The Ruddy Report – 22/12/00


Hastings Cup (U-21 Football) Second Round
Mayo 1-8
Leitrim 0-5
Mayo Under 21’s added another victory to their Hastings Cup Campaign – this time Leitrim were the unlucky victims. Although the score wasn’t as impressive as last weekend’s, the game was played on a very soft pitch in Drumbshambo and the play was more physical. The referee took his time in arriving and the match was delayed by over 25 minutes as a result.
Mayo displayed a very different team than last week due to NUI Galway and Athlone IT’s participation in the Sigerson Cup but it was an opportunity to try out some new players. Mayos performance left a lot to be desired but I wouldn’t be too worried with half the team unavailable to play and with it only being a Hastings Cup Match. I think they have plenty of time to sharpen up before the first round of the Connaght Championship.
Mayo opened the scoring after two minutes with Ronan Loftus pointing a free kick and three minutes later Liam Brady followed up with another point. Leitrim then got on top of Mayo in midfield with Shane Canning being very impressive. Darren McGovern and Paraic McGarry brought the sides even by 10 minutes and then Michael Foley pointed a free kick which put Leitrim into the lead for the first and only time in the match.
Mayo brought the scores even a minute later courtesy of Alan Regan. Although they regained control of the game at this stage, they were not making much use of the possession and all they could score was from a free thanks to Ronan Loftus on 23 minutes. Leitrim replied with a free courtesy of Darren McGovern but then Mayo replied with another free from Brian Maloney to give them a one point advantage at half-time.
As well as being late arriving, the referee must have been in a hurry to get home as well, as he only played 28 minutes in the first half and 27 minutes in the second.
Mayo changed around their team for the second half by bringing on M.J Meenaghan, Aodhain McTigue of Ballycastle, Conor Mortimer and Marty McNicholas. Mayo’s fitness and physical presence helped them in taking control of the second half. Marty McNicholas opened his account five minutes into the half with his score coming from a free. Mayo were well in command and should have put away a few goals at this stage. Charlestown’s Enda Casey scored a terrific point after 44 minutes and Conor Mortimer scored the only goal of the game with the help of Sean Grimes who placed a perfect pass for Mortimer to finish in style. The introduction of Aodhain McTigue helped Mayo take almost complete control of the Midfield. Mayo’s defence were magnificent and they denied Leitrim numerous times, although Micheal Foley scored in the 23rd minute for Leitrim from a free-kick. Ronan Loftus raped things up for the visiting side with another pointed free-kick.
Undoubtedly Mayo deserved to win, but they will have to work on their game a bit before they face Tyrone which will definitely be a stronger challenge. But all credit must go to the U-21 side as they have maximum points going into the Christmas break just like their Senior counterparts.

Mayo: K. Kelly, P. Kelly, D. O’Dea, K. Duignan, P. Coady, B. Prendergast, E. Casey, M. Webb, S. Healy, R. Loftus(0-4), S. Grimes, T. Naughton, A. Regan(0-1), M. Maloney(0-1), L. Brady(0-1). Subs: MJ. Meenaghan, A. Tighe, C. Mortimer(1-0), M. McNicholas(0-1).

Under 30’s Versus Over 30’s
If you were at Griffin Community Park on October Weekend 2000 you would have witnessed history in the making as the Currane Over-30’s fought it out with the Under-30’s in quite difficult conditions in a game of gaelic football. Over all the game was hailed as a success and proposed to be replayed again hopefully sooner rather than later. Well rumour has it that it is to be played this St Stephens Day at Griffin Community Park, Currane. I’m not quiet sure if this rumour is true – I myself would have waited until the New Year because I don’t think the Over 30’s or some of the Under 30’s will be fit to take part on St Stephens Day. So that is what I heard this week on the grapevine but do not take my word for granted, and if you are interested in learning more about this I would urge you to contact the organisers of the previous meeting, Sean Dever and Eamon Joyce.

My View
Hello and Welcome to the Christmas edition of My View. This week’s edition is full of interesting and exciting subjects. Firstly we will start on last weeks subject which was that blasted Hill.

Hill 16 – Should it Stay Or Should It Go?
I was overwhelmed this week with support saying that the Hill should go! Firstly Bob the Builder was on again, saying that it is not the perfect type of image the GAA should be showing in this millennium and he also wanted to say that he would do a state of the art job on the whole stadium for a cheap price. Secondly Bernard Manning e-mailed me and said that the Hill should go it is out of date and looks like something you would have seen in the 60’s. He believes the only people who want to keep it are the Dubs and he added that if the Dubs happen to be on it the day of demolition it would be no real loss. Come on Bernard that’s a bit harsh on the poor Dubs. Last but not least Micheal Bell e-mailed me to say that no matter whether they plan to knock it or not, with the length of time it is taking to complete the construction of Croke Park it will probably be there for another 84 years.

All Ireland Championship Structure
It took me along time to decide what would be the topic up for discussion this week but after a long hard think I decided to bring into the limelight the new structure proposed by the GAA for the All Ireland Championship. I am not quiet sure what the structure is right up to the last detail, but as far as I can make out 4 provincial champions qualify for the Quarter Finals and then the defeated provincial finalists get another chance. I would like to know this week what do you think about this structure will it benefit the game or will it take from it. It’s your call.

E-mail me with YOUR opinion at johnruddy@currane.net, placing ‘My View’ in the subject bar.

Wishing all my readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!!!

The Ruddy Report 15/12/00


Hastings Cup (U-21 Football) First Round

Mayo 3-16
Donegal 1-6

In Ballina last Saturday (9/12/2000) a promising Mayo U-21 side convincingly brushed aside a much weaker Donegal outfit.
Although Mayo did win very well their defence was criticised and will need to tighten up before the first round of the Championship. The Midfield was satisfactory but the Forwards got most of the credit (and why not with the score as high as it was).
Marty McNicholas, Brian Maloney and Micheal Keane tortured the opposition defence. Billy Joe Padden distributed the ball well and Ronan Loftus made good use of it, scoring 1-8.
The Mayo team is very strong but like any other they need to sharpen up and the Hastings Cup is ideal for this. Micheal Keane had the ball in the Donegal net in the first minute thanks to Marty McNicholas and Brian Maloney. Keane struck again with a goal goal moments later, again helped by Brian Maloney.
Donegal replied with a goal on 10 minutes courtesy of Martin Caulfield, and the two sides continued to exchange scores, Mayo’s Defence looking very weak. Peader Easpey pointed for Donegal after 12 minutes. Then Mayo replied with 5 points without reply, Ronan Loftus scoring 3 of them and Brian Maloney and Sean grimes getting the other two.
Donegal scored 3 points before the break, Martin Caulfield with 2 and Gareth Blake with 1. Mayo replied through Billy Joe Padden and Brian Maloney and at half time the score stood at 2-7 to 1-4 in the home side’s favour.
Donegal’s Brendan Boyle dislocated his shoulder early in the second half and the game was delayed for 10 minutes. This loss was undoubtedly a big factor in Mayo’s big win. Soon after this Ronan Loftus struck a goal for the home side and although Donegal got back two points courtesy of Martin Caulfield, Mayo scored a further 9 points thanks to Ronan Loftus (4), Micheal Keane, Micheal Webb, Stephen Healy, Marty McNicholas and Brian Maloney.
Mayo: P. Tiernan, P. Finnerty, E. Casey, A. Moran, M.J. Meneaghan, S. Grimes, I. Knight, P. Kelly, M. Webb (0-1), R. Loftus (1-8), B.J. Padden (0-1), C. Lyons, M. McNicholas (0-1), Brian Maloney (0-3), M. Keane (2-1). Subs: P. Coady, S. Healy (0-1), E. Casey, T. Naughton, K. Kelly, K. Duignan, L. Brady.
Mayo take on Leitrim in the second round of the Hastings Cup this Saturday. Manager Paul McStay will be missing all the Galway NUI players due to Sigerson Cup Duty.

My View

Welcome to our second edition of My View. My Mail box was chocker-blocked with e-mails this week about last weeks topics and I apologise if I do not mention you all.

Firstly the topic of the National League. I got numerous e-mails on this, but I’ll just mention one from Stan (an obsessed fan of the Ruddy Report). To cut his e-mail short, he believed that the National League should be re-structured so it is like a soccer league and not the way it is with the top two of each division from 1A – 4B competing in a knockout competition. I tend to agree with you Stan. P.S. Sorry I didn’t reply sooner mate!

Second Topic Mayo. In last weeks edition I said that Mayo have been making great strides since they lost to Sligo last summer in the Connaght championship. Well I got an e-mail from Bob the Builder and he believes Mayo are fixing their troubles quite well in all fairness and he thinks that we should be booking our All Ireland tickets, and maybe Sam will make a visit this Autumn.

I would also like to mention an e-mail I got from some boys from the Bahamas who wanted to know WHO LET THE DOGS OUT?????

This week’s Topic: Should we knock the Hill???? I saw this week what Croke Park is proposed to look like when they eventually finish the development and I was amazed to see that the Hill was still there. I know there is a lot of history with it and I heard someone say it was like the Kop – well look what happened to that! I SAY KNOCK IT – we can’t stay in the past for ever and we can’t have a complete top class stadium with that lump of rubble there.

C’MON HAVE YOUR SAY, E-MAIL ME!!
So if you have anything to say on these three topics please don’t be shy, your opinions are all welcomed just e-mail me at johnruddy@currane.net and put “MY VIEW” in the Subject area.

 

The Ruddy Report – 08/12/00


Allianz National Football League Division 1B Match Report

Mayo 1-17
Derry 1-7
At Fr O’Hara Park last Sunday Derry came to play Mayo in the NFL. Derry, who were expected to field a strong team for this crunch tie, arrived with a team of inexperienced newcomers and to top it all they had only 16 players who were prepared to play! Looking on these facts from last Sunday’s game it is hard to believe that they are the present holders of this Competition.
Derry were well and truly punished for their poor attention to this match! By the 30th minute of the match Mayo had scored 1-9 with out reply, and at this stage you could safely say Mayo had won the match. Although it is true that Mayo’s opposition were poor, Mayo did deal with them impressively. Mayo’s back line was very good once again with Ray Connelly, Noel Connelly, Kevin Cahill and Fergal Costello showing well, and they were very disciplined, giving away minimal free-kicks.
Colm McManaman and David Brady continue to impress, Brady especially as he had played 80 minutes with Ballina in the All Ireland Rugby League 24 hours earlier. Mayo’s forwards were the most impressive on Sunday with Marty McNicholas, James Gill and David Nestor all having a good game. Mayo’s work rate in the forwards was excellent with the forwards notching up 1-8 among them.
Mayo began the match well with a scatter of points in the first 15 minutes from Com McManaman, Ronan Loftus(free), David Nester, Trevor Mortimer and Marty McNicholas and the impressive thing was they were all good scores. Then came David Nester’s impressive goal with the help of Trevor Mortimer, Fergal Costello and Marty McNicholas. Ronan Loftus(free), Substitute Stephen Carolan, Marty McNicholas and James Gill added the other scores. It wasn’t until the 33rd minute that Derry replied to Mayo with a Paddy Bradley free-kick and a Paul Murphy point on the run. That rounded up the first-half and left the score at 1-11 to 0-2, leaving the gap at 12 points.
In the second half Mayo were not as focused at times and Derry took advantage with Conleth Gilligan notching up a number of scores to narrow the gap slightly, but Mayo woke up and David Brady and David McDonagh scored points in response and David Nestor and Marty McNicholas added 2 more scores.
The last Quarter saw the crowd of 2000 spectators begin to leave and the gang that hung around were as well to have gone too. Derry’s Ronan Rocks beat Mayo Goalkeeper Fergal Kelly and Derry followed that with a few more points but it was all too late. Micheal Coleman rounded it up for Mayo with a very impressive score. One bad thing that came out of the match was Ray Connelly’s leg injury.
Mayo:
F. Kelly, R. Connelly, K Cahill, A. Higgins, F. Costello, A. Roche, N. Connelly, C. McManaman (0-1), D Brady (0-1), M. McNicholas (0-3), D McDonagh (0-1), J. Gill (0-2), R. Loftus (0-3f’s), T. Mortimer (0-1), D. Nestor (1-3).
Subs:
S. Carolan (0-1) for Mortimer (inj), M. Sheridan for Loftus, M. Coleman (0-1) for Brady, R. Hannick for R. Connelly (inj)

My View

New to the Ruddy Report, “My View” is a section for comment and opinion – controversial and otherwise. I will give you my opinion on the pressing issues of the day and you can tell me I’m a hero/wrong/stupid/off my trolley or whatever. If you have a question or an opinion on something (in sport) then you can have your say here.

New York
I am going to start this section off with the story that has been in the papers this week about New York GAA holding a Connaught Senior Football Championship match. New York entered the Championship in 1999 when they travelled to Castlebar to play Mayo (Connaught Champions 1999) in the First Round, putting up a good display (not disgracing themselves). Last year New York travelled to Galway (Connaught Champions 2000) to play the First Round and once again they put up a decent display. In the two years New York have travelled across the Atlantic to play the Connaught Champions of that year and if that doesn’t have a bad effect on the team then take into account that their most impressive players did not travel to both these games. My conclusion to this is if London are allowed play their home games in Ruislip I think it’s time a Connaught Senior Football Championship Match was played in Gaelic Park, New York. So what do you think?

Mayo
Would you believe after such a bad run in the Connaught Championship last year that Mayo would respond with a very impressive run in the League. 3 wins out of 3! Fermanagh away, Laois away and Derry at home. Holmes has brought in a few new players into the squad with great effect, the confidence is back in the squad and although the last three games they played have not been very tough Mayo should still feel confident. Sligo, Meath, Cavan and Clare to play and with the confidence built a semi-final place beckons. If I was asked before the NFL started I would not have thought Mayo would have a chance of winning Connaght but look now! Mayo seem to be in with a shout and I think they will give Galway a run for their money. But if Mayo have a good run in the league will it affect their Championship? Look at Derry NFL champions 2000 and Derry then were rubbish in the Championship! So what do you think?

National Football League
The National Football League seems to be on its last legs! Answer me one question: if you were running a business and you weren’t getting a lot of custom what would you do?
A: Up the prices on your goods
B: Lower the prices on your goods
Well the bright sparks up in GAA HQ answered A!
With the NFL not being taking that seriously and Counties putting out their second teams (e.g. Derry last Sunday) not many spectators attend National League matches. So the GAA up the ticket price. I believe its ridiculous. What do you think?

Have your say!!!

So if you have anything to say on these three topics please don’t be shy, your opinions are all welcomed just e-mail me at johnruddy@currane.net and put “MY VIEW” in the Subject area.

 

 

The Ruddy Report – 01/12/00

Allianz National Football League Division 1B Match Report
Mayo 1-11 Laois 0-11
Mayo got a very hard earned two points last Sunday in O’Moore Park, Portlaoise, having improved a lot from their clash against Fermanagh.
Their defence were superb showing no hesitancy at all. Kevin Cahill and Peter Burke get a special mention for their outstanding contribution, as do David Brady and Colm McManaman in Midfield, while in the Forwards four U-21’s were playing. James Gill was outstanding roaming all over the forward line as if he owned it and scoring an impressive five points.
Trevor Mortimer, although scoring null, played well in the forward line winning a lot of possession despite the ankle injury he is still carrying. Marty McNicholas was also very good, although he didn’t get as much possession as he did against Fermanagh, but he is very fast and took his score when the chance arose.
Ronan Loftus had a fairly quiet game, but he too got his name on the score board with the help of Stephen Carolan. James Nallen made an appearance midway through the second half replacing McDonagh and he played an important role in Mayo’s success.
Marty McNicholas opened the scoring for Mayo after 9 minutes with the help of Trevor Mortimer. Laois replied with a point two minutes later, though Mayo were playing the better football at this stage and Marty McNicholas and James Gill provided the build up to David Nestor’s goal in the 15th minute. James Gill and Nestor both scored points following the goal and Chris Conway(Laois), Martin Lawlor(Laois) and David Brady traded points.
The home side started to come back into the game with Chris Conway and Noel Garvan being very impressive. The score was at 1-4 to 0-4 in Mayo’s favour when Gill and Garvan swapped points and Nestor had a terrible miss.
In the second half Laois opened the scoring with Chris Conway hitting a point but Noel Connelly, who was outstanding, replied with a point. Laois began to put the pressure on in the last qaurter, Ian Fitzgerald and Roddy McEvoy scoring points which left only one point between the teams. Mayo answered back with Carolan setting up Loftus for a point which James Gill followed up with two more and Maurice Sheridan pointed a free when he came on as a sub for Loftus.
Laois were the dominant side in the last 10 minutes, scoring two points to narrow the gap, but James Gill converted a long range free to wrap things up.
Mayo:
P. Burke, R. Connelly, K. Cahill, F. Costello, N. Connelly(0-1), A. Roche, A. Higgins, C. McManaman, D. Brady(0-1), M. McNicholas(0-1), D. McDonagh, J. Gill(0-5), R. Loftus(0-1), T. Mortimer, D. Nestor(1-1)
Subs: S. Carolan for Mortimer, M. Sheridan(0-1) for Loftus, J. Nallen for McDonagh.

Allianz National Football League Division 1B Preview
This Sunday Mayo take on Derry at Fr O’Hara Park in Charlestown in the NFL. Mayo’s campaign cannot have gone better so far, with two away victories on the trot ,although Laois are probably the weakest team in the Division, and Mayo are on track for a Semi Final place. Mayo take on Derry with no injury worries, David McDonagh, Colm McManaman and Ronan Loftus are all expected to play. However Belmullet’s Stephen Carolan and Crossmolina’s James Nallen are both pushing for positions. Kevin O’Neill, a former All Star with Mayo, has withdrawn himself from the panel for this season and the chance of Kiearan McDonald starting is unclear.
Derry will be wanting to pick up all the points in Charlestown this Sunday. Although they defeated Laois in the first round unconvincingly, Derry lost to Clare last weekend by three points. Manager Eamon Coleman shouldn’t worry too much about that defeat as only 4 of the Derry team that won the league last season started the match, the rest were all newcomers. Derry are expected to strengthen their side this weekend.
Mayo must win in my opinion. Derry have defeated Mayo in their most recent encounters and I believe it is time Mayo turned the tables. Mayo are in great form and very confident so I am sticking my head out here and although it will be a close match, I predict a Mayo win.

GAA Briefs

  • Football AllStar Results in next weeks Report
  • Kerry’s Seamus Moynihan named Footballer of the Year
  • I would like to thank Al & Jane Steger-Lewis for their match report on the Hacky Cup final last week.