Mayo secretary Kirrane says senior footballers failed to 'get into their groove' last season
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Mayo secretary Ronan Kirrane believed the senior footballers were “running out road” prior to being knocked out of this year’s championship on penalties to Derry in an All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final.
Although Kirrane makes no reference in his annual report to the Revenue’s audit of the county board’s accounts nor the prolonged review of the senior footballers’ season, his analysis of the team’s championship campaign is frank.
He claims the Connacht final defeat to Galway was one “that we left behind us” and the result “left a major vacuum in our season and ultimately it was one we didn’t recover from.”
Kirrane lamented that Mayo were unable to “get in their groove” in the first half against Derry in Castlebar. While also criticising the way in which Mayo exited the competition, he wrote: “The first half was an experience to forget, and positive football was simply not on show due to the set-up of the opposition. Games are there to be won but we could not break down the Derry defence.
“The second half produced better fare and when Ryan O’Donoghue split the posts going into injury-time, it looked as if we would fall over the line. However, Derry had other ideas, and a late equaliser sent us to extra-time. It looked as we were in trouble in extra-time but when Jordan (Flynn) kicked a monster we were set for the inevitability of penalties.
“It's no way to win a game of Gaelic football and certainly no way to lose one but the rules are there for us all and in a compact season replays are probably not viable but it felt as if we were running out of road and that is what transpired. For only the second time since 2022 we would not make up one of the final eight teams in the search for Sam.”
Kirrane expressed disappointment that Mayo received no distribution of the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Funding towards a new centre of excellence close to Hastings Insurance MacHale Park.
“This was a major disappointment for the county, especially when you see some of the amounts given to other counties and other codes. Bear in mind that Mayo never received so much a cent for the stand in Hastings MacHale Park, nor did we receive funding for resurfacing of the pitch.
“With the acquisition of lands in Bohola we now enter an opportunity to create something that will greatly improve the lives of all our players for generations to come.
“We will be sitting down with elected representatives both locally and from Dáil Éireann and we will be unapologetic about seeking major financial support for this project in the very near future.” He also suggested more Friday night championship games in Mayo is the way to go.
“There is no reason why this should not increase in 2025 especially as the CCC (competitions control committee) will look at circulating Championship Fixtures with at least two months’ notice.
“The benefit of games on the Friday nights is that it frees up the weekend for players and patrons enjoy the idea too. The only people who seem to have issue with Friday games is a small cohort of team managers. It seems everyone wants Friday Night Football just so long as it doesn’t involve their team!”
Mayo’s rearranged annual convention takes place in Ballina on Wednesday, December 18. The gathering was postponed as executive board officials confirmed in a meeting with clubs last week they had not yet signed off on the accounts due to a continuing risk review by Revenue.