Straide & Foxford United looking to improve on ‘mixed’ return
MAYO SUPER LEAGUE PREVIEW
LAST season saw Straide & Foxford United back in the Mayo Super League for the first time since 2019 and by their manager Aiden Flatley’s own admission it was very much a ‘mixed season', writes Cian Mc Nicholas.
A strong run of form towards the end of the season secured the east Mayo side’s status in the top tier for yet another season, but the team will be looking to improve on certain failings from last year. Speaking at the Mayo Football League launch night in the TF Royal Hotel, manager Aiden Flatley reflected on that first season back in the top tier for a number of years.
“Last season was a very mixed season; I suppose we were unlucky that we had a lot of injuries and covid hit us once or twice. We had a few results that we should have gotten points out of and just didn’t get them. It was a hard season. There are no easy games, let's be honest about it.
“But at the end of the day, we had a good run there in the middle of the season and towards the end. We gained valuable points and fair play to the lads. They all worked at it and as a result we stayed in the Super League.
“The ambition would be hit that mid-table spot, but what we will do first is take one game at a time and we will ask the lads to compete and compete in every game no matter who we play, and hopefully it will take us to that mid-table spot and maybe beyond,” Flatley sounded.
The vast majority of teams only downed tools from the week to week run of games in early November, leaving most sides with only a handful of weeks off from the dreaded winter training nights. Trying to get some sort of pre-season under your belt is always that much harder when it is during the winter, and pre-season for Straide & Foxford has very much been short and sweet.
“Well it has been a short pre-season I suppose, with the league starting earlier has been short but it is all going well. The lads are training very well and we have brought young lads into the squad and they are all doing well, so it is so far, so good.”
The Straide & Foxford manager also weighed in on the importance of the manager’s job in bringing through youth, especially at a club like Straide & Foxford who have enjoyed huge success and underage levels over the past few years.
“I think it is of course your job as a manager to get the best out of your players. I suppose in some ways we are lucky that we have a lot of young underage lads there that are good quality players, but it is a matter of trying to gel it all together, and sometimes you might get players that are excellent at underage but it might take them time to develop and come through at as senior level.
“So, it is a transition and that is something that we just have to be patient with, we have to work with those young lads and get the best out of them.”