27/03/2023 - The Weekly Update

This weeks 50/50 lotto results

This week’s Ballaghaderreen GAA 50/50 draw was held at The Old Forge, Cloontia.

Winner: Grace Coleman
Your support of our weekly draw is greatly appreciated!
Tickets for the 50/50 draw can be purchased online by clicking here or directly from businesses throughout the town. Make sure to have your entries done before 9PM on Sunday 5th March to enter. 

Annual GAA 50/50 lotto ticket

An annual 50/50 ticket, giving entry into every draw for a year, is available to purchase online by clicking here. 

Senior Championship draw

The 2023 senior championship draw has drawn up some very intriguing ties for our senior team. The first game is an away visit to Claremorris, the same venue where Ballagh finished their 2022 campaign with a strong win against Davitts. Next up is a challenging draw against current county champions Westport at home. And the third tie of the group stage is the real eye catcher. Described by Con Moynihan as the East Mayo El Classico our seniors will take on Charlestown what could be a deciding game. We cannot wait for the summer ball to unravel!. 

Mayo set for Croker showdown with neighbour’s Galway on Sunday

Mayo's request for the Division One Allianz Football League final to be played on Saturday has been turned down.The Central Competitions Control Committee has decided to stick with the original fixture schedule and the decider, which sees Mayo go up against provincial rivals Galway, will take place at Croke Park on Sunday next with a 4pm throw-in. It will form a double header with the Division Two final between Derry and Dublin (1.45pm).

Best of Luck to David McBrien and the Mayo team. 

Andy gutted as Leitrim narrowly miss out on promotion 

Disappointed, definitely but there was no mistaking the pride Andy Moran felt in his players after Sunday’s heartbreaking Allianz NFL Division 4 loss to Sligo as the Leitrim manager declared that Leitrim fans have a team to be proud of. Sligo’s dramatic 1-15 to 2-11 victory ended Leitrim’s hopes of promotion before a raucous crowd in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada and there was no doubt that their manager was feeling the pain of defeat every bit as much as the players and the fans.

Get Studying our Quiz night is nearly here!

Venue: Durkins Bar, The Square
Date and Time: Holy Thursday, April 6th at 8PM sharp.
Cost: €40 per table of 4.
You can pay on the night.
Please arrive earlier to secure your spot and have payment complete.

Easter camp filling fast

Ballaghaderreen GAA Clubs Easter Camp is filling quickly and we advise anyone who wishes to sign up their children to do so before it’s too late. The week long Easter Camp will be filled with lots of fun activities including Bouncy Castles, Easter Egg Hunds, Sports Day Style Events and of course some GAA Coaching.
It will also feature visits from our 3 guest coaches, two Mayo Senior footballers David McBrien and Paul Towey and Current Leitrim Senior manager and former footballer of the year, Andy Moran.

Dates: April 10th-14th
Times: 10:15-1:30 daily.
Who is it for: Catering for all children aged between 4 years old all the way up to to 13 year old.

You can sign up by clicking here.

Club fixtures and previous results

We are working on enhancing the design of our fixtures communications on the website. So it might not look the prettiest at the moment, but the information is there. This will be for all age groups and senior. You can find all the fixtures and results by clicking here

Quick fire questions with our senior and minor players

Name: David McHugh
Knickname: Jukebox
Age: 22
Position: Ex Corner Back 
Dream Date:  Vanessa Hudgens. Oh yes
Favourite GAA ground in Mayo: Believe it or not it’s Davitts for me. A narrow, slow pitch that is a corner backs dream. Also where I made the championship debut. 
Biggest Achievement playing for Ballaghaderreen:  Being selected for Ballaghs most handsome full back line of the 21st century alongside Davey Drake and Seamie. Con O’Donnell just couldn’t make the cut. 
Best Memory in a Ballagh shirt?Winning the East Mayo ‘A’ minor final in 2017. Nobody gave us a chance. Won the game. Went on the beer and the grad the next day. Not much memories from either night tho!
Dream 5 aside club team:  I’m going pace in this team. Cian Hanley fly Goalie. Brainz at the back alongside Lukey OGrady. And a rapid forward line of Andy Moran and Junior Dillon. Sorry Andy but Junior is on all the frees. 
Biggest influence on your career:  A tough question. Dad I suppose as he never gave us a choice to play football or miss a training session. And now I’m following his footsteps into being a lunatic on the sideline. All I need now is to start smoking 20 Major. 
If you could transfer any player to your club who would you transfer within Mayo? Oisin Mullin. He’d make the most handsome full back line even handsomer. Davey Drake is getting old now and could do with a replacement in this category…
Piece of advice to all underage footballers in Ballaghaderreen: Be an honest loyal teammate. Friendship and trust is more important than any medals.

Quiz question of the week

Stephen Drake, a club legend, made newspapers cutouts recently. For what club was he representing.
Last Weeks Answer Noel Durkin won an all star in 1989.

Cheesy Joke of the week

Why do pancakes always win at baseball? 
They have the best batter.

Blast from the past

Mayo crowned Allianz Football League Division 1 champions

Allianz Football League Division 1 Final
MAYO 3-11 KERRY 2-10

As the Green and Red of Mayo blasted from the loudspeakers shortly after the final whistle blew on this Allianz Football League Division 1 Final, there was a real sense of catharsis in Croke Park.

Mayo have suffered serial heartbreak in this stadium in recent years, so this was a very sweet moment for their players and supporters alike.

It might not quite make up for the four All-Ireland Finals they’ve lost in this decade, but the genuine outpouring of emotion from both the Mayo players and supporters afterwards spoke volumes for just how much this win meant.

It was a thoroughly deserved one too, but, Mayo being Mayo, they didn’t make it easy on themselves and but for a brilliant injury-time save by Robert Hennelly would probably have lost.

It was only when substitute Ciaran Treacy goaled in the third minute of injury time that the long-suffering Mayo supporters would have allowed themselves to believe they were going to win this match.

That goal really put the icing on a brilliant second-half performance from the Connacht side after what had been a scrappy and error-strewn first half.

Sean O’Shea opened the scoring for Kerry in the very first minute when he won and converted a free, but it was Mayo who looked more convincing in the opening exchanges.

Their hard-running game was gouging big openings in the Kerry defence and they would have had a goal after seven minutes had Shane Ryan not pulled off a fine save from Donal Vaughan’s shot.

Vaughan’s run from deep put him clean through on goal, but Ryan did well to race from his line and smother the shot.

Those sorts of off the shoulder runs continued to trouble the Kerry defence and by the 13th minute Mayo were 0-3 to 0-1 ahead, with their points coming from Fergal Boland, Patrick Durcan and Matthew Ruane.

All that good work was undone though when Kerry went down the field after Ruane’s point to score their first goal of the match.

David Clifford won the ball in the left corner of the pitch and muscled his way towards goal along the 21-yard line.

Just when it looked like he’d taken too much out of the ball he fisted to Gavin Crowley who did brilliantly to step inside Chris Barrett and fire a scud of a shot to the bottom left corner of the net past a helpless Rob Hennelly.

Points followed from Sean O’Shea (f) and Clifford before Jason Doherty hit back for Mayo.

The Connacht side were rocked on their heels again when Kerry struck for their second goal.

Dara Moynihan did well to claim a long ball and then popped a perfectly timed pass to Stephen O’Brien who took it at full pace to outstrip the scrambling Mayo defence.

He still had a lot to do but thanks to a combination of his own ambition and slack Mayo defending he was able to drive as far as the edge of the square before blasting his shot to the same corner of the net that Crowley had already bulged.

Mayo were starting to really lose their way now. They had plenty of possession but were far too lateral in their use of it in front of a massed Kerry defence.

The game was becoming increasingly error-strewn with both teams guilty of errant passes and poor option taking in the opposition’s half.

The only other score before half-time was a Fergal Boland fisted point when he possibly should have shot for goal after rounding Shane Ryan, and so Kerry took a 2-3 to 0-5 lead to the dressing-rooms.

Right from the start of the second-half there was an appreciable improvement in the quality of the game, and that was mainly thanks to Mayo.

James Carr pinged a beauty of a left-footed point from the right win a minute into the half, and then followed that up with one with his right peg after winning a mark out by the left touchline.

It looked like Carr might then score a goal when he picked up the ball with one thought on this mind, but Shane Ryan smothered his close-range shot.

Darren Coen pointed after picking up the rebound and Mayo now really had the wind in their sails with the deficit down to the minimum.

Kerry briefly steadied themselves by kicking the next three points, but all that good work was undone when Mayo scored their first goal of the match on 49 minutes.

Matthew Ruane picked up the ball around 35 yards from goal and played a neat 1-2 with Darren Coen that created the opportunity.

Ruane still had a lot to do, but rounded Jack Barry superbly before drilling an emphatic shot low and hard to the back of the net.

Mayo were rampant now. Ruane and Aidan O’Shea were dominating the middle third, and most of the play was flowing towards Kerry’s goal.

The Connacht team were given further impetus when Diarmuid O’Connor suddenly thundered into the game after a quiet first-half.

Two brilliant long-range points by the Ballintubber man helped Mayo into a 1-11 to 2-7 lead and really rubber-stamped their growing dominance.

There was better to come from him. When Patrick Durcan miscued an attempted point, O’Connor got his fist to the dropping ball ahead of Shane Ryan to punch it to the back of the net push Mayo three points clear.

There were just five minutes of normal time left to play, but, Mayo gave their supporters palpitations down the home stretch.

Paul Geaney reduced the gap to two points and then Kerry were given further encouragement when the hugely influential Aidan O’Shea was given his marching orders after getting a second yellow-card.

Then came Hennelly’s moment of heroism when he made an incredible reflex save after David Clifford attempted to palm a Stephen O’Brien pass to the back of the net from point-blank range.

Clifford did manage to score a point shortly afterwards to leave just one point between the teams with two minutes to go.

But just when you thought a Kerry equaliser was inevitable, Mayo finished the match with a huge exclamation mark when Treacy goaled.

Diarmuid O’Connor and Andy Moran combined to put him through on goal, and Treacy showed a lot of bottle to take the shot on rather than fist the ball over the bar.

The net billowed and Mayo supporters jumped for joy. This feeling was a long time coming for them.

Allianz Football league results round 7

Division 1:
Mayo 0-14, Monaghan 2-14.
Tyrone 0-18, Armagh 0-16.
Roscommon 0-21, Donegal 0-9.
Galway 1-13, Kerry 0-14.

Division 2:
Cork 1-14, Derry 1-14.
Kildare 0-13, Meath 0-8.
Dublin 0-16, Louth 1-6.
Clare 2-18, Limerick 0-9.

Division 3:
Longford 3-17, Antrim 3-12.
Offaly 0-9, Down 1-18.
Westmeath 1-13, Tipperary 0-10.
Cavan 2-9, Fermanagh 1-14.

Division 4:
Wexford 1-16, Carlow 0-13.
London 2-7 Laois 6-6.
Leitrim 2-11, Sligo 1-15.
Waterford 0-8, Wicklow 2-8.

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