Search Results for 'Evan Regan'

This weekend heralds the start of everything that 16 sides have been preparing for since Ballintubber claimed the Moclair cup for a second year in a row last autumn. Since that moment, everyone else has been looking forward to trying to knock the champions off their perch. The talk over the winter was of the old reliables having a crack, the likes of Knockmore, Ballina, and Castlebar being the kind of sides who could put a dent in Ray Prendergast Park ambitions for three in a row.

It's been a rollercoaster ride though this year’s National Football League for Mayo so far and last Sunday was no different. The game saw Mayo lead Kerry by eight points at one stage in the first half, but ended with them clinging on manfully to hold out against the Kerry challenge as long as possible when they were forced to play the last 25 or so minutes with only 14 men – following Lee Keegan’s dispatch for an early shower after he was suckered into a sloppy foul resulting in a second yellow flashed in his general direction.

Roscommon 1-11

The 3,000 or so who paid into McHale Park on Wednesday evening got more than their money’s worth from this clash between the hosts and last year’s All Ireland champions. Extra time was needed by Mayo to send them into next weekend’s semi-final against Roscommon, but even getting to extra time was something that looked to be beyond Mayo in the early stages of the second half, as Galway had a number of chances to pull well ahead of Mayo, but a stream of wides from the Tribesmen eventually came back to haunt them.

Almost as soon as it began the group stages of the FBD League will wrap up this weekend. For Mayo the competition so far can be given good grades. Two wins out of two, a number of new players given their introduction to the inter-county game and a place in the final of the competition against NUIG to look forward to in a week’s time.

Andy Moran is on the way back

Mayo 4-11

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.

The four sides left in the Treanlaur Catering Senior Football Championship have lifted the Moclair Cup a grand total of 72 times. Ballina Stephenites (36) and Castlebar Mitchels (27) have more than the lion’s share between. But that does not mean that those two sides will make it through their semi-finals over the weekend to set up a traditional classic pairing in the final. In fact the favourites to the make the final in a lot of people’s eyes will probably be the younger pretenders Knockmore and Ballintubber with their eight and one title respectively. While Castlebar won their first title in 1888 and Ballina in 1889, Knockmore did not climb the mountain for the first time until 1973 and Ballintubber did for their only time so far last season.

Both Breaffy and Ballina will do it again on Saturday evening as both sides battle it out for the last remaining place in this year’s Treanlaur Catering Mayo Senior Football Championship semi-finals. The sides finished level in McHale Park last Saturday evening thanks to a late equalising point from Breaffy wing-forward Matthew Conroy. Ballina looked to have the game theirs for the taking on a couple of occasions in both the first and second halves when they opened out big leads. But Breaffy pulled the Stephenites back in on both occasions to leave the game level at 1-11 to 0-14 at the end. Mayo minor Evan Regan was the main man for the north Mayo side, scoring 1-6 over the hour and caused the Breaffy defence a number of problems. Jim O’Shea and his management team will have been thinking hard all week what is the best way to counteract Regan’s threat tomorrow.