Mayo need to be in Tipp top shape to see off Premier men

Fri, Aug 19, 2016

At the end of the day the long and winding road has led back to the destination that most had hoped for, Mayo in the first All Ireland semifinal on Sunday August 21. Rather than coming through to this stage as provincial champions with just a quarter-final to play, Mayo have made their way through the scenic route and disposed of Leinster opposition twice and then the Ulster champions to get here. Next up for them is a challenge from a group of men from Munster, but once again it is not one of the ones we would have expected. Tipperary, a division three side that finished their league campaign just two points above relegation to division four for next year, have wandered their way through this championship summer to become the story of the summer.

What Mayo need to do to topple Tipp

Fri, Aug 19, 2016

After Mayo's superb victory over Tyrone I have to pinch myself to comprehend that Mayo are playing Tipperary in an All-Ireland semifinal on Sunday. It sounds bizarre. If we go back to June 18 and after watching Mayo's poor performance against Galway, we firstly did not see Mayo getting to a semifinal and if they did we certainly did not expect the opposition to be from the premier county. Clare and Tipperary have both been very successful examples of the qualifiers in 2016 but Tipp's trouncing of Connacht champions Galway by nine points has certainly made them the number one success story.

Mayo have learned some hard lessons along the way to get here

Fri, Aug 19, 2016

This Mayo team have never shirked away from a challenge, they have shown over the past six years they will give it their all. After having to swallow the bitter taste of defeat for the first time in the Connacht championship in more than half a decade against Galway they faced some hard truths. Cillian O'Connor recounted some of those sessions in the lead up to Sunday's All Ireland semifinal against Tipperary last week. "It wasn't enjoyable, it's not easy to go through things when they have gone wrong but you have to just face up to them, you can't hide away and hope they fix themselves so we just got back training," the Ballintubber ace recalled.

Canny Kearns bigs up Mayo in build up to game

Fri, Aug 19, 2016

He is the man who has guided the team who have become the story of the championship to an historic first All Ireland semifinal since 1935, and he is the man who is looking to mastermind Mayo's downfall on Sunday. Liam Kearns has been around the block in the senior inter-county game over the past 16 years. He took charge of Limerick back in 1999 and managed them for six years, bringing them to a Munster final 13 years ago and turning them into force in Munster football, but was unable to get them over the finishing line and claim a provincial title. Since then he managed Laois for two years, but he was not able to repeat the trick, and more recently he was involved with John Evans' management ticket where he was the forwards coach for two years.

Dillon never lost faith in what he can bring to the table

Fri, Aug 12, 2016

Time comes up against every man at some stage, for Alan Dillon who turns 34 this September it is catching up on his inter-county career a lot quicker than he would like. The Ballintubber play-maker had been a mainstay of Mayo sides going back to his championship debut as a 19-year-old back in 2003 against Sligo. But last year he found himself kicking his heels on the bench and not getting much game time at all, something that he was not used to, but he always had faith in his ability to do a job for the team. "I suppose last year was disappointing. I was competing in training, I don't want to dwell too long on it, it was one of those years that you more or less write off. But I always had belief in what I was doing. I was performing and putting pressure on the As in training," he told the Mayo Advertiser this week.

Getting back to the big time

Fri, Aug 12, 2016

It will be six weeks since Mayo last took to the field in competitive action in the Connacht final against Galway this weekend. The long lay off is nothing new for this bunch of ladies, who had a similar layoff after their league final defeat to Cork before their championship opener against the Tribeswomen. Going into both of those games Mayo were the underdogs, but on Saturday afternoon they are warm favourites to book their place in the last four of the All Ireland series against beaten Leinster finalists Westmeath.

That's what we were waiting for

Fri, Aug 12, 2016

Now that was more like it. We asked for a performance,we wanted passion,we got them both in abundance. Mayo produced their best display in 12 months to send Ulster champions and hot favourites Tyrone packing out of this year's championship. The game was not the best advertisement for Gaelic football but it was intriguing, intense, and tactical and had everybody on the edge of their seats right until the final whistle.

Final four spots up for grabs in Junior championship

Fri, Aug 12, 2016

Achill v Kilmeena
Saturday, August 13 at 7pm

Quinn bows out doing his country proud

Fri, Aug 12, 2016

Castlebar swimmer, Nicholas Quinn's Olympic hopes came to an end on Tuesday evening in the pool in Rio in agonising fashion. The University of Edinburgh student missed out on a place in the semifinal of the 200m breaststroke by 0.41 of a second. Quinn finished in a time of 2:11.67, his fastest morning swim ever and second fastest 200m breaststroke swim to date. He needed a time of 2:11.24, equal to his personal best in the heat which would have seen him through to the semifinal. Quinn had gone into the Olympics ranked 27th in the world and finished in 19th place in the games.

Title race closes up after big win for Westport last weekend

Fri, Aug 12, 2016

Ballyglass v Ballina Town
Saturday August 13 at 6.30pm

Mayo make their mark to win game of inches

Sat, Aug 06, 2016

At the end of the day, the result is all that matters. It wasn’t the prettiest of games in Croke Park, but it was intense, intriguing and full of industry and some moments of pure inspiration. Mayo are in the All Ireland semi-final in two weeks time and that’s exactly where they want to be. They dug in and put in the hard yards on the field in Croke Park and thanks to Lee Keegan’s point five minutes from the end, that seemed to take at least five minutes before it dropped over Niall Morgan’s bar they won the day and moved step closer to their ultimate goal.

Mayo must improve against red hand men

Fri, Aug 05, 2016

The All Ireland quarterfinal is where Mayo wanted to be when the season threw in and they have got back there, they have taken a somewhat more circuitous route than they would have hoped, but that goal has been achieved. Mayo's championship form has been patchy all year, no more so than last weekend when they mixed the good with the bad, but they still got the result if not the full performance, they wanted to get there.

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