Club championship to heat up in round two
Fri, Jul 01, 2011
It was all hugs and smiles last Sunday evening when Mayo saw off the limp challenge from Galway in McHale Park. This weekend those friendships and bonds will be put on the sideboard as the second round of action in the Treanlaur Catering Senior Championship gets down to business across the county.
Read more ...Connacht final place booked with second half performance
Sun, Jun 26, 2011
Mayo 1-12
Galway 1-6
Mayo manger James Horan and players reflect on victory over Galway
Sun, Jun 26, 2011
Mayo manager James Horan reflects on Mayo's six point win over Galway.
Read more ...Six changes for Mayo as Galway come to town
Fri, Jun 24, 2011
James Horan has rung the changes ahead of Sunday’s Connacht Championship clash with Galway in McHale Park. The Ballintubber club man has made a total of six changes to the starting 15 from the side that narrowly avoided being eliminated from the provincial championship at the hands of the exiles in London last month. In defence back come into the team Keith Higgins who missed out against London due to injury and Trevor Mortimer at wing back. Horan has also opted for a whole new look midfield, with Breaffy duo and brothers Aidan and Seamus O’Shea manning the key sector of the field where they are expected to line up against Finian Hanley and Joe Bergin in the middle of the park. Kevin McLoughlin comes into the side in the half forward line alongside team captain Alan Dillon and Andy Moran, while Cillian O’Connor will make his first championship start for Mayo alongside Alan Freeman and Jason Doherty in the full forward line.
Read more ...Six changes for Mayo as Galway come to town
Fri, Jun 24, 2011
James Horan has rung the changes ahead of Sunday’s Connacht Championship clash with Galway in McHale Park. The Ballintubber club man has made a total of six changes to the starting 15 from the side that narrowly avoided being eliminated from the provincial championship at the hands of the exiles in London last month. In defence back come into the team Keith Higgins who missed out against London due to injury and Trevor Mortimer at wing back. Horan has also opted for a whole new look midfield, with Breaffy duo and brothers Aidan and Seamus O’Shea manning the key sector of the field where they are expected to line up against Finian Hanley and Joe Bergin in the middle of the park. Kevin McLoughlin comes into the side in the half forward line alongside team captain Alan Dillon and Andy Moran, while Cillian O’Connor will make his first championship start for Mayo alongside Alan Freeman and Jason Doherty in the full forward line.
Mayo will have a number of options to choose from on the bench if needed on Sunday. Ronan McGarrity is deemed fit enough for a place there alongside the experience of Peadar Gardiner and David Clarke. One name of note is the number 26 named for Sunday, Shrule Glencorrib’s Mark Ronaldson, who had previously been left out of the panel after the league. But as the manager said at the time the door was always open for players to come back in and the Shrule Glencorrib man has forced his way back into the reckoning over the past few months.
Read more ...Time for Mayo to show its pride
Fri, Jun 24, 2011
I recall watching the Irish rugby team playing a Triple Crown match in 1985 against England. The match was very much in the balance with minutes left on the clock. It was at a critical juncture in the game that team captain Ciaran Fitzgerald demanded his team step up to the plate with his by now (in) famous line “where’s your f***ing pride?” The team responded and delivered a magnificent final few minutes to beat England on that day. I have no doubt that Fitzgerald’s leadership was crucial to that victory. Mayo football is, to some extent, at a similar juncture right now. We need leadership both on and off the field and, more than anything else, we need to display a bit of f***ing pride and heart. After last year’s championship defeats to Sligo and Longford we need to resurrect our reputation before we slip into a downward spiral of mediocrity that could prove difficult to shake off were it to continue. Mayo looked very sluggish and tired last year and some critics even suggested that they did not appear to be playing for one another. This season, however, we retained our division one status with some credible gutsy performances but appeared to hit a dip again a few weeks before the London match.
The challenge match against Offaly before the London match was particularly poor. The performance against London was not pretty either but, for a combination of reasons, ie, good fortune, a bit of luck and a few good substitutes, Mayo got over the line. But those lacklustre performances count for nothing when it comes to playing Galway in the Championship. Let’s be honest now, a Mayo team playing against London will always be a banana skin of a match. Players can find it difficult to motivate themselves for such a game. It should not be so but that is as it is. Would a 20 point victory in London have made one iota of difference to next Sunday’s match? I don’t think so. A Galway v Mayo championship encounter in Castlebar takes on a life of its own. Historically, we have benchmarked the quality of our Mayo side on our performance against Galway. That is not to be disrespectful to the other counties here in the province.
Read more ...No back door for minors on Sunday
Fri, Jun 24, 2011
It’s win or bust for the Mayo minors on Sunday at high noon when the ball is thrown in on Sunday for their Connacht Championship semi-final against Roscommon. Tony Duffy is in his second year in charge of the side and despite being the current Connacht Champions there are no guarantees at this grade. A win would put Mayo into the Connacht final against either Sligo or Galway, who square up tomorrow evening in their semi-final in the shadow of Benbulben in Sligo; a win will guarantee them a place in the All Ireland quarter finals at the least. The team on Sunday will be captained by Breaffy’s Conor O’Shea on a big day for his family with his brothers, Aidan and Seamus, lining out in midfield for the senior team later that day against Galway. Duffy will be able to call upon four of the squad from last years Connacht title win with O’Shea being joined by fellow alumni from 2010 Conor Horan, Ryan Quirke, and James Shaughnessy to backbone the side. However such is the nature of underage competitions, getting a new side to gel each year is not an exact science and on Sunday Duffy and his management team will be hoping that all the hard work through the Connacht league in the spring will come to fruition and set the team up for another crack at a Connacht title.
Read more ...First silverware of the new season up for grabs
Fri, Jun 24, 2011
Saturday evening in Milebush it will be a kind of home away from home for Newport Town when they take on Ballyheane B in the final of the McHale Agri Stores Cup Final. While to most the boys from Ballyheane would be much closer neighbours to Milebush Park the home of the Mayo League. But since they reformed and came back into the league this season, Newport Town have been using Omnigrass in Milebush for their home games in League Three of the Mayo League and they are currently sitting in third place in the table one point and one place behind Sunday’s cup final opponents and both sides are scheduled to meet again next weekend in the league back on the Omnigrass. This Saturday’s game will however be on the main pitch in Milebush, and Newport Town will be hoping that they fare a little bit better at least than last weekend when Ballyheane’s A team put ten past them in he Connacht Gold cup.
Read more ...Moylette goes for gold in Turkey
Fri, Jun 24, 2011
Mayo could be welcoming home a gold medal from the European Senior Boxing Championships this weekend. Islandeady man Ray Moylette who boxes for the St Anne’s Club in Westport beat Hajiliyev Hebatulla from Azerbaijan in the semi-final of the 64kg competition on Thursday afternoon in Ankara.
Read more ...Captains’ prizes tee off around the clubs
Fri, Jun 24, 2011
Balla
John Walsh was the winner of the Stableford competition last weekend which was sponsored by Balla and Castlebar Credit Union. He finished with a score of 40pts, two ahead of Luke Timmiss in second place, with Padraic Cuffe in third on 37pts. In the ladies’ competition Kathleen Minogue came first with a score of 37pts, Aine Mhic Suibhne came second thanks to her play on the back nine, which kept her just in front of Geraldine Kilgallon in third place. The junior competition was won by Dylan Padden. The sign up sheet for the Broderick Cup is currently on the notice board in the clubhouse, and this weekend’s competition is sponsored by Coxes, Castlebar.
Ballina athlete for international youth mountain challenge
Fri, Jun 24, 2011
Hugh Armstrong, Ballina Athletic Club, qualified for the International Youth Mountain challenge at WMRA Youths Trial in Glendalough, Wicklow, back in April and tomorrow (Saturday) in Gorenja Vas, Slovenia, he will compete in the International Youth Mountain Challenge This is great honour for this quiet unassuming young man whose attention to training is admirable. He never questions his coaches just gives 100 per cent to all that is asked of him. Ballina Athletic Club wishes him all the best in the competition tomorrow.
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