Search Results for 'Keith Rodgers'

Often the best game on All-Ireland final Sunday is the minor contest, rather than the senior joust.

All-Ireland final day is one of the best days of the year.

All-Ireland final day is one of the best days of the year. Well, it should be anyway. Three or four of us either go up Saturday for the Kilmacud Sevens or belt up early on Sunday morning. Last weekend due to family commitments we opted for the Sunday gig and were in Jurys opposite Croke Park well before noon. One of the men we travel with has a terrible fear of being late for games. Especially All-Irelands. He got left behind as a youngster after he missed a plane, and despite huge amounts of counselling, he has never got over it. So there we were. In good form and in good time, all set up for what should have been a most memorable day.

All-Ireland final day is one of the best days of the year. Well, it should be anyway. Three or four of us either go up Saturday for the Kilmacud Sevens or belt up early on Sunday morning. Last weekend due to family commitments we opted for the Sunday gig and were in Jurys opposite Croke Park well before noon. One of the men we travel with has a terrible fear of being late for games. Especially All-Irelands. He got left behind as a youngster after he missed a plane, and despite huge amounts of counselling, he has never got over it. So there we were. In good form and in good time, all set up for what should have been a most memorable day.

Twelve months on and Ray Dempsey and his management team and only a handful of their side from last year are back in an All Ireland final and are once again going in as underdogs against the Ulster champions. But that tag won’t faze either the management team or the players who are sent out onto the field in an attempt to claim the ultimate prize in this grade. Over the season the Mayo minors have adapted to many challenges through the Connacht championship and the All Ireland series and any time a question has been asked of them they have found the answer. Starting off against Galway in Sligo as underdogs, Mayo gave a tour de force in the second half blowing Galway off the pitch and sending them into the Connacht final as favourites. A tag that did not rest well on them, and they struggled against a very physical Roscommon side and were lucky to get a second bite at the cherry, but they learned their lesson from that game in Salthill and despite having to go to Hyde Park for the replay, they were able to up their game and change it around enough to see off Roscommon with ease in the end.