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[Tuesday, December 30, 2003 :]

Well said Seanie! It will be a miracle if the league is completed according to that timeline Abbeysider, although it should improve things. Any of the knockmore or Cross people remember what date the league final trilogy was completed a few years back?

Any of the knockmore or Cross people remember what date the league final trilogy was completed a few years back?

From the Western archives:

Tuesday, December 30, 2003 :

Munnelly is the man for Knockmore

Knockmore 1-11, Crossmolina 2-7

It was a fitting end to an epic battle – a goal with the last kick of the game. And so the destination of this year's league cup was finally decided – by Damian Munnelly – at James Stephens Park, Ballina, last Sunday week.
After nearly four and a half hours of end-to-end football, it seemed as if the ending would be tame. With the final ten minutes of extra time completed, there was still no score in the period and the concluding act of this protracted production looked destined to end scoreless, with Crossmolina winning by the one-point advantage they had had at the interval.
But two minutes into injury time Michael Moyles augmented that lead with a superb point from the left, after the defending champions had broken up a Knockmore attack and worked the ball expertly upfield. It would have been a worthy finish to this contest. But it wasn't.
One last, frantic Knockmore effort resulted in a free on the left wing, which Kevin O'Neill stepped up to take. It would be their last chance and they knew it, pouring forward in hope of making a connection with what would surely be a dropping ball.
Crossmolina were alert to the danger too, and formed a human wall in front of goal. But O'Neill's ball was flicked on to Munnelly, who made light of the goalmouth congestion to strike sweetly – and remarkably without deflection – to the back of the net.
The place erupted. Crossmolina faces fell, Knockmore ones smiled broadly. This league meant a lot and that meaning manifested itself in the form of jubilant screaming, jumping and singing at the final whistle.
The game itself hadn't been notbale for its brilliance. Knockmore were, on balance, slightly better, largely because of the accuracy of Kevin O'Neill, who hit nine points, and the overall excellence of Declan Sweeney, who roamed all over the field, though primarily operating at full-back.
Two O'Neill frees put the winners ahead after 16 minutes, but Crossmolina then enjoyed a ten-minute period of dominance, during which they scored 1-3, the goal coming in the 25th minute from Johnny Leonard, following points by Liam Moffatt (two frees) and Joe Keane. Knockmore regained their composure in the final few minutes and had sufficent chances to draw level, but only took half of them, both O'Neill frees, to leave them trailing by 0-4 to 1-3 at the first break.
Knockmore had the upperhand for much of the second half, an early point from Shane Sweeney – their first non-O'Neill score of the game – narrowing the gap to one. Moffatt countered with a pointed free (and hobbled off injured after striking it) two minutes later.
Minutes later an off-the-ball incident in the middle of the field between Kevin Staunton and Gabriel Walsh resulted in both men being issued with red cards by referee, Vinnie Neary.
O'Neill and Brian Benson exchanged points in the 39th and 43rd minutes, before O'Neill hit three on the trot – one fine point from play – to give Knockmore the lead with seven minutes remaining.
Just when it looked – for the umpteenth time – as if the title was decided, yet another saviour emerged to prolong matters. This time it was Michael Moyles, who curled over a lovely point from the left wing, with one minute of injury time played. Shane Sweeney had a glorious chance to win it for Knockmore a minute later, but his shot drifted well wide of the posts.
Extra time once more, and yet more twists.
Again, Knockmore did the early running and were two points up after two minutes, courtesy of Damian Munnelly and O'Neill points. They looked to have a distinct edge at this stage and one more score might have put it beyond Crossmolina's reach. But they couldn't get another and a minute before the break a Brian Benson shot into the goalmouth was tipped to the back of Pat Reape's net by Leonard to give Crossmolina a – slightly undeserved – lead.
The final period of the game was punctuated by two moments, two scores. The first was Moyles' point deep into injury time and the second – even deeper into time added on – was Munnelly's classy goal.
If ever it were true that there is nothing between two teams, it is surely true in this case, as three epic contests indicate.

Scorers
Knockmore: K. O'Neill 0-9 (0-8f), D. Munnelly 1-1, Shane Sweeney 0-1.
Crossmolina: J. Leonard 2-0, L. Moffatt 0-3 (0-3f), M. Moyles 0-2, J. Keane and B. Benson 0-1 each.
Knockmore: P. Reape; J. Coy, D. Sweeney, J. Brogan; G. O'Hora, A. Higgins, P. Munnelly; K. Staunton, Stephen Sweeney; D. Keane, K. O'Neill, Shane Sweeney; C. Rowland, P. Cawley, D. Munnelly. Subs used: D. Dempsey, T. Howley, A. Kilcoyne.
Crossmolina: B. Heffernan; S. Rochford, D. Mulligan, F. Costello; P. Gardiner, H. McLoughlin, D. Keating; J. Nallen, G. Walsh; N. Convey, M. Moyles, P. McGuinness; L. Moffatt, J. Keane, J. Leonard. Subs: J. Fergus, G. O'Malley, M. Loftus, D. Hegarty, B. Benson.
Referee: V. Neary (Bonniconlon). 

And the report from the first drawn game:

Wednesday, November 26, 2003 :

GAA: Stalemate prevails after game of twists and turns   


Welcome Inn Hotel Mayo G.A.a. League Division One Final
Crossmolina 1-18, Knockmore 3-12

THE proven gladiators of Mayo senior football since the mid-nineties, Crossmolina and Knockmore, were deadlocked at the top of the points table after the completion of the twelve rounds of Division One of the Welcome Inn League, and last Sunday at James Stephens Park, Ballina, in a play-off to decide the league champions, Crossmolina and Knockmore again finished all square, after a period extra time.
The replay will take place at the same venue next Sunday and, while the result will almost certainly remain in doubt until the final seconds, the attendance will be well over the1,000 mark for the second part of the two-part thriller.
Knockmore will be without centre-back Peter Clarke for the replay, as he was booked on a flight
to Australia yesterday (Monday).
The commitment, excitement and thrills that have highlighted the many summer championship battles between those two great rivals over the past seven years were very much in evidence in the third week of November, and it would have been an injustice to the wholeheartedness displayed by both sides had there been a loser last Sunday.
There was no shortage of controversy either, particularly surrounding one Crossmolina score five minutes from the end of the original game, when Liam Moffatt was credited with a point that was to rescue the Deelsiders and extend the drama by a further twenty minutes.
Everybody else at the game believed the ball had gone wide by at least twelve inches but the umpires were in no doubt and raised the white flag to tie the game for an eighth time.
The great rivals were deadlocked on two further occasions in the extra time period, including an O'Neill leveling point two minutes into stoppage time of the second period of extra time.
Three minutes into the second period of extra time, Crossmolina appeared to have one hand on the cup following a Johnny Leonard goal to extend the Deel Rovers advantage to five points.
But, incredibly, Knockmore found the confidence and the energy in those remaining dramatic minutes of extra time to delay the drawing of the curtain to the 2003 Mayo football season for another seven days at least.

Mighty effort

But having succeeded in keeping their league hopes breathing, it took an almighty effort from players such as Kevin Staunton, Shane Sweeney, Declan Sweeney, Kevin O'Neill, John Brogan and Stephen Sweeney to see them survive.
Crossmolina looked the part in the opening twenty minutes, their sweeping play causing all kinds of problems for the Knockmore defence.
Michael Moyles, Joe Keane, Paul McGuinness and Liam Moffatt were constant nightmares in the Knockmore defence and goals should have been scored on at least two occasions in the first quarter.
Stephen Rochford, Francis Costello, and Peadar Gardiner were equally solid in the Crossmolina defence to limit their opponents to just two points from frees by Kevin O'Neill until near the end of the first period.
Indeed, Knockmore had to wait until the 27th minute for their first score from play, a goal by Damien Munnelly to pull back a 0-7 to 0-2 deficit to two points.
The goal opportunity developed when a fine delivery by Shane Sweeney was deflected to the net by Munnelly, who outjumped goalkeeper Barry Heffernan to
connect with the ball.
That goal was the spur Knockmore needed to raise their game and, after trailing 0-7 to 1-3 at the interval, by the 33rd minute had taken a 1-5 to 0-7 advantage.
From then on the game developed into a titanic struggle, the advantage changing from side to side.

Penalty

An opportunity for Crossmolina to pull clear by three points developed early in the second half when they were awarded
a penalty. However,
Moffatt's attempt flew over the bar.
Michael Moyles, who turned in a tremendous game, had eased Crossmolina two points clear when the game took another twist with Knockmore's second goal from substitute Cormac
Rowland, from a move involving Staunton and Shane Sweeney.
Four minutes later Knockmore looked sure to hammer in another goal when Damien Munnelly was fed a great ball by Paul Munnelly in behind the Deel Rovers defence. However, Barry Heffernan was off his line to unbalance the Knockmore
corner forward who sent his goal attempt wide of the empty net.
The introduction of Johnny Leonard and Brian Benson to the Crossmolina attack after forty-five minutes was significant as both went on to play vital roles. Benson was only in the action less than 90 seconds when he restored a one-point lead for the Deel Rovers. The Crossmolina teenager also set up Paul McGuinness for another point to leave the Deel Rovers 0-17 to 2-10 ahead at the end of the first period of additional time.
The tempo of the game increased considerably midway in the second half with points being exchanged by O'Neill, Munnelly, Moffatt and Joe Keane to leave Knockmore 2-9 to 0-14 ahead with five minutes remaining.
Then came that controversial Liam Moffatt score to force the period of extra time.
Seconds from the end, though, Crossmolina heartbeats thumped loudly when Kevin O'Neill floated a 45 metre free into the goalmouth, but James Nallen managed to deflect the ball onto the crossbar and eventually it was scrambled clear.
Crossmolina led by 0-17 to 2-10 at the end of the first ten-minute period of extra time and when
Moffatt increased the lead to two points on the restart and then extended it to five points following Johnny Leonard's fisted goal from a Noel Convey centre, the issue looked resolved.
A Gerard Higgins point from play and a goal by O'Neill from a penalty after Munnelly was grounded, set up the final seconds for a grandstand finish.
Two minutes of stoppage time had elapsed when Knockmore were awarded a close-in free from which O'Neill made no mistake in guaranteeing another epic next
Sunday.

Scorers
Crossmolina: Liam Moffatt and Michael Moyles 0-4 each, Johnny Leonard 1-0, Joe Keane and Noel Convey 0-3 each, Paul McGuinness 0-2, James Fergus and Brian Benson 0-1 each.
Knockmore: Kevin O'Neill 1-9, Damien Munnelly1-2, Cormac Rowland 1-0, Ger Higgins 0-1.
Crossmolina: B. Heffernan; S. Rochford, K. O'Boyle, F. Costello; P. Gardiner, H. McLoughlin, D. Keating; J. Nallen, G. Walsh; N. Convey, M. Moyles P. McGuinness; L. Moffatt, J. Keane, J. Fergus. Subs used: J. Leonard, B. Benson.
Knockmore: P. Reape; J. Coy, D. Sweeney, J. Brogan; A. Higgins, P. Clarke, K. Langan; K. Staunton, Stephen Sweeney; G. O'Hora, K. O'Neill, Shane Sweeney; A. Butler, P. Cawley, D. Munnelly. Subs used: Paul Munnelly, Aiden Kilcoyne, Cormac Rowland, G. Higgins.
Referee: V. Neary (Bonniconlon).

Can't get a report on the replay, that site is hit and miss with numerous editions missing.

A bit early to start this thread, or a bit late in comparison to other counties on the Board, but might as well do it now. What's the feelings about the year ahead at club level? There are considerable changes as regards team management, with a host of senior clubs seeking new bosses for 2007, indeed Coolera and St. Mary's still appear to have vacancies.

Of the known changes, Harps "welcome" back Denis Johnson to the helm, six years after his rather successful first stint ended. Tourlestrane replaced Frank Noone with an inside man as expected, but not the man I'd expected. Michael Henry (Co. minor boss 2003-04) defeated Neil Egan narrowly after a vote. Wouldn't surprise me if there is a degree of infighting in that corner this year. Tubbercurry, as previously stated here, have appointed one of Tourlestrane's better management graduates, Anthony Brennan, to the job, and they may well be ones to watch. Word is that Richard Brennan is back over the Bunnies again also. Not sure how Easkey and Castleconnor are fixed, and I imagine Jose Kearney will stay on at Curry. One club who are in a bit of bother are Ballymote, who are stuck for options. Apparently they sought our incumbent for the position, but he's sticking with us.

As regards how the competitions will go, Curry would naturally be one of the leading challengers, and it gives me no joy to say that. Will be hard to beat, though it is 18 years since Owen B was retained (then by St. Pat's, changed times now!). Tubber will be on an upward curve, though they may have to bide their time, aside from that the usual suspects (Tour, Harps, Mary's) will be there or thereabouts, and Coolera may bounce back after a difficult year gone, the Bunnies and Easkey will be hopeful of consolidating their place in 1A, if not more, and should be difficult opposition for all comers. For the 2005 1A intake, it may be farewell. Castleconnor have been surviving narrowly and will need to get the finger out this time (not to mention performing come C'ship). But if they're iffy, Ballymote are rightly fecked. No Munds for the year, no McTernan for some of it at least, and no manager yet. Nailed-on for league relegation, and if they're not careful they might slip out of the Championship too.

For 1B, Coolera and Tubber will be favourites to go up, hard to see who'll challenge them consistently. Shams gave a masterclass in inconsistentcy last year, while Farnan's and Enniscrone don't have enough. The North triumvirate of Calry, John's and Drumcliffe will make for interesting meetings, they may be relegation battles though. Enniscrone may fall here, with one of the town sides probably.

2A is of particular interest to OMS and co., as we continue our upward curve, though it may even out here. Will be hoping to stay in it at least, and not get scotched by any of the teams. Grange should go back up, and will be probable Intermediate frontrunners also(they have some Tyrone fella in charge this year), but Mullinabreena may struggle to return, their weekly cruciate patient list from autumn will take time to sort itself out. Still with all on board they'll be challengers. Harps will be there, but are in transition. One team who will be likely to go up are Geevagh, and probably will. May be a different story in the Championship though. Pat's, Michael's, Coolera and ourselves will likely be in the bottom half, Coolera may fall, and the other spot could be tight. Michael's have Clancy back over them this time so they will surely improve. All to play for here.

2B - With the greatest respect, who cares? Cloonacool may rise above the rest and bounce back, if Curry bother to field they'll be decent, Mary's may get over the line this time though. Farnan's and Ballisodare will be competitive, or the latter at least should be. It's not a league that would enthuse though. Have to stay out of it!

Hurling.....we'll get to that some other time.

Opinions?

Here we go, the likes of Hook etc. want it all their own way now, sure the bould George is convinced that Killarney will host the Munster bandwagon yet. If not sure won't HQ do just fine. Thin end of the wedge indeed.

Don't see why the pairings in D1 had to be random, a bit silly IMO, like the NFL you may end up never playing some teams (e.g. Cross v Ballina or Knockmore), if they had the Sligo model, with relegation/promotion between 1A and 1B it would be better.

I have to disagree there Owenmoresider, I dont think its silly at all.
There will be way more people at the matches now that some of the intermediate clubs will be playing the cream of senior league. Its better for club football all around in Mayo.

As far as I can tell, next year all the teams that were not demoted and the teams that were promoted go into a draw and it will be different games again. The whole thing is much more exciting.

You say that you may end up never playing some teams like Cross V Ballina or Knockmore?
I think there is some cracking games to be played in both divisions and surely the bigger will be expected to be in their respective semis and then they will meet even if they havnt all ready

Exciting maybe, I still think it's silly though. To be fair ye weren't far off promotion anyway so ye could have ended up playing the big guns in time. But, say they don't change it year-on-year, ye'll never face the likes of Ballina, Ballagh, Charlestown or Knockmore, barring the semis. Think about it - Sligo played Division 1 football for six years, but never played the likes of Kerry, Tyrone, Dublin or Cork in that time, and we only faced Armagh for the latter two years. Instead we had a limited range of potential opposition, such as Derry, Down, Laois, Meath, rowing with Kildare over subs, and simply rowing with Cavan. Plus in the current arrangement we couldn't meet any of our neighbours, as all of ye are on the A side of things. That's why I'm happy to see the Div 1-4 system back, at least when you're in D1 you can be sure you'll be up against the top teams.

Plus the way it's set up, imagine if Moygownagh, unlikely as it is, would get out of 2B. The following year they would end up playing Ballina, Knockmore, Ballagh etc. The words "lambs" and "slaughter" spring to mind. The old way would see them at a higher standard, but not with such a gulf. That helped Ballymote here a few years back. They were promoted to D1, but the structure was changed to 1A/1B etc., but with 2 up/2 down between the two. Ballymote were indignant about it, but they ended up being promoted from 1B that year, and have stayed in 1A since, but I suspect that stay may end this year. We were promoted from 2B last year, I'll be hoping we can retain 2A status this year at worst, but I know we wouldn't be near able for it if we were going up against Harps or Curry in such a system.

So see how it goes anyway, but I can't see it lasting. IMO the best thing that can be done is to tie in League grading with Championship again, end this charade of teams doing shite in a lower divsion in the League (take a bow, St. John's) and doing OK come Championship.

Was going to say before Tubberman posted the article, Hollymount wouldn't have been in either the top divisions as they were relegated from the existing Division 2. Looks like Division 1 and the top half of Division 2 included in 1A/1B, therefore Garrymore, Kilcommon and Kiltimagh dropped down as well. Don't see why the pairings in D1 had to be random, a bit silly IMO, like the NFL you may end up never playing some teams (e.g. Cross v Ballina or Knockmore), if they had the Sligo model, with relegation/promotion between 1A and 1B it would be better.

Rural, conservative, catholic, farming, mucksavages from west Connacht who'd probably sell you their grannies for a tenner the pair.

If that's the attitude SF people have towards us, no wonder they'll not win a seat in the said province.

Anyone in Glenamaddy at the Sligo game? Looks an impressive victory going by the scoreline. GMIT probably aren't up to much though.

The IT is out the enniskeillen road isn't it?

Yep Mayo4Sam, keep on the Inner Relief Road til the turnoff for Manorhamilton/Enniskillen and it's on the left, opposite the Hospital.

Too many errors and some bad shooting (Gerry McGowan's one will long stay in the mind) meant Galway were able to get over the line in the end.

Sweet Jesus, Gerry is back again? And back to usual tricks too it appears. Should try to develop the likes of Kelly and McHugh for the corner-forward role rather than returning to a proven failure.

Wasn't at it myself, so can't comment on the team's display. Anyway it's better to lose yesterday than be getting beaten by Meath or Cavan in the league. Early days yet.

Good work that. Have sorted out the Sligo Football Championship page, had been wondering for a while how to go about putting such a page on the wiki. Edited the Mayo Championship page also.

Well lads, off home after work in a few minutes. Have a good christmas and hopefully we'll have a good year of the football. BTW, any of you ever visit the http://www.breifne.ie/ website. It is a tourism thing and nothing to do with football, but there is loads of stuff about the old kingdom, which we were in the heart of, that you never get thought about anymore sadly. I spent a good hour on it the other night reading through.

It's funny you should bring that up myles, a few months ago a big sign was erected at Knockbeg (on the N17 between Ballinacarrow and Collooney) indicating your entry to "Breifne", and no-one knew what it was for. Same sign was on the Ballymote-Tubber road. That site has cleared it up now, think the ruins featured on the site's homepage are the ruins just off the Collooney/Ballygawley road. Would never have thought that we would have had any linkage with Breffni, turns out we're on its windowledge.

Aye, Happy Christmas and all that stuff to all the GAADB contributors.

Good to see all the Sligonians coming back on board, thought it was just going to be the long-standing trio in situ here for a while. Plenty of reasons for optimism for 2007, with the return of the numerous absentees, and also thanks to our friends down at the Showgrounds (there's something you won't hear too often!). We certainly need all available talent as the league will be tricky, Meath may be a home tie, but we do have trips to Cavan, Wexford and to the 'Easkey' of intercounty football venues, Aughrim. Top four is a must, but promotion can be achieved this time. A tilt at Connacht isn't beyond us either, it's only Roscommon in the semi-final anyway.

Here goes: Greene, Harrison, Maguire, Donovan, Curran, Naughton, Doohan, O'Hara, Quinn, McNamara, Egan, McPartland, J. Davey, S. Davey, Breheny. Subs: Martyn, O'Neill, McGovern, Phillips, McGarty (think he is back?), Kelly, Marren among others.

Can't find any real fault with Seanie's lineup there, Quinn and McNamara are huge additions, and having Naughton back fully fit also. As regards SM2's suggestions re Davey, I think we''ll put him somewhere where he can't be of any further benefit to the opposition, so FF looks like the only option left. Speaking of same, I notice he has the season's collected trophies on 'display' for passers-by, very wise idea that, especially in enemy territory! It's fair to say the bench doesn't look too bad in terms of options either, a contrast to recent years. It's all to look forward to.

Might as well point out that Daniel has been rather injury-prone, and IIRC broke his other leg before. Might have had cruciate problems too, God knows enough in his club have, it was almost a weekly event for Mullinabreena lads to get cruciate operations done a month or two ago!

5) Which counties won the All-Ireland senior vocational titles in both football and hurling this year?
21) The new Wexford Hurling Development Administrator is?
39) The President of the Leitrim County Board is?
45) The prestigious Tony Forristal Cup is hosted by which county?
55) The contestants in the Sligo senior football championship final of 2006 were?
56) The winners of the 2006 Kilmacud Crokes hurling sevens were?
73) The powerful Roscommon midfield pairing during the drawn and replayed All-Ireland senior football finals of 1943 and the All-Ireland final the following year was?
80) The notorious 1983 All-Ireland senior football final fought out on a windswept Croke Park between Dublin and Galway was refereed by which man?
85) Prior to 2006 Roscommon last won the All-Ireland minor football championship in 1951. Who was the winning captain all those 55 years back?
87) Two hurling clubs in Laois were each fined Eu5000 and thrown out of next year's championship in late September. Name them?
90) Who was the referee for the T na G All-Ireland senior ladies football final on the first Sunday in October 2006?
95) The past four Cavan senior football championship finals have been fought out between the same two clubs. Name them?

5) Wicklow and Galway (not sure of the latter in hurling)
21) George O'Connor
39) Sean Maxwell
45) Waterford? (if not, then Wexford)
55) Curry and Bunninadden
56) Erin's Own (Cork)
73) E. Boland and L. Gilmartin
80) John Gough
85) B. Molloy
87) Camross and Castletown
90) Declan Corcoran
95) Cavan Gaels and Mullahoran