Mayo Football and Hurling - Discussion pages

[ludermor]

And to go to a lower level again, if you ever talk to an achill man, winning the Scanlan cup (between different areas of achill) is more important than playing/winning for achill. Them games are the stuff of legend the amount of slating that goes on.

[stephenite]

And to go to a lower level again, if you ever talk to an achill man, winning the Scanlan cup (between different areas of achill) is more important than playing/winning for achill. Them games are the stuff of legend the amount of slating that goes on.

There is an excellent piece about the Scanlan Cup in Tom Humphries book, Green Fields. Are they still played?

[Mayo4Sam]

Was just thinking about how underachieving we are at colleges football, i was on a muredachs team that played in a C Connacht final, pathetic for one of the biggest schools in mayo with a lot of county minors. I think the problem there was that we couldn;t fcukin stand eachother, I remember 2 of the ballina lads, one a future intercounty footballer, telling me that they hoped we (K'more) got hammered in the AIF in '97 the week before the match. Left a sour taste.

Fair points but I'd agree with Deel that the animosity between K'more and Ballina would be stronger than with Crossmolina. Of the two, each club would have their own protaganists but suffice to say neither would be entirely blameless, the reaction of some of the Knockmore crowd to Liam McHales sending off in the AIF replay on '96 and him suspended for the county final the following week, not to mention half of Knockmore trying to crowd into Timmy's that night and Tim himself getting a few slaps from former Knocmore team mates would have left a sour taste also

I think the Liam McHale thing was more of an after thought, after mayo had lost the final and K'more people realised he'd be out for the county final, well they weren't too upset. I dont think there was any k'more man cheering when mchale was sent off

[RedandGreenSniper]

Great piece on Achill GAA in last Sunday's Independent, interviewing Pakie and Hughie McGinty on how the club survives. The answer is largely because of the two boys

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/tradition-and-toil-keep-the-flame-alive-1614024.html

[moysider]

Just reading some of the comments earlier, I thought it was interesting that Maughan was considered by some to have "brought on" new players like Horan/Nallen whereas Joyce and Donnellan were apparently ready-made for JOM to slot into the team!

That s because that s the way it was. The Galway lads were earmarked for greatness from childhood. Outstanding talents at u16 minor and Colleges. Joyce, Donnellan, Meehans, Divilly and Savage all played in the 1994 Colleges a final. Donnellan was described as the best minor in the country by the late Jack Mahon in 1995. You will no doubt remember his display in Tuam that year when he was instrumental in Galway pulling back a big lead v Mayo in minor final. These boys had pedigree. Everybody knew well the were coming through. I remember the Galway fans being super confident berore the 98 Connacht final.
Horan never played underage for Mayo and was brought in from obscurity. Nallen had already established himself before Maughan arrived but only arrived on county scene last U21 year. Connelly came straight in as Captain without having ever really featured before 05/06.

[MacDanger]

Donnellan was described as the best minor in the country by the late Jack Mahon in 1995

A title which always guarantees success!!

You seem to be lauding JM for bringing in new players which brought us to losing AIFs in 96/97 yet lambasting JOM for being little more than a spectator when Galway won the '98 and '01 finals.

[moysider]

Donnellan was described as the best minor in the country by the late Jack Mahon in 1995

A title which always guarantees success!!

You seem to be lauding JM for bringing in new players which brought us to losing AIFs in 96/97 yet lambasting JOM for being little more than a spectator when Galway won the '98 and '01 finals.

Donnellan going on to play senior was as close to a guarantee as you can get in a sport where you get hit all the time. It was obvious from his mid- teens as it was with Michael Meehan and a few others down the years.

I d give Johnno more credit than being a mere spectator. I mean there is no guarantee they d have won in 98 if Val daly was still in charge but Johnno did get a great boost of young talent that were already a success in the game having won all Ireland at Colleges and had the swagger of confident players.
Seán Óg DePaor gives a comphrehensive account of Johnno s input in his excellemt book Lá an Phaoraigh. Thats good enough for me.

[Farrandeelin]

I think we despise our own neighbours, esp in North Mayo more than we do Galway, we'd sooner see our team beat Cross/Ballina/K'more than see Mayo beat Galway.

I'd more or less agree with that. Though when the Stephenites got to the AIF and Cross, I was full behind them. Then again, I'm not really a spiteful person. In North Mayo though I think everyone is happy when Ballina are beaten though. Although it was great to win the County league title as a Knockmore fan in December 2003 after the replays and the fight against Crossmolina. And after we beat them behind in Crossmolina to knock them out of the championship after they were the AI winners!

[RedandGreenSniper]

It's been mentioned before here but the most intense game I ever saw involving a good group of Mayo inter-county players was the 2006 county semi-final between Crossmolina and Ballina. It was ferocious, none of the county lads held back and there was a edge to the game to the point of being nasty. It was only two weeks after Mayo had captulated to Kerry in that year's final. The passion we needed in Croke Park, we got in a club game in McHale Park.

[moysider]

It's been mentioned before here but the most intense game I ever saw involving a good group of Mayo inter-county players was the 2006 county semi-final between Crossmolina and Ballina. It was ferocious, none of the county lads held back and there was a edge to the game to the point of being nasty. It was only two weeks after Mayo had captulated to Kerry in that year's final. The passion we needed in Croke Park, we got in a club game in McHale Park.

There was obviously a lot of frustration from what had happened v Kerry. There may have been some blame dished out in the aftermath of that game too among players but lets face it the whole county was seething with anger- lets call a spade a spade- and maybe this was a just a release of pressure.

The stuff on the pitch was verging on the most viscious I ve ever witnessed. However the abuse Ronan McGarrity got from a small section of the crowd sickened me. I went very close to slapping somebody that day. I still regret not reporting the **** to his employers. Or belting him. Makes his living in Ballina and butter would nt melt in his mouth when he s turning a pound. He s a disgrace.

[moysider]

I think we despise our own neighbours, esp in North Mayo more than we do Galway, we'd sooner see our team beat Cross/Ballina/K'more than see Mayo beat Galway.

I'd more or less agree with that. Though when the Stephenites got to the AIF and Cross, I was full behind them. Then again, I'm not really a spiteful person. In North Mayo though I think everyone is happy when Ballina are beaten though. Although it was great to win the County league title as a Knockmore fan in December 2003 after the replays and the fight against Crossmolina. And after we beat them behind in Crossmolina to knock them out of the championship after they were the AI winners!

As a Ballina man Deelin I cannot understand how the rest of the North are happy when Ballina are beaten. I ve had some great days going to Knockmore and Cross games when they were Mayo Champions. I would always support them and when they lost it would piss me off. Great respect for them. And why not? A lot of the best football I ve ever enjoyed playing or watching involved the big3. The thing that has made those 3 clubs special last several years is that there was intensity as well as high quality. As recenty as 4 or 5 years ago the pick of those 3 clubs would have beaten 80% of counties. Might piss some posters off but I would not have had anywhere near the same interest in Castlebar, Charlestown or Ballaghadereen when County Champs.

2 of these clubs won their All Ireland and both probably should/could have won more. Knockmore should have won theirs as well and it s a shame because Knockmore were probably more responsible than anything else for raising the bar in Mayo as regards bringing foofball to a new level,ie.fitness, gameplan, hardness, intensity. I ve always felt that Knockmore should have played their 1994? club semi v Éire ÓG back The Park cause they would have won there and may have won the final. The preparation of the Knockmore pitch was probably a distraction but at the same time its hard to believe still how they lost at home. They must have taken their eye off the ball. There s no other explanation for it. Its still shocking. When they played in Ballina in following years they won comfortably every time.

Sunday will see crowds from North Mayo head into the Capital. It may well be one of the last opportunities to do so. I d say whether people are from North Mayo or from the Territories it will be a more enjoyable experience than Castlebar.

Hint. Watch the game from the dressing-room side - even if it means you get wet.

[IolarCoisCuain]

 Anyway lookin forward to this Derry game back in the local. Thought these League games in the park were gone for ever and this is to be cherished. It might be a bit early for Joseph s icecream van though .  

You've been pucking a mightly sliothar here over the past few days Moysider and long may you prosper but hell damn and blast it that's way out of order. It's NEVER too early for Joseph's ice cream. 

[Mayo4Sam]

I think what Farrendeelin meant was that people were generally happy when Ballina were bet within mayo and not outside.

For me the best club match i ever saw was the Cross K'more semi final in Ballina in '97, we had beaten them handy the year before but they were really up for it and we edged them out by a point

I think in terms of training in North Mayo it can be traced directly back to Liam O'Neill, his arrival in K'more led to us going senior and winning mayo's 1st connacht title.

As for losing in '93 i would put it down to losing dempsey, there was no way we could have backed down and moved to ballina. It was used to great effect in '97, Padraig Brogan made a speech in the dressingroom that had lads in tears and they were ready to walk thru the wall.

[the Deel Rover]

I think what Farrendeelin meant was that people were generally happy when Ballina were bet within mayo and not outside.

For me the best club match i ever saw was the Cross K'more semi final in Ballina in '97, we had beaten them handy the year before but they were really up for it and we edged them out by a point

Was that the match where Mc and o'neill scored about 9 points each that was some match allright except fot the result the following year we had to go and play ye in knockmore don't think we had ever WON a championship match there Gerard o ' Malley scored a fantastic goal and we managed to beat ye that day the tension in the dressing rooms before any of those matches was unreal especially in Knockmore

[Farrandeelin]

I think what Farrendeelin meant was that people were generally happy when Ballina were bet within mayo and not outside.

Yes, that's what I mean. Even the underage teams, everyone wants to beat Ballina.