14 thoughts on “Poll: who’ll win the minor semi-final?”

1. Best of luck to the Minors, they should do well as Enda will have them in fine fettle.
   I am just wondering what has gone wrong with the Stephenie seeing they have just one representative on the panel, as Ballina always produced good underage players, obviously their standards are slipping.

2. That happens over time . I always like to see the pick coming from the wider county area. And by all accounts there’s lots sprouting around Ballina for the future.

3. The Sligo Minors have joined their Seniors on Connacht Final Day. They beat Roscommon this evening on a scoreline of:

   Sligo 1-14 (17) Roscommon 3-5 (14)

4. Ros clawed back a 7pt deficit in second half to draw level with 2 mins left but Sligo held their nerve and pulled away by 3 in injury time. Hopefully we’ll be joining them in the final !

5. So after all there is one positive about playing in the Hyde……….. Roscommon wont be!!!

6. Went to the Sligo game, they should have won by more. The Rossies scored two late goals to draw level but Sligo rallied well going into injury time.

   Overall, Sligo thoroughly deserved to win, will gain confidence from this win and will give the final a good rattle. They have been doing a lot of work underage, and always have had high hopes for this team.

7. Didn’t Sligo win the minor league as well this year ? Looks like they have a talented crop this year and will be no pushover for tomorrows winners.

8. The question of where the county footballers are coming from is interesting.It appears to me that in relatively recent times the game has it’s strength in rural areas more so than urban due to various reasons .In former times there were greater playing numbers in the towns and football was more easily organised. With passage of time many of those who lived in the towns moved to the fringes which brought them into contact with the next parish (rural). I’d imagine this would be true for Castlebar, Ballina , Clatemorris in particular. I wonder about Ballinrobe Chatlestown and other smaller towns.
   Also , I think it’s true to say that back in the fifties and sixties football in the country side played second fiddle to the jobs that had to be done around the place whereas in the towns the fellas had more time for it . That’s not to say they were all dossers.
   Probably a prime indicator of this is the fact that Knockmore only got founded in the late fifties or early sixties and they went on to bloom into the senior grade in just a few seasons.
   I wouldn’t personally be too worried about where the footballers are coming from today . They’re different times … and I recall a kind of a belief rife in the north of the co. that went…’ Mayo won’t win anything without a good deal of the players gettin picked from the north’
   What’s all important is the fact that Mayo have left the fancy style behind and under J Horan have assumed a meaner more competitive complection which which will bring them closer to the top than they otherwise would!

9. This is a weekend of facethe ball predictions that could work well for some and not so well for orthers.. very hard to tell.. I have taken a bit of a gamble in choosing Cork for Munster, then fermanagh, longford and Roscommon.. but then my current standing in the table reflects my poor selection in the past. I have selected galway in the minor to win simply because they came very close last year and if they get that close again the management may be better prepared to close out the game this time around.. but with a bit of luck my current selection form will shoot wide of the mark here to.. Very best of luck to the team and management

10. Inbetweener, Yes, thats intetestng about the demographic shift.. Hope that is the right word. Boarding schools played a part too. (I still find Manulla FC a bit strange). I also think of Carnacon/Ballintubber as a. lake. God knows where Knockmore or Aghamore were. Breaffy had a hotel. This was my view from Castlebar. We knew all about Ballina but Wesport was a soccer town?
    Ciaran 2

11. Inbetween i was in belmullet during the week & i saw a photograph of a north mayo minor winning team that included players from belmullet kiltane and crossmolina .the year was 1959 & it included PJ Loftus. They all played for Belmullet in minor. It appears that they did not win the county final.

12. Yes ! In the sixties it was a romp for Ballina teams to visit Crossmolina and Knockmore. Belmullet was way out west where the roads did nt even have ditches along side. And as I ve said the centre of the county was closer to the Moy estuary than Ballintubber , Aughamore, Mayo Gaels etc. Overall things are in a more equitable condition now which can’t be but good for the game.!

13. I think the peak of available county potential talent was from mid 90s to mid 2000s. A line from Ballaghadereen to Charlestown to Swinford to Foxford to Knockmore to Ballina to Crossmolina had an immense amount of minor/u21/senior talent. Div 1 was much more competitive and so was the championship. The Ballina/Kilmaine/Moy Davitts minor teams of 98 and 99 were full of genuine talent crucially with height and mobility. It was very poorly harnessed in 99 with the Mayo defence being picked from weaker clubs and smaller players. Only Pat Kelly featured. Swinfords Kevin Keane was burning div 1 n was never even trialled at senior.The playing numbers are down in the big towns hence the fall off.

14. Just to add re 99 minors Pat Kelly/John Brogan/Conor Moran were solud high performing players all the way up. The other three spots went to tidy players but were totally lacking in size with big physical options being available. Down ran hard at the half back line in the second half and they were way overmatched strength wise by Michael Walsh n.Benny Coulter. There was at least one six footer 14 stone defender naturally well built who was contributing already at Senior Div 1 level. Looking at Down run through us that day it was obvious the problem of picking every clubs two tidiest players for consideration.