Search Results for 'Keith Higgins'

New Mayo manager Derek Walsh could not have asked for a better start to the new season.

The Galway and Mayo footballers enjoyed plenty of national exposure in the media as a result of two melees and three red cards that came at the end of what had been an entertaining National League fixture at Pearse Stadium on Sunday.

Kevin Walsh's Galway, in division one for the first time since 2011, have made a tremendous start to their league campaign with two consecutive wins over Ulster opposition.

The shadow boxing and experimenting has come to a close, with the end of the FBD League last Sunday for Mayo. This weekend Mayo will make the trip to Clones in the reverse fixture of last year's National Football League opener which was won by the Farney county men in MacHale Park. The top division in the National Football League is a high intensity environment — Mayo want to hit the ground running and they will be targeting a win in this game.

With respect to the FBD league Mayo's season kicks off in earnest this Sunday when they travel to Clones to take on Monaghan in the first round of the National Football League. The FBD was somewhat of a calamitous affair this year with the weather playing puck with fixtures resulting in postponements and last minute cancellations. The decision to call off the Mayo v Galway game at the 11th hour the most frustrating postponement, as almost 3,000 spectators had gathered in Baltic conditions in Elverys MacHale Park. Most wondered why the decision was not made earlier. That re-fixture meant Mayo of course had to play three games in five days, two of which were lost while the other was a draw. Amazingly last weekend Mayo's game went ahead against Sligo albeit after a venue change. It was the only inter county game that took place last Sunday.

Keith Higgins will be another familiar face missing from Mayo’s opening league encounter against Monaghan next weekend, with the Ballyhaunis clubman yet to join up with the panel for the new season.

The biting cold and soaking rain probably stopped Tooreen’s most famous alleged visitor from stopping by again, but it didn’t dissuade the hurling faithful of Mayo from making their way to Adrian Freeman Park on Saturday afternoon for the latest instalment of this very local rivalry.

Now that the dust has settled on the inter-county season for another year attention turns back to the local scene this weekend with the double header of replays in the Mayo Junior Football Championship on Saturday evening announcing the return to local action. The action will get under way at 6pm with the meeting of Ballycastle and Kilmeena, followed by the clash of Balla and Achill at 7.30pm.

Sometimes it’s not about being the better team, it’s about finding ways to win games when you are probably second best on the day. Dublin were able to do that, they were able to get themselves over the line right at the end when it mattered most and they claimed their third All Ireland title in a row.

The Mayo senior football teams of 1950 and 1951 have gone down in both history and folklore among GAA folk the length and breadth of both the county and the country.