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Mayo 2-6

For what it’s worth, and irrespective of what you might have heard on the streets since, I didn’t meet a single person who believed that Mayo would beat Galway before last Sunday’s game in Tuam. That is why that one point victory had people giddy with excitement after the match. It was an incredible result. Let’s be honest here for a minute. The form shown in Ballina exactly one week earlier against a mediocre Dublin outfit was to say the least very ordinary. Yet here, a week later, 14 of that very same starting 15 are brimming with confidence after taking the scalp of the form team of 2009. It’s not too difficult to analyse the reasons for the victory. Put the maroon and white of Galway in front of a green and red jersey and you have a different attitude and approach to the whole occasion. Clearly it’s a mindset. There is no doubt that there would have been lots of smiles, not to mention a bounce in the step of all who participated in the morale boosting victory last weekend. Because the win is worth an awful lot more than the two points on offer that more or less saw Mayo scramble away from the relegation zone and into mid- table that will surely guarantee Mayo division one football next year. This victory reminded everyone that the age-old rivalry that exists between these two teams is very much alive and well. Long may it continue! Both sides just love having a go at one another, out on the pitch and extending into the terraces too.

Mayo 3-14

It was generally felt that the Mayo u21s would not be prevented from winning their fourth Connacht title in a row at Markievicz Park last Saturday evening, having disposed of the two big heavy weights; Galway and Roscommon in earlier rounds. After 15 minutes of the match in Sligo it was very evident that Sligo were in the ‘also ran’ category! It was only a question of the margin of victory, and as it transpired Mayo ran out very comfortably on a final score line that flattered them a little. In fairness to Sligo they battled bravely right to the end, but they just didn’t have anything like the quality of players that Mayo possessed. Mayo scored 3-11 from play over the 60 or so minutes of the game and right from the throw in it was evident that management had their troops focused on the task at hand. Unfortunately, from a spectator point of view, this match didn’t represent great value for money as Sligo really had no answer to the slick mobility of the opposition. This Mayo team have already provided sufficient entertainment in two brilliant performances against Galway and Roscommon. It was difficult enough to select a man of the match as practically every Mayo player had his moments. Billy Fitzpatrick who had this task for Mid West Radio selected Jason Doherty, and it would be hard to disagree with him as Jason has improved with every outing so far this year and is playing with great confidence and authority. Aidan O’ Shea has been very good at every level this year and I thought that he in particular produced a flawless display from start to finish last Saturday. Kevin McLoughlin is another who has caught the eye and having watched him up close on three occasions I have to say this guy is the real deal. He kicked a magnificent point off his left foot from the left wing in the first half that was as fine a score as you will witness this year. Cathal Carolan got through his customary truck load of toil in another performance of relentless intensity. Tom Parsons has returned to the form that we witnessed a year or two ago and there must surely be no one doubting his talent at this stage. Eoghan Reilly, son of Tom (Monaghan and Castlebar) is another I would suggest can step up to the next level. His labour is rarely high profile (most defenders fall into this category) but he just toils away selflessly, always alert to imminent danger like a smart defender should be. I mentioned last week the immense contribution of Noel Connelly, Pat Holmes, and Mícheál Collins who have managed Mayo u21s for the last four years. They deserve a lot of credit for producing a team that are always well drilled, well disciplined, and keen to play the game as it is meant to be played.

If friendship was to be measured by the number of times I called to John Naughton’s house to say hello, I was not John’s friend at all, for I never called to his home, nor he to mine and this despite the fact that he only lived over the road from me here in Castlebar. But I have known John all of my adult life because he played in goal for the Crossmolina senior football team for years. Unfortunately John lost his brave battle with cancer and passed away last week. John was a very clever, gifted, man who knew things that others didn’t. He was interested in predictable things like Gaelic football, his farm and livestock, and loved his work with the HSE in Castlebar Hospital. He always struck me as being a wise man. He remained passionate about the Crossmolina football team even after he stopped playing. When I made my way on to the senior team in Crossmolina John was already the well established custodian, having played in goals for years prior to my arrival. He took his game seriously and was never shy in making a suggestion as to how the opposition would be beaten, or offering his point of view on what was going awry in a game. John had notions of grandeur for the club. He wasn’t content with the junior medal won in 1975 or the intermediate title won in 1980. He wanted the team to be the best it could be, to be up there with the top teams competing for the county senior title annually. He was one of the real leaders in the dressing room during my indoctrination. At that time I was a young naive defender on the team and John often pulled me aside before, during, and after games to offer encouragement and advice, for which I was most grateful for. What I loved about those words was the fact that they were delivered in the language of the plain man. In other words, there was no doubt in my mind about the content of the message delivered! John’s manner was genial, his humour easy, and his mind acute. He was enormously proud of the achievements of his native Crossmolina, particularly the All Ireland club victory in 2001. On big match days, whether it was Mayo or Crossmolina that was involved, John would have the field in front of the house bedecked in the Mayo and Crossmolina colours. The display of a variety of paraphernalia, bunting, and flags signalled the fact that a serious follower of the GAA lived in the house behind the field. An enormous crowd of old GAA friends and colleagues, from as far away as Co. Tyrone, turned out for his funeral last weekend to bid farewell to a good man who loved his sport. John would have been immensely proud of his son Kieran who bravely took to the field last Sunday to assist his club, Castlebar Mitchell’s, get through their quarter-final replay vs Shrule/Glencorrib successfully. It can’t have been easy.

The freezing conditions that have beset the country have seen the cancellation of the first round of games in the Connacht FBD League this weekend. The Connacht council announced the decision on Wednesday saying: “Due to hazardous driving conditions and having checked the weather forecast for the weekend Connacht GAA Council has postponed the start of the FBD Insurance League until Sunday January 17.” Mayo were scheduled to open their FBD League campaign with a tie in Garrymore against the students from NUIG on Sunday, but all the ties have now been put back a week due to the snow and ice. Mayo will now start their campaign on Sunday week, and follow it up with a game at home to Sligo IT on Sunday January 24 in Charlestown, and wrap up the league stages on Sunday January 31 in Ballinlough against Roscommon. The home final for the league has been pencilled in for either Saturday February 20 or Sunday February 28, and the final against New York on Sunday October 10.

For the 10th year in a row, Mayo will contest the Connacht u-21 football final. In the past nine years the JJ Fahy Cup has been presented to a Mayo captain on six occasions and Mayo captain Tom Parsons will be hoping that he becomes the seventh man in a decade to lift the trophy. Mayo have won the competition 22 times already while their opponents on Sunday have yet to claim the title.

Standing at the back of the crowd who had gathered in front of the stand in Sligo on Saturday evening to witness Tom Parsons lift Mayo’s fourth JJ Fahy cup in a row, Pat Holmes was a happy man. In the four years since he has taken over the side with his joint manager Noel Connelly they have not failed to deliver a provincial title and they bagged one All Ireland in their first year in 2006. While the celebrations went on in front of him Holmes was happy to take it all in from the back of the crowd and reflect on the game and what lies ahead for his side. “It is nice, each year there has been a different bunch of players and it is always very nice to win a Connacht title.” This year’s crop of players had come through two tough games against Galway and Roscommon to get to the final, in both those games they let big leads slip, something that Holmes had drilled into his side they couldn’t afford to do this time. “In the last two games we had let big advantages slip and that is something we have worked on, and we were very conscious at half-time that we couldn’t afford to take our foot off the pedal, and that we had to keep working hard.”

McHale Park will get its first airing this season on Sunday when the All Ireland champions Tyrone come to town for the final round of the Allianz National Football League. Mayo will be looking to pick up where they left off against Galway in Tuam Stadium a fortnight ago, where a stunning second half performance saw John O’Mahony’s side overturn a six point half time deficit to squeeze past Galway by a single point and secure a one point win. The win leaves O’Mahony’s side in fourth place in the division one table on six points, equal on points with Mickey Harte’s side. A draw on Sunday would ensure both sides’ status in division one for next season, but a defeat coupled with a high scoring win by Dublin over an already relegated Westmeath and a win by Donegal over Derry could drag either side back into the bottom two of a very tight division one table.

Sixty minutes is all that stands in the way of the Mayo under 21s and a place in this year’s All Ireland final. Pat Holmes collected his fourth consecutive Connacht title after a comprehensive win over Sligo which wrapped up the provincial honours following tough wins over Galway and Roscommon earlier in the competition. Standing in their way are Downwho claimed the Ulster title on Wednesday evening following a one-point win over Armagh.