Will O’Mahony ring the changes in bid to save the season?

Fri, Jun 25, 2010

Three weeks on from the being beaten by Sligo in the preliminary round of the Connacht Championship, Mayo will roll up to the midlands for the first round of the All Ireland qualifiers. The first round of the backdoor competition, while not quite uncharted territory, is one that is still not too familiar to Mayo players and supporters. In fact Mayo have only entered the qualifier system at this stage once before, also under the tutelage of O’Mahony in 2007. That year a comfortable win over Cavan in McHale Park was followed up with a humbling inside the city walls of Derry by the Oak Leaf county in the second round.

Win or bust for new minor supremo

Fri, Jun 25, 2010

If it wasn’t a difficult enough task for Tony Duffy taking over as Mayo minor manager after two successive appearances in the All Ireland final at this grade for the county, on Saturday evening it is win or bust for the year before June is even out. Duffy was the man to come out on top of a number of candidates picked by the county board to lead the Mayo minor side this year, following Ray Dempsey and his backroom team’s elevation to the u21 side. So far so good for Duffy and his backroom team of Vinnie Walsh, Liam Lavelle, and Michael Ruane, the Connacht minor league saw Mayo pick up four wins from five, the only defeat coming at the hands of this weekend’s opponents Roscommon on the opening day of the competition at the tail end of March in Ballyhaunis.

Midlands trip to start redemption

Fri, Jun 18, 2010

Mayo will start their All Ireland qualifiers adventure in Pearse Park, Longford, next Saturday evening when they take on Glenn Ryan’s midlands men in the first round of the backdoor system. While the trip to Longford will be far from easy it could have been a lot worse with the likes of Armagh, Donegal, and Derry all in the pot with Mayo. Longford will be no easy pushovers for Mayo all the same, last season they ran the current All Ireland champions Kerry to four points in the same venue, keeping Kerry scoreless for the majority of the second half that day. Mayo will make the trip to Longford even though they were drawn out of the hat first last Sunday evening. GAA Central Council made a ruling that teams who played away in the first round of the qualifiers would play at home in the first round this year, even if they were the second team out of the hat. The Mayo County Board is sure to be disappointed with the fact that the newly renovated McHale Park has so far failed to host a championship match in 2010.

A good draw, but not an easy draw

Fri, Jun 18, 2010

I always find it exciting when waiting to see what teams are paired against each other from the qualifier draw. I watched it live last weekend and once it was decided it would be Longford a good lively discussion took place about Mayo’s chances of progress. Most felt Mayo would be capable of beating Longford, a team that had a very mediocre season to date. When it was clarified later that evening that Longford had been awarded the home advantage for the match on Saturday June 26 (information that was not to hand when the discussion took place earlier), the task looked that little bit more difficult. I suggested in this column last week that it might be better for all if Mayo were drawn against a top tier side. Armagh, Derry, Kildare, or Donegal immediately spring to mind. Had we been drawn against any one of these teams and managed a victory, I feel the team could redeem itself and could certainly give us some hope for a reasonably good run through the qualifiers. However a match against Longford in Pearse Park just doesn’t set the pulse racing for me and I hope this particular clash gets the team a little more excited than I feel about it right now. I watched Longford play Louth in the Leinster Championship two weeks ago. It was a game they could so easily have won and they played without their star man, Brian Kavanagh. Their other star forward, Paul Barden, did play that evening, but was not 100 per cent fit. Both apparently are back training and will start against Mayo. Also in recent years I have attended the compact Longford venue and witnessed the home side frighten the lives out of very formidable opposition. I recall in 2006 a Dublin team looking mightily relieved to leave the midlands after scraping a two point victory over the home side. Longford sent Derry packing the year before in a qualifier game. Most of you will recall Kerry really struggling to beat them last year. So when their manager Glen Ryan suggested last week that he didn’t care who his side were drawn against as long as they had a home draw, you can fully understand where he was coming from.

Mayo interest in Round Ireland race

Fri, Jun 18, 2010

Audrey Mc Govern from Newport and her husband Paul Adamson are competing in this week’s Round Ireland Yacht Race. Paul and Audrey will be sailing on Intuition, a reflex 38’, one of two yachts entered from their company Sailing West. Sailing West is a yachting centre based in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, offering a whole range of yachting activities including race training, cruising courses, team building, and entertainment.

There are eight other crew members who signed up to racing on Intuition through Sailing West, most of whom have very little sailing experience. As part of the training for the Round Ireland, Intuition raced in two other offshore races. It came third in class in the Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire ISORA race, and last weekend won the overall prize for the Dublin Bay ISORA race along with its class prize. Audrey, first mate on the boat for skipper Paul, commented: “We were just over the moon to pull off such a convincing win, especially against these yachts that have been racing for years with the same crew. It just goes to show that race-training is the way forward, and provided you have a good professional skipper and first mate it is possible to bring a crew to the level we need to be competitive in the Round Ireland.” Earlier this season Audrey won 1st Ladies Helm in the SB3 Eastern championships in the Royal St George Yacht Club, Dublin. SB3s are the biggest class of racing boats in Ireland and the Newport woman was delighted to do so well at such a high class event. The Round Ireland race starts and finishes in Wicklow, the course is 704 miles, and the event gets under way on Sunday at 12 noon.

Newcomers Moytura to represent Mayo

Fri, Jun 18, 2010

The National Feile na nGael hurling championships celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, as the nation’s biggest underage hurling competition comes to County Clare. More than 100 teams of hurling, camogie and handballers will descend on the Banner County next weekend, as sides from every county in Ireland and beyond prepare for one of Ireland’s most prestigious tournaments. This year Mayo are represented by the Moytura hurling club based in Ballinrobe in south Mayo. The club, which was founded in 2006, was the surprise winner in this year’s Mayo competition, fending off the challenge of Castlebar, Westport, and fellow newcomers Caiseal Gaels to take the Mayo Feile 'A' title for the first time. Moytura will be hosted by the Cratloe Club from south Clare in Division three of the competition, while also grouped with Broadford (Clare) and Castletowngeoghegan (Westmeath). Win, lose, or draw, it has been a massive achievement for the novice club to get to this stage of the competition, and hopes are high in south Mayo that Moytura will cause a shock or two to the more traditional clubs in their group along the way.

Mayo League donates proceeds of charity shield game

Fri, Jun 18, 2010

The Mayo League has donated the proceeds of its inaugural charity shield match which took place at the start of this season in Milebush Park, Castlebar. The shield was named in honour of the late Liam McEntee and was competed for by Ballina Town (Elverys Super league champions) and Manulla (Chadwicks Cup Holders). Ballina Town became the first winners on a score line of 2-1.

Decare Claremorris five mile race and walk

Fri, Jun 18, 2010

Plans are well advanced for the ninth annual Decare Dental Claremorris five mile run and walk which takes place on Saturday June 26 at 6pm. The event is the second race in the Mayo AC C&C Cellular league which will ensure that the leading west of Ireland runners will be participating. Equally it is an event for those who wish to take part at a more relaxed pace, further information can be had from race organiser Mairead on 094 9372250.

Fit4life summer series

Early morning start in Westport this weekend

Fri, Jun 18, 2010

Balla
Last weekend’s stroke play competition was won out by Don Dillon with a score of 50, he finished just one ahead of John Walshe in second place with Padraic Cuffe taking third on 53. The gross prize was taken by Joe Monaghan with a score of 57. The ladies’ competition was won by Lynn Coffey who finished off with a score of 51, a single shot ahead of Geraldine Kenny who finished just ahead of third place Marie Flanagan thanks to her back nine play. Conor Holian was the winner of the youths’ section.

Basketball

Fri, Jun 18, 2010

This Sunday the Shikellamy boys’ high school team from Pennsylvania, USA, will play two games against a Mayo/Sligo selection in Ballina Sports Centre. The first game to tip off will be an u16 game which will get under way at 10am while the second will be an u18 encounter with a tip off time of 12 noon. The local selection will feature players from Ballina, Castlebar, Kiltimagh, Ballaghaderreen, and Sligo.

Mayo get Longford in the qualifiers

Sun, Jun 13, 2010

Mayo's road to possible redemption has seen them drawn with Longford in the first round of the qualifiers. The draw which took place on Sunday evening, pits John O'Mahony's dethroned Connacht champions against the midlands men who were knocked out of the Lenister championship by Louth in Portlaoise.