Five talking points from the game
Sun, Aug 04, 2013
1.Aidan O'Shea is playing the football of his life:
Read more ...“We'll take that win and prepare for the Tyrone challenge.” - Horan
Sun, Aug 04, 2013
James Horan couldn't but have enjoyed what he saw in front of him in Croke Park on Sunday afternoon. It was one of those days when everything fell into place, where all his decisions and ideas about how his team should and could play came to fruition. He was in flying form in the post game press conference to, but still with his eyes firmly fixed on what's coming up next over the horizon for Mayo in three weeks time. Asked about his first impressions of the game, the Ballintubber man said, “We're delighted with that performance, we're delighted to play like that in an important game. A lot of the stuff we've worked on our skills, our tackling and our movement, really a lot of the basics of the game that we put an awful lot of effort came through today. We'll take that win and prepare for the Tyrone challenge.” With Donegal weakened and not going at the same tilt as last year it was up to Mayo to exploit that he believed, which the did ruthlessly over the 70 minutes. “Donegal had a lot injuries, they had a lot of tough games but it was up to us to exploit that and to use our power and pace to maybe show up that if there was an issue today, but look we did that and I'm delighted.”
Read more ...Last eight action in Connacht Gold cup and shield tomorrow
Fri, Aug 02, 2013
The action in the divisions of the Mayo league take a break this weekend as the action in the cup and shield competitions takes over at the quarter-final stage. In the Connacht Gold Cup, there are four top division sides left in the draw with two from the Premier A and one from each of the Premier B and League One. Westport United who are second in the Super League and were held to a 1-1 draw away to Iorras Aontaithe last weekend will be at home to League One side Ballyhaunis Town who are themselves second in their division. United are the defending cup champions having routed Castlebar Celtic B 6-0 in the final last year in Milebush and will be hot favourites to book a semi-final spot on Saturday evening. The only unbeaten team in the league across all five divisions Ballyheane will be taking on Premier B opposition ins the shape of Ballyglass. The central Mayo side are currently riding on a high after picking up the Tuohy Cup last Sunday in Milebush thanks to a 4-0 win over Bangor Hibs and are also currently top of the extremely tight Premier B division, where they are level on points with Swinford and Westport United B at the top of the table. Ballyheane come into the game on the back of a 3-0 derby win against Castlebar Celtic last weekend and will be full of confidence themselves. Claremorris who find themselves rock bottom of the Super League will make the trip Castlebar to take on Fahy Rovers for a place in the final four. Claremorris have only one win under their belt in the league this season and last weekend were hammered 6-1 by league leaders Ballina Town at home. Fahy are two points clear at the top of Premier A and this game has all the hallmarks of a divisional upset, unless Claremorris can dig out a win to breathe some life back into a season that looks like tumbling towards relegation. The final quarter final pits a Castlebar Celtic side, who are in turmoil and now managerless after Declan Kilkelly resigned following Celtic’s 3-0 defeat at home to Ballyheane last weekend, against Charlestown Athletic. The east Mayo men who are currently sitting in third place in the Premier A will be hoping to use home advantage to claim the scalp of the Hoops.
Read more ...Record time wins Balla 10k
Fri, Aug 02, 2013
Freddy Keron Sittuk from Kenya won the 21st Balla 10k in a time of 31:25, and in the process beat Sean Hehir's 2102 course record by seven seconds. The Balla 10k was the first race of the 2013 C&C Cellular Mayo AC Road League, and the spectators saw a brilliant demonstration of smooth front running by Dublin based Sittuk who trains with Raheny Shamrock AC. It was also his second victory in Mayo this month - he won the Achill Half Marathon. In the early stages he had Sligo native Alan Maguire and Max Ware (on holiday from UK) for company, but as the race progressed and a welcome cooling shower eased, he pulled clear to win decisively and enjoy the festive mood at the yellow arch finish line in Balla village. The women's race was less clear cut as Mayo AC masters trio Ann Lennon, Mary Gleeson, and Colette Tuohy traded places at the front. Ann Lennon has been in great form recently - the evidence was clear in her 5k series finish times when she got down to 18:40 at Ballyhaunis and showed how valuable this 'speedwork' preparation is for endurance racing. She pulled ahead in the final kilometres to win in her best 10k time for a few years 37:49, more than 30 seconds ahead of Mary Gleeson, who was more than a minute down on her 2012 time. Colette Tuohy looked strong and comfortable in third place and was well pleased with her finish time.
Read more ...Prendergast excels on the Partry Mountains
Fri, Aug 02, 2013
Having come close to a win only days previous in the hotly contested Westport town centre criterium junior rider Jason Prendergast riding for Cong based Cunga CC managed to come up trumps this time around taking a fine solo win in the Western Lakes CC promoted Tourmakeady Festival race on Wednesday evening. In what proved to be ideal racing conditions the 45 rider field took to the line for the 50km handicapped event. With six minutes covering the field from front to back the last group to start had it all to do. Riding steady they worked well to whittle down the lead of those in front. By the halfway point most of the riders had been swept up by the strong men and the attacking started in earnest, with Ballinrobe man Padraig Marrey the first to fire a bullet from his gun. This move was gradually reeled in and just as it came together it was Jason Prendergast who took the initiative and launched a strong attack. Sensing the danger, it was Marrey who responded first and as the duo gathered momentum up front several more managed to close the gap making it five in the newly established breakaway. With the majority of the clubs present now represented out front this move had every likelihood to succeed, and while those behind mounted a consistent chase the strength of the front group never looked like being overhauled. On to the finish where Prendergast decided to go alone with approximately 2km remaining and managed to hold on for a fine win with Marrey left to settle for second on the night.
Read more ...Deane’s hat-trick at autocross
Fri, Aug 02, 2013
Derek Deane’s run of good luck continued as he annihilated the competition at round three of the Mayo and District Motorsport Club’s Loose Surface Autocross at Harrington’s Quarry near Swinford. Since his first win Deane seems unstoppable as he now makes it three wins in a row. Deane put in an incredible time on the third run of the day to finish over five seconds ahead of his brother Mervyn driving a similar JB Buggy. Mervyn managed to fend off the challenges of Martin Tynan in his impressive Mitsubishi Evo 8 to finish second. Foxford’s James McGreal was the next top Mayo man, finishing to round off the top 10 in his sprightly Subaru Impreza. The Mayo and District Club Award was won by Adrian Deane. The event was also the fourth counting round of the inaugural 2013 National Loose Surface Autocross Championships, a series that coincidentally Derek Deane has been victorious on the opening three rounds off.
Outside of the top 10, the next best local competitor home was David Carney from Westport. It was the first time Carney unleashed his impressive C2R2 at the Mayo event. Shrule’s Noel Murphy won the battle of the local young drivers. His Honda Civic never missed a beat all day while been pushed to the max by the well developing south Mayo man. Alan Moran was next home in his Opel Kadett, finishing one place ahead of Bekan’s Sean McHugh in his Subaru Impreza.
Read more ...Minors look to avoid Monday blues
Fri, Aug 02, 2013
The fixture gods deemed it fitting that Mayo would have to face Donegal in the senior quarter-final on Sunday afternoon, however they weren’t so kind as to place the county’s minor side on the same billing. Instead Enda Gilvarry’s men will be the opening act of a double bill of minor quarter finals in O’Connor Park in Tullamore on Monday afternoon, while the Kerry minors have been given the matinee slot in Croke Park the day before against Tyrone. However Mayo minor manager Enda Gilvarry isn’t complaining and is just looking forward to getting on with the job in hand. “To a certain extent we can't control the day and venue, any pitch is the same. It would have been nice to be with the seniors but it wasn't to be. It's the same for Westmeath, they would have looked forward to playing a quarter-final in Croke Park the same as we were.”
Read more ...Casey's Call
Fri, Aug 02, 2013
And then there were eight. Watching the qualifier between Tyrone and Meath and Ger Canning announcing that Donegal seem to be into the quarter final after a struggle against Laois, I promptly let my Donegal wife Rita know that Mayo could now get drawn against Donegal. I knew it would happen, it was written in the stars, a chance for this Mayo team to right what went wrong in last year’s All-Ireland final. They could have got an easier draw in the likes of Cavan but getting pitted against Donegal - the All-Ireland champions, the team that made us sick to the pit of our stomachs last September means there is little needed in the line of motivation and complacency is gone out the window. It also means not much chat in the Casey house this week. I hope and expect to have bragging rights at 5.30pm next Sunday.
Read more ...Collision course
Fri, Aug 02, 2013
Once Monaghan had ended Donegal’s three-in-a-row Ulster championship dreams in St Tiernach’s Park in Clones, a couple of hours after Mayo had wrapped up their own hat-trick of provincial titles, this Sunday’s quarter-final pairing was the one that the neutral and plenty of non-neutrals wanted to see come out of the hat. And so it came to pass, not long after 8.30pm last Saturday, the gods conspired to set up a rematch of last year’s All Ireland final, with Cavan man Joe McQuillan the man brokering the peace in the middle of the two packs.
Read more ...Horan ready for Donegal challenge
Mon, Jul 29, 2013
The luck of the draw pitted Mayo and Donegal against each other in next Sunday’s All Ireland quarter-final and with that James Horan will square off against Jim McGuinness once again on the sideline. The Mayo manger looked confident and relaxed at the Mayo press event in Breaffy House on Sunday night and was looking forward to taking on last year’s All Ireland champions once again.
Read more ...Balla 10k celebrates its twenty first birthday
Fri, Jul 26, 2013
The 21st Balla 10k takes place tomorrow, Saturday, July 27 at 7pm. This event has been organised by the same committee led by Brendan Conwell since its inception. The Balla 10k is the first of six races in the 15th Mayo AC C & C Cellular Road League. The Balla 10k has attracted hundreds of runners, joggers, and walkers to the village from all over Ireland over the past 21 years, many of them raising funds for various worthy causes in the process. The course is over a testing one lap AAI measured and permitted circuit. The start and finish line is just a few metres away from race headquarters which is located in the community centre in the middle of the village.
Brendan Conwell ahead of the event said: "This is an event that has something for everyone - from the elite athlete to the fun runner and walker. It also provides an ideal opportunity for the hundreds who took part in the recent successful Mayo AC Summer 5k Series to test their fitness over a longer distance. Features of the race include a €2,000 cash prize fund, chip timing, a well marshalled course, dressing and shower facilities, street entertainment, and plenty of refreshments. All participants will get a goody bag and finishers’ medal. The Balla 10k is recognised as a low cost low budget event but with all the trimmings of a top quality promotion."
Read more ...