Search Results for 'Paul Geaney'

Dear me, not again. The winners of this year’s Sam Maguire will have their name etched on the famous trophy but there is absolutely no doubt Mayo’s 2017 championship campaign will command the most paragraphs in the championship 2017 yearbook. Bizarre does not even go close to explaining it. Mayo supporters again travelled in their tens of thousands clogging the N5 and N4 all the way to the capital from early morning. It is very obvious that football is more important than Christmas for the supporters of the green and red who now have to contend with a ninth championship game in 2017 after another heart stopping semifinal clash with Kerry in Croke Park. They will not have a cent left for the festive period.

There’s no easy way to win an All Ireland, and boy are Mayo doing it the hard way. It’s back to headquarters on Saturday for another swing at Kerry as the look to book an All Ireland final date in Croke Park in September.

Not long after Mayo rattled in their third goal in the first half of their All Ireland quarterfinal replay win over Roscommon, the thoughts of plenty of Mayo supporters wandered to what will we do to stop Kieran Donaghy, the man who has inflicted more pain on Mayo in recent years than probably anyone else on big days.

Early season predictions would have envisaged Dublin, Kerry, and Mayo making it to the semifinal of the championship with Tyrone getting a few hesitant votes because of a poor ending to their league campaign.

The groan that echoed around the ground at the 70-minute mark was perhaps the most vocal reaction inspired by this lacklustre game before an audience of 65,000.

It has often been said a week is a long time in politics - it also applies to sport.

Mayo picked up their first points of this years National Football League thanks to a second half fight back that saw them overturn a four point deficit at the break to run out two point winners at the end on a bitterly cold night in Tralee.

Mayo's 2017 league opener ended in defeat to an aggressive and physical Monaghan in Castlebar last Saturday evening. Despite my declaration last week that Mayo should target the national league for silverware, the target very much now is about survival. Again applause must be given to the 11,000 or so hardy souls who turned out to support the team. The basis for this first round defeat is pure and simple, Monaghan were better prepared and had a better pre season as it was purely obvious going into the final quarter that they had spent more time on the paddock than Stephen Rochford's team.

And Dublin it is, as we expected. Dublin qualified for an All-Ireland final showdown with Mayo after one of the most pulsating and memorable semi-finals you are likely to see. It was no place for the faint hearted.

A few of us used to go regularly to All-Ireland football finals as a matter of course, and the same four men traveled to all the football finals from about 2004 until 2011. Things change though, and a few of us have children old enough now to want to go themselves with Dad if he can snaffle an extra ticket.