Search Results for 'Eoin O'Donoghue'

It was a tense and at times turgid Connacht quarter-final clash on Sunday afternoon - that was until Galway set McHale Park alive in injury time to seal victory by 0-12 to 1-12.

The Galway footballers will be fully aware Stephen Rochford and his Mayo squad will have all their guns locked and fully loaded to try to knock them out of the Connacht championship this Sunday in McHale Park (4pm).

We never do it easy, do we.

Mayo left Salthill last Sunday, frustrated and annoyed and without any points to show for their efforts.

The shadow boxing and experimenting has come to a close, with the end of the FBD League last Sunday for Mayo. This weekend Mayo will make the trip to Clones in the reverse fixture of last year's National Football League opener which was won by the Farney county men in MacHale Park. The top division in the National Football League is a high intensity environment — Mayo want to hit the ground running and they will be targeting a win in this game.

With respect to the FBD league Mayo's season kicks off in earnest this Sunday when they travel to Clones to take on Monaghan in the first round of the National Football League. The FBD was somewhat of a calamitous affair this year with the weather playing puck with fixtures resulting in postponements and last minute cancellations. The decision to call off the Mayo v Galway game at the 11th hour the most frustrating postponement, as almost 3,000 spectators had gathered in Baltic conditions in Elverys MacHale Park. Most wondered why the decision was not made earlier. That re-fixture meant Mayo of course had to play three games in five days, two of which were lost while the other was a draw. Amazingly last weekend Mayo's game went ahead against Sligo albeit after a venue change. It was the only inter county game that took place last Sunday.

Group One

It is going to be hard for Michael Solan and his management team to top their debut season in charge of the Mayo U21s having brought last year's crop of new stars right to the top of the game and claiming the All Ireland U21 title in Ennis against Cork at the end of the spring.

The last time that the Mayo senior footballers were in action was the heartbreaking All Ireland senior final replay defeat to Dublin and since then they have been the talk of the country following an interview by their former managers. Almost all of that squad are currently on a team holiday in South Africa so for this Sunday's FBD League opener, it is going to be a very different looking Mayo side for supporters to get their voices behind for the first time this year, and concentrate on things on the field rather than off the field.

Four games spread across three venues will determine the future of eight sides all looking to be the one to claim the Mayo Intermediate Championship and book their place with the big boys in the senior event next summer. The last few games that had to be tidied up in the group stages took place last weekend and Kiltimagh, Westport, Belmullet, and Islandeady topped their groups, with Moy Davitts, Burrishoole, The Neale, and Shrule Glenncorrib joining them at the quarter final stage as runners up.