Mayo’s Donal Vaughan gets swamped by Cork’s Ray Carey, Alan O’Connor and Noel O’Leary during the NFL Division 1 Final last Sunday. MORE ON PAGES 2-6.
Training camp for Mayo in Portugal
Footballers to fund-raise for training camp in sun
Mike Finnerty
THE Mayo senior football squad will look to put the disappointment of last Sunday’s National League Final hammering against Cork behind them when they jet off to Portugal for a six-day training camp next month.
John O’Mahony and his players are due to leave Ireland on Sunday, May 9 and return the following Friday, in time to play Cavan in a challenge match on Saturday, May 15 to mark the opening of Belmullet GAA club’s new facilities. The county players will then line out for their clubs, twenty-fours later, in league games.
A fund-raising golf classic, being organised by the Mayo players and members of the Mayo GAA Supporters’ Clubs in Dublin and Galway, will help defray the cost of the training camp.
“There’s nothing written in stone yet but we’re provisionally looking at a few days in Portugal for a training camp,” Mayo GAA Chairman, James Waldron, told The Mayo News last night.
“The players themselves approached us and said they were interested in this idea. They understood the financial situation and said that they had no problem doing some fund-raising. The County Board will obviously be assisting them and a number of people from the Mayo GAA Supporters’ Clubs in Dublin and Galway will also be helping to drive the golf classic.” The fund-raiser is scheduled to take place at the end of May at Claremorris Golf Club.
Meanwhile, Mayo manager John O’Mahony and his selectors Kieran Gallagher and Tommy Lyons are expected to name their championship panel of 30 players later this week.
As well as the 24 players named for last weekend’s National League Final, injured trio Keith Higgins, Peadar Gardiner and Enda Varley will all be in Mayo’s plans for the summer.
That leaves three places up for grabs between the likes of Neil Douglas, Alan Feeney, Lee Keegan, Shane Nally, Ger McDonagh, Mikie Sweeney and Billy Joe Padden.
