Search Results for 'Anthony McGarry'

It may not be officially sanctioned by the GAA anymore, but come Saturday afternoon in Clonberne when Mayo and Galway meet in the final of the Gaelic Masters Series at 2pm, it will be as hotly contested as any game where the right to be declared the best is down for decision.

Darragh McCormack came to the rescue of Ardnaree late on in McHale Park on Sunday to give his side a second crack at this years Mayo junior title. Two minutes into injury time, Michael Walsh drove forward with purpose and laid the ball off to the Ardnaree number ten who held his nerve to pull the game level at 1-5 each. It was McCormack who left only one point between the sides, six minutes earlier with a neat finish under pressure.

On the undercard of Sunday’s senior final is the meeting of two sides who have been beaten in three of the last four junior finals as they look to finally make the break up to intermediate football. Ardnaree were seen off last year by Islandeady and were also beaten in the final of three years ago by Kiltimagh. The Neale were last in the final in 2008 when Killala saw them off to claim the title.

The defending champions Ballintubber laid down a marker for the rest of the sides in the county that they will not be giving up their championship easy this year when they blitzed their way through what looked like a potentially tricky opening round encounter against local rivals Breaffy with a 1-14 to 0-3 win. Breaffy were always going to be up against it facing the defending champions on their own patch in the opening round, but having to go into the game without both Seamus and Aidan O'Shea it was going to need a huge effort from them if they were going to take anything from the game.

Like every year in sport in this county there have been a fair share of ups and downs for all those who go out and do their best in the quest to be the best they possibly can be each week. You will find in this week’s sports pages a selection of pictures which capture some of the great moments in sport for those in the county who every year continue to give their all in the pursuit of sporting excellence. And as for excellence, there has been plenty of that on display from Mayo's proud sports people.

Corofin have won the Connacht club title five times since 1991, and they reached another Connacht club final last Sunday afternoon when they recovered from a disastrous start to narrowly defeat Mayo champion’s Ballintubber at MacHale Park, Castlebar.

Last year Ballintubber failed at the first hurdle in the provincial championship. But coming on the back of an emotional first ever win of the Moclair cup, losing out at the first stage of the Connacht championships wasn’t as bitter a pill to swallow as it could be this time around.

It was never going to be easy for Ballintubber this year, following up last year’s emotional first Mayo senior championship title, losing their manager to the county senior team, a new man coming in trying to steady the ship and push on. But they did it again last Sunday and put together back to back senior titles, thanks to a massive effort to overcome a Castlebar Mitchels side who were licking their wounds from last year’s final loss to the Tubber.

When Anthony McGarry took over as manager of the Ballintubber team late last year, he did so from a position of considerable strength. They [Ballintubber] had just won their first county title, and not alone did McGarry get to manage a talented bunch of young men, he also inherited a team that knew how to maximise their playing strengths. He was then given the scope to evolve the team’s style of play by shifting away from the rear-loaded defensive strategy, employed to reasonable effect last year, to a more expansive attacking style this year.

All eyes will be on McHale Park on Sunday for the repeat of last year’s senior championship final, last year it was Ballintubber who were the last men left standing. While both groups of players are still more or less the same, on the sideline two new men will have been busy for the past few weeks plotting and planning each other’s downfall. When James Horan left Ballintubber to rejuvenate the standing of Mayo football on a national level, Anthony McGarry was the man left with the task of filling his boots. For the Mitchels, when Peter Ford stepped aside his banisteoir’s bib was handed to former Mayo senior and u21 manager Pat Holmes, and one target was given him, bring the Moclair cup back to the county town.