Best clubs left in Connaught 2008

[GAA_Punter]

So guys who are the best five or six clubs left , I know Nuig and St Bridgets are gone . Any early fancies for the title

[SLIGONIAN]

Tubbercurry, Coolera/Strandhill and Eastern Harps are left in Sligo and all are good clubs and wont be easy beat in Connacht.

St Molaise Gaels for the Intermediate Connacht title .

As for the other counties dont know. Thats the Sligo View.

[stephenite]

Current Connacht Champs are gone 

[galwayman]

Corofin and Cortoon are left in the Galway championship. Corofin should win the final. I wouldn't fancy either team to win Connacht. Corofin would have a chance but if Cortoon were to win the county final I wouldn't give them much hope in the Connacht series.

[FL/MAYO]

The quiet revolution
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
The quiet revolution


Patrick Navin has seen the changes in Claremorris at first hand

Feature
Daniel Carey

FOR the first time since 1992, Charlestown will meet Claremorris in a Senior Football Championship semi-final next weekend. Michael Byrnes scored two goals for the Sarsfields, JJ Gorham got 1-2 for the boys in blue, and Charlestown won by 3-8 to 1-7.
The past truly is a different country. That would be the last championship game Charlestown won until their memorable run in 2001. Claremorris would spend a spell at the intermediate grade before returning to the top table. Now, the South Mayo side find themselves in the last four.
"In a way, I'd say we surprised a lot of people around the town, in Claremorris," full-back Patrick Navin told The Mayo News. "But among ourselves, we always have a lot of confidence."
The scale of the club's ambition was revealed in 'Claremorris GAA Club: The Way Forward – Vision 2012'. Revealed at an open forum last December, this presentation set down the aim of achieving at least a top three place in each grade in 2008, winning the Moclair Cup within three years, and winning the All-Ireland Club Championship within five years. The statement of intent met with a certain amount of sniggering from rivals who felt Claremorris should learn to walk before they could run, but even their detractors have been impressed by the quiet revolution taking place under new manager Niall Heffernan.
"We're very happy that it's come along so quickly, and the fact that we are playing so well," said Navin. "A lot of young lads have come along and we're glad that they've taken up their roles so quickly. In the half-back line, Liam Feeley and Seán Prendergast, within one year, they're among the very good players in the county. So they're doing very well. Maybe it was a little bit quick, we didn't expect it this quickly. But we're confident and we're happy that it's come along."
Claremorris certainly can't be accused of having come through the easy route. They found themselves in the 'Group of Death' with reigning Connacht champions Ballina Stephenites, a resurgent Castlebar Mitchels and the always doughty Burrishoole. Victory in Newport (never an easy thing to achieve) was followed by a home win over Mitchels, and a draw against the Stephenites saw Liam McHale's side eliminated and Claremorris top of the group.
"They were tough games, in fairness, especially against Ballina," says Navin, who has been in fine form himself at the heart of the defence. "I think we had the same kind of situation last year against Shrule. We were coming into the last game and we needed to beat them to go through to the last eight."
But while they collapsed in the face of that Shrule/Glencorrib onslaught, this time around they held their nerve. "We were lucky enough to draw with Ballina, in fairness, but we could have gone on to beat them as well, I thought," says Navin who, having finished in UCD, is now studying at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin.
"College isn't the worst life for football," he acknowledges. "You do have a lot of free time as well, and you can train by yourself if you want." It does involve travelling home every weekend, though the journeys are perhaps made easier by the strong year Claremorris are enjoying. The quarter-final victory brought further proof that the times were a-changin'. A big win?
"It was, in fairness," says Navin. "It gave us a lot of confidence. Knockmore are a big team around the county with a lot of big history, and often in the past, Claremorris might slip up against teams like that. But not this time. We were very confident and I thought we did well."