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The Mayo senior ladies' football team will be looking to pick up the pieces of their heartbreaking loss to Galway in the Connacht final a couple of weeks ago when they take on Tyrone tomorrow in the All Ireland qualifiers series with a place up for grabs in the All Ireland quarter-finals.

The finest of margins separated these two sides in MacHale Park on Sunday afternoon, after looking like they were on the verge of a trimming 12 minutes in when they trailed by 0-7 to 0-1, Mayo came within inches of knocking Galway of their throne as the Queens of Connacht with a heroic display that came up just short in the final few minutes, where Galway’s greater composure in front of the posts saw them edge this battle.

In October 2007 he stood on the field in Croke Park after his Mayo ladies’ side had just lost to Cork in the All Ireland final, taking in what went wrong. After guiding Mayo that close to the summit, Frank Browne would have been planning to have another crack at the title the next year, but that was not how things worked out as Mayo entered a number of years of flux with half a dozen managers taking charge over a short number of years. But Browne has come back on board as manager this year after a number of years in the club game, and more recently in charge of the Longford senior hurlers for the last three years where he won a National Hurling League division 3B title and the Lory Meagher Cup last year.

Just as Halloween is about to roll around again for another year, one of the other seemingly annual events is also coming up this weekend, Carnacon are in a Connacht senior club final and the favourites for victory.

Cora Staunton has been the difference between Mayo winning and losing games on countless occasions down through the years, and last weekend the Carancon ace was once again the one who delivered when they needed it most.

The Mayo ladies senior footballers enter the All Ireland series tomorrow when they head to Pearse Park in Longford to take on Westmeath in round two of the championship.

On Sunday afternoon in Elvery’s MacHale Park, the Mayo ladies senior football team will face off against their old enemies from south of the border in the Connacht Ladies Senior Football Championship final.

Familiar foes will square off in Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada in Carrick on Shannon on Sunday at 1.30pm, with the Dolores Tyrrell Cup up for grabs. For the second time in as many years, Mayo’s Carnacon will square off against Donaghmoyne from Monaghan for the right to be crowned the best club side in Ireland. The game also sees the meeting of the last two All Ireland champions with Carnacon preceding the Monaghan ladies as the holders of the title, having won their fourth All Ireland senior club title in 2011 with a win over Na Fianna from Dublin. While the Mayo ladies are going for their fifth national title on Sunday, the Monaghan ladies are looking for their fourth, having won the title in 2006 and 2009 to go with their win last year. The side from Farney County also have the upper hand over Carnacon when it comes to final meetings, having beaten the Mayo side twice on the big day, last year and back in 2006 when they claimed their first national senior crown.

It is one of those things that seems to never change like the winter weather, come this time of the year Carnacon will be on the hunt for an All Ireland title. On Sunday at home in Clogher the standard bearers of senior ladies football in the county are once again looking to book their place in an All Ireland final. Standing in their way are the Laois and Lenister champions, Mountmellick Sarsfields.

It’s a case of all roads lead to Ballinlough this weekend for ladies football in Mayo, with Carancon and Louisburgh competing in the Connacht ladies senior and junior finals respectively. Tomorrow lunch time, Carnacon will get the show on the road when they take on Kilerrin/Clonberne in the senior final at 1.30pm. The Mayo girls have breezed through the championship so far after accounting for Castlebar Mitchels in the county final, then Roscommon’s Strokestown in the quarter-final and St Nathy’s from Sligo in the semi-final. Carnacon who are still under the guidance of Jimmy Corbett and Beatrice Casey are looking for their 15th provincial title in the last 17 years and eighth in a row. With Cora Staunton in rude scoring form and Claire Egan expected back after injury combined with the likes of Fiona McHale and Noelle Tierney they have the more than enough punch to see off the Galway champions on Saturday afternoon.