Club action this weekend

Willie Joe

Take that Ya Big Dawg Feck Off Ya Big Ould Bird

Photo: Joe.ie

This coming weekend the senior club championship resumes and so, with what looks like a settled spell of weather having finally arrived, it’s a good opportunity to get out in the fresh autumn conditions to catch some decent live action on home turf.

The race for the Moclair Cup has now reached the quarter-final stage but by Sunday evening (barring the need for any replays) that’ll be whittled down to the final four. The battle to avoid relegation from the senior ranks is hotting up too, with the second-last chance saloon matches on this weekend as well.

MacHale Park hosts a double-header on Saturday afternoon, where Breaffy and Garrymore are first into action at 4pm. Breaffy were fancied to be strong contenders for county honours last year but fell to an unexpected defeat to Knockmore at this stage of the competition. They’ll be strongly fancied to advance from this tie but no team gets by Garrymore these days without a battle and Breaffy can expect a tough contest on Saturday.

The second match at the Castlebar venue on Saturday evening sees Castlebar Mitchels taking on Aghamore, where throw-in is set for 5.30pm. Mitchels will be strong favourites to come out on top in this one and much as I’d like to say otherwise it’s hard to see anything but a win for the townies here.

Also on Saturday with a 5.30pm throw-in over at James Stephens Park in Ballina, there’s a cracking North Mayo battle in prospect with Knockmore taking on Kiltane. Knockmore are, I think, the narrow favourites to do the business in this one, though a win for the Erris lads certainly can’t be discounted. UPDATE: This match has now been postponed due to the death of Mr Des Farrell, Knockmore GAA club President, formerly club Chairman and Secretary. RIP. Thanks to F’Deelin for the early heads-up in the comments on this development. 

The last of the quarter-finals takes place at MacHale Park on Sunday. This is a real Old Money v. New Money clash, with current county top dogs Ballintubber up against the grand old dames of Mayo club football, Ballina Stephenites with the throw-in for this one set for 3.30pm. Ballina have righted themselves this year after dancing a tad too close for comfort with demotion last year but it would still be a shock of considerable proportions were they to beat the defending champions on Sunday. I can’t see them doing this.

The two relegation semi-finals which are also on this weekend are Ballinrobe against Claremorris at Hollymount on Saturday evening (throw-in 5.30pm) and Shrule/Glencorrib against Ballyhaunis at Claremorris on Sunday (throw-in 12pm).

That’s not the only action on this weekend, by the way. If lithe young bucks aren’t your thing, the more mature variant is also taking to the field in the form of the Mayo Masters. They have a Round 7 championship match against Tyrone on Saturday, which takes place at Robert McCallion Memorial Park in Swinford where throw-in is 2.30pm.

The Masters are going great guns in this competition and Saturday’s match is a top-of-the-table clash so all support that can be provided for this important home fixture would, I’ve no doubt, be very welcome indeed.

68 thoughts on “Club action this weekend”

  2. One comment on the club championships on this blog says it all for me. It does really put football in this county in perspective . Sorry may be downbeat at the low standard of club football, the effort put in by the club players is enormous but trying to get a bit of form together is impossible. the bigger clubs can manage it with bigger squads but the rut for the majority of clubs continues sadly without any fuss or interest .

  7. Bookmakers make it a three way battle. Ballintubber, Castlebar and Breaffy. Looking at their squads hard to argue with the odds. The three games this weekend look like they could all end in landslide victories.

    Ballina probably have the best chance of keeping things respectable but Ger Caff would be a huge loss as he would of picked up Cillian

  9. Will only make the Sunday unfortunately. It’s a match I’m really looking forward to though. Best of luck to all teams involved.

  11. Looking forward to dropping into MacHale park over Sat and Sun to catch a couple of the games. Hopefully the mild weather forecast will make for some good football.

  12. Looking forward to the weekend. Breaffy have a very strong squad on paper, they will be hoping to go a step further this year. It’s mad, 3 of the 4 teams left I would consider local! Sure they nearly all would have gone to school in Castlebar!

  13. You also have the intermediate quarter final replay between Kiltimagh and Moy Davitts in Charlestown, Saturday at 4:30.
    Ballina had a good win over Crossmolina recently in the league. I think it will be hard for Ballintubber to add Dillon, OConnors back in and get their overall game going. I’ll go for a suprise win in that one. There’s a dedicated young crew coming through in Ballina, things starting to gel for them.

  14. Same as Larry b, it would be great to get the names of the masters squad. A real shame that the GAA don’t recognise this competition, disgraceful really but it appears that they could give a damn about these guys many of whom I am sure have and continue to give great service to their clubs and therefore to the association. Any new “young bucks” added to the squad this year?

  15. Looking forward to the games over the weekend would be good to see Ballina improve and do well Mayo football needs them back in the big time my own club is Cill Chomain so I will be an interested neutral spectator on Saturday and Sunday looking forward to a feast of football and hopefully some emerging new talent

  16. Cill Choman are going incredibly well in Minor this year. Any local knowledge about how that has come about? In general they seem to be up at underage.

  18. Looking forward to seeing ballintubbers Jason gibbons this weekend heard he had a serious operation lately hope everything goes well for him should not have been dropped from mayo panel

  19. rober, it would be interesting to hear a bit more from you regarding the state of club football in Mayo. You’re obviously very disgruntled with the present situation and I agree, it’s gone a bit like the inter county scene alright – with a few big clubs dominating and the rest seemingly struggling to get by. Not sure what the answer is, but have you something in mind ?

  21. Some games are hard to call like Garry v Breaffy, Kiltane v Knockmore. Can not rule out Ballina, but for me Castlebar are the team to beat.

  22. Cill Chomain had a narrow loss to Knockmore in the North Mayo semi final.
    Looking at their results they were very competive against good teams. That would have been unheard of a few years ago. Great to see.

  23. Some of us have work for doing Rober 😉 I certainly wouldn’t say there is little fuss or interest in the club scene and as far as I can see some of the enthusiasm for the county scene at the moment is rubbing off in terms of interest in club. A few years ago it was North Mayo clubs that were pretty much dominating the club scene, now the momentum has swung to the other side – such is the way things go but I’m not convinced we’re much worse off now than we were back in the 90s. And our clubs have yielded a pretty decent county side too.

    Very much looking forward to heading to MacHalePark on Sunday for Ballina v Ballintubber. Isn’t the replay of the Junior semi-final between Killala and Achill on before it at 2pm? That will be another worth seeing.

    Was looking forward to Kiltane v Knockmore in Ballina, but it will keep (hopefully in the same venue). Agree JP, super to see Cill Chomain challenging.

  24. Meant to say in my previous post – the very best of luck to our county minor hurlers in the replay of the All Ireland Minor C Hurling Championship Final v Tyrone.

    They showed great staying power last weekend to nab the draw after extra time and hopefully they can do the business tomorrow and bring the Adrian Freeman Cup back home to Mayo again.

  26. Best of luck to all of the club players in action this week-end. Best of luck to the minor hurlers as well.

    The most thing that I will be looking out for in the latter stages of the club championships are players who show a strong mentality, these are the type of players that we will need in future Mayo teams if we are prosper. With some strong looking teams left in the competition there should be good games ahead.

  28. East Mayo man,
    You reminded me of an incident regarding the over 40s , from about 20yrs ago when you mentioned young bucks. Mayo and kildare qualified for the final and my mate was playing for Kildare, ( a Mayoman btw) and no real issue with that. Only problem was, he was only 38 and indeed had form , as he had played club minor here at 22. I told him, if you play against Mayo , I will object. Anyway he didn’t and said he had to go to England for his sisters wedding the same weekend.Another problem was, his former teacher, Ollie Bolton was on the Mayo team and would surely know his age.
    Ps. I never met her husband.

  30. Lads, the shortest of short notice I know & a huge long shot…
    but my club u21 team had a challenge match lined up for this Sunday against a Mayo club, which has just now fallen through as they can’t field.

    I don’t suppose any of ye are involved in ye’re own club u21 team management and would be willing to play a game this Sunday at extremely short notice?
    Or even an adult club junior side?
    Worth a try 🙂
    Thanks

  32. Hi, a little off topic. All Ireland 2016.
    Dublin 6/4. Kerry 9/4. Mayo 6/1. Cork 9/1.
    Tyrone 16/1 or 14. Donegal and Galway 20/1.
    Shortest winter price for Mayo yet?
    Ciaran 2.

  33. No joy for our Minor C hurlers in today’s replay in Ballinamore. Well on top in the first half, they led 1 = 8 to 0 = 3 at half time. But the second half was a complete turn around and, although they provided stiff resistance and could not be said to have faltered at any stage, Tyrone were just too good on the day and won 2 = 12 to 1 = 10. Team [as per program, although there were several positional switches] Ryan Kilbane, Ballyhaunis; Alan Ferguson, Ballina; Shane Geraghty, Westport; John Cassidy, Tooreen; Evan Heneghan, castlebar; Ross Egan, Tooreen; Niall McManamon, Westport; Conor Murray, Caslebar; Paul Lambert, Westport; Bryan Peoples, Ballina; Sean Kenny, Tooreen; Aiden Henry, Tooreen; Calum Gardiner, Ballyhaunis; Shane Fleming, Caisel Gaels; Sam Forde, Castlebar. Subs used: Conor Browne, Castlebar; Bryan Maloney, Ballina & PJ Burke, Tooreen.

  35. Patrick Durkin, Brendan Harrison and Conor O’Shea all showing very well for their respective clubs this evening.

  36. Attended both games today. Was supporting Garrymore, we played some great football in the first half and went into 09-05 lead. Breaffy got a goal from Robert Fadden after he took two hops and moved the ball from hand to hand. The Referee was called in by his umpire to inform him, but the decision couldn’t be overturned on an Umpires Word.

    Level at HT, Breaffy could count themselves fortunate. Garry were one point up in the 43rd minute and a misdirected kickout straight to Conor O Shea led to a Breaffy Goal. Jimmy Killeen rattled the crossbar three minutes later and Breaffy held out relatively comfortably for a four point win. Conor O’ Shea was the standout performer for Breaffy, Liam Irwin made a big impact from the bench. Gareth Dunne looked lively. Michael Hall did not play. The Nally brothers, Shane & Trevor, Caolan Crowe and Dara Henry were the standout performers for Garrymore. Both teams were reduced to 14 men in the dying minutes.

    The Second Game ended in a rout. Aghamore started strongly and had three points on the board before Castlebar got a score. Danny Kirby got a goal and shortly afterward another misdirected kickout led to a second goal for Richie Feeney against the run of play. This effectively ended the game as a contest albeit Aghamore scored 1-3 in a short spell in the second half.with the goal coming from Robert Lyons. James Durkin and Richie Feeney added late goals when the stuffing had bben knocked out of Aghamore.

    Great to see Ger McDonagh back, he had a fine game. Patrick Durkan very strong. Barry Moran and Cian Costello looked lively when introduced. For Aghamore, Brendan Harrison, James Lyons and Alan Freeman tried very hard.

  37. I did Cait. What a load of rubbish. What was Keys smoking when he wrote that. He reckoned Cillian was only the 20th best player in 2015 yet he was the top scorer yet again. James O’ Donoghue only 25th who put in yet another consistent season and was top scorer from play in the final. Even Comer sneaked in at no. 50. There’s hope for us all yet!

  39. What about B. Brogan? Delivered the big scores when most needed. J. McCarthy very suspect at defending, I think he’s a weak link

  40. Redcol called it right. Garrymore very unlucky. Best player from the 4 teams was Conor o Shea, unbelievable he was not involved with the county. Miles ahead of some of the forwards that played against Dublin. Liam Irwin also class. Crowe has to be worth a panel place. Mcdonagh for Mitchell’s played very well. Think Mitchell’s will win it out. Harder than Breaffy.

  41. With players like Conor O’Shea and Danny Kirby (until his early 2nd half black card) towering over their opponents and dominating the play last night, you wonder why the hell didn’t C&H have these lads included in the subs and brought on in the final 15mins of the Dublin replay to help shore up midfield. These lads might be a bit raw but have the physicality to mix it with the best of them. Is Fenton a better player than these two lads? Answer is No !!

  42. How will the semi final s work out this I wonder will be Mitchell’s v breaff y or b b v kiltane v knock more

  43. Great to hear about all these new prospects emerging and hopefully there will be at least two more today to stand out in McHale park.

  47. I meant to say ballina sorry I wouldn’t mind another neighbouring clash withe the Mitchell’s and tubber.

  48. What’s the story with that Conor O’Se lad. He’s been around the panel for a while now and everyone speaks very highly of him. I seen him against cork in the league this year and didn’t think much of him to be honest

  49. Robin, he may step up in 2016. I would be surprised if he doesnt given how diarmuid o connor did and the effect a standout brother(s) would have on him.

  50. From Ballina/Ballintubber game today i think Padraic O’Hora Ballina Full Back is worth looking at in the league next year. He was part of Mayo U21 team last year. Disappointed with Evan Regan very inconsistent. Jason Gibbons also needs to be brought back on Mayo Panel.

  51. I really enjoyed the junior game this afternoon great bit of excitement. I was surprised to see Jason back on the team as I though he was still recovering. Played well and looked good along with Diarmuid.

  52. I think Regan is a true prospect. Give hom the league and he ll def be a worthwhile inclusion. What about that ability he obviously showed today?He was playing with v little support.If that spectacular shot had gone in what would we be saying? Could do with another bit of meat on the carcass though!

  53. So, mark them down ! .C OShea….E. Regan…DOC….COC…AOS…K Mc L….Kirby…J Gibbons…P. OHora. It’s not lookin too bad at all! And there s another little fella with Moy Davitts at 14 who if he had a half stone and an inch or two could be quite the packet …B Henaghan.

  55. There’s way too much been made of Regan. I’ve said it before he is over hyped by people who don’t follow club action. He’s a good footballer but nothing more than that and the reasons that he hasn’t broken into the Senior match day team sheet were as clear again today as they have been the past couple of years… Inconsistent shooting, lacks physicality, does not tackle / fight to win back possession from opponents. Yes he does show the occasional flashes of skill but to become a serious inter county footballer will require much more. He’s still a young lad and deserves another shot at it again next year but we will need to look elsewhere if we are to find a top class marquee corner forward to support Cillian.

  56. Was at the game today ..

    Thought Clarke was superb for ballina , two fantastic saves.

    One for cillian that was top drawer

    Apart from that Evan regan showed some potential , was very impressed with the ballina no 3 o hora , as anyone seen him before ?

    On the ballintubber side ,Jason gibbons was impressive !!

    Ballintubber look far from county champions

  57. Was at all there games at the weekend and enjoyed them, some great scores in all games even if the results were decided very early in 2 of the 3 games. It looks like the 3 west Mayo teams are the main ones again and I didn’t see enough from Breaffy to think they can beat Ballintubber but you never know on the day. Castlebar v Ballintubber final again for me.

    Stand out county players for me were Conor O’Shea and Diarmuid O’Connor. I think D O’Connor could be an amazing footballer in time. Paddy Durkan was good for Mitchel’s and I thought in open play (bar the big goal chance) Alan Freeman played very well.

    I was looking forward to watching Regan play today and I’d agree with the poster above that I saw enough to convince me he should given lots of game time in the league. He missed 4 frees today and hit two wides from play but he shows very well for the ball and his was the best point of the weekend (topping Liam Irwin’s!). He was also only a couple of inches away from an truely amazing goal. Very creative corner forward that I think we lack. Needs more consistency in his free taking though. Anyway, if that was only 6 of the senior club teams and I wouldn’t be too worried about the talent coming through!

  58. I was at the game today

    I was very impressed with David Clarke today he was superb,

    Two brilliant saves especially the one from cillian

    Regan looked good And deserves a shot with Mayo however his shot selection is poor at times

    Also on the ballina side, number 3 ,I think o hora was really impressive !! Has anyone see much of him ?? County standard maybe ?

    On the tubber side side gibbons and Diarmuid o Connor were outstanding !!

  61. Centerfield, Trying to convert midfielders or defenders in their late 20’s into half forwards is a fool’s mission so let’s hear no more of it. It’s been tried in the past in any case with most of those players and hasn’t worked out.

    Cait, the Senior semifinals are on Sunday 11th as was clear on the Co Board website yesterday [Sunday] evening. Intermediate semis next Sunday as I presume the Kiltane v Knockmore QF is [or maybe Saturday].

    Inbetweener, What ever about the prospect of B Heneghan of Moy Davitts gaining half a stone or more there is no prospect whatever at this stage of him gaining another inch or two. Time to forget about this kind of wishful thinking!

  62. Thank you Andy! We ll have to settle on a bit of extra girth for the said player. There was a time when he could have been racked though!!

  63. You can’t right of a player because of a club performance. Aidan and Seamus O Se looked very ordinary at the weekend and Garrymore should have won but for wayward shooting and a goal that should have been disallowed.

  64. The Mayo fringe pannelists are at a great stage to push on with their development. They are starting to be the more dominant players with their clubs, they have some county experience. Lads like Kirby, Forde, Crowe, Darren McHugh, Conor OShea will be looked at in the FBD and league. Crucially they are fairly big lads. When you look through the available players Mayo are capable of togging a tall and yet mobile footballing team. Forwards who can win 50:50 ball in the air give you a variety of options in terms of attacking strategy.

  65. Centerfield – what’s “simply not good enough” is naming players in the way you’ve done. You’re long enough commenting here to know that comments of that sort aren’t allowed. Criticism of aspects of a player’s performance is fine but a blanket “not good enough” assertion, unsupported by any kind of supporting argument, isn’t.

  66. Willie Joe a question for you……………….

    You might think its silly, if you were to pick our strongest team for next year, what would it be ?? positions etc

    What new players would you like to see given a chance?? Are you familiar with the club scene allowing for the fact that you are based in Dublin ?

  67. I’m afraid I’ll have to pass on that one, PJ 2 – I’m only the guy who runs this place and I can’t claim any special insight or expertise in saying what players should be picked next year or what tactics should be used. As you point out, I’m based in Dublin so I wouldn’t know enough about the club scene in Mayo to say what new players should be tried. There’s been plenty of debate on this here over the last few days, though, which I’m happy to read and learn from.

  68. Following on from pj2 ‘s comment regarding a potential team next year and new players it would be interesting to see what people think ..??,

    I like Willie joe am an exile and not familiar with the Mayo club scene !!

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