Search Results for 'Shane Nally'

I recall a few short months ago writing in this paper about the poor fare we were witnessing in the majority of games at the start to this year’s championship. I had witnessed some fairly ordinary fare in every province and the general perception was that football was at a very low ebb. It was hard to argue at the time and I kept my fingers crossed that things just might improve as the season progressed. Wexford created their own fairy tale and did produce some magic along the way as they shocked us all by making it all the way to the All Ireland semi final. But the magic for me in this year’s football championship came in the last two weekends. The All Ireland final displays from the minor and senior final were magical. The quality of play and the excitement generated in the minor final was terrific.

One side has not won it since 1981, the other came out of a 60 plus year slumber to pick pocket two in a row in 1996 and 1997 but have not been able to get back to the summit in the 12 years since, one of those facts will become history on Sunday. The meeting of St Gerald’s, Castleba,r and St Colman’s, Claremorris, in the Connacht Colleges A final in Flanagan Park this Sunday will pit the best two sides in Mayo in battle for the Aonghus Murphy Cup at 3pm, with Roscommon’s Declan Hunt taking care of duties in the middle of the field.

William Doherty, a 17-year-old student at Our Lady’s Secondary School, Belmullet, was named Senior Student of the Year 2009 for Entrepreneurial Spirit at the Bank of Ireland National Student Awards. Mayo celebrations heightened when footballer Shane Nally from St Colman’s College, Claremorris, was also called to the stage to accept the title of Senior Sport Student of the Year 2009.

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.

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.

To prove my point, after attending the All-Ireland football finals of 2004, 2006, and 2007, it was impossible not to come away from those days feeling a bit forlorn, a smidgen despondent, and a tad empty from the whole experience.

St Colman's (Claremorris) 0-13