Mayo Football and Hurling - Discussion pages

[muppet]

just to settle a bet, can anyone tell me the last time mayo played in the bottom tier of the league, the person arguing with me is from sligo so not much credibility there

Fat Larry?

[Lar Naparka]

just to settle a bet, can anyone tell me the last time mayo played in the bottom tier of the league, the person arguing with me is from sligo so not much credibility there

I don't know if they ever did.
I certainly don't recall them ever (dis)gracing the very bottom division.
They were in Div 3 in '96, the year they were to become good in the championships and had spent the season before in Div 2.
In later years they were to be found in Div 1B but that was based on geographical grounds and IA and IB were of equal merit.
(I'm using Willie Joe's excellent results archive to help out a dodgy memory here.)

[FL/MAYO]

http://dynamic.rte.ie/av/228-2532884-512-288.smil

Pride of the Paris, nice program on GAA in Inishturk....its what GAA is all about.

[mortified]

just to settle a bet, can anyone tell me the last time mayo played in the bottom tier of the league, the person arguing with me is from sligo so not much credibility there

I don't know if they ever did.
I certainly don't recall them ever (dis)gracing the very bottom division.
They were in Div 3 in '96, the year they were to become good in the championships and had spent the season before in Div 2.
In later years they were to be found in Div 1B but that was based on geographical grounds and IA and IB were of equal merit.
(I'm using Willie Joe's excellent results archive to help out a dodgy memory here.)

cheers, now to claim my money

[moysider]

appartently Nallen had a stormer yesterday when moved to midfield for Cross, did i hear right that McD came on in that game??

Mc started the game davitt man both he and barry regan scored 6 points a piece and were the pick of the players on view . Like you said Jimmy was excellent from mid field in the 2nd half we were seven points down at 1/2 time but held ballaghadreen to 1 point in the 2nd half while scoring 1-8 ourselves. There was plenty of bite to the game with no team holding back Peadar G came in for a lot of special attention delighted with the result shows there is a bit of life in the old dog yet we will know better on saturday after the match against charlestown .Was talking to a few ballagh supporters and they were filling me in on the realationship ( or lack of it) between o' mahony and regan interesting to say the least .

Reagan and McDonald were two of the best, if not the two best, forwards in Mayo last year. Of course it can be said O Mahoney as manager can pick or choose who he likes for his squad. And he has. But the selection of a couple of chaffy forwards in the squad and leaving those two out borders on self-indulgence and if anything is a 2fingers to the common garden supporter in this county. Maybe I m being sniffy but I see it as being nothing short of disrespectful to the people who attend matches year in week out. I dont think anybody at this stage is still playing the preposterous rebuilding card. These calls were based on personal whim and pique and have nothing to do with team building or tactical approach or any noble justification one could wish to imagine Johnno might have.
Dara O Sé made his return to the big stage again at the weekend. Thing is with the resources Kerry have( debut 1994 - same as Mc) you would wonder is he needed. But he ll be there to settle the team, and he ll keep the fans reassured as well. When you look at the lightweight nature of our squad you would have to hope we dont meet Kerry - or even Cork - this year. To get rid of a player of Mc s stature and skill while he can still put 1 foot in front of another is the most puzzling thing I ve seen in a long time in this county. At least he could compete with the big boys. There s a few in that panel would be bet before they start.

[Farrandeelin]

Looks like you've left it to ourselves and Ballina for who will be battling for 2nd place in the group then Deel.

Go on out of that Farrandeelin How did ye do yesterday ?

Ya hoor ya you probably know well. We lost by 3. Looked like skimpy young fellas all over the place. Then again, I'm comparing that team on Sunday to the 90s team we had. It's something one shouldn't do!

Regarding the McDonald issue, are we the only county in Ireland that has a panel named for the season. I mean do other counties not bring players in on and off during the championship?

[the Deel Rover]

Ya hoor ya you probably know well.

i might have had an inkling Farandeelin

[AbbeySider]

http://dynamic.rte.ie/av/228-2532884-512-288.smil
Pride of the Paris, nice program on GAA in Inishturk....its what GAA is all about.

I caught most of it. Great documentary, they were all very emotional at the end. Fair play, I think they were the smallest island in the competition.

[Davitt Man]

Lads

Are Mayo playing dublin in a challenege this week?

[the Deel Rover]

Sport  Higgins staying with hurlers
Higgins staying with hurlers 
Monday, 27 April 2009 
Higgins will be staying with hurlers when footballers fly off to Big Apple


Mike Finnerty

DUAL star Keith Higgins will not be travelling to New York with the Mayo senior football squad next month — because he will be lining out with the county hurlers in the Christy Ring Cup.
Higgins, who only returned from Australia last week, will play for the Mayo hurlers against Kerry on Saturday, May 9, just twenty-four hours before the county footballers take on New York at Gaelic Park.
"We're releasing Keith for the hurling championship match on the same weekend," Mayo football manager John O'Mahony told The Mayo News last night. "That's an important game for the hurlers and it makes sense for all concerned.
"Keith is back in training with us  and played for twenty minutes against Kildare in a challenge last week [see below]. It's going to take a few weeks for him to get up to speed again but I have no doubt that he'll catch up quickly.
"He won't be in New York with us but we're not staying in a training camp out there so it's not a major problem. He has to work on his fitness anyway so the hurling match should stand him in good stead."
However, Aidan O'Shea will be in New York for the opening round of the Connacht championship, and will be eligible to line out.
The 18 year old received a straight red card for striking during the second half of Breaffy's league defeat to Moy Davitts last Sunday. But the automatic four-week suspension does not rule him out of inter-county activity in the interim.
On the injury-front, Barry Moran, Tom Cunniffe, Trevor Howley, Mikey Sweeney and Kenneth O'Malley all sat out their club's league games last Sunday because of minor aches, pains and strains.
In fact, Barry Moran has only played five minutes of competitive football for Mayo in the last two months. "He's had a series of hamstring injuries," explained John O'Mahony. However, he did partake in some light training with the county squad last Saturday.
Conor Mortimer remains Mayo's most serious injury worry ahead of the Connacht semi-final on June 20 with a broken bone in his hand.
"The main thing is that we prepare for a normal championship match with New York," added the experienced Mayo manager. "They don't play in the National League and things can change from year to year with them, so we don't have a lot of information on them yet. But we'll prepare for them the same way as we would for any opponent."
Meanwhile, the Mayo senior footballers continued their preparations for the upcoming Connacht Championship campaign last week with a victory over Kildare in a 'typical challenge match' according to John O'Mahony.
A game of three-thirds under floodlights in Kiltoom last
Thursday evening saw the likes of James Nallen, Keith Higgins, Trevor Howley and Kenneth O'Malley all get some much-needed game-time as John O'Mahony started with a team that was very similar to the one that lined out against Tyrone in the NFL recently.
However, David Heaney, Pat Harte, Aidan O'Shea, Seamus O'Shea and Billy Joe Padden were all absent last Thursday evening for various reasons.

Surely leaving Keith Higgins at home isn't the way Mayo would prepare for any opponent 

[AbbeySider]

Surely leaving Keith Higgins at home isn't the way Mayo would prepare for any opponent 

It might be pointless bringing him if he is not match fit. The hurling game would be a good workout for him I suppose.

[highking]

The New York game is a pointless exercise, and the last thing Keith wants to do is get back on a plane after spending the past six months travelling. It's funny how JOM makes it sound like he RELEASED Keith to play the hurling tie. He had no choice in the matter as Keith had informed the hurlers that he was with them all the way before he ever returned from Oz.

[AbbeySider]

Maughan is having a go at O Mahoney in the Mayo Advertiser... He is keeping him on his toes...

Higgins for the hurlers
Mayo Advertiser, May 01, 2009.
Mayo Advertiser

By John Maughan

John O'Mahony and his senior management team are more than likely disappointed with Keith Higgins' decision to play hurling for Mayo rather than travel to NY for Mayo's championship opener on Sunday week. The Mayo hurlers will play Kerry in their championship opener on the same weekend. The talented corner- back has just returned to Ireland having spent a number of months in Australia. Keith did however line out last week in Mayo's challenge match against Kildare in Kiltoom. I expect that the Mayo management are delighted to have their ace defender back in plenty of time for the bigger challenges ahead, but would have liked if he could have travelled to the Big Apple for the weekend. However it should not have come as a huge surprise that he declared for the hurlers as Keith has always declared his love of hurling and it is no secret that it is his preferred game. This is the first time that both codes have clashed on a championship weekend, which is unfortunate as it has forced Keith to declare his preference. Coincidentally, I met with Martin Brennan, the Mayo county senior hurling manager, during the week who told me that he was thrilled that Keith opted to play in Mayo's Christy Ring Championship encounter with Kerry. It was not a total surprise to him either as he had been in touch with Keith frequently over the last number of weeks once he was aware of the imminent clash of fixtures.

Poor crowds and poor games

The National League finals in Croke Park at the weekend were pretty dismal. They had all the appearances of end of season, meaningless games. You would not have thought that there were league titles on offer. The paltry crowd didn't help either. There was an eerie atmosphere as a mere 20,000 supporters turned out to support the four teams. And as far as I could establish about 10,000 of those in attendance were down to support Monaghan. ( I would think that a large number of them wished they had stayed at home!) So the generous offer from GAA HQ to cut prices for stand tickets to €25 obviously wasn't really appreciated by the football fraternity. A more generous €10 entrance fee might have helped in generating a bigger crowd. There is an issue here that just may occupy the minds of those charged with providing quality GAA action at the concluding stages of our National Leagues. We were treated to better fare in earlier rounds of the competition when teams were fully focussed on either staying up in, reaching the higher divisions, or avoiding relegation to the lower ones. There will always be an argument surrounding the choice of venue for League finals. I thought there might have been a much better atmosphere in a tight compact ground like Portlaoise or Mullingar had the Division 1 and 2 finals been played in a venue like these. But then again there didn't appear to have been much of a problem in selecting a choice of seat in Pearse Park Longford on Saturday for the two other finals either, so I don't know what the solution is on this one? Anyway, Kerry as predicted here last week, won the Division 1 title, but I cant imagine any bonfires being lit around Killarney to celebrate this particular achievement. They rarely had to get out of second gear to overcome the challenge of Derry who in fairness did play occasionally in third gear. Kerry are little bit like Manchester Utd. In that they can play poorly and still manage a victory. Teams at this stage of the year are caught between a rock and a hard place. Most counties are in the middle of pretty intense preparations for the championship at the moment and while I am not suggesting that teams do not want to win league titles, it is just a fact of life that they are looking ahead at much bigger games a few short weeks away. Jack O'Connor would have left Croke Park arguably the happiest manager of the four as he now realises that he will have serious competition for team places come championship time. Remember his team lined out last Sunday with Tadhgh Kennelly, David Moran, and Darragh Ó Sé on the bench. What other team in the country has such a luxury? So while Sunday's encounter had all the appearances of an afternoon kick around, Kerry look to be more disciplined more focussed and a much hungrier side than the 2008 model. Others watch out!

Cork won the division 2 title in a canter. It's not often we hear a manager complain afterwards about the quality of opposition after a competitive encounter, but Conor Counihan flagged his disappointment about the poor challenge that Monaghan presented to his team. Cork were very impressive and they have improved considerably this year. While I am sticking my neck out in predicting at this early juncture that Kerry will win this year's All-Ireland, I wouldn't be one bit surprised if it is Cork that will prove their biggest threat during the summer months.

Had someone suggested to me last Saturday morning that the best entertainment of the weekend would come from the two lower divisional finals I would have questioned their credentials. But that is exactly what happened and it was Tipperary in particular that were the League's success story this year and, to a lesser extent, Sligo. They (Tipperary) appointed their current manager, John Evans, last year when they were rooted at the bottom of Division 4 with few signs of moving from the abyss. Declan Browne, their talismanic superstar, had just retired and there was no rush of applicants for the vacant managerial position. Within two seasons the enthusiastic Evans, in his first inter-county managerial role, has turned the fortunes of the Tipperary men right around and they now find themselves mixing it with the big boys. Who is to say that they wont replicate the achievements of last year's championships heroes, Wexford? Their victory in extra time over formidable opponents Down, was, for me, the highlight of the weekend's GAA action. On this team's journey home I suspect that there may have been a bonfire or two lit in their honour.

Local action heating up

After a couple rounds of the club league competition here in Mayo there is already a familiar pattern evolving with one or two exceptions: Breaffy and Castlebar will be particularly disappointed with their respective starts but I firmly believe that, with the quality of players available to both teams, injuries not withstanding, both teams will prove to be formidable opposition later this summer. I hear the dreaded hamstring curse has depleted the Castlebar squad which goes some way to explain their poor results in recent weeks. We in Crossmolina are not immune to this curse either with three of our players currently on the soft sofa. Crossmolina played Ballaghadereen in Charlestown last Sunday. We were half hoping that they might have travelled to Crossmolina as their pitch is currently GUR! However they nominated Charlestown as their choice of home venue. Ballaghadereen, as county champions, are a formidable outfit and we knew we would have our work cut out to beat them. They started the game without Andy Moran, who obviously had hoped to rest out this game. They deservedly led at half time, having played with the wind, on a scoreline of 10 pts to 3. To be honest we were disappointed heading to the dressing room at half time as there was only three points in it with five minutes of the half remaining. We felt that we would need a goal at some stage in the second half to get ourselves back into a winning position. That goal duly arrived midway through the second half from the boot of Cathal Carolan. The other catalyst to our changing fortunes was the great performance of the ever young James Nallen both at corner back in the first half but even more influentially, at midfield in the second. He continues to defy logic but is a great example to younger players, proving that good lifestyle management prolongs the engine capacity! We were, needless to say, happy to have come away with a victory but rest assured we won't be getting carried away with ourselves. With regard to Ballaghadereen there is no doubt in my mind that they are still a force to be reckoned with, and will be come championship time. In particular Barry Regan turned in a flawless performance of free-taking from the hand that could surely be an asset at a higher level! I was delighted to see Kevin Cahill involved with the Ballaghadereen set up. He was getting rather animated on a number of occasions during the game, something I hadn't witnessed during his playing days with Mayo. He is definitely displaying all the characteristics of a future team manager! Tomorrow evening we play Charlestown at home and right now they are the form team in the county. I watched them against Knockmore in Charlestown in the game preceding ours last Sunday and they were hugely impressive. They have a very well balanced outfit and appear to have quality players throughout the team. David 'Ginger' Tiernan is like a spring chicken these days. It is wonderful to see a player of his stature leading by example every other Sunday for his club.

[Davitt Man]

A radio documentary on mayo football that was aired last week, very good

Here is a direct link.

http://www.rte.ie/podcasts/2009/pc/pod-v-270690-41m50s-doconone.mp3

[AbbeySider]

I listened to the repeat last night, not bad.