The weather was vastly improved for this weekend’s Round 2 matches in the Senior, Intermediate and Junior club Championships, such a contrast to the wet and windy conditions that players and fans had to deal with for the opening round ties a fortnight ago.
In the Senior Championship, it was a case of the big guns doing for the most part what they pleased. With Westport, Ballina Stephenites and Ballintubber all winning for the second time, while Knockmore and Castlebar Mitchels both won having drawn in their opening round meeting, it’s difficult to see a winner from outside this quintet.
I’m a bit pressed for time myself right now so here, without further ado, are the weekend’s Round 2 results in the SFC.
- GROUP 1: Balla 2-7 Breaffy 1-12; Ballina Stephenites 2-17 Mayo Gaels 1-10
- GROUP 2: Charlestown Sarsfields 2-13 Claremorris 0-15; Ballaghaderreen 1-7 Westport 0-14
- GROUP 3: Garrymore 2-13 The Neale 0-6; Ballintubber 0-13 Belmullet 0-10
- GROUP 4: Castlebar Mitchels 1-8 Aghamore 1-7; Knockmore 2-15 Ballyhaunis 0-5
Here’s how the weekend’s matches in the Intermediate Championship finished:
- GROUP 1: Bonniconlon 0-8 Davitts 0-11; Parke/Keelogues/Crimlin 2-13 Islandeady 1-11
- GROUP 2: Ardnaree Sarsfields 2-19 Kiltimagh 2-8; Louisburgh 1-12 Kilmeena 1-10
- GROUP 3: Hollymount/Carramore 0-16 Burrishoole 0-10; Ballinrobe 1-14 Kiltane 1-11
- GROUP 4: Bohola Moy Davitts 3-9 Crossmolina Deel Rovers 2-11; Kilmaine 2-7 Castlebar B 3-13
Finally, here are the weekend’s results from the Junior Championship:
- GROUP 1: Shrule Glencorrib 1-15 Northern Gaels 0-6; Ballycastle 3-10 Tourmakeady 0-5
- GROUP 2: Achill 0-10 Cill Chomain 1-14; Ardagh bye
- GROUP 3: Kilmovee 0-8 Killala 2-8; Eastern Gaels bye
- GROUP 4: Lahardane MacHales 2-10 Ballycroy 1-9; Swinford 4-18 Moygownagh 1-4.
Well done Ballina today ! They will be hard to beat serious form great to see padraig o hora back on form to calinan a serious exciting young star to watch out for ..
Reagan & Irwin the stand outs for ballina to !
Biggest suprise was Ballycastle hammering Tourmakeady. Thought that would be a tight game.
Ballina where really good today, I think I have them slightly ahead of westport now for favourites for the title, so many match winners throughout there team and lots of experience.
Ontheroad – They have a great mix of youth and experience. 7 of team that started are still u21.
As a Castlebar exile in Meath good to see Ballina doing well.
Congratulations to garry
more on their lights.
On a more serious note most club lights are not up to scratch and leave the club open to litigation if a serious injury occurs.
I agree Willie Joe. The five mentioned seem ahead of the rest with maybe only Breaffy and Garrymore on a good day being able to compete with them. The Knockmore thrashing of Ballyhaunis on their own patch really showed the gap between the top few and the rest. Ballyhaunis are the reigning Intermediate champions and could muster only 5 points on a day when the weather actually allowed for good football and no excuses.
Ballina by far the most impressive team this weekend. I think if you were a ballina supporter you would have to except a county title this year. Youth and experience across the park. Not to mention I’d say 90% of their team have played for mayo at some level throughout the years. Looking like a 2 horse race between both of last year’s finalists.
Looks like it will be a relegation battle now between Balla, Ballyhaunis, Claremorris and the Neale….some mouth watering local derby’s there to look forward to. At the other end Ballina, Westport and Knockmore look strong with Mitchels the dark horse having had a massive battle with Aghamore. Hard to see any other serious challengers from the remaining pack… Having watched the live games on Mayo TV, great coverage and analysis…Garrymore were well ahead of the Neale…Chalestown recovered well from their earlier defeat against Westport and it was a Sunday stroll for Ballina…
Are there too many teams in the senior championship. If we had twelve teams – two groups of six – top two into semifinals??
At 16 teams there are at least the bottom 4 who have no chance of winning the competition and some are shipping heavy defeats which is no hood for either team.
Southmayo Exile – 12 may be better and put our Intermediate and Junior clubs in a better position to compete for AI glory. Barring the odd super team like Kilmeena who should never have been Junior for that long, they’ve found it hard compete in Connacht.
Then again you have a Belmullet of 2021 who come from nowhere to compete.
Southmayo exile there are at least 11 teams who have no chance of winning the championship that’s just the reality, I listened to Mike and colm on the pod and they both predicted the results from all 8 senior championship games this weekend, not everyone weekend will be as lopsided as this, the problem with the last round are some of the dead rubbers which is not what championship football is about ballina v balla and westport v Claremorris are now absolutely pointless, but on the upside breaffy v mayo gaels and charlestown v ballaghaderreen are winner takes all which will be exciting, the garrymore, ballintubber and belmullet group could be exciting if garrymore were to beat tubber.
I’d be inclined to agree Southmayo exile…
Every match so far has gone exactly along predicted lines,I thought belmullet might surprise a vulnerable tubber with no cillian but they were comfortable
I think 2 years of double relegation from senior and inter could be in order to tighten up the quality.
There’s problems a more broad concern here with the increasing gap between the town and country teams, castlebar westport and ballina to a lesser extent look that they are here to stay for years, especially with booming populations in the towns. Knockmore the only outlier really
Any players stand out from over the weekend in any of the grades?
Mayonaze, in the 5 games i saw this weekend across Senior and Intermediate, could not say anyone not in the squad currently stood out massively…..bar Kevin McLoughlin and Evan Regan sadly
See Liam mchale is a favourites for the mayo ladies manager job best of luck to him hope he gets it
Midwest have him as front runner in their release. That could mean anything and nothing e.g. he is only declared or submitted candidate, therefore front runner.
Diane O’Hora if applies would likely get it.
@Gizmobobs very true but I think mchale would do a good job with the ladies
Ballina backs Golding and Tighe were very good as was Conor O’Donoghue of Charlestown.
Double relegation and promotion would help a bit with quality.
But 12 senior teams is really where we are at.
Not sure how one would run that off, but 16 is too many teams.
Aiden O’Shea outstanding again for Breaffy Saturday evening. Nothing new there. Took 3 or 4 men to mark him. And kicked some brilliant frees. When he is in full flow, there isn’t many or even anyone able to contain him.
Anyone get the Knockmore Ballyhaunis game in? Huge win considering Ballyhaunis had Agahmore on the ropes and Aghamore themselves mighty unlucky against Mitchells.
Caolan Crowe on Friday night and the two Duffy brothers for Ballinrobe yesterday were very good.
On the Mayo GAA Website Ballyhaunis are ahead of Aghamore – both on 1point but Aghamore have a far superior scoring difference. How come? Explain!
That one’s lost on me too, Mayoforever!
That’s right turfmanmayo, Aido was brilliant, just a shame he cant replicate it at county level.. But then again he’s not playing balla no disrespect to them.
Can I ask a question, as I am not living in Mayo.
Are there too many clubs at Senior level, ie, clubs in close proximity to each other, trying to pull from smaller pool of players.
Claremorris, Mayo Gaels, Balla, Breaffy and Ballintubber
At intermediate level,
Kiltimagh, Bohola Moy Davits and Senior club Knockmore.
Kilmaine, Ballinrobe, Hollymount / Carramore.
At Junior
Eastern Gaels sandwiched in between Claremorris, Ballyhaunis, Aghamore and Davitts.
How are all those clubs expected to improve?
Forgot,
Throw in Garrymore also.
– Very tough Physical match in Ballaghadeeren yesterday on what was a pitch specially narrowed for the game it seemed !!.
– Due to Ballagh conceding kickouts for the whole first half Westport had to work it across pitch and got turned over with aggressive blanket. Could not get any running game going as no space.
– Finbarr McLoughlin made a big impact again when he came on. The ex-county men Drake and Akram were better than all the current county men.
– Maor Uisce correctly asked to get off the pitch by the ref. There are too many backroom team members along the sideline in most matches…GAA need to sort this.
@turfmanmayo, last I checked Aiden O’Shea only kicked one score (a free) at the weekend? He had a great goal chance saved by the Balla keeper too. Conor O’Shea kicked some lovely scores for Breaffy, best on show in Balla for me.
@BateTheBlanket, A lot of those clubs mentioned have a fairly sizable pick. Claremorris is a town with close to 4000 people (some of which probably falls into Hollymount / Carramore or Garrymore parish), Ballintubber parish covers a massive area that has 9 schools I believe, Breaffy goes right into the town of Castlebar, and Balla has seen a huge influx of players at underage levels (underage results reflect this).
According to the 2022 census, Kiltimagh town inhabits over 1200 people, albeit their borders are quite tight, with Moy Davitts (who also seem to be getting along fine) coming in towards them. Knockmore have enough players to run three adult teams.
Clubs in South/Central Mayo seem to be getting along fine, with few if any needing to amalgamate at underage levels. Being within an hour drive from Galway City is probably a huge boost to these clubs, as lads could commute to work and stay living locally. When you head further North/West, thats where things understandably get more difficult.
I do think that most clubs would benefit from moving championship to 12 teams. 12 Senior, 12 Intermediate, 12 Junior A, 10 Junior B. Maybe if we were to cut it to 12 Senior teams, then the Intermediate champions might be better prepared to have a chance at winning a Senior title?
Olive Kerrigan .unfortunately alot of “rules’ go out the window this time of year ,between limit of subs listed, giving water to players, and wearing of gumsheilds . I’d be shocked if one player is asked ,during the whole of the Senior , , to go get a gumsheild.
That’s fair Bate the Blanket. I don’t live in the county either. People rave about Corofin in Galway but it’s actually two parishes and one of the largest catchment areas in the country for GAA – Corofin and Belclare. It’d be like if knockmore and BMD joined up or aghamore and Ballagh.
One possible advantage of more clubs is you get more fellas playing. The downside is the standard of teams is lower and when facing clubs like Corofin, Salthill, Moycullen (huge populations in all) then you’re at a disadvantage.
@BateTheBlanket …I know county and not club is your priority but that’s what makes club football so special, smaller parishes with low numbers getting to or winning a final at junior ,intermediate or even Senior level ( eg Hollymount) is fantastic.
Amalgamation at underage is if no other option but at adult football , beating your neighbours is second best to winning a cup .
Less teams means less players getting game time so more lads stop playing.
Club football is a serious commitment nowadays
Divisional teams work great in Kerry and players still play with their own clubs.
With 37 All Irelands Kerry know what they are doing so why not copy.
Club championship to qualify for all Ireland series.
Jr, did Mayo Gaa bring in this divisional type championship in last 1990’s, where Junior clubs in each of the four divisions, ie, South, West, East and North would each have a team competing in the Senior Championship.
In this instance a South Mayo team would play Castlebar or whoever in the knockout round of the championship.
Some of the best County footballers in Kerry come from Junior clubs.
I believe the rossies are trying divisional teams in senior championship for 1st time this season so be interesting to see how that goes.
The kerry system worked brilliantly up to a point, the boundaries have made it so last years senior championship and this years one will be won at a canter by East kerry, East kerry won it pulling up last year and now have the ludicrously situation of bring able to add Austin Stacks to that amalgamation also, which seems mental as Austin stacks ought to be a strong senior team.
I definitely do think though as a starting point that 2 years of double relegation from senior and junior would improve the standards across all tiers. As well as that you might have a team (not naming names 🙂 ) in senior who have plateaued for years,never in the mix to win but always surviving. A team like that might get a lot more from winning an intermediate, going on a run through the province and ai series and getting some momentum going in the club
In other news, I see Boyler biting back at Liam McHale in the examiner today, agreed with boyler. Absolutely no need for mchale to be shooting his mouth off with self serving comments
On the Fence – Please get your facts right. To state Ballintubber Club has 9 Schools in its club area is a gross untruth. In fact the Club/Parish probably has one the lowest National School pupil attendance numbers in the County! Three Schools, Carnacon, Clogher and Killawalla would have less than 30 pupils on their rolls. Ballintubber would be strongest with approx 80 + pupils. Mountpleasant is shared with Mayo Gaels contributing just a few players to the Club. So the fact is that Ballintubber Club would have roughly only 4.5 relatively small Schools and indeed 1 school in the neighboring Clubs of Westport, Castlebar, Breaffy and Balla would greatly outnumber the lot! Also the Club area has no Secondary School and 2nd level pupils attend various Secondary Schools, Westport, Castlebar ( St Gerald’s and Davitt) Balla, Touurmakkeady and Ballinrobe making organisation at underage much more difficult.
While the geographic area is big – its sparsely populated, with only 1 major retail business outlet in Ballintubber. Lough Carra takes up 4, 000 acres! In the early 2,000s Ballintubber were graded 17th in the County by a well known journalist and pundit. Since then they have won 1 Intermediate County title, 2 under 21″A” County titles and 5 Senior County Titles. Success does not necessarily depend on player numbers – much more so on standards, organisation, committement and a total buy-in from players, managements and supporters.
All McHale said is that he did not agree with the rest of the Management team on the way to play football ,so he did the honourable thing and left .and I have to agree with him after the Louth, Cork and Dublin games. Saw them play Donegal in the League and they gave a great display of attacking with O Shea in total control at full forward where he was left for full game. After that they started messing about with side way passing and going backwards when they got close to opposition and any real Gaelic supported could not support that type of play. Better to loose playing good football than than bore the life out of the supporters with puke football and still loose .
Also says in the Examiner that Oisin has been cleared by Geelong to play club football for Kilmaine.
McHale the fall guy though he was the least involved in the daft defensive tactics we employed. I hope he gets the ladies job.
@ Olive Kerrigan, I don’t know why we didn’t stick with the 4 quarters and keep maor uisces off pitch.
GAA should standardise minimum pitch dimensions, very negative to narrow a pitch as a tactical ploy.
Finbar a very classy sub to introduce. Look forward to Conal Dawson getting back on starting 15. Competition is hot for places.
Well said, Seán Hallinan.
@Sean Hallinan, I concede that Ballintubber doesn’t have the rule of the roost in all of the schools they pull from (and the number probably isn’t 9, could be a few less, my mistake!). Does the club not draw any players at all from Errew school (is that not in Ballintubber parish?), or Partry, Ballyheane, Belcarra?
Back to my initial point in response to another post, clubs in the surrounding area, including Ballintubber, don’t appear to be struggling. Did I read correctly that Ballintubber is running two teams at u14 level? That’s a great achievement for the club if they have 30 odd lads at u14 and are indeed drawing from only 3/4 small schools. More power to them.
And despite not having a secondary school inside the club borders, off the top of my head, the club is surrounded by 6 nearby secondary schools (Tourmakeady, Rice College, Davitt College, St Geralds, Balla, Ballinrobe), many of which play football at a high level.
Ballintubber having two u14 teams shows they have numbers coming, it’s a big area thats just a fact, I also find it mad how clubs like parke keelogues Crimlin, kimeena, balla etc would of all struggled 10, 15 years ago for numbers are absolutely thriving now at underage with huge numbers playing in A and B competitions and winning.
Def. keep an eye on Conor Donaghue of Charlestown. One for the future.
Up Mayo.
One of the main reasons besides population growth is the state of Mayo soccer nowadays.
The interest just isn’t really there anymore. Not like before anyways. Mayo isn’t exactly a hurling stronghold either.
Has the exclusive junior system introduced a few years back done more harm than good for football in county, especially smaller clubs, and clubs second/third teams?
See scores in games in it last few years and this year some over 40 point beatings, before they get into exclusive junior B and play clubs their own level. Cannot be good for lads confidence. At least in old system they were in a competition based on previous years performance and league positions.
Then you have clubs second teams suffering e.g. Junior A semifinal this week, Bohola Moy Davitts have conceded the county semifinal to Knockmore.
Knockmore will go into the final now without a competitive game in about 12 weeks due to way schedules were set. Previously they would have been contending for the Junior championship outright, like castlebar B who are intermediate now, but if they were to get relegated can never get back intermediate in current system.
Does not offer much incentive to lads IMO.
@Gizmobobs I think you’re right. Its a question you would have to ask the players/people involved in the clubs on the receiving end of these beatings – would they rather be playing Knockmore B / Westport B / Ballina B (and these teams could possibly dish out a big win), or playing Cill Chomain, Ardagh, Killala etc. and probably take a beating?
New podcast episode, reviewing all the Round 2 action, is up on Patreon now.
OnTheFence – It is not my intention to draw this matter out – just to finally clarify things and give my opinion on a a few matters. Yes Ballintubber Club do draw a segment of Errew Community and rightly so. Errew folk attend Church Services in Ballintubber Abbey. Their dear departed are buried in Ballintubber Abbey cemetery. Their fathers were heroic Ballintubber Club legends. Players from outside Communities that play for Ballintubber stem from the parental rule. However Ballintubber do not canvass such players – I can immediately name a half a dozen current players (many of whom played underage County Football quite recently) whose fathers played for ‘Tubber but their sons now play for neighboring Clubs. Good for them – we totally respect their choice.
Understand the Parish of Burriscarra/ Ballintubber has suffered rural decline more than most over the past decade – 5 local Shops closed, 4 Post Offices and a Garda Barracks closed down. Three Pubs finished trading and more than likely at least one School will close in years to come.
Yes there is a 30 + Panel of talented Under 14s – A and B squads currently. This stemmed from the Recession in 2009 when couples went to bed early and partook in the only pleasure that the Government cant tax!! Rest assured that this group of players will receive excellent club coaching and if they are committed and dedicated enough many will go on to wear the senior club jersey.
Finally on other matters – I too agree with Gizmoobs the new exclusive Junior system is just not working and the County Board should revert to the excellent open Junior competition that preceded it. Also a system of two up and two down should operate at Junior/Intermediate and Senior levels. The finalists should be promoted as well as the victors at Junior and Intermediate. Two teams should drop down from senior and Intermediate each season. Also now with the new split season the Junior and Intermediate Championships should be commenced sharply and played promptly in order to allow 4 Divisional Amalgamated Junior and Intermediate teams participate in the penultimate round of the senior Championship. While 16 teams should be retained at Senior Level – the 4 runners up in each group should face a Divisional amalgamated side to decide the quarter final placings. This would give ambitious Junior and Intermediate players a crack at a more vaunted opposition and put them in the shop window for County selection. It would I feel enhance the overall standard of football in the County. Rant over!
Enjoying your posts Sean Hallinan. That’s quite an anomaly but good to see that Ballintubber have a really strong and deep u14 squad. They’ll be coming along into senior one would hope precisely at the year they’ll be needed when a lot of the current team will be retired or close to retired.
I think Ballintubber are like Knockmore in terms of just togging everyone they can tog and steady good coaching all the way through.
Not entirely convinced that Divisional teams are the way to go.
I see some solid arguments on the football and player retention side but there’s been no mention of administration and resourcing, which I’d imagine are the biggest concerns for the clubs that would be affected
The idea of an exclusive junior is good but operation perhaps needs to be tweeked.
A Westport, Knockmore Ballina or Castlebar B are perhaps too strong for small rural junior clubs.
I do not know what the solution is.
As I don’t live in Mayo, can anybody explain what has happened to Crossmolina Senior teams this past few years, won the All Ireland had many great players on Mayo teams but have vanished from the Senior Championship this past few years.
Mayo Intermediate Rankings
1.Ballinrobe -held there division 1 status easily enough 2 good wins in chip strong panel with experienced manager.
2. Parke – Stayed in Div 1 & to come from 8 points down against davitts to win by 2, in davitts is a serious bit of form
3.Crossmilina – Pipped by Moy Davitts last weekend but where without 4-5 starters flynn loftus syron Duffy some axis at this level
4. Kilmeena last years beaten county finalists will be left sore after last weeks defeat to there neighbours the tonic they need.
5. Moy Davitts -fine year so far gaining promotion to div 1 , 2 big c-ship wins – very young do
6. Hollymount-Carramore – 2 wins so far in c-ship some new players making big impressions -league form a concern
7. Louisbourg – Huge win against kilmeena but that could be there game. not much coming through
8. Davitts- threw away an 8 point lead to parke , struggled against bunny, still will be tough opposition in the Qtr Final if they get there
9. Islandeady – played really well against parke , have to beat davitts to qualify for Qtr final , big ask.
Sean Hallinan – you do yourself a disservice to describe that highly informative contribution as a rant! I like your idea about the possible involvement of divisional Intermediate and Junior teams in the Senior Championship. That certainly sounds like something that would be worth trying.
Thanks Willie Joe for your kind comments. I happened to be a County Board Delegate that last time that the matter came up for discussion some years ago. Ballintubber supported the proposal for Amalgamated Divisional Teams but some other Senior Clubs were vehemently against it. Their main argument seemed based on a fear of relegation from being beaten by an amalgamated side. I feel that if Junior/Intermediate Divisional Amalgamated sides were introduced after relegation matters were decided – nobody could really put up a strong argument against it.The penultimate stage would seem ideal as Group runners-up could hardly justifiably complain either. The GAA match going public would have four extra competitive games to savoir. The Divisional Boards would surely be capable of looking after the Management and Administration of Junior/Intermediate Amalgamated teams representing their Divisions. Thank you for your hard work and excellent site.
Have been saying it for years that we should have divisional teams in the Senior championship. Definitely benefits the standard of football in the county. For me it’s an absolute no-brainer.
Sean, and the Government would only love to tax that if they could 🙂
Hon the Tubber!
The single relegation and single promotion has to go. It’s too hard to get out of intermediate. Win every match is so much harder than senior only win one match.
One of the problems with having the amalgamations is getting time to play a proper intermediate and junior championship as well as the amalgamation senior championship. Talking to a friend in Kerry the intermediate and junior teams have 5 championship games in 5 successive weekends and some of the senior clubs are going to have 8 championship games in 8 weeks with no breaks. Already two of the Kerry senior team have picked up season ending injuries. Kerry are starting their amalgamation county championship the weekend after next and none of the amalgamation teams have even got together yet as players are too busy playing with their clubs in the intermediate and junior championship. Down there club comes first and amalgamation second.
@Sean Hallinan so Errew is Ballintubber parish, thanks for clarifying.
To touch on the comment that some senior clubs in the past may have been against the introduction of amalgamations due to the fear of relegation – If these clubs are so terrified of the prospect of losing 1 game to an area team leading to relegation, then maybe they aren’t cut out for Senior anymore. More often than not, the weakest team gets relegated, be that Senior or Intermediate. You are where you are on merit.
I would like to see the area teams idea experimented with, maybe trialled in a seperate competition before going straight into championship. As a few other users have alluded to, mixing teams together could be a disaster if local politics comes into play. Hopefully the St. Ciaran’s combined hurling team works well, as it appears that the backroom team there has representation from all clubs involved.
Over the course of the weekend, I got to five of the games in the Senior Championship.
First up was the Garrymore vs The Neale game on Friday night in Garrymore. The first half was even enough with Tommy Conroy and Enda Hession cancelling each other out. However, Garrymore got an early grip on centrefield and their backs worked with great discipline to force turnovers, thereby restricting the ability of The Neale to turn possession into scores. This led to frustration in The Neale ranks. Killian McHugh gave every ounce of energy he had but couldn’t contain his frustration, letting it out on the referee to such an extent that John Glavey went to the pocket for the yellow card twice. Garrymore ran out easy winners in the end with Darren Quinn firing off some very impressive points.
On Saturday afternoon, Balla started brightly against Breaffy, but again couldn’t get control around the middle. The crowd got full value of a great tussle between the Breaffy’s Davitt Neary and Balla’s Conor Melly, a tussle that was often on the far side edge of what would normally be considered allowable under the rules. Conor Melly isn’t the biggest of lads but didn’t pull back from any challenge, at one stage in the 2nd half going into a full-blooded 50:50 challenge with Breaffy’s Conor O’Shea. He got up and walked away from that one, but was probably feeling a bit worse for wear on Sunday morning. There was a great performance from the Balla no 10, Gary McHale, who bagged two goals and two points in total. However, the second goal seemed to be at the expense of a hamstring tweak. Hopefully he will recover on time for the next round. The two O’Sheas and Matthew Ruane impressed (Matthew got a cracker of a goal in the second half). As with the match the night before, the winners built their dominance in centrefield and as a result, Balla just couldn’t get enough of the right sort of ball into the scoring zone. Breaffy were just too strong and they were a few points to the good when I left, with 2 mins of the clock, in order to get away for the 6pm throw in in Castlebar.
That Saturday evening match was the most enjoyable game for me, even though my own club Aghamore came up just one point short against Castlebar. It was a low scoring game, but there were great performances from Niall Douglas and Conor Kilkenny, both with cracking goals late in the second half. Conor raided down the right wing all evening and really looks like a lad who could make the breakthrough into the Mayo set-up before too long. Conor Hunt and Tom O’Flaherty of Aghamore were in the thick of everything as Donie Newcome who rolled back the years yet again in the Castlebar half back line. Rory Byrne kicked two great points from placed balls into a tricky breeze in the 2nd half, the second of which proved to be the winner.
Sunday in Ballaghadereen, after a good lunch in The Fiddler’s Elbow (the lamb shank is highly recommended), I got to the meeting of Ballagh and Westport. After Westport’s previous outing, they were widely expected to dominate this one, but Ballagh made them fight all the way for a victory. A man beside me reckoned that Pat Lambart, wearing no 19, kicked seven points (three from play). Another Westport man near us gave one of these Kevin Keane but I my reckoning sided with the seven point tally. Kuba Callaghan had a great tussle with Rory Brickenden. A bit of craic in this one was the sending off of a Maor Uisce who wouldn’t obey the linesman and kept going on to the field. As they say, the law’s the law and there is no point arguing with the sheriff. In this case, the ref insisted that the Maor had to leave the sideline and he reluctantly complied.
With Westport ahead by 4, I hit the road for Ballyhaunis to catch my fifth and final game of the weekend. With Keith Higgins and Eoghan Collins not starting, this was always goingto be a big ask of Ballyhaunis, but they battled gamely for a lot of the first half. However, this was another game where midfield was decisive, with Shane McHale ruling the roost from start to finish. In a game that saw five of Knockmore’s starting forwards scoring, they ran out easy winners and left Ballyhaunis with a big negative points difference going into the last round with Castlebar.
All in all, it was a very enjoyable weekend of football and it was great to knock sparks off the Season Pass. Bring on Round 3.
@ Louis Gunning it seems like a perfect way to spend the weekend.
@BateTheBlanket – not living in Mayo and not from Tirawley myself but from what I could see travelling through Crossmolina over the years is that the closure of the Bellacorrick power station and the Bord Na Mona peatlands there has had a devastating impact on the town. It used to be quite a thriving town in the 80’s and 90’s, but the closure of what was a huge employer in the area has no doubt impacted the population considerably.
It’s worth noting that the successful Crossmolina team brought the Andy Merrigan cup to the power station. Having read a piece in the Western a few years ago, it was an acknowledgement that without the employment the Power station had to offer, few of the men that won that Club an All Ireland would have been around Crossmolina to play for it.
Similar has happened to Kiltane, who recently got relegated from Senior, having remained at that level for 40 years or so. Unfortunately now their underage teams are an amalgamation with Ballycroy, not for reasons of collaboration but rather of population. Lacken Sarsfields and Kilfian (now Northern Gaels) amalgamated for much the same reasons, with Lacken themselves having played senior football in Mayo (won it in 1917 and lost a final in 1984). if Wikipedia is correct, they’re one of only 14 teams to have won a Senior football Championship in Mayo.
It seems to be the lot of the rural club, unfortunately, and more will end up going the same way. And from what I can see, the GAA don’t give a shite either.
I wouldn’t put too much credit on club league form when it comes to predicting championship. Totally different ball game. Many clubs missing players during the summer and county players. Chalk and cheese. Indeed we seen the difference in the inter county championship this year too when Mayo were flying in the league but flopped in the championship.
Yew_tree we flopped in championship for a few different reasons.. we can beat any team on our day .
We ran out of gas after going 100 miles an hour in league.
Some great games so far during the club championship.
Great to see the county guys coming back into form .
Really think Ballina have a great shot at the county title this year ( I hope so anyway ha! )
@sean hallinan enjoying your posts !
Louis Gunning: as my late uncle (a Tourmakeady man) said to me it’s must be great to be single so you can clear of for the day and watch football with not a care in the care in the world.
Yes the season pass is an excellent initiative.
I attended Achill V Cill Chomain, Ballinrobe V Kiltane and finally Shrule/Glencorrib V Nothern Gaels
Glencorrib was the only pitch that I had yet to seen in the flesh and was impressed a lovely tidy area.
Even the tea ladies were very welcoming.
The Duffy & Darren McDonald were very good for Ballinrobe and Shrule/Glencorrib Cawley lovely footballer to watch.
Louis Gunnigan there’s no Conor Melly in Balla. I think it’s Brian O Donovan you refer to. I think he was on this years u20 panel.
Great reports on your weekends games.
Bate the blanket: great topic and very true with the departure of Bord na mona employment which was a huge benefit to Crossmolina and Kiltane as they were both established Senior club 1980-2018 and 1974-2021 bar 2013 respectively.
Crossmolina had a super underage team in the 90s McDonald, Keane, Mullingan, O’Malley etc I believe they won U12, 14, 16, 18, 21 A County titles so that was the making of a successful Crossmolina team.
Sean Hallinan: excellent views.
the Senior championship 16 teams with additional 4 teams (West, North, South, East Mayo so it be 5 teams per group with a additional 1 game to the group compare to 3.
The biggest problem is the Junior/Intermediate/Senior are all playing the same weekend and hard for players to commit to 2 teams.
Unless it’s just divisional Junior teams meaning Senior/Intermediate championships on the weekend with the exclusive Junior championship the following weekend.
Spot on @Lionel. Senior moment on my behalf. Brian O’Donovan was the Balla No 4. He played the teak tough corner back role to perfection. Not surprised that he was in the U20 set up. Conor Melly was No 4 for Breaffy and he is not afraid to get stuck in either.
Overall, I was very impressed at how well the defences were structured the matches I was at.
Was there not a North, South, East , West competition 30 odd years ago .
I don’t know what it was called but I played with South Mayo with a combo of Holly , Ballinrobe, The Neale , Garrymore Kilmaine etc …
Was great to play with the lads that you’d normally be doing battle against.
Mike Jennings from Hollymount was the manager at the time
We’ve another new pod up in Patreon, this one featuring an in-depth interview by Mike with Kevin McLoughlin.
The North, South, East and West played in 2000/2001 season around.
North and South were competitive.
remember playing for East Mayo back about 1966 in Senior Championship game against Claremorris.
@JP .. Pretty sure South won it when I played .
It brought back fond memories of playing with lads you’d normally that would normally be knocking lumps out of each other !!.
Mike Jennings certainly knew how to get a team up for a match ..
Some of the players back then were Ardel and Jarlath , Mick Moris ( Holly).
David loughlin Kilmaine.
Mossy Costello , Fergal O Loughlin, Ballinrobe
Pat Hession, Liam Monaghan, Garrymore
Scotty Morrin The Neale
You’d know you were in a game after playing them boys . Had a scatter of pints after too with them, which wasn’t unusual at the time after a match .
I caught the end of the old Garrymore stock. There was a big full forward with Garrymore played to a big age, had a moustache.
The Liam McHale Mayo LGFA Job coverage is a bit daft. It’s following the same trend as last years men’s gig… Pre-coronation before a process for candidates is even carried out.
Every team had a big full forward with a big moustache back then@JP…not to mention the sideburns.
Has Liam McHale even been involved with a ladies team? If not it’s really a disqualifier on knowledge.
I played with a north mayo team back in 1968 that won the championship and because of its size and strength caused controversy. Belmullet, Bangor, Crossmolina Which included Moygowna and Ardagh, Ardnaree, Knockmore, Bonniconlon, Ballycastle, Lacken Killala were all part of that team.basically all of north mayo except for Ballina. B
I also played with a Belmullet minor team in the early 60s which included all the area from Killala to Blacksod and and Bangor/ Ballycroy area. That team also won a county championship.There wer far less team in the 50s and 60s and as I remember only 3 senior teams,Ballina, Castlebar, and Claremorris
Hard to imagine him getting it JP, as Mandarin says it’s likely just media management.
Talk that Gallagher and Lacey in charge of Derry next year. Hard imagine if so.
Very interesting Mayo67, I wasn’t aware of that piece of history.
The number of senior teams puts a different context on the historical roll of honour at senior level 🙂
#@Mayo67 I remember seeing a photo of that minor team in a pub in Belmullet.
I think PJ Loftus was on the team.
Great work Louis. Fair play!
i may be wrong but i do not remember PJ Loftus on that team.JR
gizmobobs, there were more senior teams in earlier times but the 50s and 60s times of high imigration reduced the number of teams in all divisions. Ballycastle for example won several senior championships in the 30s but did not field any team for most of the 50s and 60s.
@ Mayo 67 I could be wrong, I worked in Belmullet for
a year in 1976 and was back in 2016.
There was a fellow at the bar wondering how I had so much knowledge of the area.
At the end he had to ask me.
It was the local undertakers bar I think and he worked as a teacher in the Vocation School with a friend of mine
A great night
McDonnell’s was the bar I think just down from the hotel.
Great bar and lovely patrons
Someone threw in the burned out in the league old trope re the County team. Disagree. We had one difficult fixture vs Ros and we blew our Kerry victory by losing to Cork. That Dubs game would have been way different if we came in fresh, not saying we’d win as we saw Dubs superior game management vs Kerry but would be way closer at least. Vs Galway we had an advantage on injuries and Walsh’s dip in form so maybe a bit of luck there. I think we’re on a similar level now to Cork, Derry , Monaghan and Ros and to push on we need better organisation with extremely tough to beat defenders being the foundation.
I think for year 1 we did reasonably well. To kick on we need 1 or 2 extra midfield options and a few marquee half forwards to emerge. Not impossible, maybe management could identify which emerging forward and midfield player has 10% improvement in him.
Has anyone identified who has the combined frightening pace combined with game intelligence who could make that move within the fringe county players? We always seem to have 2 or 3 fewer of those than Dublin and Kerry.
They have to be out there. Kerry is not much bigger than Mayo population wise.
@ Shuffy Deck I agree the Cork game was a disaster, plucked defeat from the jaws of victory and set the year up for Kerry.
I hope we find 2 or 3 new players rather than going to the second hand shop for ones that were tried before.