Breaffy battle back to get another chance

Sun, Aug 28, 2011

Ballina Stephenites 1-11
Breaffy 0-14

Knockmore just about hold on at the end

Sun, Aug 28, 2011

Knockmore 2-9
Ballaghaderreen 2-7

Box-off for Moylette to book place in World Championships

Fri, Aug 26, 2011

Ray Moylette will face off against Ross Hickey in the National Stadium in Dublin this day week, September 2 for a place in the Irish squad for World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. Moylette, who claimed the European Championship at the light welterweight (65kg) grade, will be looking to defeat Hickey who is currently the Irish senior champion at the same weight. The national organising body decided to have a box-off between the two boxers for a seat on the plane to Azerbaijan because Moylette was injured prior to Irish qualifiers for the tournament, while Hickey was unable to travel to the European Championships, which was won by Moylette.

Celtic stand on the brink of reclaiming title

Fri, Aug 26, 2011

With just two games to go in this year’s Elverys Super League, Castlebar Celtic will edge ever closer to regaining the title with a win over Iorras Aontaithe in Celtic Park on Saturday evening. Declan Kilkelly’s side are three points clear of nearest challengers Claremorris with only two rounds left in the competition. Celtic also have a far superior goal difference to their south Mayo rivals with +21 in the bank as opposed to +11 for Michael Hutton’s team.

First ever Breaffy 10k this Sunday

Fri, Aug 26, 2011

The inaugural Breaffy 10k will take place this Sunday, August 28, as part of the Breaffy Blast Festival. The 10k walk/jog and run is being organised by Breaffy Community/ Breaffy GAA and Castlebar Fit for Life in aid of Western Alzheimers. This community-inspired event is aimed at runners and walkers of all abilities and levels of fitness over a 10km circuit. The predominantly flat route starts behind the national school in the village and extends in a loop along mainly picturesque country roads to finish at the front of the school.

Mayo gave it their all last Sunday

Fri, Aug 26, 2011

I hung around for a while outside Croke Park last Sunday evening chatting about the game. I got the impression that Mayo people were not too disappointed with the result as the general consensus was that we were beaten by a better team. We have come away from HQ on other occasions with our heads bowed, but this time, I like many others, was proud of the fact that we gave it our best shot but just were not good enough on the day. And yet, had we taken a few of the goal chances that were created things might have been so different. I got a text from a friend 20 minutes into the first half suggesting that Kerry were very beatable and were there for the taking. I did not disagree as we were leading by a couple of points at the time and Kerry appeared to be quite ragged. Jack O’Connor had an agitated look on his face and his team were leaking heavily in a few positions. Long ball into Donaghy was being mopped up by Ger Cafferkey and the Gooch had barely touched the ball.

Plenty of positives among the sting of defeat

Fri, Aug 26, 2011

At the tail end of last September, James Horan took on the challenge of rebuilding and renewing the Mayo team. In the first flush of his tenure, only a couple of minutes after being approved by the county board delegates in fact, he faced the press and gave a very simple promise that his side kept up last Sunday to the very end. “I know a lot of Mayo supporters are down in the dumps with how things finished last year, but what we will insist on is that any time a Mayo player goes out he will give it absolutely everything he has.”

Back to basics in weekend of championship action

Fri, Aug 26, 2011

With dreams of Sam, put to one side for another year last weekend. It is back to the real heart of the GAA this weekend when the Mayo club championships thunder back into action at the quarter final stage. McHale Park on Saturday and Sunday is the place to be with a double header on the first day and the Sabbath day serving up a triple header of action in the county ground.

The meeting of Knockmore and Ballaghaderreen in the first of the Treanlaur Catering Mayo Senior Football Championship quarter-finals, kicking off at 4.30pm on Saturday. Ray Dempsey’s men have picked up their season from the floor after they were beaten by Kiltane in the first round of games and followed it up with wins over Ballinrobe and Breaffy to claim top spot in their group. Ballaghaderreen under the guidance of Kieran Gallagher look to be coming back to their best, but they did suffer a heavy defeat at the hands of Castlebar in the last round of games. A caveat must be added that they already had their place in the last eight booked before that game. Knockmore have a potentially devastating inside forward line of Aidan Kilcoyne and Damien Munnelly, while Trevor Howley and Kevin McLoughlin add guile and power in other areas. Kevin O’Neill did not start last time out for the Knockmore men, but when he came on he showed he has lost none of his sharpness and game awareness and is still a force to be reckoned with at this level. Ballaghaderreen will be looking to Andy Moran for inspiration and if he can pick up where he left off for Mayo this summer he will take some stopping.

Kerry teach Mayo a lesson

Sun, Aug 21, 2011

Kerry 1-20 & nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; Mayo 1-11
They came in their thousands and thousands from Belmullet to Ballinrobe to Croke Park on Sunday, hoping to see something special. The just over 50,000 who filled the ground did see something special alright, but unfortunately for the massive Mayo crowd who made the trip it was Colm Cooper who was providing the highlights. The Dr Crokes man was simply outstanding for Kerry as they eased their way into yet another All Ireland final by nine points.

Horan waits on walking wounded before announcing team

Fri, Aug 19, 2011

Mayo manager James Horan will wait until this evening to announce his starting team for Sunday’s All Ireland semi-final against Kerry. It had been expected that the Ballintubber club man would announce his side on Wednesday night, but he has decided to wait until this evening to unveil his starting selection. Horan is waiting on the fitness reports of both Trevor Mortimer and Peadar Gardiner who picked up injuries in training for the county side and in club action respectively over the past few weeks. A third name was added to that list of worries on Tuesday night when Swinford’s Aidan Campbell picked up a knock at training in preparation for the clash.

Last eight pairings throw up fascinating ties

Fri, Aug 19, 2011

The quarter final pairings for the Treanlaur Catering Senior Football Championship and the Mayo intermediate and junior championship have thrown up a number of interesting battles that are sure to get hearts racing next weekend. Despite seven of the eight sides which made it to this stage of the competition last year being back again, the draw managed to avoid any repeat parings from this stage last year. Defending champions Ballintubber, now under the tutelage of Anthony McGarry following the ascension of James Horan to the Mayo hot seat, will take on Shrule-Glenncorrib. The defending champions will go into the game as favourites. Knockmore, whose win over Breaffy saw them leapfrog the west Mayo men to top their group, were rewarded with a tie against Ballaghaderreen for a place in the final four. The aforementioned Breaffy managed to avoid the two other west Mayo sides which were potential opponents and book a spot against an impressive looking Ballina Stephenites side who have been moving very well so far in the championship. The final clash in the Treanlaur Senior Championships sees our columnist John Maughan and his Crossmolina Deel Rovers facing off against Castlebar Mitchels in the last eight. The county town side are of course managed this year by Pat Holmes who played for many years under Maughan with Mayo and replaced him as manager at the turn of the century.

Mayo can be proud of what they have achieved so far, but they can go further

Fri, Aug 19, 2011

James Horan and his team can be very proud of what they have achieved so far, a Connacht title and success over Cork not based on fancy individuality that can so often lead to failure, but on the values of hard work, good skill, a cohesive team ethic, dedication and application. So you could say that this year’s targets have been comfortably met. However I know that neither Mayo management nor players will be content to sit pretty on one rung from the penultimate but rather will be striving to produce another Trojan effort and move a step closer towards attaining the ultimate prize.

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