Four home games for Mayo footballers in the league

Fri, Oct 12, 2012

In what will be a welcome boost to the coffers of Mayo GAA, there will be four home games for Mayo in the proposed fixtures for Division 1 of the Allianz Football league next year. The draft fixtures which were released this week will see Mayo entertain Kerry, Tyrone, Kildare, and in a repeat of this years All Ireland final, Donegal in Elvery’s McHale Park. They will be on the road to Dublin, Down, and Cork in their remaining three games. The fixtures will see Mayo open up at home to Kerry on Sunday February 3, and follow that up with another home game against Tyrone the following Sunday. After a couple of weeks break they will be back in action on Saturday March 2, in the first of two away games in a row, on a Saturday night against Dublin, they will follow that up the next Saturday night away to Down. They will be back home the next Saturday night, March 16, against Kildare, before hosting Donegal the following Sunday, March 24, in Castlebar. They will round off the group stages of the competition away to Cork on Sunday, April 7. Mayo will have three Saturday night games and four Sunday afternoon games in the proposed fixtures.

Ballina four miler this weekend

Fri, Oct 12, 2012

Sunday will see round eight of the Mayo AC C&C Cellular 2012 Road Race League go to the tap in Ballina. This round of the league will be run over a four mile one lap course. The course will be well marshalled and the final mile will take runners up through the scenic Belleek Park. Race HQ will be at the Ballina AC track and entries will be taken on the day. Entry fee for the race is €20 and includes a T-shirt, the race will start at 3pm, there will be no prize fund for this race as all money will go towards cancer research. For more information contact Michael on 087 6611975.

When the dust has settled it is time to look back

Fri, Oct 12, 2012

Now that the dust has finally settled, I spent some time discussing the quality of the senior football championship this year with a few GAA heads. Overall it was generally felt that it was a reasonably good championship as there were several good games that were of high quality. Obviously Mayo’s victory over Dublin is a stand out match for me, and I’m sure several of you too. But you would also have to admit that Donegal’s victories over both Kerry and Cork, when they produced their two best performances, were really eye-catching. Donegal were the best team in the country all year and deserved their All-Ireland success.

But most of you will also agree they could have been caught in the final as they did not play as well as they had in their two previous games. Few will begrudge them their success, but Mayo will look back on this year as a missed opportunity. The reality is many teams will also feel the same way and next year you can be guaranteed that there will be several managers who will feel that with a big push over the next number of months, they too can do a ‘Donegal’ on it. There were a lot of very ordinary matches too. Roscommon’s performance against Galway was very poor, and Clare’s Munster final performance is another that immediately springs to mind.

Last of the silverware to be handed out in cup and shield finals

Fri, Oct 12, 2012

The last of the trophies will be handed out by the Mayo League on Sunday afternoon when the Connacht Gold Cup and Shield finals take place in Milebush. With the league season coming to an end last weekend (with the exception of the three-way play off in the Welcome Inn League 2 for second place and relegation matters in Premier A) all eyes will be on Milebush on Sunday. For Westport United it could be a weekend of double celebration as their A side are going for the Mayo League treble when they take on Castlebar Celtic B in the final of the Connacht Gold Cup and their B team take on Iorras Aontaithe in the shield final.

Ballintubber to defend their title against Ballagh'

Sun, Oct 07, 2012

Come this time of the season, the win is all that matters and that's exactly what Ballintubber and Ballaghaderreen both delivered in Elvery's McHale Park on Sunday afternoon. Both of this years senior championship semi-finals weren't games for the ages. What they were, was games that had to be won. Ballintubber who are looking to be the first team since the historic Garrymore side of the mid-seventies to put together a three-in-a-row title rein, booked their place in this years final, by coming out on the right side of a result that looked for a good portion of the game, was going to go against them.

Final day drama in-store for promotion chasers

Fri, Oct 05, 2012

The identity of the two sides which will be making the jump to the Super League next season should be known around 2pm this Sunday. As the Premier A League heads for its final round of games this Sunday, Conn Rangers, Ballyheane, and Snugboro United are all still in with a shout of making the step up.

Westport fall just short in ILGU junior cup

Fri, Oct 05, 2012

Balla
Last weekend’s competition sponsored by McHale Agri and Forest, Castlebar saw Ray Mannion win the gents’ section on 37pts, with Audrey Holian take the ladies’ section. Aodán MacSuibhne took second place and Dick Heraty third in the gents’, while Breege Jennings finished in second place and Geraldine Kilgallon in third in the ladies’ event. The Wednesday morning scramble recommenced this week and will take place on Wednesdays at 11am. The AGM takes place at the clubhouse on Monday November 5 at 8pm.

Doherty claims Ballyhaunis 8k

Fri, Oct 05, 2012

There was a blustery breeze around the 8k course as more than 100 runners lined up at the start outside Caulfield's shop in Ballyhaunis on Saturday afternoon for the fifth annual 8k run west race. It was also the seventh race in 2012 Mayo AC C&C Cellular Road League. The road was dry as they raced down main street and turned out Clare road. The pace dropped for many as they came on a tough hill section as they approached Gorteen after the 4k mark . By then Con Doherty (Westport) who led out from the start had a few seconds lead over Matt Bidwell (GCH).

Neighbours meet again for Tyrell Cup

Fri, Oct 05, 2012

The Mayo Senior Hurling Championship Final is down for decision this Sunday, October 7 at 2pm in Tooreen. Champions Ballyhaunis play neighbours Tooreen in what should be a tough and exciting encounter. Ballyhaunis are going for five in a row but local rivals Tooreen will keen to break this winning run and win their first senior championship since 2003.

Elwood says ‘time is right’ to step aside

Fri, Oct 05, 2012

After 25 years of “living and breathing” Connacht Rugby, coach Eric Elwood has said it is time for a change. In officially announcing on Wednesday evening that he would step down at the end of the season, Elwood said his decision had nothing to do with any “issues” at Connacht Rugby, but for personal reasons. “I have come to this decision after thinking long and hard about what is best for me and also what is best for Connacht. I have given a big part of my life to Connacht Rugby and I feel that it is time for me to have a change and time for the province to have a change as well.”

A letter from an American friend

Fri, Oct 05, 2012

I regularly email a friend of mine in the US regarding the progress of the Mayo team. He is quite fanatical about Mayo football and regularly travels ‘home’ to see his beloved county play in the championship. He could not travel for the All-Ireland but did watch it live on TV. He sought my views on the game. I have decided to let you see his response to my email where I suggested that Mayo were beaten by a better team on the day.

“I am afraid you have been infected with the same ‘tragic philosophy’ that has grown up in Mayo over the years. I believe we could have won! We just didn't play our own game, end of story. After defeats we have grown used to making excuses and I see by your e-mail, here we go again! You mention the full forward line in comparison to Donegal. If games were played on paper there would be no need for a field! Hey, we beat Dublin who had a good forward line and where was the Donegal forward line after the first 10 minutes. We actually outscored Donegal in the remaining 60 minutes by three points! I don't give any credit to the "after game" philosophies to soothe our pain. We have been at that too long. If I were manager I would take that team into the meeting place at the beginning of the new season and literally tell them we threw it away and let's not have any "after" excuses this year. I forgive James Horan for his misplaced strategy. It blew up in his face and I hope he has learned. The great backs we had all year sort of disappeared at least for 15 minutes and the forwards were left throughout the game — as I saw it — without the familiar runs of the half backs. John, we have to blow away this "ah, sure ....etc" philosophy. I said at the beginning of the year I thought we have a right good team, particularly after their victory over Leitrim. We sparkled against Down and Dublin. John, we HAD THE ABILITY TO WIN IT ALL. Trouble of waiting till next year is that I am getting older and wondering if I will ever see the day again! Little did I know that September 23, 1951 would be a day of joy that would have to last a lifetime. There had to be disappointments all over the place. Nearly every member of my family was there last Sunday, scrounging tickets everywhere and got quite a few in Cork from their cousins. I read there were people from Australia who had come with great hope. They went home in tears. Pauric Carney — the great Mayo player — a legend has expressed the opinion he can't understand what has happened to the Mayo spirit. I think a lot of it is we take defeats too easily. If we suffered more we might not be so tolerant of losing and making excuses. It was Henry Ford who said ‘if you believe you can do it, you will, if you don't believe then you won’t.’ You and I have seen so many examples in football of that saying. Hopefully we will discover a good man or two in the off season, but I say those guys are young and they CAN do it. (Did I ever tell you about my years with Craobh Rua in Sligo? Everybody said when we got the club going again we had no chance. We dug up players everywhere and won two championships. Somebody believed!) Enough!”

Champions under pressure in three in a row chase

Fri, Oct 05, 2012

It has been a remarkable few years for Ballintubber, escaping with the intermediate title by the skin of their teeth in 2007 and going on to put together back to back senior titles in 2010 and 2011. This year, they are looking to make it three senior titles in a row. On Sunday in McHale Park, Crossmolina Deel Rovers will become the latest side to try to knock Peter Ford’s men off their lofty perch.

E-paper

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