Winter leagues comes to the crunch in Castlebar
Fri, Mar 28, 2014
Balla
Michael Neary was the winner of the gents’ competition last weekend in Balla with a score of 37pts. Neary’s back-nine play saw him hold off Enda Holian in second place and Pat Walsh finished in third place. The ladies’ competition was won by Patricia Conwell who scored 35pts, Breege Moran finished in second place and Julie Loftus came home in third place.
Michael Neary was the winner of the gents’ competition last weekend in Balla with a score of 37pts. Neary’s back-nine play saw him hold off Enda Holian in second place and Pat Walsh finished in third place. The ladies’ competition was won by Patricia Conwell who scored 35pts, Breege Moran finished in second place and Julie Loftus came home in third place.
Read more ...Mayo head back to headquarters
Fri, Mar 28, 2014
Mayo face into their final two regulation games of the Allianz National Football League over the next two weekends. Whether they will extended that league run until at least the semi-final stage on April 13 and potentially the final on Sunday April 27 (a week before the open their championship campaign in New York) will have a lot to do with how they get on tomorrow night against the Dubs. A win over the All Ireland champions would put them two points clear of the metropolitans and almost assure themselves of a spot in the last four, ahead of their final game at home to Derry in Elverys MacHale Park.
Read more ...The saints are looking to marching on
Fri, Mar 28, 2014
St Gerald’s College, Castlebar, will be packing their bags and making the long trip to Nenagh tomorrow to take on the three times in a row Corn Uí Mhuirí champions Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne at 3.15pm with a place in the Hogan Cup final up for grabs. The Kerry side claimed their provincial title with a win over De La Salle Macroom from Cork, with a five point win in Killarney three weeks ago on a score of 3-14 to 3-9. The Kerry side are managed by current Kerry senior football manager Eamon Fitzmaurice, while St Gerald’s are once again under the guidance of Daniel Forde and Tom Naughton, with Ger McDonnagh and Neil Douglas also coaching the team. Gerald’s picked up their second Connacht senior championship in a row a fortnight ago with a hard-fought win over St Attracta’s, Tubbercurry, putting together their first two in a row in the competition since 1996 and 1997 when they went all the way to the Hogan Cup final, before losing to St Patrick’s Academy, Dungannon. Last year Gerald’s fell short at the semi-final stage losing 3-8 to 1-7 to the eventual winners St Patrick’s Maghera, while Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne lost out to St Patrick’s, Navan, in their semi-final.
This year’s St Gerald’s side is backboned by the trio of All Ireland minor medal winners Sean Conlon, Michael Plunkett, and team captain Michael Hall, while another All Ireland minor winner from last year Matthew Ruane had to make do with a place on the bench over the last few games as he recovers from injury.
Read more ...Top surfers hitting the waves in Achill for national competition
Fri, Mar 21, 2014
Eleven colleges from all over the country are hitting the waves on Achill Island this weekend for the Irish Surfing Intervarsities, hosted by GMIT Mayo.
Read more ...Some things in football are hard to explain
Fri, Mar 21, 2014
It was All-Ireland final heartbreak for another Mayo team as Castlebar Mitchels fell to the might of St Vincent’s on St Patrick’s Day. We will never know what might have happened if Richie Feeney had not received a black card after only five minutes.
Unfortunately the body check is a black card offence and it left Eddie Kinsella with no choice however harsh it seems. I was still convinced the referee would be lenient considering it was so early in the game and I am sure Pat Holmes and the entire Castlebar contingent were left dumbfounded, having to play for 55 minutes without their “spiritual leader”.
Read more ...Castlebar Mitchels - disappointed but ready to regroup
Fri, Mar 21, 2014
Castlebar Mitchels came up just short in Croke Park last Monday when a Diarmuid Connolly inspired St Vincent's team had too much for them in the AIB All Ireland Senior Club Football Championship final.
Read more ...Connolly crushes Castlebar dream
Mon, Mar 17, 2014
When 42 minutes into the contest Danny Kirby reacted quickest to a Neil Douglas shot coming back off the post and he drove the ball past Michael Savage from close range, Castlebar Mitchels believed it was going to be their day in Croke Park. Kirby's goal put his side into a 1-11 to 2-7 lead and looked to have Vincent's rattled. But less than a minute later, the Dublin side won a free out on the Cusack Stand side of the field. Tomas Quinn was making his way over to have a crack at the posts, but his team-mate Tiernan Diamond decided to launch a quick one into the the Mitchels penalty area the ball bounced and evaded the grasp of Ciarán Dorney, but unfortunately for Castlebar, Diarmuid Connolly was following in behind and was able to palm the ball past the reach of Ciaran Naughton in the Mitchels goal, to put Vincent's back in front and take the wind out of the Mitchels sails. It wasn't the knock-out punch, but it was the one that left Castlebar unsteady on their feet and needing the end of the round to come quickly for them to recover, but it never came and the Marino team and Connolly in particular kept piling on the blows over the next ten minutes. Over that period Connolly kicked another 1-3, which went unanswered by the Mitchels. The Dublin stars second goal saw him run through the heart of the Mitchels defence, get dispossessed yet he was still able to flick the ball back up into his hands with his right boot and in a continuous movement drop the ball to his left boot and fire it past Ciaran Naughton. That was the knock out blow and it was plain sailing for Vincent's from then on to the final whistle even if Danny Kirby did manage to get a second goal for Castlebar just before the end to close the gap a bit.
Read more ...The future's bright for Mitchels -Feeney
Mon, Mar 17, 2014
Castlebar Mitchels defender Alan Feeney was full of praise for victors in Monday's All Ireland club final, but at the same time said he believed he and his team-mates didn't live up to their abilities on the day. “Gutted, I don't think we preformed to our full potential today which is kinda disappointing, but at the same time Vincent's we're very strong and on the day they were the better team and the better team won, so we can't make any gripes about it.”
Read more ...Moran disappointed but proud
Mon, Mar 17, 2014
Barry Moran has been in this position, too many times than he'd care to remember. But the big Castlebar man still took the time to pick over what had happened after another All Ireland final defeat in Croke Park on Monday evening. "We're bitterly disappointed. Going in at half-time we were in a good position. We felt that we could have pushed on and we had a great opportunity to win the game. We didn't. It was Vincent's who pushed on and in the end they were the better team and deservedly champions.”
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Gerald's claim Connacht crown with late goal blitz
Sat, Mar 15, 2014
St Gerald's 3-11
St Attracta's 3-7
Mayo League side bow out of EA Sports Cup
Fri, Mar 14, 2014
The Mayo League representative side made the short trip to Eamon Deacy Park in Terryland on Tuesday night for this first round EA Sports Cup tie. But unfortunately they came up short against the SSE Airtricity League side after holding them at bay for more than 75 minutes of the contest. Galway FC had been pushing for a goal all night, but Mayo League goalkeeper Gary Cunningham had been in fantastic form. When he was finally beaten it came from the boot of Marty Owens who fired home at the back post from close range after being set up by Jake Keegan. The hosts doubled their lead seven minutes before the end when Keegan riffled the ball past Cunningham from out on the right hand side after some neat footwork to create the space for the shot.
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