Gibbons is ready to guide his team home

Fri, Oct 17, 2014

It looked like it was going to be a big year for Jason Gibbons on the inter-county scene in the early months of the year. The Ballintubber midfielder had taken his chance in the middle of the park for Mayo and looked to have nailed down a starting spot for the team for the rest of the year. Then disaster struck when he injured his ankle in training in May ruling him out for a long period of time. It was hard to come back from, he admitted to the Mayo Advertiser. “I suppose it was disappointing, when it happened I heard the snap and I knew I was in serious bother. Look it the medical team did all they could, but it took me longer than I thought. I was hoping to get back for Roscommon but I didn’t. I suppose I never really got going again with the county as I’d have liked.” He continued: “When your sitting on the sideline and you’ve had what was a good league and it’s all been taken away from you and you know the competition is very fierce on the panel; it’s very hard to get back in again. I didn’t get to start a game until the All Ireland semi-final. I had no doubts that I was training well and it didn’t just go for me in Croke Park against Kerry. You’d lose a bit of confidence when you get that badly injured, it takes a lot to get back, but happily I feel myself that I’m back going well again and looking forward to the county final.”

Kirby is ready to double up

Fri, Oct 17, 2014

Wherever he lines out on the field, Danny Kirby is a man who gets special attention. The big Castlebar man could feature anywhere from midfield through to full forward for his team on Sunday. While some players like a certain role in a team, Kirby feels that his adaptability has made him become a much better player, as he told the Mayo Advertiser in the build up to Sunday’s final. “I think it’s a help, you become a more rounded player. If you’re in the full forward line you see the kind of ball a full forward wants; when you’re out midfield and you get the full forward line giving you a bit of guff about the ball you’ve played in, you know, yeah you’re right, this is ball you want.”

Sunday’s showdown should be fun

Fri, Oct 17, 2014

I am really looking forward to Sunday’s county final, Castlebar and Ballintubber met in the group stages with the Mitchels winning by a single goal but it seems the tides have turned slightly after Ballintubber’s devastating display in the semi-final win over Knockmore. Castlebar seem to have the measure of Ballintubber as of late, but will certainly be fearful of going up against one of the most lethal club forward lines in the country. They will also be reminded that Ballintubber have beaten them in two finals in the last five years. Castlebar have a better defence than Ballintubber but Ballintubber have a better forward line than Castlebar so something has to give.

Putting recent disappointments to right spur on Ballintubber

Fri, Oct 17, 2014

Setting things right from their own point of view is something that has been driving on Ballintubber this year. To the outsider, a team that reaches three county finals on the bounce, winning two and getting knocked out at the last eight stage in another year, is probably doing all right. But not by the exacting high standards the club members have set from themselves. Joint manager Tony Duffy spoke to the Mayo Advertiser in the build up to Sunday’s senior county final, and he explained: “It wasn’t hard coming back, we’d set very high standards for ourselves in previous years in getting to three finals in a row and winning two of them. It was disappointing in 2012, we were tame enough the way we went out against Ballaghaderreen and last year it was just terrible and very frustrating end to the year. I suppose the writing was on the wall a few weeks out from that game against Knockmore. I suppose injuries to key players didn’t help, but that wouldn’t be an excuse we’re using. We didn’t do ourselves justice in any way or form and it was massively disappointing. At the start of this year, we were determined to put that right.” That is the drive and determination that has propelled them back to the final of the competition for the fourth time in five years. They are very happy with the way the season has panned out for them so far according to Duffy. “It’s gone well, we’ve won pretty much all our games so far, the only loss we had was to Castlebar in the group stages of the competition. We lost that narrowly and drew with them in the league which has been very satisfying and a testament to the work that all the lads have put in and the commitment they’ve shown, after a disappointing year last year and the year before.”

Managing the expectations

Fri, Oct 17, 2014

In sports management, it is often said that when a successful manager leaves a job, you want to be the guy, who follows the guy, who followed the successful guy. Because following in the immediate footsteps of someone who brought great success is a very tricky task to master. But when Pat Holmes decided that he was going to step away from the Castlebar Mitchels’ hot seat following their defeat in last March’s All Ireland final after guiding them to county and provincial glory for the first time in two decades, his two trusty lieutenants Shane Conway and Alan Nolan stepped up to fill gap and they have bought them back to the county final at the first time of asking.

Joint management tickets seem to be in vogue in the county at the minute, with Castlebar’s opponents on Sunday, Ballintubber, also having a joint management team of Peter Ford and Tony Duffy. Mitchels’ former manager Pat Holmes is now part of the new joint Mayo senior team management ticket alongside Noel Connelly.

Hurlers make it a week to remember for Ballyhaunis

Sun, Oct 12, 2014

The old firm of Mayo hurling came face-to-face once again on Sunday in the Mayo Senior Hurling Championship final and it was the men in red and black who made the short trip home in the road with the Tyrrell Cup in their arms after an exciting encounter in the Tooreen Hurling Grounds.

Brothers in victory

Sun, Oct 12, 2014

There was no denying the joy of the Ballyhaunis players and supporters at the final whistle in Tooreen on Sunday. Keith Higgins and his brother Pierce were two of the vital cogs in Ballyhaunis' victory and both were bursting with emotion after the game. Keith who played a huge role in the clubs success in the intermediate football final the previous weekend looking back on the last seven days said, “It's been some two weekends not just for the players but for the supporters, they were behind us every step of the way, not just the hurlers but the footballers too.”

Old rivals face each other again

Fri, Oct 10, 2014

Twelve months ago, the blue devils from Tooreen ended a 10 year famine, with an unexpected and devastating victory over Ballyhaunis in the Mayo Senior Hurling Championship final. Their 4-10 to 1-6 win over their near rivals ended a decade of hurt, where for eight of the previous nine years the TJ Tyrrell Cup spent the winter with their near neighbours. It was an emotional victory for the men from Tooreen, with Kenny Feeney leading the way scoring 3-6 over the 60 minutes, with man-of-the-match, Cathal Freeman, chipping in with three points from midfield.

Both sides have already met in the round robin stage of the competition in Tooreen, where they battled out a 1-13 to 0-16 draw in late August. The draw left both teams locked on five points each in the group stage, after both sides had dispatched of the challenges from Castlebar Mitchels and Westport in earlier games. Ballyhaunis led that meeting by 0-8 to 0-4 at the break, with Tooreen only managing one score from play in the opening 30 minutes as Pierce Higgins, Morgan and Fergal Lyons, and Kieran McDermott took the game to them early on.

The underdogs have their day

Fri, Oct 10, 2014

Last Sunday’s county Junior and Intermediate finals were certainly a day for the underdog with Castlebar Mitchels B team and Ballyhaunis prevailing as county champions.

I predicted both games incorrectly as I expected Achill and Hollymount/Carramore to win their respective finals. The win for Castlebar in the junior final is an amazing feat considering it is their second string outfit, and with their seniors also in the final it could be an unprecedented double for the county town. In the current climate when it is hard to get 15 for a club they have exceeded expectation to remain competitive on all fronts. Before anyone uses the “look at the size of the pick they have or the size of the town” as an explanation of their recent successes, it should be noted that not too many moons ago their first team were playing intermediate football so it is quite remarkable that their second string will compete in that competition next year.

Prenty points Ballyhaunis home

Sun, Oct 05, 2014

From winning just two games of football last year and losing their opening championship game this season, Ballyhaunis have torn up the script this summer and gone on to become deserving Mayo intermediate champions. This was a victory not just for the team and the club of today, but for all the teams and players that tried to get there over the years and fell just short, according to Liam Lyons in his acceptance speech after the full time whistle. The red and black me from east Mayo are back in the big time next year and they did so playing an exciting brand of football doing so.

Mitchels dig it out at the death

Sun, Oct 05, 2014

If they had lost it, they would really have no-one else to blame but themselves, but come crunch time Castlebar Mitchels centre-half-forward Adam Murphy had the wherewithal to do what so many of his team-mates had failed to do before that and put the ball between the posts deep into injury time on Sunday. Mitchels were by far the better team on the day, but they left the backdoor open with their wayward shooting and Achill found themselves in with a chance of lifting the McDonnell cup against the odds at the end.

Lam issues call to supporters as Connacht host Cardiff

Fri, Oct 03, 2014

Connacht Rugby coach Pat Lam wants all fans to flock to the Sportsground this evening to help his side overcome visitors Cardiff in their fifth Guinness Pro 12 fixture. Having lost their unbeaten record to Glasgow last weekend, Connacht now face a Cardiff outfit which they have beaten just once in their last nine fixtures, and Lam says the supporters can help Connacht protect their 100 per cent record at home this season.

“One of the goals we set out this season was we really want to protect our home ground, and the biggest factor is the crowd. Against Leinster I have never experienced that sort of noise, and if we can replicate that, it will bring us over the line,” Lam says.

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