Search Results for 'Andy Moran'

World Cup fever is well and truly upon us with games coming thick and fast and most of us struggling to keep the lids open for the late starts every night. Mayo football and the World Cup is something I relate to from my memories as a Mayo footballer. I made my championship debut for Mayo all the way back in 1994, the World Cup was on in the USA the same year. It is hard to believe 20 years could go by so fast. Mayo football was taking a bit of a bashing then on the back of Mayo’s humiliating defeat to Cork in the All-Ireland semi final by all of 20 points in 1993. As a new kid on the block I did not care about the World Cup, and I was oblivious to the thrashing I am sure Mayo football was taking from the entire country, because I had achieved a goal I set myself as a 16-year-old who failed to make a Mayo u16 team for the Ted Webb Cup. When I arrived home from Mayo u16 training in 1990 to tell my parents I had been dropped from the panel because I simply was not good enough I swore to them that day I would play for the Mayo senior team before I was 20.

After walking their way to a third Connacht title in as many years last year, Mayo were sorely in need of a test in the competition this year and that's what they got from Roscommon in Hyde Park on Sunday. After the game Mayo manager James Horan was in a reflective mood following his sides tight one point win.

Rarely does anything come easy to Mayo in Hyde Park and on Sunday they were peering over the ledge and an exit from the Connacht championship at the hands of Roscommon, but they were able to go to the well once more when it was needed to eek out the win that puts them into the Connacht final.

This time last year Mayo trounced Roscommon by 0-21 to 0-9 in McHale Park in the provincial semi-final.

James Horan sprang a surprise with the team he announced for Sunday’s Connacht semi-final against Roscommon this week when he opted to hand Conor O’Shea his first championship start at centre-half-forward alongside teenager Diarmuid O’Connor who will be making his second championship start after making his debut against New York at the start of last month.

By Ray Silke

James Horan threw a curve ball with his team selection for Sunday's Connacht semi-final against Roscommon, by omitting his captain Andy Moran from the starting line up. The Ballaghaderren man's omissions from the starting 15 will be the big talking point ahead of the throw in, with Breaffy's Conor O'Shea coming into the starting line-up for his first championship start in a new look Mayo team that will see O'Shea line up alongside his two older brothers Aidan and Seamus. Conor will line out at centre half forward with Burrishoole's Jason Doherty on one side of him and Ballintubber's Diarmuid O'Connor on the other flank. The full forward line will see Alan Freeman return to the focal point of the attack with Kevin McLoughlin and Cillian O'Connor either side of him.

This time last year Mayo trounced Roscommon by 0-21 to 0-9 in McHale Park in the provincial semi-final.

With just two league games under their belts for the 16 senior clubs in the county, the race for the Moclair Cup gets under way this weekend with eight games across the four groups in the Treanlaur Catering Mayo GAA senior football championship getting going to the whistle over Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.

With all the furore, excitement, and stories from my recent visit to New York for the start of the Connacht championship I did not leave many column inches for the most important part, the match. It was amazing the amount of Mayo supporters who expressed concern to me before the team departed from Dublin for the Big Apple. I was regularly asked if they would win in New York, and the number of times I heard “they’ll hardly mess up, will they?” made me snigger to myself. Supporters were concerned after the performance against Derry in the League semi-final, but you were dealing with three in a row Connacht champions and double All-Ireland finalists here against a bit part team made up of a sprinkling of average county players and mostly of average club players. The result was never in question, but it took until the last kick of the game when Enda Varley goaled to seal my prediction of Mayo winning by at least 20 points. New York’s so called bigger players, Brendan Quigley and Ross Wherity, completely faded into obscurity as they were overwhelmed by Seamus O’Shea, Jason Gibbons, and Donal Vaughan. It was a difficult game to watch and even more difficult to talk about as New York had 13 men in their own half for long periods to basically try to keep the score down.