Clarke and Cunniffe touch and go for semi-final

Thu, Aug 13, 2015

Mayo goalkeeper David Clarke will be touch and go to make the All Ireland semi-final against Dublin at the end of the month. Mayo GAA PRO Aiden McLouughlin confirmed to the Mayo Advertiser last night hat Clarke who picked up a groin injury is  "working hard at the minute but it's hard to say if he will be out or not yet, will be touch and go."

Mayo out-gun and out-think Donegal

Sun, Aug 09, 2015

Lee Keegan said that he “absolutely” meant to loop the ball over Paul Durcan’s head and into the top corner of the net three minutes into the second half. As soon as the green flag was raised by the umpires, Mayo were on their way to a fifth All Ireland semi-final in a row. That goal put seven points between the sides and it was a matter of seeing out the game from there on in.

Connelly pleased but lots to work on

Sun, Aug 09, 2015

Since the end of the National League campaign, Noel Connelly has become the public face of the Mayo management team when it comes to engaging with the press. On Saturday evening, it was once again the former Mayo captain who came out to face the questions after Mayo booked their place in the final four of the championship with a comfortable win over Donegal in Croke Park.

O’Connor ready to rock after last eight win

Sun, Aug 09, 2015

The battle for places in the match day 26 was a major factor in getting Mayo ready for their game against Donegal on Saturday. The lack of having a major test ahead of the game was something that many feared could count against Mayo going in against a battle hardened Donegal side, but Cillian O’Connor wasn’t to concerned about it saying after the game. “I don’t think it was really, you can only play what’s in front of you. The Sligo game we put up a big score, but it was tough work for us especially in the forwards. Although we were getting scores and making a big lead it’s still hard, it’s still hard work to do that. We relied heavily then on intensity in training and matches between ourselves and thankfully the competition, especially the last two weeks and three weeks has been massive, especially from the six or seven lads outside the 26, some tough calls had to be made because there are lads flying and training was brilliant coming into the game. You don’t know until you go out and play we had a few good sessions and we felt great coming into it.”

Kerry far to strong for Mayo

Sat, Aug 08, 2015

The Mayo junior adventure came to an end in Croke Park on Saturday afternoon, when a far classier Kerry side put them to the sword without much fuss to claim the All Ireland junior crown.

Donegal to pose serious questions for Mayo

Fri, Aug 07, 2015

After blitzing their way through Connacht without much fuss the first test of Mayo's credentials from a side outside Connacht will come tomorrow when they square up against Donegal in Croke Park. Mayo joint managers, Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes, announced their starting 15 for the showdown on Tuesday this week, much earlier than they have done for their two other championship games, and the starting line-up showed no changes from the one that started against Sligo in the provincial decider.

It really starts here

Fri, Aug 07, 2015

For me the championship proper starts tomorrow at Croke Park. What has gone on before is bordering on a joke. Apart from Kildare defeating Cork in a round three qualifier and Cork almost catching Kerry on the hop in the drawn Munster final the rest has been straightforward and in some cases embarrassing. The first year the quarter-finals were introduced the cumulative winning total of the four games was just 11 points, the first two this year yielded a 35 point winning margin for Kerry and Dublin. I have no doubt Kildare would have taken a respectable few points loss to Cork in that qualifier rather than trying to come to terms with that 27 point humiliation at the hands of Kerry last weekend. Who would ever have thought that Kildare footballers would suffer a 19 point and a 27 point hiding from Dublin and Kerry and in the same season knock Cork out? Football has gone crazy.

The case for the defence

Fri, Aug 07, 2015

After every victory, no more than after every loss in a football game, people look for something to take out of it and work on for the next game. Scoring 6-25 in a provincial final win makes everything appear rosy on the the attacking side. But questions are also asked about the quality of the team you have just beaten. Add in the fact that you also conceded 2-11 to a team you were so far ahead of on the field of play, to go with the 2-8 you shipped against Galway in the Connacht semi-final win, and the attention on Mayo has switched to their potential defensive frailties.

No room for complacency for Higgins

Fri, Aug 07, 2015

Back when Pat Holmes and Noel Connelly took charge of the Mayo u21s for the first time in 2006, Keith Higgins was the man who they entrusted as their leader on the field. When the duo took the reins of the senior team this year it was the Ballyhaunis man they looked to again to be their battlefield commander. Higgins has been one of the finest defenders in the game over the best part of the last decade and he knows despite what others may say about the championship proper only beginning in August, it kicked off in earnest a long time ago. "If you're a Mayo player and you see the draw coming out and you see you've Galway in Salthill, that's where the championship starts no matter how good your record has been the last few years. That's championship stuff and that's what gets you going. You ask the Donegal boys and they'll say  the same thing when they'd to play Tyrone in the first round at the end of May. They can't be thinking ahead to August. But August is where you want to be."

Forward thinking is what drives Keegan on

Fri, Aug 07, 2015

The last time he was in action in Croke Park, Lee Keegan was sent off by referee David Coldrick just before the short-whistle. While Keegan was cleared to play in the replay of that semi-final against Kerry it is something that he does not look back on with anger, even if it did probably hamper his preparation for the replay the following week, as a number of days of will he or won't he be allowed to play had to be negotiated before he got the all clear. "Again no blame, that was something I had to take myself and again I'm not someone to point the finger, that was subsquently my own thing. It was mentally draining week, it was very tough leading into a big game. But I had a very strong group of players around me and the management had a good belief that I would be ready for the game on the Saturday, which was a great confidence booster."

Mayo will have to produce a top performance to beat Donegal

Fri, Aug 07, 2015

After last weekend's two mis-matches in the All-Ireland quarter-finals, GAA people are really hoping for some high quality fare this Saturday, when Monaghan take on Tyrone and Connacht champions Mayo face Donegal. The second game is the more attractive fixture by far and following Donegal's 10 point defeat of Galway last weekend, and in particular the way they finished the game, Rory Gallagher's men will feel that they can take down Mayo, as they did in the All-Ireland final of 2012.

It will be very interesting to see if Donegal deploy their team captain and most potent weapon, Michael Murphy, in at full-forward for a longer period than they have been doing. And if the big Glenswilly man does ramble into the edge of the square, who will Holmes and Connelly put on him? Mayo have unsurprisingly selected the same XV who hammered Sligo in the Connacht final and that means that Donal Vaughan is nominally picked at full-back, however that is not a position that he is likely to stay in. It is possible that Ger Cafferkey will go to full-back with Tom Cunniffe relocating to the corner, however, Cafferkey will need support and extra defenders around the place if he is picking up Murphy in a one-to-one situation.

Lots of room to improve for title chasing juniors

Fri, Aug 07, 2015

Cathal Freeman who will lead Mayo out tomorrow is a player who has seen numerous injuries hamper his attempts to break into the senior fold properly, and only for another injury last year which saw him miss his club's senior championship games made him eligible for this year's junior campaign. "As someone said to me there's benefits to being injured, I've had a topsy turvey couple of years, between everything that's happened," he joked last week. But Freeman is confident that he's well on the road to being injury free and getting back to the top level of the game, adding: "Between breaking bones and tearing muscles, but these things sort themselves out, if I keep doing the right thing and I've got fantastic people looking after me, like Liam Moffatt, Mark Gallagher and Martin McIntyre. If I keep doing the right things and listening to those guys and mind myself properly there'll be no problems at all." Injury also ruled out the Aghamore man from the Connacht final win over Galway back in May.

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