Lam's regret is an IRFU issue

Fri, Jun 02, 2017

Irish rugby will continue to lose coaches to more lucrative clubs overseas, says former Connacht coach Pat Lam, unless it changes its stance on contracts. Lam, who wraps up his four year stint in Connacht this weekend at the wedding of captain John Muldoon before heading to Bristol, says his one regret leaving Ireland next week is the IRFU's stubborness over the six-months release clause.

Big scores around the clubs last weekend

Fri, Jun 02, 2017

The good summer weather brought large numbers out to the golf clubs around the county last weekend.

From the peloton....Day Seven

Sun, May 28, 2017

No stage is predictable in the Rás, and stage 7 was no different. The stage started in Donegal town in what was dismal conditions. Pouring rain, grey clouds, wind and a 167 kilometre trek to Ardee faced the field ahead of the long awaited finish in Skerries on Sunday. A day that was soaked with disappointment for me, the bunch split in half early on in the stage and I was foolish enough to be on the wrong side of the split. You must definitely cannot turn off in this sport, a split second can change your race. I started towards the back thinking I would make my way up throughout the 167 kilometre stage, but the race exploded in the first 10 kilometres. A mistake I will take on the chin. My legs are in bits, to be honest. The fatigue has set in, 7 days of flat out racing has got to them, like everyone else in the field. Nobody here is fresh, these stages are real hard and we’re created to produce the best rider in the race, which of right now, is James Gullen of the Birtish pro team, JLT Condor. A real strong team, but I suspect a charge for yellow from the Australian team. We take to Skerries for stage 8, the final race of this year’s Rás. The last stage is by no means easy. We have a number of climbs to tackle before we get welcomed into Skerries to a presumed massive crowd in the north Dublin city town. The fearsome ‘Black Hills’ will need to be tackled 3 times on the circuit before the finish line in the centre of the scenic Skerries. A course I think might suit me, but we will see. One last stage, I’ll give it everything left I have in my tank.

From the peloton....Day Six

Thu, May 25, 2017

The hilliest of all the stages of the race, with a whopping 7 categorised climbs on the course, and plenty of heated wind to hurt every man in the field. The stage started as every Rás stage does, incredibly fast. Every stage I’ve been in so far there has been a crash, and I saw a real nasty one today, two riders hit against each other, one headed for the ditch, the other into the air and landed on his back side and slid for about 10 meters, it must have felt like an eternity for him. I saw the crash on the edge of my eye, about 2 meters away from me, we were going about 60 kmph. Anyway, back to the stage. I felt good during the stage, and when we hit the main climb of the day, the fearsome Glengesh, I felt good and pressed on. I got into a rhythm, and found myself in a strong group of riders.

From the peloton....Day Three

Wed, May 24, 2017

Fast. That’s the only word that can describe Tuesday's 149km trek from Newport to Bundoran. The stage started with speeds exceeding 60 kmph, and at time hitting well over 70kmph. Narrow roads from Newport to Glenhest and onto Ballina meant that it was difficult to move up in the peloton.

From the peloton....Day Two

Tue, May 23, 2017

Country roads took us home to Mayo in yesterday's second stage of the An Post Rás, an important stage for the Mayo men and for all rider’s in the race. The early stages in this year’s race isn’t going to be where you win the race, but it can definitely be where you lose it. Over 190 riders on a main road fighting to be near to the front of the peloton can often lead to crashes.

From the peloton....Day One

Mon, May 22, 2017

In the first of his An Post Rás tour diaries Jason Prendergast from Team iTap brings us into the heart of stage of one of the race.

Mayo do what's needed against Sligo

Sun, May 21, 2017

Mayo got over their first hurdle of the championship season with a nine point win over Sligo in MacHale Park on Sunday afternoon, but Stephen Rochford will be looking for a big improvement from him his side come their meeting with Galway next month.

Mayo make light work of Sligo challenge in U17 opener

Sun, May 21, 2017

The Mayo U17 team breezed through to the next round of the first ever Connacht u17 championship with a 16 point win over Sligo in MacHale Park on Sunday lunchtime. Mayo Gaels man James Jennings stared for Martin McIntyre’s men hitting seven points in an impressive display by the corner forward. Also putting in a staring role was Westport’s Pat Lambert who hit 2-2 from wing forward, his second goal in injury time putting the final stamp on the game.

Mayo hold on to Ring status with high scoring display

Sat, May 20, 2017

The Mayo senior hurlers retained their place in the Christy Ring Cup for 2018 thanks to a ten point win over Roscommon in Carrick-on-Shannon on Saturday night. Mayo’s victory was spearheaded by ace marksman Kenny Feeney who finished up with eleven points over the 70 minutes. Having been relegated to the third tier of the championship by their opponents two years ago, this victory will have been all the sweeter for JP Coen’s men.

The first step on hopefully another long road ahead

Fri, May 19, 2017

Mayo's 2017 championship gets under way on Sunday in Elverys MacHale Park against rank outsiders and recent conquerors of New York, Sligo. Niall Carew's men find themselves priced at 15/2 to win the game while, Stephen Rochford's charges are an unbackable 1/14 on. If you are silly enough to bet on a draw, it's available at 18/1. The handicap betting suggests that Mayo should win the game by around nine points. Sligo do have the advantage of having a game under their belts, albeit an energy sapping trip to the Big Apple, which they ended up winning comfortably. They did stay behind in New York for a few days training and returned to Ireland the Thursday after their game in Gaelic Park. It does take a few days to get over the jet lag so it is not ideal preparation for such a big game,

Rochford and O'Connor focused on Yeatsmen challenge

Fri, May 19, 2017

Sligo are the only team on the minds of Mayo players and management as they prepare an assault on the 2017 Connacht championship against the Yeats County in MacHale Park on Sunday afternoon. Both Stephen Rochford and his captain Cillian O’Connor were quick to shoot down any notions of Mayo being talked up as Nestor or Sam Maguire cup contenders until those trophies were on the line in a given game. Until then the name of the game is entirely the opposition in front of them.

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