2002 Mayo GAA Preview
Rejuvenated Dublin

2002 Mayo GAA Preview

So here it is. I am going to give you my opinion of what Mayo GAA fans can expect in 2002. Well, last year, on the football side of things was probably an O.K year. To start off, Crossmolina won the club championships, a big boost for the County, and then, Pat Holmes brought home the NFL championship, our first major trophy in over 30 years. We did see disappointments in the championship when a side with a lot of expectation flopped!! Losing the Connaght championship by a late goal and then being out-played by West Meath in the quarter finals. Back to the drawing board for Mr Holmes.
The U21&Mac226;s did very well winning the Hastings Cup and reaching the All Ireland Final only to be outclassed by Tyrone - although it was a very poor performance by Mayo. In my Opinion Mayo are the biggest underachievers in Gaelic Football. The talent is in the County for everyone to see. Mayo Minors have been reaching All Ireland Finals continually for the last 5-10 years. In the Club Championships Mayo Club teams have been reaching All Ireland Finals year after year. Yes, so have other Counties, but out of Ulster, only one team made an impact over the last few years, Crossmaglen. From Munster it was Nemo Rangers and from Leinster it was Eire Og and now Na Fianna. But in Mayo there have been a number of teams; Crossmolina, Ballina Stephenites, Knockmore, Castlebar Mitchels and Garrymore have all reached the final. I believe a decent Manager and Mayo could do the business and I believe they only have to win it once and then the Sleeping Giant will be no-more.
I believe however, that Mayo this year will reach the quarter finals of the NFL And, depending on their form they may reach the semi finals. I do not think they will win it but I hope Mr Holmes has learned his lesson from last year. Too much emphasis on the League led to a severe slump in the Championship. With the FBD Connaght League starting this weekend; Sligo on Saturday and Roscommon on Sunday, Mayo will have chance to test out new players. I wont even predict how Mayo will do in that, with that competition anyone can win it maybe even New York. With the Return of James Horan and Kenneth Mortimer to the side and the departure of Kevin Cahill, Mayo are a different team this year and I’ll stick my nose out and say they will win the Connaght Championship by side stepping Roscommon/Sligo/Leitrim and edging past Galway. And after that anything can happen - I wont go as far as saying they’ll win the All- Ireland because they wont. Kerry Will. I believe Kerry will beat before them and after them this year after last years humiliation. I can also see Dublin having a slight impact in there somewhere.
As for the club championships all I can say is, all the best to Charlestown who are in the semi finals. I don’t know how they’ll do to be honest - I hope they will make the final.
In the Mayo club scene, I believe Garrymore will win the Senior Title. They reached the league final and were beaten by Hollymount. In the Championship they were edged out in the semi final by the eventual winners Charlestown so I can see them being under Dogs for the title.
As for Achill, well, I would like to see a good year from them this year, and hopefully we will after a very poor year last year.
So that’s my round up for 2002. Hopefully, I won’t be too far out.

Back to top

Rejuvenated Dublin

It may be early January when no major prizes are being handed out, but hope springs eternal for the Dublin football team.
After a few lean seasons, the weekend charity game against a 'Blue Stars' selection showed that some of the young talent waiting in the wings is ready to make an impact. After Lyons men engineered an impressive 2-16 to 1-14 win, the name on everyone's lips was that of Eoin Bennis, after his scoring contribution of 2-1. Not that Lyons is getting carried away, however.
Lyons said in a recent interview "We'll be bringing him along nice and steady to see how he improves over the league, He does things naturally, but he's light and he's small and needs to do a lot of work on his body. But you never know, he might be there in June."
After a championship season when the failings of the Dublin forwards were well talked about, most of the attention is focusing on whether or not Lyons can unearth some scoring gems to bring in the league. At the Thomas Davis venue in Tallaght, Dublin certainly shot some impressive scores, although the manager is keen to stress that success-hungry fans shouldn't read too much into it.
"Sure it's early January," he remarked. "It's nice to get out and play football because that's what it's all about. But kicking the ball over the bar at this time of year is a different thing from doing it in the championship.
"Still, it was nice to see the players kicking a little bit better and believing they could score. We were after having three defeats and were almost on the crest of a slump."
Ray Cosgrove and James O'Connor were other players who impressed in the scoring stakes, while established faces, Ciaran Whelan and Colin Moran, also turned in effective displays.
Take a look at my website everything from; me, funny pics to Achill GAA is covered!!
New: This week Photo from my Graduation, World Cup Poll and Achill GAA Poll.
www.geocities.com/jruddycurrane

Back to top

Currane.net is the community web site for people of Currane, their friends and relatives, and anyone with an interest in the Currane area.
Currane is near Achill Sound, Co Mayo in the west of Ireland and is also known as Corraun or Corrán.