Tuesday, 31 July 2012 11:57

IOHA linked with approach to MortimerConor Mortimer has been approached about becoming a member of Ireland’s Olympic Handball European Championships team.

According to today’s Irish Examiner the Mayo footballer, who left the county panel days before their Connacht final earlier this month, is understood to be considering the invitation.

The 30-year-old was contacted by the Irish Olympic Handball Association (IOHA) shortly after he left James Horan’s camp prior to the Sligo game.

The IOHA general manager Lúcás Ó Ceallacháin wouldn’t confirm to the paper whether they had been in touch with Mortimer. However, he admitted they would be interested in the Shrule man becoming a part of their preparations ahead of a trip to Estonia at Halloween. The IOHA has recently launched a talent transfer programme whereby they hope to attract athletes from other sports.

Mortimer’s availability is likely to depend on Parnells’ involvement in the Dublin SFC. Ireland play their opening qualification game for the 2014 European Championships next October when they face Estonia.

Tuesday, 12 February 2013 13:31

Lee Keegan, Mayo, in action against Ronan McNamee, left, and Joe McMahon, Tyrone, in Sunday's clash at McHale ParkTyrone 1-12 Mayo 1-11 …… After the arm wrestling that passed as a contest in round one of the national football league against Kerry last week, this was more of a bare knuckle street fight at Elvery’s McHale Park, Castlebar on Sunday when the reality of how tough it is going to be to survive in this division finally dawned on Mayo.

Tyrone and Mayo have tended to bring the best and worst out of each other and this game lived up to the prematch billing of a tough, uncompromising battle before a crowd of 6,500 in good conditions.

Despite the controversial ending to this game, which saw Tyrone snatch Mayo’s handbag with a late, late penalty, the statistics will confirm that Mayo played in snatches, and while they will have serious issues over the manner in which their defeat came about, they will have few complaints about the result, having put in a performance which did not merit a victory.

The reality now is Mayo have tumbled from being on top of the table last week to mid-division and with their next game away to unbeaten Dublin on March 2, survival now will be the name of the game, with some very tough opposition down the road.

However, what will be most disappointing from Mayo’s perspective is their continual poor use of possession. They did win an amount of ball thanks mainly to the high fielding of Aiden O’Shea, who ran himself into the ground, his brother Seamus also working hard but needing to be withdrawn having picked up a yellow card in the first half.

His replacement, Barry Moran, put in a big shift but Mayo’s problems were not at midfield.

The attack failed badly.

Players like Richie Feeney, Michael Conroy, Jason Doherty and Lee Keegan worked hard, but so many players ran into Tyrone traffic and were smothered up or dispossessed as the visitors hunted in packs and were much faster in moving the ball to their forward division, an area Mayo failed abysmally in.

Added to that, Mickey Harte used his bench judiciously, bringing in a number of substitutes who made an impact on the game.

Mayo turned to Alan Dillon and Donal Vaughan late in the game, the latter making a hasty point attempt which might have earned Mayo draw but it drifted just wide of the post.

Mayo had started this game well and were on top for the opening 15 minutes as Jason Doherty (free) and Lee Keegan, with a gem on his left boot, posted early points before Peter Harte got Tyrone off the mark on 13 minutes.

Tuesday, 10 July 2012 14:05

Clare Egan: was yellow cardedTO paraphrase the great Oscar Wilde, to give away one goal was careless, two extremely shoddy, three pretty bad, but to concede four was unforgivable and Mayo were punished severely in this Connaught senior ladies final, which came to a dramatic conclusion at Elverys McHale Park, Castlebar, on Sunday afternoon.

Leading by 10 points with 15 minutes remaining on the running clock it seemed Mayo were destined to retain their provincial title, but when the final buzzer sounded it was Galway who had turned that deficit into a two-point profit and, in fact, it could have been five but for a brilliant last-second save from goalkeeper Aisling Tarpey.

To compound matters even further for Mayo, their star performer, Cora Staunton, was on fire, scoring 14 points, as she gave an exhibition, but it still wasn’t good enough.

In the end, it was the fresher legs of the Galway girls and their better combination play which saw them deservedly win, but Mayo will feel they did have the chances to close the door and should never have allowed Galway claw their way back.

Friday, 08 April 2011 11:35

Holders Ballina Town have sent out a strong double signal ahead of next Sunday's Elverys Sports Mayo Super League kick-off. Town succeeded in prizing away manager Alan Gough from rivals Swinford in a surprise swoop. He succeeds Brendan Kenny who stepped down from the post after

Tuesday, 05 February 2013 16:00

Kevin McLoughlin goes flat out against Kerry's Michael O'Donoghue in Sunday's national league opener at Eleverys McHael Park, Castlebar. Pic Michael DonnellyDepleated Kerry left at the starting gates ........ Mayo 0-15 Kerry 1-6.

MAYO couldn’t have asked for a better opening to their national league programme than this emphatic win over Kerry at a damp but far from dreary Elverys McHale Park,  Castlebar, on Sunday, where James Horan’s men turned up the heat to burn off a disappointing Kerry.
While the visitors had to play with 14 men for most of the second half after Anthony Maher was dispatched rather harshly on a second yellow card by a match official who  tried his best to ruin this game, but failed, Mayo were excellent value for their eight-point win and now face Tyrone with a pep in their step in round two next Sunday at the  same venue.
What must be encouraging for the Mayo management is the hunger and attitude shown by the bench players, while a few new positional changes also brought dividends,  notably the contribution of Jason Doherty at number 14, while Richie Feeney was outstanding in his new attacking role.
The full-back line of Shane McHale, Ger Cafferkey and Keith Higgins came through with flying colours but the halfback line has an unsettled look about it. In fairness, there were a few chairs moved around due to the absence of the injured Donal Vaughan. Tom Cunniffe started at centre-back, while Colm Boyle, who stood in for Vaughan,  layed in a variety of roles and looked happy in them all, and Chris Barrett created a lot of options for the manager.
The defence stood up well as Kerry, albeit depeted, failed to score in the second half, their last score coming seven minutes before the interval.
That point from Conor Cox had Kerry 1-6 to 0-7 ahead and they were beginning to look a serious threat at that point. But the O’Shea brothers, Aiden and Seamus, took  control at midfield and by the interval Mayo had reeled in those two points to level it at 0-9 to 1-6.
Doherty had the first of his half dozen inside the opening minute from play as Mayo dictated the opening 12 minutes, three frees on the bounce by Doherty, one a superb effort from all of 50 yards, extending Mayo’s lead to three.
Johnny Buckley nailed an excellent ’45 with the help of the wind to split the difference before Kerry struck for the only goal of the match, Mayo’s defence caught ball-watching as James O’Donoghue availed of a tap-down to beat David Clarke with a low angled shot.
That goal fired Kerry in front but an excellent score from Richie Feeney had matters balanced before Kerry shot two clear again, Michael O’Donoghue with a massive point and Darran O’Sullivan with his first and last score.

Tuesday, 12 June 2012 13:33

Sports Minister Michael Ring T.D.SPORTS Minister Michael Ring has advised sports clubs and organisations in Mayo not to set their expectations too high in the first round of sports capital grants since 2008.

The Westport-based TD said while he was delighted to secure funding of €30 million under the scheme, the level of demand for grants will far outstrip supply.

He stated: “While I don’t know exactly how much funding is being sought at this stage, I can confidently predict that we will have requests for funding totalling hundreds of millions of euro.

“This shows great enthusiasm for the sports capital programme, but it also means we will only be able to allocate a fraction of the funding sought.

“It is beyond doubt that when my officials begin assessing all of the valid applications, they will face a very difficult task. That has always been the case, but this year it will be more difficult than ever.

“This is the first round of the sports capital programme since 2008, and clubs and community groups have been waiting for this moment with much anticipation. In every parish in every county, there are people giving their time and energy to sports activities and many of these people are working very hard to provide or improve facilities that are fit for purpose and accessible.