A hectic opening round of club Championship action has concluded and here’s a quick run through all the results from this weekend’s matches in the Senior, Intermediate and Junior Championship.
In the Senior Championship, there were opening round wins today for defending champions Knockmore, who had six points to spare over Aghamore (highlights here), as well as for last year’s beaten finalists Belmullet, who came away from their long trip to Balla with a one-point win.
Westport and Garrymore both had impressive wins yesterday, while Breaffy and Ballintubber both won well today. Castlebar Mitchels also won but just about. One match was drawn – yesterday evening’s encounter between Ballaghaderreen and Ballina Stephenites.
Here are all the results from the SFC:
- GROUP 1: The Neale 0-3 Westport 3-23; Ballintubber 1-16 Mayo Gaels 0-7
- GROUP 2: Ballaghaderreen 1-7 Ballina Stephenites 0-10; Knockmore 3-8 Aghamore 0-11
- GROUP 3: Calremorris 0-11 Breaffy 1-16; Balla 2-10 Belmullet 3-8
- GROUP 4: Garrymore 2-10 Davitts 0-7; Castlebar Mitchels 0-11 Charlestown Sarsfields 0-10
Onto the Intermediate Championship, where the results were as follows:
- GROUP 1: Bonniconlon 1-10 Lahardane 0-8; Louisburgh 2-10 Crossmolina Deel Rovers 0-10
- GROUP 2: Kiltane 1-8 Burrishoole 2-13; Ballinrobe 2-12 Parke/Keelogues/Crimlin 1-14
- GROUP 3: Ballyhaunis 0-14 Castlebar Mitchels B 2-8; Ardnaree 0-9 Bohola Moy Davitts 2-16
- GROUP 4: Kiltimagh 2-14 Hollymount/Carramore 0-11; Kilmeena 1-13 Kilmaine 2-8
The photo at the top, by the way, is a cracking aerial one of the Ballyhaunis pitch, snapped by James Killeen.
In the Junior Championship, the results were as follows:
- GROUP 1: Eastern Gaels 0-9 Cill Chomáin 1-14; Moygownagh 1-12 Ballycastle 2-10
- GROUP 2: Swinford W/O Kilfian; Ardagh 0-13 Ballycroy 1-9
- GROUP 3: Islandeady 0-12 Killala 0-9; Kilmovee Bye
- GROUP 4: Lacken 0-4 Shrule/Glencorrib 3-13; Achill 1-10 Tourmakeady 1-12
The Mayo News have an excellent round-up piece, providing brief reports on several of the weekend’s matches in the SFC, IFC and JFC, which is here.
There was plenty of Championship action in women’s football as well this weekend. Here are the results from matches played in the LGFA Senior, Intermediate and Junior Championships:
LGFA Senior Championship
- GROUP A: Knockmore 1-13 Castlebar Mitchels 0-4; Kimovee Shamrocks 0-13 Westport 5-14
- GROUP B: Moy Davitts 1-11 Hollymount 5-14; Carnacon 5-9 Burrishoole 0-10
LGFA Intermediate Championship
- GROUP A: Cill Chomáin 1-12 Louisburgh 1-13; Charlestown Sarsfields 2-14 Davitts 3-4
- GROUP B: Swinford Killasser 1-7 Kiltimagh 1-6; Claremorris 2-12 MacHale Rovers 4-9
LGFA Junior A Championship
- GROUP A: Parke/Keelogues/Crimlin 1-3 St Brigid’s 5-14; Ballyhaunis 2-14 Kiltane 2-11
- GROUP B: Breaffy 2-8 The Neale 1-8; Aghamore Bye
Just some junior kudos wanted to note.
Ballycroy so close to beating Ardagh, fair play. When would Ballycroy last have had a big win?
Moygownagh narrowly beaten by Ballycastle.
Finally Lacken togging respectable and it being within reason a game and getting 4pts against a strong junior team in Shule.
It’s not all about winning, sometimes it’s about gathering 21 players to play and say to the world “we’re here and we fight on”.
Well done and thank you Willie Joe it is an outstanding service
Charlestown Castlebar game was much closer than expected! Proverbial game of two halves.
Paddy D was actually very quiet by his own high standards. Paddy Heneghan ran riot at 14 for Mitchell’s in the first half but saw little ball in the second half. Towey was very good throughout I thought, hit some wides but was very impressed with his off the ground free taking. Maybe he’s not star quality inter county standard but he is very close. I’m surprised Patrick Goldrick has never had a run out at senior inter county, he’s a lovely all round player. Caught some brilliant ball at midfield and scored a class point.
I think Sean Morahan for Mitchell’s will play senior inter county while still a teenager, he looks the real deal.
I think credit needs to be given to Lacken. They got wiped out by Kilmovee last year. They still have f**k all number training I hear and they managed to hold one of the junior favourites to 6 points to 2 at half time.
A beautiful weekend of club football all around!
I wonder what games Kevin Mcstay went to watch…,!
Burrishoole Kiltane and Ballina Ballaghadereen I think Lahanman
Seen him at Balla v Belmullet too
Very good win for Belmullet being without the services of Ryan O’Donoghue and being 6 points down at one stage. Ronan Murray with 3-3 catching the eye.
Was at 4 games the weekend, Balla Vs. Belmullet was by far the best game, real end to end, good quality hard hitting championship game. In my opinion Balla well be very disapointed i thought they were the better team, just gave away two very bad goals from turnovers in the 2nd half that essentially cost them the game. Was very impressed with Walsh the full forward, Goulding in midfield, and Dunleavy at wing back. For Belmullet Murray was very good, as his scoring showed, in relation to intercounty he may be a bit light.
It’s a funny old game………..Cuala get praised for beating Ballymun. Cuala have 3 different pirches and 1,600 active members (Austin O’Malley manager).
Lacken lose to Shrule Glencorrib and get praised for being able to get 15 players on the pitch. I reckon the active members of Lacken deserve the plaudits and surely a bit more aid from the powers that be. Not sure if it’s a GAA problem tbh, more like government ignoring rural decline. Remember this is a club that contested a county senior final.
Any midfielders or full backs stick out … Jason Gibbons played well for Tubber …
Or any lads you reckon should be pulled into the extended squad ? Even long term prospects.
Whatever about Ballymun and Cuala, its clear Dessie’s biggest task ahead of 2023 is getting Paul Mannion back in the squad, even if it needs some sort of compromise
He was phenomenal yesterday, an absolute joy to watch.
Whats the story with Ryan ODonaghue. Is this the same injury that kept him out last season
@GBXI – Agree regarding Sean Morahan, two games in a row he has kicked a massive point for castlebar mitchels with the game in the melting pot from corner back. He seems to have it all pace, power, man marking, shooting and fielding and still only 17.
Some massive games this weekend. Group 2 in the senior looks like it could go down to the last day now. Ballagh will be kicking themselves that they didn’t hang on albeit ballina the better team on the evening. Westport and Tubber clearly putting their hand up as contenders as well. My own club got a bit of a whip in the intermediate which was disappointing. But there seems to be a larger gap developing between intermediate and senior teams. Westport and Tubber proved that. Balla will also be disappointed that they couldn’t kill off a weakened Belmullet team who were missing their 3 best players from last year. Interesting few weeks ahead
..Seanie…sounds like a fella who shouldnt be playing corner back…?
GBXI I agree Sean Morahan is a big talent as are Tom O’Flaherty in Aghamore andSam Callinan of Ballina among others. What’s the story with Sam’s fitness? Great to see so many young players stepping up which begs the question at what age can you play adult football? I seem to remember some guidelines regarding this a few years back but my old memory can’t recall the details.
@Mayonaze- He was playing half forward for Mayo u20 this year and played Midfield for Mayo Minors (2021) and Castlebar u19 (2022).
@Joe.G- Sam Callinan started for Ballina the weekend. Agree on Tom O’Flaherty also a very exciting prospect.
Was at a few games also this week, would agree some great young prospects on view, however a word of caution in my own senior club that gave debuts to a few younger players,….while positive despite a couple of years of S&C under their belts the physicality on display with some of the more seasoned lads and inter county players does risk serious injury at a very young age if younger lads are not physically up to it….club managers (and officials) have a big responsibility in that regard to safeguard younger players
Thanks Seanie CH. Great news on Sam Callinan
Conor Mallee(Kiltimagh) gave stephen coen a hard evening the last day scoring 1-3 on him.A player that has bundles of natural footballing ability and his speed scares the living daylights out of defenders so could be one to bring in for a look
Conveyor belt in mayo is well and truly booming talented players in every corner of the county
A few ones to watch over the next few weeks in terms of future possible inter county stars and lads who have the talent to possibly push for mayo
Kuba callaghan(Ballagh)
Darragh keaveney (Kilmeena)
Conor mcstay(Ballina)
Aidan cosgrove(Kiltimagh)
Conor dunleavy (Balla)
Dylan prendergast(Louisburgh)
Tom o flaherty(Aghamore)
Sean morahan(Castlebar)
Paul walsh(Castlebar)
Kieran king(Knockmore)
Only scraping the surface with the names above and i am sure theres plenty more names that could be added on.
Ya there’s loads of young talent in Mayo. Obviously not all will make senior county or even want to. But Morahan looks like a young Paddy Durcan. It’s hard to believe he’s only 17 with his physique already. @Supermac, I’d say he’ll end being another in the conveyor belt of Mayo halfbacks! No harm though. It’s an important position.
Not many inside forwards standing out but I expect Frank Irwin to play senior this coming year.
Dylan Prendergast can potentially play inside. He’s a skilled player with size and pace. He was the best player at Oisin’s age group.
I’m a fan of all three of the inside line being natural scorers.
Breandán carr from ardagh pull his team over the line from midfield
I enquired on another thread last week about Dylan Prendergast but got no reply. Well it seems like he answered my questions at the weekend. Seems one to watch.
Anyone know the date for the county senior final?
Paddyjoejohntom don’t jump the gun, sure we don’t even know the dates for the third round of the group stages yet… the county board work on a week by week basis. No club player will be allowed to take holidays until the new year now!
@Paddyjoejohntom – The Connacht Quarter Finals are set for the weekend of 12/13 November so i would imagine the county finals would be 1-2 weeks before that.
Driveitlong and hard. Unfortunately i work weekends so I’ve no alternative but to jump the gun. To get a Sunday off work requires about 6 weeks notice. So the sooner i know the date, the better chance i have of going to it
Drive it long and hard, The 3rd round is the 24/25 September
Paddyjoejohntom. Fair play to you planning ahead. Maybe your clubs cb delegate could enquire for you.
29/30th October is weekend of county final as per master fixtures calendar issued earlier in year.
Upmayowhereveryougo, what about Bob Tuohy, the Lamberts, Oisín MacLoughlin, Conor Diskin, to name but a few, or have they a great future behind them?
Paddyjoejohntom, I know round three is on the weekend of the 24/25 of Sept. But we don’t know what games are on the Saturday. What game are on the Sunday. What times ;could be 1,2,4 or 6 o clock. I feel for you, imagine players who work weekends? It chaos asking for time off with less than a weeks notice…
Hard to rate Conor diskin on the Breaffy v Claremorris game.with a very little ball that went into him he did well, but hard to stand out when Claremorris as a collective were really poor on the day,should have been brought out midfield to get him into the game.
I think Oisin McLaughlin deserves a chance, made for Croke park with that electric pace he has.
As i said Catcol i was only scraping the surface with the names i mentioned
I could spend hours and hours naming out potential lads that could have a go at making mayo
I havent seen seen diskin in a while but a very strong and direct ball winner with an eye for goal
Oisin mclaughlin is one of the fastest players in the county and should be given a chance
The only caveat I would out out there is that having pace is no longer a major strength. Pace is becoming close to a default for selection these days in the top 6 counties.
It means you need either size to go with that or top level skills or less skills but major size.
I’d like to see more of the bigger lads given a c b chance. I dunno is it some quirk of genetics or social habits, but six foot and over I always found common in Mayo. I used do a thing of look back from Quinns pub on match day and be struck by the amount of Mayo men well over six foot. Slightly irks me when I see a Mayo team togging short. Think our natural game is about dominating the air and having lots of tall players.
Thanks JP and Upmayo. Yes, JP ball winners seem to be a breed that has gone into decline in Mayo. I never feel confident that a high ball on top of our backs, or forwards, will result in a Mayo possession. I keep harping about Clifford’s marks in the AIF; his fetching was real old style. Kerry got their scores from them, they deserved them, and it kept them in the game when other things weren’t going well for them. Could we be confident of getting such scores?
And while we are on the ‘mark’, it pains me to see the same stuff being trotted out about how it is bad for the game, by managers and pundits especially. It’s there; it’s there to be used and it can be very effective. We seemed to use it very sparingly.
Catcall Clifford reaches out for the high ball and leaves himself wide open to the knees of an old fashioned full back.
I feel the offensive mark will be short lived,it adds nothing to the game.
I believe Dylan Prendergast is playing with the same groin injury as Ryan O’Donoghue has. Hopefully he can get it right, because he is undoubtedly a special scoring talent.
Sean Morahan looks a fantastic player for 17 years old. Oisin and Eoghan Mcloughlins younger brother Finbarr looks to have excellent raw ability. He seems to have the pace of his brothers with more football in him.
Other players who could be worth a look for Kevin McStay:
– Fenton Kelly (Davitts)
– Darren Quinn (Garrymore)
– Cathal Slattery (Garrymore)
– Alfie Morrison (Louisburgh)
– Jack Livingstone (Breaffy)
– Jack Coyne (Ballyhaunis)
– Conor Diskin (Claremorris)
– Sean Ryder (Kilmeena)
– Fionnan Ryan (Belmullet)
– Aaron McDonnell (Ballinrobe)
I mentioned Aaron Hughes as a Garrymore prospect but I haven’t seen much of him but appears tall strong and athletic and difficult to mark with the ball….any insight on him ?
I see Cormac Reilly is crying in the Irish Times today about the stick he got following the 2014 semi-final.
It would be more in his line to apologise for the litany of shocking decisions he made that day.
@P. Refs get things wrong. Leave him alone at this stage.
GAA will be on a way smaller club and schools scale within 5 years nationally on the current trends of declining ref numbers. There simply won’t be the ref numbers to support the schedule of games.
The GAA has landed at a critical cultural change moment and if we fail this moment the club game won’t go into slight decline it will go into massive decline.
JP, it could be a good job to get into if numbers are falling, how much per game ?
I dunno how the rates work.
I know my father way back in the 60s umpired a Mayo Galway league game, they went on the beer in Galway, had a big feed and they were never allowed be umpires again after the expense receipt was processed.
@JP – leave him alone? If he wanted the debacle to be forgotten he might have been better not doing an interview in a national newspaper about one of the worst refereeing decisions of all time. Having raised the issue he should have apologised for his performance.
Referees at every level need to be protected and encouraged but Cormac Reilly is not a good advocate for their position.
Referees where I am get €30 for juvenile games and €40 for senior games. With the cost of petrol/diesel now they are hardly doing it for the money. When you allow for the cost of travel they are refereeing for an allowance that is below the minimum wage.
@P. What do you think is the totality of what Cormac Reilly has suffered since?
You think he has been unaffected by it?
It would likely be the prime reason he decided to be interviewed for an article.
@JP – you should bring the poor divil out for a drink.
That referee’s name should be banned from this blog. Just hearing it fills me with anger and frustration. I still cant believe he had the neck to show up for a match in Castlebar a few years later. He’s an absolute _,_,_,_. He robbed us of an All Ireland.
He robbed us of a semifinal defenitly but I’ve no doubt we’d have robbed ourselves of winning the final.
€40 for underage games up here in the Midlands…so at least €50 for adult games …
With the price of diesel now and the abuse they get , they would want every penny
Lee nominated for an All Star, may not get it, but the nomination itself is richly deserved
Oisin deserved a nomination, man of the match against Kildare and no other player kept David Clifford as quite as he did in the quarter final.
Only the 2nd round upcoming but some spicy encounters to look forward to. Aghamore/Ballaghadereen looks like a must win already for Aghamore while the clashes of Westport/Ballintubber and Ballina/Knockmore would do justice to a great semifinal lineup. Indeed all the games have great appeal for one reason or other and we should have a good idea of who’s going to be playing quarter finals and who may well be in relegation ties. Loving that the games are coming thick and fast but it doesn’t give much recovery time for any knocks. Finally, a mate of mine was at the Kiltimagh game and told me Donie Buckley was there and apparently Conor Mallee was outstanding for Kiltimagh.
Some very disappointing comments above..
Fact of the matter is Reilly – like any referee – went out to do his best that day, like any human being he made some mistakes. Sure there were some poor ones, and his performance needed a stark review afterwards, but when people are still commenting on it 8 years later you know there is a long way to go in changing the culture around how referees are treated (which the likes of rugby gets so right for the most part)
I’d say there’s nothing surer that we’re heading for a severe crisis in the coming years due to a shortage of referees
I’ve heard a figure of E50 as well MyBall.. in 2022 its hardly going to make anyone a millionaire
Dylan McHugh and especially Kieran Molloy have a lot more to complain about than Oisin
One is a fair reflection for Mayo, no forward put their hand up. If Flynn was fit for the whole championship he may have got a deserved nomination for midfield
Fair play to Keegan, a super endorsement for his efforts and still performing at the top level 11 years into his inter-county career. Hard to argue there’s ever been a more effective Mayo footballer
I see they changed the criteria for young footballer of the year from U21 to U22. Hession and Jack Carney would have been front runners if it was left at U21. Oisín probably should have been nominated again since they changed the grade!
Mayonaze – would we have won the all Ireland? We all thought we would last year. We have robbed ourselves more than anyone else.
Love how they nominate two Galway lads just to make sure nothing can stop the Clifford coronation 😀
Would absolutely laugh if he didn’t get it!
Agree Ciaran. Clifford the stand out player of the League and Championship, there was nobody consistency near his level in 2022.
1 nomination for Mayo is probably a fair reflection of our season overall.
Ciaran,
Are you a Mayo fan?
You obviously weren’t at the game down in Limerick that day.
Atrocious incompetent refereeing, human error doesnt wash, he robbed Mayo of an all ireland, Robbed!!!
I would be glad if there was a shortage of referees due to that clown still around reffing, what manager would accept that eejit.
To see a player from a hurling area, who didn’t even play county football last year and didn’t have a club at aged 17 nominated for footballer of the year is an incredible story in fairness (even if the headlines will be completely dominated by Clifford and Walsh)
Goes to show there could well be a similar “sleeper” somewhere in Mayo waiting to break out, I’m sure McStay will be looking to give plenty of lads game time in the early months of next season
Ciaran I think the issue with Cormac Reilly’s performance in Limerick wasn’t so much the fact that he made mistakes, is the fact that he made so many of them to favour one team over the other. It was an absolutely shockingly one sided performance for a referee to have at that level of the game.
Ciaran – he got scouted to play AFL and was always seen as a talent in Galway football circles it isn’t like he kicked a ball for the first time this year and got nominated for FOTY. He is a super talent and will be important for Galway to keep him fit going forward.
Jesus lads I was just getting over that game in Limerick- do we have to discuss it again. It’s not good for the head.
Ciaran to me he was the stand out player for Galway in the last year there was under 21. I was delighted when he went to Australia
I probably didn’t make my point correctly re McDaid. I know the guy well from his underage days, football and hurling, as I’ve been based in a neighbouring area quite a while. What I mean is he wasn’t even seen as a key player for Galway this time last year, if anything he looked more likely to not be in the starting 15 come the following championship (which he didn’t in the first match)
It gives me hope there may be a player who didn’t even feature for Mayo this year that could make a serious breakthrough next year.. with the right circumstances, and maybe even a lucky break or two, certain players can really come into their own
Its not fair to say McDaid didn’t have a club in Galway at 17. He was highly regarded in Galway football, however Craughwell did not have an adult team. Monivea/Abbey are the nearest football only club to Craughwell with an adult team.
Talking about someone who was a star at underage but took time to readjust on their return from AFL, where is Cian Hanley at?
Ditto @southmayo…. back in to rehab for another spell I’m afraid.
I think you are over exaggerating his comeback Ciaran, he was riddled with injurys since he came back from OZ , everyone knew the ceiling he had and now that he is fit and flying he is living up to his potential. He is not some random lad who just picked up a ball and was found by playing club championship in 2021, he has been touted as being the next big thing in Galway since an underage player. Its great to see him finally live up to his potential and who knows he might have another gear in him.
@ FDBinashui. Exactly.
@Yew Tree…yes, I’m very confident we would have. So different to last year. Entirely different team…can’t compare. IMO Mayo were the best team in the country in 2014 and we were, let’s face it, let down massively by arguably the most incompetent display of refereeing in decades at such a crucial stage of a championship campaign. The man clearly wasn’t fit for the task and partial blame has to lie at the door of another old friend of ours, McAnaney, head of refereeing etc who appoint officials.
I have no sympathy for CR and anyone here saying we shouldn’t be bringing it up, well yes, I agree. That day in 2014 was horrible, heartwreching (of course all from a sporting perspective) but it was the man himself who was happy this week to air his opinions and play his little sad violin to a national newspaper.
The problem with refereeing in the GAA is that the average standard of refs is not good in comparison to soccer and rugby. This leads to frustration for players, management etc and ref’s themselves get the brunt of it. On top of this there is no culture of respect. How can these issues be resolved? 1. The GAA is an amateur and professional organisation all mixed together. It doesn’t really know what it is. It’s moving in one direction only, albeit slowly and reluctantly, to some degree. Refereeing though has not moved forward to the same extent as player performance and preparation has. It boils down to money. Pay peanuts, get peanuts. If the GAA want the standard of refereeing to improve then it’ll cost them both from the perspective of paying ref’s better AND implementing a process that improves the quality of refereeing at club level in particular because it feeds up.
2. The only way to get respect is by improving ref’s but also implementing very strict rules as they do in rugby. You just don’t talk back otherwise you’ll face the consequences. However, in the GAA there are far to many times that decisions get overturned, appeal after appeal which makes a mockery of things. There are many elements to the GAA that simply don’t work. Far too many chiefs and a peculiar culture.
Congratulations to Lee Keegan, (Mayos greatest ever player) on getting nominated but realistically I don’t think he will be picking up his 6th All Star this Autumn…Mayo were comprehensively beaten by Kerry in the quarter final, hammered by Kerry in the league final, beaten by Galway in the round of the Connacht Championship in Castlebar . I never taught we had much chance of winning All Stars this year, considering our disappointing year. I taught that Robbie Hennelly should have gotten a nomination for an All Star, can’t think of 3 better intercounty goalkeepers in Ireland in 2022….I heard on the grapevine that Robbie might have competition for the Mayo No1 jersey from young Livingstone in his own club, in the years to come!
Joe G, I was at the Kiltimagh match and Conor Mallee was outstanding. He got one goal and if he was a bit more clinical, he could have got at least a second. Several backs were tried on him and he roasted all of them. He is very fast, has a way of jinking to beat his man and combimed well with the other forwards (especially Tomas Keegen in the other corner) to create scores. The only downside is that he is very light and small in stature. As a result, I doubt that he would be as effective against a Padraig O’Hora type back. If he did the right S&C over the winter, he might be a prospect.
I was at the Ballagh/Ballina game later that day and Ballina were the better team. Both teams fell back and defended in big numbers. Because of that, it was difficult for either team to get the ball to stick in the full forward line. I liked the look of Conor McStay. He has the same bag of tricks that his uncle had at the same age but playing at 11 he did almost all of his work in the middle 3rd. I was impressed at how Ballina were able to choke the middle up when Ballagh attacked. The two Irwins, Jack and Frank also had a good day at the office and Sam Callinan is really beginning to look the real deal. It will be interesting how Ballina will fare against Knockmore.
At the Aghamore/Knockmore game the following day, Aghamore played two sweepers while playing with the wind in the 1st half. They went in evens at the break, but the general consensus was that Aghamore would not be able to get enough on the board in the 2nd half. That proved right as Knockmore cut loose in the 2nd half and had got 2.4 without reply by the 20th minute. By then they were 10 up and just had to stop Aghamore scoring goals to win comfortably. As Knockmore don’t concede goals easily, the result was clear, even though Aghamore kept plugging away and finished with 5 points for the half. To be honest, (and it pains me to say it as an Aghamore man), I think Knockmore and Ballina will qualify from this group.
My friend’s a ref in a Ulster County. OAP now Ref’s four + games each week during the season @£30 a game. Over £2,000 tax free. In the winter he spends a couple of months in the sunny Canary isles. He refs up to under 14s only take 3rdor 4th div games+ junior b games. Not bad for that level. It. Wont take a game that’s more 10 miles from his home. Think more refs we will doing the same.
His own county man, Colm O’Rourke, said at the time, it was a shocking display of refereeing. I saw him officiate several times at club level and you could see why he shouldn’t get county games.
Louis Gunnigan. Thanks for that. Very informative, I saw the Aghamore (my club too) Knockmore game and felt from the off that it was a question of damage limitation. Rural clubs don’t usually have an over abundance of stars and not having the likes of Alan and Cathal Freeman along with Brendan Harrison was always going to prove too much. I agree Ballina and Knockmore to progress and the Ballagh game will decide who’s into relegation scrap. I do think there are one or two weaker teams out there so we should survive again.
Joe G ?? You are bang on the money on the problems of rural clubs. Many of them have a senior team and half a junior team. Getting into the senior squad in the more sparsely populated rural clubs is often related to the level of persistance a player puts in, in particular the attendance at training. Conversely, the heat that players put on each other in urban clubs is absent (in the rural clubs) and the urban players often have to work harder to stay at senior level. In the case of Aghamore, there is also often a good sprinkling of county representation at minor and U20, combined with the dual committments with hurling at Tooreen. Some lads are working in Dublin and in other places. This puts more pressure on the ability to get a squad to spend the time together to get the playing system right. It’s nobody’s fault. It is just demographics.
Knockmore, however, are a rural club and they are showing that it can be done. Maybe there is a template there that others can learn from.
Mayonaze – but we didn’t win. Da r is we should have won the first day in Croke Park. Four points up with 8 mins to go. Everyone could see what Kerry were about to do when Donaghy came on. The referee aside we still had it in our own hands that day too along with terrible bad luck (Cillian and Aidan clashing heads).
The fact is though we didn’t win it so we were not the best team. I’d be of the Brian Cody school of thought of not blaming outside forces and instead looking in the mirror. Too many in this county are looking for excuses.
While I’d agree that in most years, the ‘best team’ wins, I don’t believe that was the case in 2014 nor do I believe the best team won in 1996.
I’m not looking for excuses. We’ve lost plenty over the years and we didn’t deserve to win.
Everyone can think of plenty of moments in sport where a team loses the final of a cup competition and are clearly and obviously the better team but for whatever reasons it doesn’t happen on that day, even in circumstances where they were better on that day.
If you think that victory alone dictates which team is ‘better’, then fair enough. Just a difference of opinion then.
Louis Gunnigan. Because they are so bloody good and consistent it’s easy to overlook Knockmore as a rural club. I coached in Aghamore for many years and so many times you could look back at successful minor, junior (first team) and intermediate sides and wonder where they had all gone. Back in the noughties when the banks ruined the country I think we lost over 20 players to emigration in a lttle over 12 months. Very few if any ever came back to play for us again. As it was said back in the 60s “nobody cried, Stop”.
Lads, no point in giving out about Referring decisions in the Gaa, unfortunately the Gaa is as crooked as things can be, remember where Louth were shafted back in 2010 to deny them a Leinster title.
Big decisions nearly always favour the big teams on the big days.
€ 35 for underage games and €50 for adult games in Galway for referees.
The GAA is one of the finest organizations on the planet.
@Jp , One or two Political Parties I taught had copyrighted being ‘One of the finest organisations on the Planet’, and that’s just in Ireland, and you’d find GAA men to the fore in those organisations..I suppose they didn’t say what Planet they were on, some of us have been wondering for a long time now!
Yew tree. As far as I can remember. Donaghy came on in midfield and later on wandered into the ff line. I actually lay some blame on Aidan, for not following him. He didn’t need Horan to tell him that. What was Donaghy going in for. Only one thing and it worked. We had them beaten if Aidan stuck to him.
@Louis Gunnigan.well done on comprehensive report on weekend matches you attended. Very informative. Good to see Calinan returning to top form. Should make great half back in time.
Another busy weekend for club followers this weekend. Westport v Ballintubber will be my game. Stiffer test. Brickenden picking up Cillian will be one of key match-ups. Also Fionn McDonagh. Can he offer leadership? Definitely a game that will give players a chance to put their hands up.
I think Westport will beat Balllintubber comfortably and we witness Balllintubber being considered not in the top 3 runners and riders anymore.
A game of changing paths for two teams for me.
Let’s see if I’m right.
I would love to see some team allow no body to talk or argue with the Ref except the captain and inform the ref before the game starts. See how it goes, works in rugby.
Our club Championship Round 1 review show is now available on all podcast platforms.
Did Mark Moran play for Westport last day and if he did how did he perform, its a make or break Championship for him and indeed a few more who are hanging around the County panel for a few years and never really making an impression.
Mark Moran is still only 21. Hardly make or break time yet.
Was impressive. Made a lot of intelligent off the ball runs and was effective on the ball. Bigger tests ahead.
He’ll get nothing soft off ‘Tubber so it’ll be interesting to see how he goes this weekend. If his brother and Kevin Keane are gone for the year there’s a lot of pressure on himself and Fionn McD to pick up a lot of the slack up front in the knockout games. I suspect we’ll know a lot more about his Mayo prospects in the coming weeks
This should be a massive game, I’d give a slight nod to Westport – Tubber probably don’t have the same balance as a few years ago, any club would struggle hugely with two county players out injured, never mind the loss of stalwarts like the Dillons, Hallinan, Coleman, Danny and Ray Geraghty and the other two O’Connors from the county ch’ship winning teams
They’ve been written off by many though and the performance at the weekend against a dangerous opponent had all the hallmarks of a “chip on the shoulder” element to it – was a big statement by them – and there aren’t many better club midfielders in Ireland, never mind Mayo, than O’Connor and Gibbons
On another note I was surprised by how little talk there was over the past few weeks about James Durcan’s cruciate.. a game changer for Castlebar’s chances imo, and sadly for the man himself he won’t get the opportunity to play himself back into contention for the county team next season