Search Results for 'Derry'

“It’s off the mark, it wasn’t spectacular, it’s a win at the end of a difficult week with all the injuries and uncertainty.” John O’Mahony cut a happy figure outside the Mayo dressing room on Sunday after he watched his side see off Westmeath with ease. The two points on the board was the most important thing on an afternoon where conditions dictated that the game would never move above the mediocre in quality for long periods. Mayo were struck with a number of injuries going into the game and O’Mahony is confident most will be back in the reckoning by the time Mayo make the trip to Kerry this weekend. “I’d hope they would, Ger Cafferkey it’s not a serious injury but we didn’t want to take any chances, Pat Harte would have been OK to go in there, but we decided to hold him so we could get another week’s training into him. Barry Moran’s injury was a bad hamstring pull and it could be a long one. Billy Joe Padden, maybe he’ll be back, it was a very bad dead leg he got in the challenge match last week, at least we have another week to buy with them and see. Alan Dillon will be fine, he could have almost started but the extra week will do him good.”

I was in Aughamore with Crossmolina for a challenge match against the local club last Friday night. It was an opportunity for both sides to have a workout as they try to shake off their winter coats before the commencement of the league in a few weeks time. Aughamore have really impressive facilities and their flood lit pitch, in particular, is a credit to everyone involved up there. We were delighted with the opportunity to stretch the legs, after a number of weeks of circuit training, against a young talented team that have caught the eye in recent times. The underage structure in Aughamore is very obviously paying dividends at senior level and having seen them up close I now appreciate that they will have no problem whatsoever in mixing it with some of the big boys in the senior championship later this summer. Incidentally they were deserving winners on the night.

Liam Sammon and his team will know that they face a big step up in class and intensity this Sunday when they face Derry in Maghera. Donegal were like sheep in an abattoir in the first half last Sunday, however Derry are a completely different proposition.

While Mayo were busy dispensing with the paltry challenge put up by Westmeath last Sunday, the flashbulbs were frantically popping in Bellaghy as the prodigal son of Kerry football, Tadhg Kennelly, made his return to the Gaelic fields of Ireland after his nine year excursion on the fields of Australian rules. Mayo will make the 300 mile round trip from home base in McHale Park to Tralee to take on a side which has seen off Donegal, Tyrone, and Derry in their last three games, and are brimful of confidence as they try to impress Jack O’Connor who has taken over the reins of the side for the second time this year.

Galway 1-16

A total of 370 miles or 590km separates Ireland’s most southerly and northerly points and this June a group of supremely fit Irish cyclists intend to cycle that distance in less than 20 hours to raise money for Castlebar charity, Rock Rose House Cancer Care. The challenge is not one for the faint hearted as it will mean the cyclists will have to average 18.5mph or 29.5kph hour cumulative including all stops. Starting at 5pm and all going well finishing at 1pm the following day. Organised by Padraig Marrey of Marrey Training Systems in conjunction with Western Lakes Cycling club and members of eight other clubs around the country the group is expected to be made up of almost 25 of Ireland’s most determined and motivated amateur cyclists.

I didn’t get to Kerry on Sunday due to my own club commitments, but reports from the south would appear to be encouraging. My spies tell me Mayo could have won, or at least drawn, the match, which is more than anticipated. Rightly, John O’Mahony was critical afterwards of the demands being made on certain players. Take a footballer like Kevin McLoughlin, who didn’t play on Sunday due to an injury – he has come through a Sigerson Cup campaign, his senior debut, and the start of the u21 championship, all in the space of a few weeks.

Fixture pile ups usually occur for club sides in Mayo in late summer, if the senior inter-county team are involved in championship action at the business end of the season. But last weekend, as it will again this weekend, it came to a log jam for both the senior inter-county side and u21 side. Normally before inter-county games the senior team management announce their team on a Thursday evening, bar any niggling injuries that may be hanging around. But last week, John O’Mahony informed the press and public through county PRO Kevin O’Toole that there would be no side named until Sunday morning due to the involvement of the u21s in Connacht Championship action.

Five games down and two to go for Mayo as they try to maintain their division one status in the National Football League. With a win and two draws under their belts they currently sit in the peculiar position of fourth place in the table, but due to the tight pack of three behind them, are not safe from the drop. Mayo are involved in a shoot out with Dublin, Donegal, and Tyrone to avoid being the side who join point-less Westmeath through the trapdoor to division two.

Kildare 0-19