Search Results for 'Evan Regan'

When I woke last Sunday morning at 6.30am to find an inch of frozen snow covering the entire landscape around Charlestown I immediately thought there was no way I could travel to Killarney in these conditions, but I had to as I had the radio equipment in the boot of my car and without it no live broadcast of the much anticipated game could take place.

A seven point win over the All Ireland champions is as welcome a start to national competitions as any management team could hope for and joint Mayo manager Noel Connelly was pleased with how things played out in Killarney yesterday.

Now it starts to get real. While the championship is the ultimate barometer of success in Gaelic games, a successful league campaign is the foundation stone of what happens in the white heat of summer fare.

In what was a battle of black and blue in Killarney, Mayo started their national league campaign by showing their respect for Kerry by forming a guard of honor for the All Ireland champions when they entered the field.

So far so good for the new Mayo senior management team of Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes as their side picked up their second win of the year with a comprehensive nine point win over the visitors IT Sligo in James Stephens Park, Ballina on Sunday.

“Work hard, that was it, simple as that. We wanted fellas to work hard.” That was the mantra to his players before the game from Mayo joint manager Pat Holmes last Sunday after his and Noel Connelly’s side had seen off the efforts of NUIG in the opening round of the FBD League.

Pat Holmes and Noel Connelly got their senior management tenure off to a winning start in Elverys MacHale Park on Sunday. The fare on show wasn't anything that will be remembered for long, but it got a few miles in the legs of a a couple of new and some returning faces in green and red.

It took just two games and two rounds of extra time for the gladiators from Claremorris and Ballina Stephenites in the Mayo GAA u21 final. On Sunday afternoon, it was the men from south Mayo who emerged victorious and claimed their first A championship at this grade.

When we previewed the semi-finals of this competition, we said that Ballina were going to have to be on the top of their game to take down an impressive looking Breaffy side, and Ballina were just that. Tough, hard-working, and when it came to the crunch holding their nerve in digging out the win. When it looked like their semi-final was heading towards extra-time sub John Moylette kept his cool and put the ball between the posts to book their deserved spot in the final. This Ballina team coming good at u21 this year really should not be that much of a surprise as in 2011, this crop of players picked up the minor A title.

The last of the big titles to be given out in Mayo football will be handed out on Sunday week, all going well, with the final of the MD Roofing Services Mayo u21 football championship pencilled in for that date. Before then tomorrow night, Saturday, November 29 there is the small matter of the two semi-finals in the competition down for decision in Elverys MacHale Park.