number of occasions in goal in recent years when injuries necessitated. He had recently also transferred his player registration to Achill Rovers where he was playing with the side in the masters league.

Syron takes win at Kilbride 10k

Fri, Feb 03, 2012

The inaugural Kilbride 10k took place on Sunday and attracted an excellent field of some 400 runners and walkers. Conditions were calm, but persistent rain overnight carried on until the race start. The one-lap course had frequent splash-through pools and roadside streams over the first 8k and then two tough hills made it a demanding finish over the final 2k. Mark Doyle (Runworx) was first across the line in 35.04. Performance of the day was by women's race winner Sarah Syron (Mayo AC), whose gritty finish enabled her to win by nine seconds in 40.56.

Spring leagues sees good scoring around the county

Fri, Feb 03, 2012

Ballina
In the ladies’ competition last week, the Thursday nine hole stableford competition was won by Ann White with a score of 13pts. Ann went on to show Thursday’s performance was no flash in the pan and also won the Sunday nine hole stableford competition on a score of 16pts.

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