Search Results for 'Noel Connelly'

It’s probably forgotten by a lot of people, but along with reaching the All Ireland senior final last year, Mayo also reached the junior equivalent of the competition also, where they came unstuck against a classy Kerry side in Cusack Park in Ennis.

I sent a brief text to Liam McHale and Kevin McStay last Sunday evening congratulating them on guiding St Brigid’s of Roscommon to a Connacht title. These two lads were brought in by the Roscommon club to launch a serious bid for All-Ireland, an honour which, understandably, placed and places them under huge pressure. Had they not managed to at least achieve a provincial title, they would have been perceived as failures. On the evidence of last Sunday, I believe they have a fantastic chance of going all the way with this team.

Tonight, if things went to plan for Castlebar Mitchels, would have been a chance to mark themselves out as the premier side in the county across all the big grades this year. But double defeat last Sunday in the county senior and minor finals has left just the U21A title up for grabs for the Mitchels men. The county town side will not want to let this one slip through their grasp and will go into the game as favourites after overcoming a fancied Breaffy side at the last four stage of the competition. Both sides have bounced back from opening day defeats, with Castlebar losing to Aghamore who were beaten by their opponents on Friday night, Hollymount-Carramore at the semi-final stage and the south Mayo men going down to Westport in their first game back in the summer.

The recent success of Mayo football at u21 level was recognised this week with four Mayo players making the cut and being named among the best 15 players to have played in the u21 championship over the past five years since 2005. Those who made the grade were Keith Higgins, who captained Mayo to their All Ireland u21 championship success in 2006, Pearse Hanley, Aidan O’Shea, and Tom Parsons. In the time period for selection Mayo won four Connacht titles in a row from 2006 to 2009 and an All Ireland title in 2006 all under the guidance of the management team of Pat Holmes, Noel Connelly, and Mícheál Collins. In 2010, Ray Dempsey took over the team and brought them to a Connacht final where they were narrowly beaten by Roscommon in the final.

The curtain came down on Mayo’s involvement in the All Ireland series last Sunday as Tony Duffy’s brave and battling minors bowed out in the All Ireland semi-final. But 62 days on from Pearse Park in Longford and their senior counterparts’ exit from the championship in the first round of the qualifiers, how far has the shaping of the future of Mayo football gone since just after 9.30pm in the underbelly of the stand in Pearse Park, when John O’Mahony announced that he was standing aside after four years?

There had been two nominations made by clubs to fill the role of Mayo senior football manager at the time that this paper went to print on Thursday evening.

So Mayo have hung the ‘help wanted’ sign outside the front door again. Once the final whistle was blown in Pearse Park at around 8.25pm last Saturday, there was never going to be any other option. John O’Mahony wasted no time in putting to an end his four seasons in charge of the side once the dye had been cast and the terminal whistle on the game and his managment of Mayo was blown by Gearoid Ó Conámha in the fading midlands sunlight.

John O'Mahony will be the first to admit that it just wasn't good enough, the county in general welcomed his appointment as manager back in 2006 and with some good reason he had brought Galway to two All Ireland's and done great work with Leitrim before that. But the way this championship went was just horrific, to loose to Sligo and no disrespect to them was very disappointing, but to loose to Longford in the manner we did was just something I'm in disbelief off. It seems that since the National League final defeat against Cork, the belief just drained out of the players and apart from Alan Freeman and Alan Dillon there's not one player who could hold their hands up and say that they preformed well on the day against Longford. I don't think that Mayo has seen any darker days on the football field.

I was in Aughamore with Crossmolina for a challenge match against the local club last Friday night. It was an opportunity for both sides to have a workout as they try to shake off their winter coats before the commencement of the league in a few weeks time. Aughamore have really impressive facilities and their flood lit pitch, in particular, is a credit to everyone involved up there. We were delighted with the opportunity to stretch the legs, after a number of weeks of circuit training, against a young talented team that have caught the eye in recent times. The underage structure in Aughamore is very obviously paying dividends at senior level and having seen them up close I now appreciate that they will have no problem whatsoever in mixing it with some of the big boys in the senior championship later this summer. Incidentally they were deserving winners on the night.

Mayo will start their defence of their Connacht u21 title tomorrow in Fr O’Hara Park in Charlestown with the visit of Liam Sammon’s Galway side. Since the trio of Pat Holmes, Noel Connelly, and Mícheál Collins took charge of the side in 2006 they have at the least managed to claim the Connacht title, in their first year in charge they landed the top prize seeing off Cork on an unforgettable day in Ennis.