Club action is centre-stage right now for Mayo football fans and the weekend just gone saw the conclusion of the group stages in both the Senior and Intermediate football championships. The Mayo News football podcast was all over the weekend’s action and in this episode we take you through the highlights and look ahead to the knockout stages.
Host Rob Murphy and Mayo News sports editor Mike Finnerty set the scene for a packed weekend’s action. In doing so, they also introduce an exciting new association between the podcast and the Mayo Roscommon Hospice, with whom we share a strong community-based focus.
Rob then joins me at Gilmartin Park in Kiltimagh on Sunday where we watch the match between Bohola Moy Davitts and Charlestown. We also check in with Mike for a half-time update from the Garrymore/Knockmore clash and after the game Rob has a chat with friend of the podcast and proud Moy Davitts supporter Tom Maloney.
The action then switches to MacHale Park the previous evening where Mike and I do our best to get enthused about an extremely one-sided encounter between Ballintubber and Kiltane. Following this, Mike gives an overview of the weekend’s matches with Mayo News colleague Ger Flanagan.
The focus shifts after that to the Intermediate championship where our feature game is the meeting at MacHale Park on Saturday between The Neale and Ardnaree. I watch this one with Pat Casey of The Neale and Pat was a happy man as he saw the well-drilled South Mayo side cruise to victory and into the IFC quarter-finals.
Rob and Mike wrap up this bumper episode with news of the SFC and IFC quarter-final and relegation draws. They also turn the focus onto next weekend’s Junior football semi-finals, the action from which will get plenty of coverage in next week’s podcast.
This latest edition of the Mayo News podcast is now online and is available to listen to on iTunes and SoundCloud. You can also listen to it on the Mayo News website or here on the blog, using the SoundCloud player below or the one on the panel on the right-hand side.
The Mayo News football podcast club series is brought to you in association with the Mayo Roscommon Hospice. Support the Hospice’s Buy a Brick campaign to help build a Hospice Unit in Mayo – details here.
Excellent. Nice tone to it as well. Serious but also entertaining and informative. Keep up with the legends as guests. Pat Casey serious legend for the Neale.
Loved the podcast. Would have loved to have heard more about my hometown of Swinford as I am stateside. Any one with any info?
MayoInNY – Swinford are going okay. They lost to Burrishoole at the weekend in their final Group 2 match in the Intermediate championship but they won the other two group matches (against Islandeady and Bonniconlon) and so they qualify for the IFC quarter-finals in second spot. Jason Doherty seems to have been the difference between the sides last weekend as he shot 11 points (six from play) for Burrishoole, who won by 1-17 to 0-12. Swinford have drawn a tough one in the quarter-finals too as they’re up against Belmullet. That match will be played in Ballina on 23rd September, throw-in 2.30pm. The best way to keep up with the action on the day is to follow both clubs’ Twitter accounts – @SwinfordGAA and @BelmulletGAA. From the looks of it, the Swinford one seems to provide blow-by-blow score updates in games so that should help keep you in the loop.
Swinford have suffered a few injuries in the last 2 games which is a shame as they’d been flying all year. Big ask to beat Belmullet now.
You know it’s been a bad year for Mayo football when we don’t get one nomination for an All star and Thomas Flynn , Eoghan Kerin and Sean Andy O’Ceallaigh for Galway do.Hopefully things change for the better in 2019 and lets hope we see 2 or 3 first time All Stars nominations for Mayo next year.
TH that’s the way the all stars roll realistically you have to be competing at the business end to have a chance of winning one and even then they’re mostly distributed between the all ireland finalists. Anyway after our dismal display this year just scraping survival in the league and being condemned to the back door for the third year in a row imo we don’t deserve any all stars.
Many thanks WJ and Wideball. I follow them on twitter and will be pressing refresh frequently in 2 weeks time.
Swinford also do a very good club newsletter regularly. The match reports do be quite refreshing from the modern mundane texts that are common.
They were fundraising in USA Chicago to try and directly support more coaching in the National schools as Swinford has an incredible schools catchment. Something around 240 boys in the multitude of National schools would be Swinford Club and that is allowing for some of the border schools with Charlestown and Kilkelly (Aghamore) being split in terms of enrollment so not entirely Swinford.
If you look at other Division one, Divions two and Division three clubs, very few of them would have 240 national school boys.
Swinford have started being competitive again at B-level underage which is a big start. They lost their way there for a bit where they had dropped a lot in terms of underage relative to available pick. Of course, available pick was multiples of the actually togging out pick. It would be great to see Swinford back up around Division two and competitive for Intermediate. Getting maybe the odd underage team at A level.
Have read elsewhere that a new format of fixtures have been announced for the 2019 FBD League.
The fixtures are to be played on a straight knockout basis..
Fixtures are as follows……
Quarter Final….
Leitrim v Mayo
Semi Finals…
Sligo v Roscommon
Leitrim/Mayo v Galway
Not sure whether or not the first named team in each match has home advantage.
what happened to the students playing in the FBD
Awful to hear the off the ball treatment Aidan O’Shea got from Davitts in Claremorris Saturday evening.
Observer2,
The students were excluded from the FBD last year if I recall correctly. They were also excluded from some of the other preseason competitions.
Longford have their new manager ratified this evening. Really think we should be moving things along now , feast of football weekend after next in McHale park , new manager should be in attendance scouting .
AndyD, it was Culmore who asked about the students.
The first thing that jumps out from the new FBD format, is that some counties, will only have one match, whereas in previous years, they were always guaranteed 3-4 matches to try out new and young players.
Seems the Rossies have got their hands on a €425,000 house in Dublin 15.
They are charging €100 per ticket, with a limit of 15,000 tickets.
Will they sell that many tickets , that’s a tidy lump of money , mulryan probably gifted them that house too.
According to RTE, Mayo LGFA manager Peter Leahy has called some of the ‘Walkout Talk’ as ‘Close to slanderous’.. full report Google RTE GAA !
Its the type of prize than many non rossies will buy tickets for.
Yes Sean, I think you’re correct about the very generous source of the house.
Couldn’t see them selling 15,000 tickets though….
Observer 2 – There is a club in Louth raffling a House later this year, raffle was limited to 8000 tickets which have all been sold. Meath Gaa also plan to raffle 3 houses over the next year or so.
Nice podcast guys, well done. Keep it up and thank you for the effort.
Saw cill chomain won the north Mayo u16b last night against belmullet. They have had a few very decent underage teams in recent years and with a few Ted Webb players this year it’s good going for a small junior club. On the other hand – north Mayo gaa fb page had up this evening that the north u16C final was on today between CROSSMOLINA & KNOCKMORE???
Surely a mistake? How in gods earth could these two powerhouse senior clubs be playing u16 C football?? Especially knockmore with the strength of their club and numbers to pick from? Maybe it was the A championship and the fb page had it wrong?
@Larry Duff, the generationally brilliant Knockmore are togging two teams at U16!! (What a club).
I don’t think I’v ever seen the situation that Knockmore had two U16 teams.
Crossmolina would be struggling for pick and hence U16C is no suprise.
Peter Leahy very much worth a listen on the gaa hour
very forensic walk through events, and good interviewing from Wolley.
Its really sad the way things have gone from the broader Mayo ladies context and if events occurred as laid out in the podcast by the manager then some really disgusting tactics at play from some quarters
Larry Duff, they beat “Erris St Pats” which is not Belmullet, although it was played in Belmullet
Ballina also had 2 teams playing at u16 this year. With 6 national schools in both parishes they both should have the numbers to tog 2 teams at all levels every year.
Re the ladies situation – the statement by the ladies the stayed loyal and kept playing for Mayo plus the interview by Peter Leahy would indicate strongly that the real reason they left was not a “player welfare” issue. Would have more respect for them if they came out honestly day one and gave the real reason – not hiding behind “player welfare” statement. If a player/players are not happy with who is been picked on a team – they are free to leave. Bad form to attempt to get the manager sacked and then come out with the “player welfare” statement. Fair play to Peter Leahy for standing his ground on the issue.
Listened to Leahy’s interview last night..He gave a very concise account of the timeline of events..Its clear the reference to unsafe conditions has really annoyed him and understandably so..The whole situation sounded extremely stressful on mgmt in particular..Ladies who left the panel really seem to have no issue apart from mgmt selection..Poor form.
maybe not the form, but county board should take disciplinary actions against those players also,
they were prepared to ruin the managements career and reputation.
Cross hammered Knockmore in that u16 final.
This looks very bad for the Carnacon contingent – If you make an allegation of risks to safety and health then those have to be substantiated, otherwise Leahy’s version of events seem pretty clear and believable. Egos punctured for two players and then a coordinated campaign to oust a Manager which has backfired spectacularly. If the Carnacon players could point to specific conccrete issues where the management had been incompetent then this would be a different situation but it seems there are no issues of substance.
I think this does reflect a culture in both womens and mens game where the individual and club loyalties still trump county. It’s understandable in a way as club affiliation is so important to the GAA but in the long term it will continue to undermine the chances of Mayo success.
If you take the rugby example, Ireland success is clearly paramount even if decisions have to be made which are to the detriment of the individual provinces and uncomfortable for individual players. Joey Carbery to Munster and Jordi Murphy to Ulster are two examples where IRFU basically say 1) National team first 2) Get on board or you wont be involved. Result over last 5 years have justified the policy too.
Mike I think you’ve touched on something there but it’s even deeper than just club is bigger than county in Mayo . Is there a lack of respect and pride of sorts . Apologies for using Kerry as an example but look at all the tweets about donaghy starting with his own little poem, “I’m a lucky hoor”(JBK) to be from Kerry , there’s a deep pride and respect in being from Kerry , you hear it all the time when players retire . I just think it’s something we are missing .
Sean, I have the same feeling as you there. This is way beyond football, Kerry people have this pride in their county that I have witnessed many times, sometimes justified and many times not. That said though, look at the pride people from Westport have – it’s a great town, the envy of many, but Westport people have worked together to make it so and their pride is justified. We need to do the same at a county-wide level.
On a football level of course I can understand given their(Kerry) success and our relative failure that their (Kerry)teams would have that pride and confidence. In the women’s game though I would feel we are probably at least their equal in the last 20 years so there should be huge pride in playing for the Mayo Sr ladies team.
This is what I mean about culture. A culture of ‘professionalism’ can be built around a county team that means that even if we dont win an AI there is pride in representing the county and an expectation of excellence in the preparation of county teams. That breeds confidence in itself and drives loyalty. That’s why I think this situation with Leahy is so important – if based on a professional and objective review of team preparation he has done a good job then he should be retained ‘end of’. If he has not he should be removed but I see no evidence of this.
Sorry to interject (well not really). But I think it’s a nonsense if ye think there is some kind of pride in Mayo issue or that club is bigger than county in Mayo.
Mayo I would say has the largest pride in simply being from Mayo in both football and non-football. We do after all have a Mayo day.
Club is not bigger than county in Mayo, not near. Club is bigger than county in Derry. as an example.
Thanks for that info on knockmore u16s JP and others. Growing up and playing myself as a young lad, Ballina always has 2 underage teams, and rightly so given their pick. Overall though I’m concerned about north Mayo football. Crossmolina appear to have wilted away in recent years as a senior force. More worryingly though, lacken, killala, Ballycastle and Kilfian can only field one underage team between them for a good few years now. All of these clubs fielded underage sides in their own right 10-15 years ago. Inevitably this will affect their adult sides. Same with kiltane and Ballycroy now amalgamated at underage.
Cill chomain are doing good work, but I know for a fact their pick of players has drastically reduced in the last 10-15 years, with almost all national schools in the parish having less than half the numbers (and in some cases far less than half) than attended in the 90s and early 2000s. A trend replicated across large swathes of rural north Mayo, and a deeper issue that goes well beyond it’s effects on the Gaa to be honest.
It will be interesting to see what many of these more remote clubs look like in 10-15 years time?
Conversely – Will more clubs be required in rapidly growing population areas like claremorris, Castlebar and Westport to cater for larger numbers of kids in these areas?
Fair enough JP, not sure I fully agree but that’s OK. I’ll grant you this – Mayo people are more fanatical about their football teams than any other county in Ireland. I’m pretty sure on that. Whether they feel ‘proud’ of Mayo when they see the spate of recent football-related controversies for example is another thing.
I know this is a football forum and this is off topic, but pride in where you come from is a really interesting topic. When I hear people say ‘I’m proud to be from X’ I always ask ‘Why?’ not being smart but just to understand what that pride is based on. All people have a connection with where they are born or grew up, but, if they are proud of it in another thing. I am sure refugees from Eritrea love their country but are they proud to be from there is another question.
I would say in terms of clubs the fanatical clubs are Knockmore, Garrymore, Hollymount, Breaffy and Ballintubber. This list would now also include Westport. Garrymore, Ballintubber and Hollymount based on pick should be somewhere around div 2 or div 3. The difference I think is the continuous development of whatever players they have from the critical drop out age of 16 on through to 21.
I’d say Leahy picked a team that didn’t suit certain players egos and they walked out over it. They won’t be back and will find that everyone can and will be replaced at some stage.
[Deleted].
Anyways, what we see on the outside is a fair reflection of what lies beneath. That’s why Westport is booming while Ballina sits there dreaming about what could have been.
This of course has nothing to do with football, just a reply to people mentioning pride in your home county.
Yes, Peter Leahy and Wollie on the GAA hour well worth a listen!…He indicated a willingness to work with player’s currently out of the loop, because of their own actions..’ Carnacon & others’ Let bygones be bygones. ..Looks like that it was a numbers thing in the end…12 versus 26…If the numbers had been the other way around… would Peter Leahy be still managing Mayo?.. Now Peter Leahy, stuck to his gun’s… I believe correctly, the big majority backed their Manager, I believe correctly as well… and not all who backed their Manager, got to play for Mayo either… Only 15 can be on the field at any time. Peter Leahy articulated that the team selection was based on current form, and not ‘Reputation’ or the Club you played for…. That’s always a subjective judgement of the Manager and selectors…How to unwind the damage done… both to Mayo Ladies football and the Carnacon’ Club?….. Mayo will be stronger, with the Carnacon’ player’s and some other’s who removed themselves for their own reasons from the County set up, back available for selection… For Carnacon’ the situation is much more serious…True, Carnacon’ are Mayo champions is it 18 time’s in a Row? Current Connacht Champions and All Ireland Champions… But If they can’t play?… That, Play football I am certain is what every girl involved want’s to do…and Carnacon needs to play football, its the very reason for the Club’s existance …The vast majority of Mayo Clubs seems to believe that Carnacon’ brought the game into disrepute…..If Carnacon’ can’t show evidence of the ‘Welfare’ issues?.. maybe they ‘Carnacon’, believe that they can… but look at the number of Mayo Clubs who needs to be convinced!… Some people definitely made mistakes…they need to acknowledge their mistakes and come clean….. Mayo and Carnacon’ needs to learn the lesson’s and move on!….A few bruised EGO”s is nothing in comparison to the greater good of Mayo LGFA!
Unfortunately, rural Mayo GAA clubs are suffering big time due to depopulation. My own home club Oilean Acla are suffering for years due to immigration/migration. Bear in mind that very few jobs have been created in the county in the last 10 years. Consequently some of foireann Acla (maybe the majority) are working elsewhere in the country. Nothing new here as most of the couny team are domiciled in Baile Ath Cliath. In contract betwenn 8-10 thousand jobs were created in Limerick during this period. You would wonder what our public representatives in Mayo (all political persuasions) were doing? When did we hear of any IDA job announcements for Co Mhuigheo ! Cad bhur bharuil!
@justin Morgan. That was crossmolinas first team playing knockmores second team. All players who played in North Mayo A championship would not be eligible to play. Knockmore would not have numbers of town teams but at that age to many to give all players decent game time to develop. So second team would use U14 players to get a second team and give lads time.
Tough on remaining Mayo ladies and clubs not knowing what will happen.
Anyone know why Ballintubber down as getting walk over off Crossmolina this weekend?
Dave -your right your ignorant rant has nothing to do with Football. I’d say from a footballing point of view though westport would love to be as successful as Ballina someday winning senior county and senior all Ireland’s. I hope they are.
Did Ballina not win this year’s tidy towns. Like all towns some buildings are derelict. Can’t control all variables. Am sure Ballina would not mind poster being put up support local young lads either. In fact thinking seen similar posters up supporting teams in past.
Bloody hell, Dave, who rattled your cage today? That observation on Ballina has no place here. As someone who has been commenting on the blog for years I’d expect you to know this.
Just some examples of top scorers from play in club championship after 3 rounds.
Alan Plunkett (Ballintubber) 2-7
Neil Douglas (Castlebar) 2-7
Brian Reape (Moy Davitts) 0-11
Paul Deeley (Garrymore) 1-7
Darren Coen (Hollymount) 0-9
Mark Tierney (Garrymore) 1-6
Danny Kirby (Castlebar) 2-3
Jack Reilly (Charlestown) 0-8
Conor o Shea (Breaffy) 1-4
Stephen o Malley (Ballintubber) 0-7
Oisin McLaughlin (Westport) 1-4
Fionan Duffy (Crossmolina) 0-7
Alan Freeman (Aghamore) 0-6
Conor Keane (Hollymount) 0-6
Peter Naughton (Knockmore) 0-6
Colm Moran (Westport) 0-6
Intermediate :
Johnathan o Donoghue (Belmullet) 4-9
Tommy Conroy (The Neale) 1-11
Jason Doherty (Burrishoole) 1-10
Eoghan Lavin (Kiltimagh) 2-6
John Gallagher (Mayo Gaels) 2-6
I may be open to correction on some of these.
Apologies to everyone if it appears that I’m ” hijacking ” this thread, but I didn’t know where else to post this.
Does anyone know what stage we are at, in our efforts to find a new Senior Manager for Mayo ?..Has a selection committee been set up, when do clubs have to nominate by ?..The whole situation is gone very quiet, considering that Stephen Rochford was being pressurised to have a management team in place by August 31 …
Living as I do, in Roscommon, let me fill you in on how they’re going about their own management selection.
They have formed a 5 man selection committee. The clubs have until tomorrow (Friday ) to make nominations…
The Co Board have not imposed a timeframe on the process, but have told the committee,that they want a name as soon as possible.
Today’s ”Roscommon People ” has mentioned 5 or 6 names that are doing the rounds, and believe it or not, it includes the names of Mike Solan and Stephen Rochford…..Can’t see either doing it tbh….
Paddy Power have Solan at 9/1 and Rochford at 10/1 for the Ros job.
Makes me wonder where we are in Mayo, with our selection process. Does anyone know who are our committee are. The 5 members of the Ros committee have been named publically.
Will we in Mayo be doing likewise, showing complete transparency to the Mayo Gaa Public ?
Apologies WJ, my reply had nothing to do with football in either Westport or Ballina at all or what either have won. I’ll stick to football talk and leave the tidy towns stuff where it belongs.
I knew it was Knockmore’s 2nd team. Didn’t know that Crossmolina had slipped that far down the pecking order at underage.
@observer2
Mayo County Board and transparency go together like oil and water. They are in full blown crisis mode over there and if you roll your window down while you drive along McHale road, you can actually hear the sound of shovels as they furiously attempt to dog themselves out of the hole they’re in. At this stage I’m actually hoping they don’t find someone and the whole rotten structure comes tumbling down around them. It’s the only way we’ll ever get the change that’s needed. Don’t be surprised if we get an announcement in the next few weeks that they’ve appointed some goon as some sort of commercial director or some other diversionary shite to take the heat off them. It’s an awful pity Ewan McKenna wouldn’t look west when he finishes calling out the Dubs.
You’re not wrong, Liam. The mentioning of getting someone commercial on board a fortnight before Rochford was forced to step down was nothing more than spoof and a PR exercise. I still cannot understand how an executive didn’t have someone else lined up when they effectively put the squeeze on Rochford to go. Crazy. Depressing stuff as a supporter.
The only viable option is Horan. I cant think of anyone else suitable. I think from his statements it’s obvious he has an ambition to manage the Mayo senior team again, but only if the right circumstances prevail. With the mess that currently exists, you would imagine those in charge of Mayo GAA would be knocking his door down to save their own face.
Like you aid, if they cannot fill the roll, it could come crumbling down!
As a fundraiser the new manager appointment should be filmed and aired on a weekly basis.
Celebrity County Board Apprentice.
Send all applicants off with their note pads to different club games and let them make notes on their observations. Then present their findings to the county board every Monday night.
The executives could huddle after the presentations and then Mike C could roar across the table “Your fired”.
At least people would know who’s in and who’s out and in fairness the whole thing will end up in the media at any rate.
Each show could end with Mike C playing the fiddle and a chance to see how well all remaining candidates can dance to his tune.
I estimate each episode would bring in 150,000 euros.
8 months to what will in all likelihood be the last guaranteed New York fixture and not a word about any fundraising projects. A couple of thousand from the county heading over along with the thousands of diaspora living in the States and not a single event has been publicised. Can you imagine if Kerry or Dublin had this fundraising opportunity every 5 years the hay they would make. The USA biscuit tins will be going in the hold along with the size 5’s.
If Mayo County Board want the Senior Team to be in the shake up for Sam in 2019?, it has to be James Horan.
Observer2,
Mayo Co Board do not appear to have any plan to replace Rochford. As Mayonaze says, Horan is the only viable option. Whether he wants the job now is questionable in my opinion. The trouble here is that it’s glory or disaster next year. That is going to intimidate an awful lot of prospective candidates. In addition if they are offering the job to Horan he is in a position to demand everything he feels he needs and they are not in a position to refuse anything. The players are staying very quiet. They probably feel that they are better letting the Board sort out their own mess but I feel that if the board come with some greenhorn they might speak – and speak loudly.
By the way Liam, are you sure that the sound of shovels you hear on MacHale Rd is of the Board trying to dig themselves out of the hole – or trying to dig it deeper. Maybe Australia seems like a good option for our Board just now.
I don’t believe that James Horan is the only possible candidate who could possibly bring Mayo success!.. Several things will decide, whether we are Successful or Not… It’s what we do and how we go about it that will decide how good we will be.. First of all, we can only be as good as it’s humanly possible to be…. Secondly it’s far from certain that James Horan will take the Job, just Now… It’s far from certain that the County Board will offer James Horan the Job…Who knows what will happen?.. Aspects of ‘Holmes /Connelly’ was Superior to James Horan in my view, even if overall I’d rate Horan’s management Superior…(But was the player buy in as good with Homes/Connelly, subsequent evidence would suggest not)… I rate Horan’s overall management during the entire playing year as far superior to that of the management of Stephen Rochford and Co, but for All Ireland finals, against a superior Dublin than James’ Horan’s Mayo met, I rate the management of Stephen Rochford, Buckley, McEntee as by far the best in the biggest match…. The intercounty game has changed since 2014,. Personally I don’t care, Who actually ends up managing Mayo, or Playing for Mayo.. I care that the best decisions are made, by whoever and that the best players on their current form are playing the best possible football for Mayo…. And I care that the ‘County Board’ appointment is done in a transparent and professional manner!
As Observer2 has said, the committee set up to find the new manager would firstly notify the club’s to make nominations by a specified date. As far as I’m aware no such request has been made of the club’s in Mayo. That’s not to say that this request can’t still be made. My understanding from the delay in notifying the club’s is that they had someone in mind. If they have someone in mind I can understand why everyone is keeping stum.. time to iron out the fi er details and all that. But if they don’t have someone in mind then I don’t know what’s the story is
Observer2 – The answer to your question is in the mayo news this week. Clubs in Mayo have until the 19th to nominate someone for the position. Obviously the nominee must agree to let their name be put forward. There is a 5 man committee named as well, presumably they will carry out the interviews after the 19th.
Sounds good in theory, however it pans out!
All clubs in Mayo received an email last week inviting them to submit their nominations by next Wednesday. Nominations must be accompanied by a letter signed by the nominee indicating they are willing to let their name go forward. There is a 5 man committee selected mike Connelly, Seamus tuohy (vice chair), dermot butler (secretary) Kevin o toole (treasurer) and Paul Cunnane pro in place to oversee the selection.
So who’s the best club manager in the county or is that an impossible question to answer ?
I’m sure there are some high quality managers operating at club level. I’m not asking as a pointer to who might be able for the Mayo job, I’d just like to know which clubs have highly rated managers ?
In certain regards Club management is every bit as time consuming as county management. Maybe with less pressure, but I would say as many training sessions and the head on the block as regards who is getting picked to play or not.
Jesus Dave that is strong view on my hometown!! Maybe you were part of the arts committee that was upset that Ballina was chosen to host the Other Voices music festival ahead of Westport?? Haha!!
Just a point though in GAA terms there are two teams (Ardnaree and the Stephenites) in the parish of Ballina unlike say Westport or Castlebar!!
When people give the national school numbers they forget that Scoil Padraig in the town is now closed and the biggest schools would be St Oliver Plunketts in the Quay where there would be a split between students playing for the Stephenites, Ardnaree and Castleconnor, Behy N.S. where students would be split between the Stephenites, Ardnaree and Bonniconlon, and Rehins N.S where students would be mainly Knockmore and some Stephenites.
Also clubs like Ardagh, Bonniconlon, Knockmore and Castleconnor would take in the edges of the town like Breaffy in Castlebar etc…
Can Ballina do better? Yeah definitely but it doesn’t have all the natural advantages over Westport, Claremorris and Castlebar people seem to think it has in the comments on here!
On the club action, I love the club podcasts Willie Joe and I hope they can become a staple on here. I like Garrymore as a dark horse and I think Breaffy and Ballintubber will be up to taking on Castlebar. Congratulations to Westport and Moy Davitts on their huge progress and with Ballagh there is huge potential for the big guns getting shocked in the quarters!!
If I had to put money on it tough I think I will be bold and predict Garrymore to bring back the glory days of the 70’s & early 80’s and capture the Moclair cup!!
Anyone know what the possible dates are for the semi-finals & final in the senior championship? Thanks in advance.
17-pdr,
All the details are on Willie Joe’s previous posting “Club Championship draw details. Semis on 6/7th Oct and final on 21st.
Sorry, 17-pdr, It’s not on WJ’s posting I got dates for the semis and final. Can’t now recall where I got them but I have them on my phone so I reckon I got them somewhere reliable.
Creteboom
I’m a proud Ballina man too, i am away from the town and when I go back there these eyesores are very apparent, much like they would be to a total stranger to the town. That’s all I was saying, not running the place down but merely making an observation. If I was in a position to make the owners of those buildings right the wrong, I definitely would, and Westport was used as an example of how a town should be run.
No offense intended to anyone other than the owners of those buildings that are a blight on a great old town.
This is my final comment on this.
Hup Mayo
Okay lads, thanks for the updates on the management situation.
I really need to get me the online version of the Mayo News 🙂 I would be up to speed on what’s going on then. Very slow though if only asking the club’s to nominate last week
You could be right about Garrymore Crete Boom. They have a great chance to reach the final this year. They still have a mean defence that worked so well for them last year and now seem to be putting up bigger scores. Only got to see them once this year and was very impressed. Very organised and an evenly balanced team. Ballagh will be tricky for them but they should have enough. Garrymore by 3.
Cheers AndyD.
Puzzled that the final may be on the 21st Oct what with the bank holiday weekend immediately after. Imagine a final under lights at 7pm on the sat of that wkend. Would boost the gate nicely with people off work and down home for the holiday.
I would imagine the timing is to give the team who wins two weeks to get ready for Connaught championship which is on the 04th November.
Crete Boom, unlike the other schools you mentioned, Rehins NS is not in Ballina parish. Hence the mainly Knockmore in your post.
If that was meant to be reassuring Done Deal, its had the opposite effect. Of the five officers named, I’m struggling to pick the one with a background in recruiting high performance individuals capable of managing 50 plus high achievers. It’s this unwillingness to give away any slight bit of control that is the county boards undoing, the inability to see that certain roles require professional people. The selection committee should comprise of a highly experienced recruitment consultant, preferably with a sports background, a successful former GAA manager/player, ideally from another county and the county chairman. At least if things don’t work out you can show you did your best and had a transparent appointment process. It’s the same with the commercial director, the stumbling block is the loss of control that comes with it.
It gives me no pleasure to say it, but I cannot see this ending well.
Thanks MayoGooch for that scoring table. Nothing earth shattering so far.
@Justin Morgan, you are indeed correct but I included Rehins N.S. as it would take alot of Ballina children being so close to the border but yes it is most definitely in Knockmore just about!!!!
My point still stands though there are two clubs in the parish of Kilmoremoy Ballina with Ardnaree Sarsfield and Ballina Stephenites as compared to Wesport or Castlebar!
Agree with Liam – difficult to see this ending well – – although if the clubs play their part it could possibly get the right outcome. The majority of Mayo supporters feel Horan should be given one last cut at it with this particular team that he himself created and came close to winning Sam. Practically all of the players want him back for another shot at it too .O’Connor appears to be ruling himself out.It would be extremely difficult to see an outside manager retaining all the current senior players on board. We all know the stumbling block is that certain individuals in the CB have history with Horan since his last period in charge and are unwilling to move on. However if a large majority of clubs in the county were to nominate Horan (which would be a great sign of confidence to himself too) then the CB would be forced to take notice of the will of the Mayo supporters and cut a deal. Maybe we need a mediator but for the good of Mayo football -bridges need to be built and common sense should prevail to effect the proper outcome.With 3 or 4 new players to come in and the right man in charge – – we won’t be too far off in 2019.
Samuel anybody nominated is only officially nominated when they provide a letter confirming willingness to go forward.
Given relations with the County Board and Horan were poor, you could easily suspect that the process was set up to stop him from going forward. Why would he put his name publicly in the hat and give them the opportunity of humiliating him?
Because I believe he is a bigger man than that when it comes to the good of mayo football and would risk that.
Its not much of a risk anyway, because unless there is an outstanding other candidate out there then he is not risking being humiliated. If the candidate is better then nothing lost, if the candidate is not better and then they get it then it is the county board who are humiliating themselves and not JH.
As contributers to this page find it impossible to propose a credible manager, from either inside or outside the county, other than James Horan it seems to me unlikely that clubs will be able to do better. Or will clubs go down the road of nominating one of their own on the basis that “Johnny deserves a nomination” even though they wouldn’t really want Johnny to get the job anyway knowing that he is not up to it? If a majority of clubs nominated James Horan the Executive would have to give very good reasons for not accepting his nomination and then go and do better themselves. And as I say there are no obvious credible alternatives. Since Mike Solan seems to be among the favourites for the Sligo job it seems that he does nor see himself as Mayo manager, at least for a few more years and he probably does need some experience as a senior manager.
God there’s going to be some amount of comments on here,when we get our new manager and backroom team in place, I for one can’t wait, Come on ye guys in the country board,get yer act together, and let’s get the show back on the road, There just might be one last kick in this wonderful team, if the manager and backroom team are slotted into place sooner rather than later,and given all the help they need, for another rattle at the holy grail.
Nomination of any prospective manager by a club must come with a letter from that person stating that they are willing to allow their name go forward for consideration. Even if only one nomination came forward from the clubs, the county board can nominate a candidate themselves. The real horse trading is done in the back office long before any meeting takes place and it’s only a case of rubber stamping their decision with the delegates. The latest news I’ve heard will really add a twist to the Mayo tale, straight from the “You couldn’t make it up” department.
I think most of what the Mayo senior team team has achieved over the last 7-8 years has been in spite of the county board. To run an operation of this size and importance is not going to be done by a group of unqualified club auld lads,this is not to insult them,this is just a fact.If a commercial manager is brought in you can be sure they will not be qualified and will not maximise the potential,I don’t think I’m being overly negative saying that,we have no reason to believe otherwise.I don’t think Horan will take it in as he’s seen the level that the county board operate at first hand. It’s completely depressing.
Liam, I’m intrigued by the last few lines of your message, because you might be referring to something that I heard not 20 minutes ago.
EastCorkExile I don’t doubt James ambition for Mayo, but I think you are mistaken that he would put his neck on the line. Ask Kevin McStay, Tommy Lyons, Mickey Moran or Stephen Rochford about how you can get burnt with these people. He could only come back on his terms.
Can almost feel my blood pressure increase when I think about the Co.Board and what they are liable to do next..
Just a quick reminder to everyone to keep the discussion about the management situation to the known facts (such as they are). The usual, predictable punch bags are being rolled out once again in the usual pointless manner.
Probably need to ask Steven if he would reconsider
Is Danny Kirby playing at full forward for Castlebar this year? Worth a shot in that spot for Mayo? He’s well able to score
WJ,
What has me animated on this issue is the lack of information and clarity regarding the process. It’s surely not that hard to release a press statement explaining how the appointment process will work, that a committee will be formed, who’s on it, that clubs have till Tuesday to nominate candidates etc etc.
The other point I made was regarding the make up of the committee. It’s unrealistic to expect anyone on the county board to have the necessary qualifications or experience in high level sports recruitment, so why not get the people with the requisite skills to help you? It’s the same with the commercial director, we are now a multi million sports organisation still being run on the same principle as a junior club.
All most people want is a bit of clarity and the appearance of proprietary, it’s hard for the county board to complain about getting grief when they constantly give people sticks with which to beat them.
No one has a clue that’s the problem WJ, except perhaps for some people with the right connections. It’s the not knowing that’s driving us nuts!! Then you see people post things about rumours or just hearing news etc and sure that just makes it worse!
I don’t see why the process needs to be played out in public, with press releases and such like along the way. All that does is add further to what’s already a very wearying and far from enjoyable soap opera. Everyone knows we’re in a hole now with trying to get the best possible manager. To expect a good outcome while at the same time expecting the process to be carried out in full public view is, to my mind, asking rather a lot.
The draw for the 2019 Connacht Senior Football Championship, will be made on Thursday, October 11’th.
I wonder who they will have making it this this year ?
Malachy Clerkin has a big piece in the times this morning about Mayo GAA and how we seem to always press the nucleur button. I can understand how we are perceived from the outside and it’s some difference from this time last year.