You would be hard pressed to find better value for money

Fri, Oct 07, 2011

I managed to take in four of the five matches at McHale Park last weekend. The weather was particularly nice for football and I thoroughly enjoyed the majority of the action. I am partial to giving the GAA at administrative level the odd short-arm tackle over the way they do business when it comes to entrance fees to matches. No such complaints last weekend and I have to applaud the fact that the County Board decided an entrance fee of €10 to be an appropriate rate on both days. This represents excellent value for money, even in these economically depressed times. However when you consider that €20 gave you access to five games I was disappointed that the crowds did not flood into the venue over the weekend.

The Ballyhaunis v Burrishoole match on Saturday afternoon started off in ding-dong fashion with both sides trading some excellent scores. At half time it was difficult to know who would prevail, but Burrishoole seemed that little bit more at ease. Despite the fact that I fancied Burrishoole at the outset I did not anticipate the way they dismantled a well prepared Ballyhaunis side. I say ‘well prepared’ as I had heard they travelled down to Crossmolina a number of weeks ago to familiarise themselves with the venue before they played Belmullet in the Championship. That attention to detail caught my eye and I had a suspicion they might actually be in with a shot of winning this year’s intermediate title. But Burrishoole, with senior league experience behind them this season, were by far the more accomplished side. Jason Doherty again enhanced his reputation as being one of the very best when presented with his one- on- one goal opportunities.

GAA: Mayo JFC Both Islandeady and Ardnaree look to make up for past defeats

Fri, Oct 07, 2011

It is a case of trying to put things right this Sunday for the two sides who were defeated in the two most recent instalments of the Mayo Junior Football Championship final. Last year’s beaten finalists Islandeady will do battle with the beaten finalists from 2009, Ardnaree, in McHale Park on Sunday afternoon. While both sides will be flying high right now ahead of the game, it will be a testing 60 minutes as they will be playing their third consecutive hard fought championship match on the trot over three weekends. Last weekend Islandeady had only two points to spare over The Neale in McHale Park where they had to do it the hard way after going behind to a goal from the south Mayo men with a few minutes to go. But they dug out the win thanks to points from Vinny Feeney, Martin Feeney, and Cormac Gordon in the closing stages, to keep the side, who have been the nearly men of this grade for the past couple of years, on course to finally reclaim the Pete McDonnell Cup. Last year Islandeady were beaten by Parke in the final of this grade and they will be hoping that this year they can put that right.

Berkeley star of the show in Ballyhaunis

Fri, Sep 30, 2011

Ballyhaunis was blessed with welcome September sun on Saturday afternoon for the fourth annual 8k and final race in 2011 Mayo AC C&C Cellular Road League. Race organiser Martin Fitzmaurice and team put on an excellent, well-marshalled event.

Two further All-Ireland titles for Mayo’s handballers

Fri, Sep 30, 2011

The 60x30 season concluded with the final series of finals at eight venues around the country over the weekend and Mayo handballers secured a further two title from their five contested finals.

Golfer of the year title decided in Westport

Fri, Sep 30, 2011

Balla
Last weekend’s competition in Balla was sponsored by The Sheebeen Golf Society. In a tight finish Junior Prendergast was the winner with a score of 36pts. His play on the back nine saw him hold off Aodan MacSuibhne in second and John Walsh in third. Both men also finished on 36pts with MacSuibhnie’s back six play separating him from John Walsh. The ladies’ competition was also won after a tight finish on 36 points. Breege Jennings was the winner thanks to her scoring on the back nine, with Aine McDonald second and Geraldine Kilgallon back in third on 35pts. Breege Jennings’ win on the day saw her also become the overall winner of the Balla cup.

Padraig Marrey wins adventure race title

Fri, Sep 30, 2011

A win in the Conquest Connemara adventure race was the only result that would guarantee Mayo’s Padraig Marrey the overall adventure racing league winner’s title. With 10 rounds held all over the country and the who’s who of adventure racing the start line such as Peter O’Farrell, Noel Kavanagh and Adrian Hennessy on the start line, and added to the mix World Champion mountain biker Niall Davies and Irish international mountain runner James McFadden, Marrey’s chances looked very tough.

Connacht Gold Cup and Shield bring curtain down on domestic season

Fri, Sep 30, 2011

The final acts of the domestic soccer season will take place in Milebush Park this Sunday with the Connacht Gold Cup and Shield final double header getting under way at 1pm. In the shield final Westport United C will take on Conn Rangers at the home of Mayo football. The men from north Mayo will go in as favourites, having finished the league campaign in fourth place in the second tier of the Mayo League and having seen off the challenge of Westport United B twice in the league. However the United C team had a great season two divisions below picking up 23 points during the league, finishing only three points off the top of the table. Conn Rangers had to overcome Westport United B for a third time this year at the semi final stage and booked their place in the final with a 2-1 win.

Moylette gets World Championship under way today

Fri, Sep 30, 2011

Islandeady’s Ray Moylette will get his World Championships underway in Baku, Azerbaijan, today when he takes on Latvian Aturs Ahmetovs in the last 64 of the competition. Three wins for the St Anne’s club man who claimed the European Light Welterweight title during the summer will book his place in next year’s Olympics in London. Having won the European title Moylette has been ranked fourth by the AIBA in the World Championship, but his place in this week’s competition was only secured a few weeks ago when be defeated Irish champion Ross Hickey in a box off in the National Stadium.

Should Moylette win his fight today he will box again on Sunday against the winner of the bout between Valentio Knowles from the Bahamas, who claimed a bronze in last year’s Commonwealth games, and Manoj Kumar of India, the winner of the gold in those same Commonwealth games. The last 16 of the competition will take place on Tuesday October 4, with the quarter finals the following day, the semi-finals next Friday, and the final on Saturday October 8.

Connacht head to Wales looking to keep up good start

Fri, Sep 30, 2011

Connacht, with 13 points on the RaboDirect Pro 12 table from four outings, face a different and more difficult challenge this evening in Wales. They head to Liberty Stadium knowing the Ospreys are one the strongest and most expensively assembled outfits outside Ireland, at a venue where even achieving a bonus point is always difficult. Still smarting from their bonus-point loss to Edinburgh, which was a missed opportunity, Elwood says there are now bigger challenges ahead. “We have two big games with Ospreys and Leinster away - two very good outfits with big squads so we are under no illusion. We have a tough two weeks before the break.

Ballintubber for the title?

Fri, Sep 30, 2011

It is a big weekend in the local championship with a series of mouthwatering matches in the offing. One could make a valid argument for any of the four teams left in the race to covet this year’s county senior title. If I was pressed to predict a winner, I would possibly give a nod towards Ballintubber on the basis that they are winning all of their league matches, so their form is reasonably good. They are the current county champions and will have come on a lot, particularly in terms of confidence, from last year’s success. However I just would not bet on them beating Ballina this weekend. Crossmolina beat Ballina last Sunday in the league, but I got the impression that they were holding a little in reserve for this Sunday. The Ballina boys would also have been anxious not to pick up any injuries so close to a big game. As it happens, Pat Harte did limp off during the game with some sort of an injury, so he might be a slight concern coming into Sunday’s game. I don’t think Ballina manager John Healy was too concerned at dropping two points as it leaves him a little room to kick ass this week as he gets his team focused for the semi-final. All in all I feel the Stephenites have more in them than I witnessed last Sunday, and therefore I think they have a right good chance of beating the county champions. It promises to be a fascinating contest.

There will be nothing easy in senior showdowns

Fri, Sep 30, 2011

The four sides left in the Treanlaur Catering Senior Football Championship have lifted the Moclair Cup a grand total of 72 times. Ballina Stephenites (36) and Castlebar Mitchels (27) have more than the lion’s share between. But that does not mean that those two sides will make it through their semi-finals over the weekend to set up a traditional classic pairing in the final. In fact the favourites to the make the final in a lot of people’s eyes will probably be the younger pretenders Knockmore and Ballintubber with their eight and one title respectively. While Castlebar won their first title in 1888 and Ballina in 1889, Knockmore did not climb the mountain for the first time until 1973 and Ballintubber did for their only time so far last season.

Time for big guns to shine in intermediate championship

Fri, Sep 30, 2011

Burrishoole started off this year as favourites following last year’s disappointment of losing out to Tourmakeady in the intermediate final. But they were given one hell of a scare by Hollymount-Carramore at the quarter final stage and needed two games to get over the south Mayo men. This Sunday they will not be taking anything for granted when they take on Ballyhaunis at the semi-final stage. Ballyhaunis have been impressive all throughout the championship seeing off fellow semi-finalists Parke in the group stages, along with Achill and Moy Davitts, before they had three points to spare over Belmullet in the last eight. However this is probably where the story will end for this season for Frank Browne’s men. Burrishoole picked themselves up and got back on track in their quarter final replay and they are still smarting from last year’s final defeat. Jason Doherty, Enda McManamon, Shane McDermott, and James Moran will be players that Colm Mac’ will be relying on having a big game on Sunday, and if they do the men from the east will find it very difficult to live with the McGovern Park side.

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