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Mayo should end plucky Fermanagh’s march

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

In the past, Mayo have often done well in Connacht but failed to perform when they arrive at Jones Road. But two weeks ago, John Maughan’s men showed that they no longer get nervous jitters when playing in Croker, giving an accomplished performance against reigning All-Ireland champions Tyrone in the quarterfinal.
Meanwhile, Fermanagh surprised everybody in their march through the back-door route, with wins over Meath, Cork and Donegal. Then the team, which earlier in the year nobody wanted to manage, ended Armagh’s hopes at the quarterfinal stage. So full credit to former Donegal star Charlie Mulgrew, who has molded a winning team from such a small population.
Fermanagh, who were 66-1 for the All-Ireland title prior to their win over Armagh, have seen their odds slashed to 7-1. They have never won an Ulster title and it would be an amazing story were they to reach the All-Ireland final, but I think this new-look Mayo side will be too strong for them.
Maughan has proved to be a good manager in the past, with Clare and in an earlier spell with Mayo, when they were unfortunate in trying to mix it with Meath. He put the current revival down to a bonding session in New York’s Catskills Mountains following the team’s win over New York in the opening game of the Connacht championship.
“We worked hard for a week up there,” Maughan said. “That was the catalyst for a lot of things that happened this year. It brought lads together. We had young lads who hadn’t met David Brady, who had been out of the country for a year. And Kieran McDonald coming back was the final piece of the jigsaw.”
The curtain-raiser on Sunday is the Tommy Murphy Cup Final between Clare and Sligo. The winners are guaranteed a trip to the U.S. in October. But it seems an insult to the memory of a great footballer that only four counties took part in this “B” competition.

KERNAN DENIES
DUBLIN RUMORS
Armagh manager Joe Kernan has denied rumors linking him to the Dublin senior football job. Kernan, who has yet to make a decision on whether to continue with Armagh, said: “If I was to step down there is no way I would be going anywhere else. I have heard plenty of rumors about where I am supposed to be going. How could I send out a team to play against my players? I would quit the game and walk away for all time rather than do that.”
In Tyrone Mickey Harte said he will definitely continue as manager. “We will regroup and try to regain the energy we had in 2003,” he said. “We will close the book on 2004. It brought us a lot of things we didn’t want. But we will be the better for it and try and move forward together.”
Another man who is willing to continue, if asked, is Waterford hurling manager Justin McCarthy. “My three years are up, but if I am still wanted I’ll be available. I am enthusiastic as ever,” McCarthy said.
Dinny Cahill’s future as Antrim manager is not certain. In the meantime, the Tipperary man is lending his experience to Limerick club Doon as they bid to win the Limerick senior hurling championship. Also in Limerick, Kerryman Liam Kearns is waiting for the county board to resolve their ongoing argument over dual players before committing for another year.

IRISH RECRUIT
ENGLISH YOUTH
Jonathan Macken is the latest player to find his Irish roots. The 26-year-old Manchester City striker, who played for England at youth level, was last week cleared to play by the FAI and called into Brian Kerr’s squad for tonight’s friendly against Bulgaria at Lansdowne Road. With a shortage of strikers Irish manager Brian Kerr wasted no time calling up Macken, once his clearance came through. “I am delighted to add Jonathan to the squad,” Kerr said. “Once I became aware of his possible eligibility and desire to play for Ireland I monitored his form closely.”
It will be Bulgaria’s first visit to Lansdowne Road since October 1987. Seventeen years ago, we won 2-0 to go top of our Euro ’88 qualifying group. But with a home game against Scotland to come the following month it was assumed that Bulgaria would win the group. But enter one Gary Mackay who got that famous goal in Sofia and we haven’t looked back since.

MUNSTER FOCUS
ON HEINEKEN
Anthony Foley has been confirmed as Munster rugby captain for the coming season. Foley, an Irish international, takes over from Jim Williams, who led Munster for two years. Coach Alan Gaffney admits that the Heineken European Cup remains Munster’s holy grail and he has brought in rugby league player Graham Steadman as defense coach.

IRISH FANS GET
BEHIND SHELS
Shelbourne will have the good wishes of every Irish soccer supporter when they travel to Spain on Tuesday to play Deportivo La Coruna in the second leg of their Champions League qualifier.
After drawing 0-0 at Lansdowne Road last week, the Spaniards will be hot favorites to progress to the next round. But the Eircom League club were not overawed in Dublin last week and a win or 1-1 draw would see them through.
Club soccer in Ireland has struggled in recent years when compared to the English premiership, but last week at Lansdowne Road we saw something we would never see in England: supporters from other Eircom League clubs getting behind Ireland’s representatives.

RULES LIKELY TO
STAY IN CAPITAL
The GAA are expected to make a final decision today on whether to play one of the Compromise Rules games against Australia in October at a venue outside of Dublin. The idea of moving of the tests outside of Croke Park, possibly to Casement Park, Belfast, was suggested earlier this year when the management team for 2004/05 were announced. But the idea seems to have lost momentum in GAA headquarters and the speculation now is that both tests will be played at Croke Park.

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YOUTH TEAMS
TO CASH IN
Stephen Carr’s transfer from Tottenham Hotspur to Newcastle United last week was good news for the player and also for two of his former clubs. Under new FIFA rules, Carr’s schoolboy clubs St. Kevin’s Boys and Stella Maris each will get around $30,000. Under new FIFA rules, 5 percent of all transfer fees must now be pumped back through the development chain of nurseries who help develop young players. The first Irish club to benefit from the new rule were Crumlin United, who got compensation when Robbie Keane signed for Spurs. Former Irish manager Eoin Hand, now the FAI Education Officer, pursued the case on Crumlin’s behalf.

SWIMMER AIMS
FOR HOLYHEAD
A Dublin man is planning to swim from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead in Wales in aid of charity. Felim O Maonlai plans to swim the 56 miles to raise funds for the Capuchin Day Care Center in Dublin. But it has never been done before by one person. O Maonlai reckons he is well qualified and estimates that the swim will take him between 30 and 40 hours. He’s already backstroked his way across the English channel in storm conditions and two years ago became the first man to swim from the Aran Islands to the mainland in just under 15 hours.
“The world distance record is 120 miles from Florida to Cuba, but the water is much warmer there,” O Maonlai said. “Here we also have the problems of jellyfish, but I’ve trained hard and put on weight. Now I am just waiting for the right conditions.”

BEANO FACES LONG
ROAD TO RECOVERY
Laois star Brian “Beano” McDonald has been discharged from hospital following a horrific leg break playing for his county against Tyrone at Croke Park last month. The former minor star is hoping to be back next year.
“I will be on crutches for up to three months and the doctors have told me that in six months I should be able to start jogging again,” he said. “After that it depends on my own powers of recovery. At present I am very immobile as the leg has not been placed in a cast. That’s the preferred way now as it decreases the amount of muscle waste which is one of the biggest factors in the amount of time your spend getting back.”

BOSS WORRIES
ABOUT DUFF
It’s unusual to hear a club manager suggest that one of his players should get a run in an international friendly game. Normally managers worry about their players picking up injuries in non-club games. But new Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho wants Damien Duff to play for the Republic against Bulgaria at Lansdowne Road this evening to get match fit.
After Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Manchester United in their opening game in the Premiership, Mourinho said: “Damien is not ready yet after his shoulder problem. He has been selected for the Republic. I don’t think he is ready for that either, but maybe playing for them will help him to overcome the mental competitive block. I know he is a very important player for them.”
The speculation is that the new Chelsea boss is worried that Duff is finding it hard to reproduce his former competitiveness in the wake of a shoulder injury that severely disrupted his first season at Stamford Bridge.

REF SAYS ‘NO FOUL’
Clare hurler Gerry Quinn will face no further action in respect of the incident in which Kilkenny’s Henry Shefflin suffered an eye injury in the hurling qualifier in Thurles last month. The GAA’s Games Administration Committee decided to adopt the report of referee Pat Horan. Clarification of that report had been sought and it was disclosed that the referee believed no foul had been committed.
But Longford intercounty referee Eugene Murtagh has been suspended for six months following his recent sending off in a club game for Seamus Connolly’s. Murtagh’s son Eugene Jr. was also sent off in the game and got a one-month ban. And Seamus Murtagh, a brother of Eugene Sr., was suspended for 12 months over a post-match incident at the game.
Donegal’s Brendan Devenney has been suspended for 24 weeks after pushing the referee in last month’s qualifier against Fermanagh.

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