Perfect 10

Perfect 10


The Mayo News sports supplement is ten years old this week

10 things that have happened in mayo sport since June 1999
1.    Mayo ladies’ first, second, third and fourth All-Ireland wins.
2.    All-Ireland club titles for Crossmolina and Ballina.
3.    A Mayoman (David O’Loughlin) has cycled in the Olympics.
4.    Mayo lost two All-Ireland finals at senior level.
5.    A Mayoman (Gavin Duffy) captained the Connacht rugby team and played for Ireland in the Six Nations.
6.    Mayo won an All-Ireland U-21 title.
7.    Westport United won the FAI Junior Cup.
8.    An American football team (the Erris Rams) and a baseball team (the Ballyheane Braves) have been formed in Mayo.
9.    Jairzinho, Giovanni Trapattoni and Nick Faldo all visited the county.
10.    Ray Moylette won a world youth boxing title.

10 things you may not know about ‘The Mayo Sport’
1.    Our current Sports Editor, Mike Finnerty, once played soccer for Kilmaine alongside Jonathan Mullin, now GAA Correspondent of RTÉ News.
2.    Daniel Carey won a Cumann na mBunscol medal with Gortjordan NS sixteen years ago today (Tuesday).
3.    Billy Horan has been writing for this newspaper since 1951.
4.    Our former GAA columnist, Kevin McStay, once had trials at Nottingham Forest.
5.    We taught Shane McGrath, Chief Sports Feature Writer with the Irish Daily Mail, everything he knows about rugby.
6.    Seán Rice first wrote a column for us in 1989.
7.    The favourite drink of Gavin Duffy, who writes our professional rugby diary, is milk.
8.    We were the first Mayo paper to sign up a Premiership column when we brought former Sheffield Wednesday player Lawrie Madden on board.
9.    Our Golf Editor, Austin Garvin, plays off a handicap of 13.
10.    Our rugby columnist, Trevor Watson, is a former Irish dancing champion.

10 things that might happen in Mayo sport in next 10 years
1.    Mayo land Sam.
2.    Castlebar Celtic get into the League of Ireland Premier Division – or maybe even Europe.
3.    Dessie Keegan and Joe McCann win another few dozen handball titles (a safe bet, surely?).
4.    Noel Stagg keeps playing having passed the half-century mark.
5.    The question "Is there any chance of McDonald coming back?" is asked until at least 2015.
6.    Westport United continue to win Super Leagues by the bucket-load.
7.    James Horan or Stephen Rochford becomes Mayo manager.
8.    Mayo hurlers compete for the Liam McCarthy Cup.
9.    A Mayo rugby club gains promotion to the All-Ireland League.
10.    Michael Hambly’s dream to bring the 2026 Winter Olympics to the west of Ireland gets the go-ahead.