Castlebar and Ballintubber on course for semi-final showdown

Sun, Oct 09, 2016

The draw for the quarter finals of the Mayo GAA Senior and Intermediate football championships were made on Sunday at half time in the junior final between Louisburgh and Balla in MacHale Park. The draws for the semi-finals in each competition also took place.

Final eight now known in senior championship

Sat, Oct 08, 2016

The last eight of the Mayo GAA Senior Football Championship are now known after this evenings final round of group games. The draw for the quarter finals will take place tomorrow in MacHale Park with four seeded sides, Breaffy, Castlebar Mitchels, Ballintubber and Knockmore and the other quartet of qualifiers, Ballaghaderreen, Aghamore, Garrymore and Crossmolina Deel Rovers.

Another gut wrenching, shattering defeat

Fri, Oct 07, 2016

This one is hard to comprehend,very hard. Some are harder to take than others. This defeat is pretty difficult to take. Our 1996 loss to Meath is forever etched in my memory for all the wrong reasons, it's very similar to last Sunday.

Another room added to the House of Pain

Fri, Oct 07, 2016

It was that all too familiar feeling in Croke Park last Sunday, when Maurice Deegan blew the full time whistle. While 'The Auld Triangle' drowned out the celebrations from the Hill and Dublin supporters around the ground, for us Mayo folk, we sat back and took stock of what had happened, just like we did in 89, 96, 97, 04, 06, 12, 13, and now once more in 2016. If you have not heard the last lamenting few minutes of Mid West Radio's commentary from Mike Finnerty and John Casey, it captures the feeling we all felt as well as anything could. "It's just not meant to be, it's just not meant to be for Mayo," was how Mike called it, before a few seconds of silence came from their microphones before he was able to try to put some sense on what happened. While when he could finally get some words in Casey emotionally adds "is there ever a God going to smile on us," and, "Ah give give us a break, give us a break for God's sake, that team deserve something."

Mayo GAA SFC Preview

Fri, Oct 07, 2016

Group One
Davitts v Breaffy

Sunday shootout in store in junior decider

Fri, Oct 07, 2016

It is an all West Mayo decider in MacHale Park on Sunday in the county junior final when Louisburgh and Balla meet at 3.30pm. It has a been a long time coming for both sides who are looking to make their way back out of the the junior ranks and into the intermediate grade for next year.

Mayo AC athletes among top finishers at Galway Bay Run

Fri, Oct 07, 2016

Mayo AC athletes were well represented on the podium after the three races which made up the Galway Bay Run on Saturday October 1.

Congratulations to all the club members who competed and particularly to those who had top three success: Norah Newcombe in 10k, Ann Lennon in the half marathon, and Brendan Hession in the full marathon. In the 10k Norah Newcombe finished third in the women's race in 37:31. Catherine Conway was just behind in fourth in 38:15.

First Newport Wild2Wild duathlon is a runaway success

Fri, Oct 07, 2016

Saturday September 24 saw the first duathlon race take place in Newport, and what a race it was.

It’s deja vu and dejection all over again

Sat, Oct 01, 2016

And so another All-Ireland against Dublin ended with a crucial kick from the man whose sublime finish had us back here in the first place.

Mayo give their all, but just don't have enough

Sat, Oct 01, 2016

It’s the fine margins that win games at the top level and big calls have to be made, for Mayo the fine margins are once again something they fell just short of in Croke Park on Saturday night. The big call made by the management also didn’t work out for them in the end, but there wasn’t an ounce of effort not put into trying to bridge that small gap. Just like 20 years ago, there was point just in it at the end and a penalty for the opposition helped them along the way.

Mayo to make second chance count

Fri, Sep 30, 2016

And we are off again. It has been a long and winding road this year for Mayo on the field and when we thought we had reached the final destination two weeks ago, the car was pointed for home, neither full of joy nor regret, but full of more questions and possible answers. The steering wheel will be turned out on to the road and thousands of cars pointed east to the capital once more, thousands of Mayo fans will make the trek from Blacksod to the bridge in Shrule, full of hope, expectation, and delight tomorrow morning. For this Mayo team have another shot at glory, not redemption. It may be 65 long years since Sam Maguire came here festooned in green and red ribbons, but over the years in between hundreds of Mayo men have donned the green and red and given us some glorious days. Days that other counties could only dream of being involved in, we have been there, we have stood among the greats of the game and we have never done anything but seen our warriors give their all for their families, clubs, towns, schools, communities, themselves, and for us, those cheering them on from the sidelines.

There have been thousands of words in print, online, spoken on radio and television dedicated to where the winning and losing of this game will be over the past number of weeks. But come 5pm, those words will mean little or nothing as it all comes down to two squads of players and their management teams, pitting their wits against each other in another battle for the ages. This group of Mayo players have left no stone unturned in looking to achieve their ultimate goal, they have taken hard decisions, unpopular ones with some at times, but they have put in the hard yards, looked after their bodies right, given up things you and I take for granted, like a night out, a few pints, or even just staying up late at night, as they give themsleves the best opportunity to be the best in their chosen field of combat. We have all suffered through the heartache over the years, but it is the men who have put their lives on hold in their twenties and early thirties who have suffered most and they are the ones who will either head home victorious or in defeat, with no shame and hopefully no regrets as they have done all they can to reach the summit of this particular mountain they are trying to climb.

Little things will edge this one way or the other

Fri, Sep 30, 2016

It is the smallest things that matter at this level of the game, the marginal gains we are told will swing things one way or the other. Everything will not go right for you on the day, just look at Mayo putting the ball into their own net twice the last day, but it is making sure as much goes right for you as possible. That is the key to getting over the line tomorrow evening.

E-paper

Read this weeks E-paper. Past editions also available from within this weeks digital copy.