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While the FBD League in January is not somewhere that you can make an solid predictions of what is to come in the year ahead, there is one thing that you can take from this year’s early season jaunt around the province at this stage, and that is that James Horan was true to his word when he said he would be giving all his players a chance to impress during the competition.

We decided last Sunday for a change of scenery to travel out the Curragh line and cut across via Belclare to Tuam Stadium rather than the usual N17 route, for the FBD clash between NUIG and Galway.

Just over six months since Mayo last played a senior inter-county game the road is opening up in front of them for another year. On Sunday in Ballinamore in Leitrim the newest version of the Mayo senior team will take to the field under the guidance of James Horan for the first time. Since his appointment at the end of September, Horan has only been able to run his eye over his new charges a handful of times, the last time last weekend in a series of inter-squad challenge games and previous to that in a number of trial games in November.

Ballintubber 0-8     Castlebar 0-5

The showpiece occasion in Mayo football will be tinged with sadness following the recent deaths of Ger Feeney and Donal McEllin. But what better way to honour the memory of the two men than this Sunday’s clash between Castlebar Mitchels and Ballintubber in the county senior final in McHale Park.

My school, Carmelite College, Moate, won back to back All- Ireland Hogan Cup titles in 1980 and ’81. I was on the 1980 team. A couple of lads decided it would be a good idea (and it was) to organise a 30 year reunion last Saturday in Moate for both squads. I didn’t make it up in time for the golf or the walking tour of our old school (now closed), which started around 2 o’clock that afternoon. I arrived at the hotel at about 7.30pm and walked straight into a crowd of about 50 lads who, at that stage of the evening, were in right good form. They had the benefit of five or six hours in each other’s company and had managed, in that time, to reacquaint themselves, many not having met throughout the 30 years. It was a mortifying moment for me as I didn’t recognise half of my school mates initially. Many had, let’s just say, that wintered look about them. Two of the lads had emigrated to the US after leaving school. One of those two is now a policeman in New York, the other a successful business man in San Francisco. It was good to meet up with those lads after so many years. Val Daly was another member of the side. He arrived later than I, as he was in Tuam watching his native Mountbellew lose the county semi final to Killererin earlier that evening. The boys from the 1981 winning team had invited a couple of the lads from the beaten finalists of that year. So, in fact, the first faces I recognised when I went in the door were Sean Maher, John Finn, Seamus O’Brien and Ollie Kelly, all members of the Claremorris school team beaten by Moate. It was a wonderful night and highlighted for me the fact that friends made on the football field can last a life time.

Castlebar Mitchels booked their place in the county senior final thanks to a solitary point victory over Knockmore in McHale Park semi-final. The Mitchels were put to the pin of their collar late on when Knockmore drew level through Aidan Kilcoyne point. Mitchels sub Kevin Filan kicked a fine score from near the end line on the stand side of the field. The Mitchels man was red carded for an off the ball incident seconds later. Richie Feeney broke though on the kick out from Filan's score and landed a huge point to put Castlebar two clear. Kevin O'Neill who didn't start the game due to an injury had a late chance for a goal from 25 yards out from a free but he could only blaze it over the bar to cut the gap to one before final whistle.

The bookmakers have it that it will be a clash of north against south for the Moclair cup come next month, and while that may be where the money is going, it would be a foolish man who is counting out the chances of the men from the west ahead of Sunday.

Saturday afternoon promises to be a battle in the west that is not to be missed. Ballintubber, who are going for three in a row, will face off against local rivals Castlebar Mitchels who are still smarting from last year’s final defeat. The two west Mayo clubs breezed through the competition up to the semi-final stage where both Claremorris and St Gerald’s put it up to them, setting up tomorrow’s mouth watering encounter.

The Mayo senior and intermediate football championships kicked into life this weekend, with most sides getting to grips with the white heat of championship fare for the first time this season. The big surprise of the weekend occurred on Saturday evening when Norman O'Brien's Ballinrobe destroyed Ballaghaderreen in Charlestown. The south Mayo men pulled off a 1-11 to 0-5 win over the 2008 county champions and restricted them to a solitary point in the second half, Kenneth O'Malley also saved a penalty from Andy Moran in the game.