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.

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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.

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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.
  

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