Messages

Jesus Mary and Holy St Joseph ... fair play to our Andy for pulling the Mayoites through!

Couple of match reports here;

http://www.advertiser.ie/mayo/article/40289/london-push-mayo-to-the-limit

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2011/0529/mayo_london.html

It's said the league counts for little come championship, but the performance and attitude of the Leitrim players during our recent tie played at The Hyde was impressive. At 0.4 - 0.9 down after 30 minutes, Leitrim produced a blitz either side of HT which saw them outscore us by 0.8 - 0.1 quickly turning a five point deficit into a two point lead. While we managed an opportunist goal to regain the lead, Leitrim came back strongly at us again and finished the game on the attack, looking for a goal which would have brought them a just about deserved away win. That typified Leitrim, they work hard, fight to the bitter end and never settle for anything less than victory. With six scorers at The Hyde that day Leitrim showed they're not short of capable marksmen either. We've been sitting on our hands since the start of the month and will go in cold, while Leitrim are up to championship pitch and are probably buzzing after their impressive away toppling of Sligo. We'll definitely need to avoid a repeat of the last year's slow start and try to ensure the second half workrate of that occasion is present from the opening throw in here. Carrick has always been a tough battleground for us, this year will be no different. Our lads will strive with might and main to defend their title and won't be under any illusions about the battle ahead, while Leitrim admittedly appear to have much more momentum going into this one. The Laythrumite who commandeered the PA system at the end of our last visit to Pairc Sean two years ago - only to get cut off half way through his defiant rendition of Lovely Leitrim - will justifiably fancy his chances of getting a lot more airtime after this latest battle, I reckon.

These board is a much more interesting place when Sligonian is contributing, that's for sure.

It's a strange one, this situation Sligo find themselves in. The fans on here don't really seem to rate KW very highly, although they've improved and had good days and their ambitions raised under his stewardship. On the other hand, they're saying the players are not doing their stuff either. I wonder is Ross Donovan really a full-back, or is he better suited to the corner? Mano says CHB is another area where the present incumbent is not suited to and I suspect from the little I've seen that their midfield could be a problem area also when it comes to competing against good opposition? If leadership on the field is a problem, O'Hara can't keep going for ever and two other leaders Breheny and Davey were injured for the Leitrim game. That probably just left Charlie Harrison and possibly Adrian Marren up front to assume the mantle yesterday?? Admittedly, Alan Costelloe on his day can be inspirational too come to think of it. Still think if Sligo can get their missing players back fit, sort out their spine somehow and get their attitude right, they can produce a decent run in the qualifiers. A good win in the first round of the qualifiers could do wonders for their confidence. Good Luck to them for the rest of the campaign. Plenty to work on, just like ourselves and the rest of the neighbours.

Well done to Leitrim, played with total pride in the jersey as always and reaped the rewards.

I don't think the season need necessarily be over yet for Sligo. If they're honest with themselves about where mistakes were made and approach the qualifiers with a new mindset, they can still make a good impression on this year's championship imo. They're at rock bottom now after yesterday, but if they get Kelly, Brehony, Davey etc back to full fitness and everyone pulling together, who knows? There are certainly talented players in that squad who should be producing better performances than this. Sligo lads - did ye feel there was a breakdown in morale after the way the league went? The manager will probably be scapegoated for the poor performances ... is it deserved in yeer opinion, or should the players take responsibility for losing the winning habit this year? Not having a go at ye here, just interested to hear what ye think about how things seem to have gone pear shaped this year.

And for balance our lowest score was probably 1 point v Gaway in the c'ship in 1968 or 69 in Ballinasloe.

Not so I'm afraid TJ. While 1969 was bad, 0-8 to 0-1, at least we raised a flag ... unlike the dark day in 1933 when we went down to the Tribesmen by 2-10 to 0-0.

I think Galway are the only team to have held us scoreless in championship, although the Mayoites gave us an early kicking by holding us to a single point twice, in 1904 (Ballina v Elphin) & 1921.

Lovely Leitrim got in on the act in 1923 when trimming us 2-5 to 0-1. And Sligo have managed to hold us to two points on two occasions in 1922 & 1925.

And just to add to our house of pain, while we might enjoy having beaten Kerry at all grades when it comes to the silverware side of things, they also held us to a point in the 1914 AISF winning by 2-4 to 0-1.

Jeez, but it's a slippery slope once you start down it ... that's more than enough of that for now I reckon 

[*Warning]

Good win there, well done to all. Thanks for the coverage links to whoever put them up btw.

Is 3-21 Rosses highest ever championship score, or is 24 scores their highest ever number of scores in a champ game?

The biggest score i've seen Ros put up, including # of scores also, was in the 1980 preliminary round when we hit London for 9-19 in The Hyde, with Tony Mac and Mick Finneran both scoring hat-tricks. We scored 6-11 in the second half of that game.

Galway went for 1-14 in the semi, while Mayo were dispatched for 3-13 to clinch 4-in-a-row Connachts that year also.

We kicked 2-20 against Armagh in the AISF that year, hitting them for 2-13 in the second half alone.

And probably our biggest ever challenge win came in that year also, when we blitzed the Dubs (John O'Leary in goals!) by 9-15 to 1-6 in The Hyde. 6-9 of that came in the second half.

The Ros certainly didn't sit back when they had their opponents on the ropes back then.

Mick Finneran kicked 5-20, Tony Mac 6-7, Jigger 3-15 and Dermot Earley 1-13 in that year's championship.

Not a bad year, 1980, even if the spoilsport Kerrymen went and spoiled it all at the death.

*Warning: Sligonian look away
I remember seeing us scoring something like 3-24 in a rout of Sligo at Tubbercurry back around then also, but that may have been an U-21 championship game.

I think the hatred directed towards us at times from Roscommon fans is far in excess of anything we are able to give back.

Erm ... whatever happened this guy, Cosmo?

http://thereisalightthatnevergoesout.wordpress.com/2009/06/14/the-rossies-dont-you-just-love-beating-them/


Looks like the light went out just as The Rossies derailed Mayo's Drive for Five  ...  as there doesn't seem to have been an entry since 

http://thereisalightthatnevergoesout.wordpress.com/

Congrats Longfordians, well deserved win to take the silverware on Saturday.

With Christy Cooney's talk of 'evening up' the provinces & yeer demolition of us, not forgetting the axe ye took to Johnno's managerial career last year ... Have ye the application in to enter the Connacht championship next year yet?

Crikey, ye wouldn't want to be making of a habit of baytin us poor westerners surely?

Deserved win for Galway which left Cork's vocal fans stunned with the end result. Galway possess two fine midfielders who's positioning and timing under the dropping ball were exceptional, esp in the first half. The workrate of both, but particularly Tomás Flynn was also very eyecatching. He also covered every blade of grass and along with Fiontán Ó'Curraoin set up a platform of possession for the Galway forwards, which they made sufficient use of in the end to win the game. Galway started brilliantly with immediate purpose and intent, laying down a marker by going several points in front early on. The worry one had about Galway's forwards was that they weren't clinical enough in finishing off their chances, but they got there in the end. Crucially, Mark Hehir kept the scoreboard ticking when scores were otherwise drying up at times. They were mindful of retaining possession and were very careful not to give it away carelessly if at all possible. The Cork HF line were seriously well built and on the occasions when they ran strongly at the Galway defence anything looked possible. Ciarán Sheehan was immense, he's some player, he certainly didn't deserve to end up on the losing side. It's desperately unlucky for him that he had two chances of points, one of which which went narrowly wide & another which rebounded off the post towards the end, when Cork were fighting for their lives. However there's a great team ethic in this Galway side and they worked their socks off for each other when Cork put them under serious pressure, which stood to them big time last night. Cork negated Galway's first half midfield dominance by coming out in the third quarter and crowding the midfield, whilst also considerably upping their own workrate around the middle third. This drew quite a few desperation fouls from the Galway defence for a while, forcing Galway to further increase their own workrate to try and get to grips with the situation. Aidan Walsh went off injured around that stage and it had an influence on how the game developed imo, as Galway regained parity in midfield following his injury. Ciarán Sheehan was now playing slightly deeper in midfield and having to make his devastating lung bursting runs from deeper into the attack, which probably took a bit from his threat to Galway. While Galway kicked on with a great comeback to regain the lead Cork were not out of it, but the rebels showed a lack of composure when kicking four wides in a row during the final ten minutes or so. There was little enough between both sides but undoubtedly Galway deserved it as they worked harder and played that bit more consistently throughout. Galway have a good defence, excellent midfield, good free-taker in Mark O'Hehir, excellent team ethic, composure and enough scoring forwards to go all the way. They'll be gutted if they don't win it outright now after seeing off this highly rated Cork side. Best of Luck to ye lads.

Entertaining local derby game against our neighbours even if it wasn't exactly played at full tilt... or an All-Ireland Final

We played with the breeze in the first half and went point for point with the Laythrumites for the first twenty minutes or so, which resulted in both sides being evenly matched at 4 - 4 twenty minutes in. Big Seamie was making his presence felt in the middle, while Senan was central to everything positive in the FF line. Already having two points to his name, Senan produced a quickfire trio of points off both feet and along with a nice effort from distance by Shaq, this saw us open up a 4 lead by the half hour. Leitrim however are renowned for never ever throwing in the towel when facing The Ros, and thus it came as no surprise to see them respond with a purple patch before HT which produced points from Emlyn Mulligan (2f), Conor Sheridan and Daniel Lowe to leave the minimum between the sides at the break; Ros 0.9 Leitrim 0.8.

Ros were quick out of the blocks in the second half with a Dev point, but Leitrim replied through impressive midfielder Tomás Beirne and corner forward Conor Beirne to level matters again. Taking advantage of their momentum they added points from Mulligan (f) and Adrian Croal (his third of the day) to take a two point lead. Ros however saw the raiding Cathal Cregg fouled 45m out - not for the first time - Dev found Senan with a resulting short free, he released Keving Higgins and the Western Gaels man sprinted through the centre before burying the ball low past the Leitrim goalie to regain the lead for Ros. 1.10 - 0.12. Mulligan restored parity from play only to see Donie Shine and Dev add a brace of their own to put Ros ahead by two again. Fergal O'Donnell was emptying his bench at this stage, as Mulligan (his 7th point of the day) and Croal (his 4th ) brought Leitrim back level with about five minutes remaining. Crucially though, one of Fergal's introductions Enda Kenny was winning great ball in midfield and when he kicked a mighty point from distance to regain the lead for Ros late on, time was running out for Leitrim. Dev sensibly added a point in injury time when a goal was a distinct possibility. Two points down and the sand almost gone from the egg timer, Leitrim had a late free from which the excellent Mulligan had little option but to drop into the danger area. Sub Michael Finneran, guarding the Ros goal line, made it his own and Ros were safe. Ros Scorers: Senan 5, Dev 4, KH 1.1, MR 1, Donie 1, Shaq 1, EK 1.  Leitrim Scorers: Emlyn Mulligan 7 (6f), Adrian Croal 4(1f), Conor Sheridan 1, Daniel Lowe 1, Tomás Beirne 1.  Ros Wides 9, Leitrim Wides 8.

First of all congrats to Galway. They were miles the better team today and should have won by much more.

Agreed. Well Done to Galway on a very impressive display & Good Luck to them for the rest of it.
Should be a good semi-final against whoever comes out of Munster.

Ros played with the breeze to their backs in the first half, with Donie Shine and Senan Kilbride making a welcome return into their starting line-up. Each scored quick-fire long range points from play to see the Rossies open up an early two point lead. David Tubridy missed an early scorable free - in what proved a sign of things to come on a bad day for him - although he did manage to open Clare's account at his second attempt with what would prove to be his only successful free of the day, popped over from out of his hands. Senan and Cregger had further points from play before a Donie free from out on the right split the posts. Ros were well on top and dominating possession at this stage, with Kevin Higgins adding another point. Cregger then had the ref and umpires deliberating before they adjudicated his effort from distance to have been narrowly off target - correctly imo - to leave Ros leading by 7 - 2. That break seemed to spur on Clare to come more into the game and while Tubridy was having a disappointing day from frees, they proceeded to nail the next three point chances from play through himself, Alan Clohessy and midfielder Niall Browne to bring the score back to 7 -5. Ros rallied with Donie adding two frees and along with another good Kevin Higgins point from play after a run through the centre, Ros went in at the break deservedly leading by 10 - 6. MF, who'd been covering the ground and having a good game in the centre for Ros, went off shortly before HT to be replaced by Karol Mannion.

Clare opened the second half with fire in their bellies, quickly adding 2 excellent scores from play through Alan Clohessy. They proceeded to squander several more chances from frees through the unfortunate Tubridy however, as well as several chances from open play, as Ros lost some of their earlier authority. Johnny Dunning who'd come on for Ger at HT was looking lively whenever the ball came his way, with Donie Shine adding another free and point from play, regaining a four point lead margin for Ros. Gary Brennan then took advantage of some questionable Ros defending to seize a break and race in behind the Ros defence, finishing low to the net giving Claff no chance. Worrying times for Ros who only lead by the bare minimum at this stage, Ros 0-12 Clare 1-8. To their credit they responded well to this situation through a lucky close range Donie free, awarded after a foul on one of the inside forwards as Cregger was kicking a poor wide, quickly followed by good points from play from Senan and Rodge to stretch the margin out to four points once again. Clare at this stage, belatedly realised it wasn't DT's day from frees, handed the responsibility to Alan Clohessy who pointed at his first attempt to pare the margin to three, Ros 0-15 Clare 1-9.  Rodge replied with a great score on the turn from out on the left off his leg peg to complete the Rossies scoring and give them a much safer four point margin again.While Cathal O'Connor added his second long range score of the game in reply shortly afterwards, it proved too little too late for the Bannermen, who will surely feel they deserved more for their second half efforts.

Ros will be happy with their first half performance, and while they'll be pleased with the manner in which they responded in the second whenever Clare threatened to draw level, they'll be concerned at the success with which the Bannermen ran at them at times during the second, causing some anxious moments in defence and leading to the concession of fouls. A lively Clare side will be disappointed not to have gotten something out of the game, although it has to be said their slow start did them no favours while their inability to capitalise on their scoring chances cost them dearly in the end. Ros were very economical with their shooting today, registering five wides over the seventy minutes, two of those from long range efforts off the ground from Donie. Clare by comparison were much more wasteful in front of the sticks, hitting 12 wides in total, 7 of those in the second half.  Ros Scorers; Donie 7 (5f), Senan 4 (2f), Rodge 2, Kevin 2, Cregger 1.  Clare Scorers: Alan Clohessy 4 (1f), Gary Brennan 1-1, David Tubridy 2 (1f), Cathal O'Connor 2, Niall Browne 1,

Diverting the Shannon in more like 

Hard Luck to Brigids, they gave it everything but just came up short against a Cross side who were able to draw on their experience of winning at this level. Congrats to Cross on their fine win, they sure know how to close out a high stakes tight game.

Tá an ceart agaibh, tá gá ar Horan a fhoireann níos laidre a lorg i rith na tsraithe seo. Agus tá fíor ceart agat freisin TJ go bfhuil Maigh Eo an fhoireann níos laidre amach is amach sa cheantar. Cé nach bfhuil meas ar na lucht feachanna Maigh Eo le Craobh Connachta a bhuachaint, bfheidir go mebidh sé ceart go leor dóibh i mbliana le foireann nua athruite. Tá cinnte orm go dtabharfaidh Horan an chluas bodhar do na lucht feachanna a mbeidh ag gearán faoi rudaí maidir le roghnú an fhoireann srl, ach beidh air bheith cúramach na bfhans a choiméad ar a thaobh ag an am cheanna. Iolar - ta iontas orm nach bfhuil Keith Higgins i do bfhoireann craoibhe. Cén fath? Nach mbeidh sé timpeall na h-aite, nó nach roghnóidh Horan é de dheasca easpa cluichí aige sa sraithe, no céard?