Search Results for 'Peadar Gardiner'

With the front door closed by Galway after the Connacht final, Mayo go in search of squeezing themselves through the back door starting with Tyrone tomorrow afternoon. The two-time All Ireland champions, who were kicked to touch at the quarter-final stage of the Ulster championship by Down and have come through the first two rounds of the qualifiers, seeing off Louth and a 13-man Westmeath side last weekend, to arrive in Croke Park with a bit of steam built up.

My uncle worked in the pub business all his life. It’s all he really knew. I remember clearly one day as a young lad when he asked me what a pub needed to survive. I was young and innocent so I spoke of good food, passing trade, live music, a good pint of Guinness, a growing demographic in the area and some sponsorship of local teams and events. Yada, yada, ya.

Alan Dillion/Trevor Mortimer v Diarmuid Blake

Alan Dillon/Trevor Mortimer v Diarmuid Blake

Despite being bitterly disappointed like many other Galway people by our defeat to Mayo on Sunday, and the manner of it, it must be acknowledged that the better team won.

I paid a visit to Anthony Finnerty’s hostelry in lower Salthill before the game last Sunday. There was a great buzz about the place with plenty of Mayo supporters popping in for the crack and banter before the short hop over to Pearse Stadium. One of the first people I met on arrival was PJ Kelly from Moygownagh. He is a great passionate football man and was eagerly seeking everyone’s opinion as to who they thought would win the game. “Would we win it? Are we good enough to win it”? I got the impression that PJ was happy with the answers coming from the gathering and would have left for the stadium pretty confident that Mayo would win their first provincial title since 1967 at the city venue. If I am to be perfectly honest here I have to admit that I found it very difficult to predict the outcome in advance of Sunday’s game. I know from experience that Galway v Mayo encounters take on a life of their own and the form book goes out the window when these two sides meet. Irrespective of form coming into a championship encounter, there is rarely more than a point or two separating these two great rivals. Galway looked so ordinary against Sligo a few weeks ago that punters could have been forgiven for believing that this would be a relatively ‘handy’ match for the Mayo boys. Mayo, on the other hand, looking hugely impressive when carrying out a demolition job on Roscommon in the semi-final. I suggested, prior to the game, that our poor run of results in Pearse Stadium in recent decades would be a factor. Because of that I felt we would have to be five or six points a better team than Galway to beat them in a venue where we hadn’t won a provincial championship since 1967.

I came across the movie The Green Mile a few nights ago on late night zombie TV.

After Kerry hammering the lard out of Dublin last Monday it is difficult to predict the victors now with any huge degree of confidence.

After Kerry hammering the lard out of Dublin last Monday it is difficult to predict any victors now with any huge degree of confidence.

After Kerry hammering the lard out of Dublin last Monday it is difficult to predict any victors now with any huge degree of confidence.