Search Results for 'Andy Moran'

Garry’ win southern shootout

Mayo got in and got out of London as expected winning by 2-16 to 0-9 without setting the world on fire. I was fully sure they would cover the 15 point handicap, but when you have an injury list as long as your arm you have to be satisfied they got the job done. I, like most of you, had to be content with listening to the game on the radio which was an unusual experience for me, you could almost sense the carnival atmosphere at the Irish TV grounds in Ruislip.

They packed the ground from early in the day and there was a carnival atmosphere around Ruislip well before throw in. While the the football on display wasn't of the highest quality getting out of London without any slip ups was the main priority for Mayo and that's exactly what they did.

The sun shone across the county all weekend and while the thoughts of many would have been about 99’s and lounging on the beaches from Keem to Old Head, but for the club footballers around Mayo this wasn’t a weekend for soaking up the sun.

When a cool head was needed as things looked like they might be about to fall apart right at the end, the man who was making his 132 appearance for Mayo equalling James Nallen’s record number who steadied the ship and calmed the nerves with a brilliantly taken point. Andy Moran’s score three minutes into injury time pushed Mayo back into a two point lead after Donal O’Hare’s brilliantly taken goal had brought the Mourne county men right back into the game and had Mayo hearts racing and fingers checking twitter feeds to see how things were developing elsewhere.

There will always be quibbles with the referees decisions in games, there were plenty to pick over from Rory Hickey’s display. In particular in the 26th minute when Aidan O’Shea was manhandled to the deck by a couple of Kerry players including Aidan O’Mahony, who were aided by Kieran Donaghy testing the strength of the material in the black and lime Mayo jersey. Aidan managed to scoop the ball over the bar somehow from being right under the crossbar for a point, but Hickey should have blown for a penalty before he ever got the shot off. But it wasn’t refereeing decisions that cost Mayo in MacHale Park, it was just bad decision making, poor execution of skills and just not being at the races in the final 35 minutes, all their own doing.

Mayo get their National Football League campaign under way on Sunday away to Cork in Páirc Uí Rinn, and for new manager Stephen Rochford it is going to the first major test of his side's credentials in the new season. Rochford will be dealing from a slightly rigged deck when he makes his first team selection, with no players from Castlebar Mitchels available to him, or from Hollymout-Carramore and Ardnaree who have booked their places in their respective All Ireland club finals.

This weekend Stephen Rochford will take his first training session with the Mayo senior team, just three weeks out from their first game of the 2016. Last Thursday night Rochford met the press for the first time since his appointment and spoke at length about his hopes and the challenges ahead for the next year and much more. 

Ex-Armagh and Crossmaglen GAA legend Oisin Mc Conville, All Ireland club winning coach Stephen Rochford, and current Mayo and Westport GAA stars Kevin Keane and  Lee Keegan will lead out a strong team of GAA personnel at a special seminar to explore what it takes to “mind yourself” under the pressures of modern day involvement in GAA and sport in general.

As in every game between two evenly matched sides a number of factors will be decisive in sorting out where the winning and the losing of this game will be. We will look at a few of those factors here.