Search Results for 'Jim Gavin'

And we are off again. It has been a long and winding road this year for Mayo on the field and when we thought we had reached the final destination two weeks ago, the car was pointed for home, neither full of joy nor regret, but full of more questions and possible answers. The steering wheel will be turned out on to the road and thousands of cars pointed east to the capital once more, thousands of Mayo fans will make the trek from Blacksod to the bridge in Shrule, full of hope, expectation, and delight tomorrow morning. For this Mayo team have another shot at glory, not redemption. It may be 65 long years since Sam Maguire came here festooned in green and red ribbons, but over the years in between hundreds of Mayo men have donned the green and red and given us some glorious days. Days that other counties could only dream of being involved in, we have been there, we have stood among the greats of the game and we have never done anything but seen our warriors give their all for their families, clubs, towns, schools, communities, themselves, and for us, those cheering them on from the sidelines.

Anytime over the past few years that I have met, or spoken to Cillian O'Connor, I have found him to be in the vernacular of my home place, Belclare, which is a half-parish of Corofin, 100 per cent "spot-on". Or alternatively he might be described as “sound as a bell” or "sound as a pound" by a few of the older generation.

Anytime over the past few years that I have met or spoken to Cillian O’ Connor, I have found him to be in the vernacular of my home place, Belclare, which is a half-parish of Corofin, to be 100 per cent “spot-on”.

It is past midnight on Wednesday night, going into the small hours of Thursday morning. My wife and the four kids are all tucked up and gone to dreamland for the past few hours. Only Caesar our faithful dog is keeping me company, as I start to type this column on why Dublin should win the All-Ireland final in a few days time. However, I am having strong flashbacks to the second of September in 2012 and the All-Ireland semi-final.

There is a great comfort about diving into some place for a bite of lunch and opting for the same bloody thing every day. The familiarity with which we go back to the tried and tested leaves one leaving the establishment, our appetite sated, but perhaps cursing ourselves for not having the neck to try something different.

It’s game eight of Mayo’s 2016 championship campaign and the biggest one of all, the All-Ireland final against the reining champions and hot favourites Dublin. Mayo are priced at 3/1, the Dubs are 4/11 while the draw is available at 10/1. In layman’s terms the bookmakers don’t see Dublin been beaten. The handicap betting is set at -3 points meaning the expert odd makers feel Dublin will win by about three.

Westmeath suffered a second successive Leinster SFC Final defeat when losing against All Ireland champions Dublin at Croke Park on Sunday.

Westmeath manager Tom Cribbin believes the Midlanders can cause a Leinster Senior Football Championship Final shock against Dublin at Croke Park on Sunday.