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Mayo manager Stephen Rochford said this week that he is in no rush to fast-track through a large group of Michael Solan's All Ireland U21 winning side into the senior set up. Brian Reape has been brought in to the senior championship squad recently alongside four others, Diarmuid O'Connor, Stephen Coen, Michael Hall, and Conor Loftus, who have all been with the senior set up previously.

Stephen Rochford made his first big statement as Mayo manager wielding the axe and cutting nine players from his panel. Michael Conroy being the most high profile of these. Mickey C as he is effectively known gave a great service to the Mayo jersey but has been blighted by injury of late. His last major contribution for Mayo was scoring four points against Kerry in last year's National league game in Killarney after coming on for the injured Evan Regan, Conroy also picked up an injury up the same day.

After a few weekends of exciting club championship hurling action, the football clubs swing into competitive championship fare this Saturday and Sunday with both the seniors and intermediates kicking off.

Families want fun, freedom, and flexibility when on holiday. Camping holidays offered by Grenham Travel provide all that and more.

RAY SILKE

All week long we have heard truly terrific accounts of how Leicester City and Claudio Ranieri shocked the soccer world by winning their first Premiership title. From almost being relegated last season, to beating hands down the enormously high spending teams in the league such as Manchester City, Man United, and Chelsea with a collection of off-cuts and rising talents is a tremendous achievement and once again proves what can be achieved by any group of sports players, in any code, if they really knuckle down, start believing in themselves, and get some fair winds behind them.

GAA: Connacht JFC semi-final

With six minutes left on the clock in Cusack Park in Ennis, it looked like it might finally go wrong for this marvellous Mayo team when Brian Coakley kicked his fifth point of the day to draw Cork level with Mayo with the score 3-7 to 1-13. Cork were coming and the momentum was with them at this stage. Peter Kelleher was causing havoc inside the Mayo defensive line and the legs seemed to be going in some of those in green and red.

In his first year as a minor Seamus Cunniffe was the rock in the Mayo full back line in a team that went on to claim the Tom Markham Cup. The following year he was back on duty again with the minors as part of a side that reached the All Ireland semi-final, before bowing out at the semi-final stage. Last year he missed out on togging out with the u21s through injury, but he is back this year and has been one of the key men in Michael Solan's sides charge to tomorrow's final showdown.

It is hard to believe on the eve of an All Ireland U21 final, that despite the best efforts of Ray Dempsey, Tony Duffy, and Niall Heffernan on the sideline Mayo had failed to reach even a Connacht decider in seven years until this year. The lack of success at this grade was seen as a worrying indicator to the possible prospects of the senior team who are currently backboned by a strong cohort of those who won an All Ireland U21 title in 2006 and those who were latterly involved in the sides that won Connacht titles in 07, 08, and 09 as their careers enter the final few years at the top level.