Sports
Impressive champions cruise past Athenry in mis-match
Gort 2-27
Athenry 0-15
Mark Walsh in Clarinbridge
DISHING out an 18-point pasting to Athenry would have been unheard of a decade ago, but Saturday’s meeting of Gort and Athenry perhaps showed best the current positions the respective clubs occupy in the Galway hurling hierarchy.
Athenry were competitive for a good 40 minutes, but overall their second half display wasn’t up to scratch, underlined by the fact that they conceded 2-14 and only scored 0-7. A couple of outside factors influenced it.
Firstly, they played without James Divilly or Tom Flynn, both of whom lined out on Sunday for Athenry footballers in the Intermediate county final. Divilly had played right-half back and Flynn centre-half forward against Padraig Pearses and Ardrahan the two weekends previous. Secondly, it would have taken an extraordinary set of circumstances for Athenry to have qualified from Group B for the last eight.
The biggest reason as to why Athenry were over-ran after half-time though, was the quality of the opposition they were facing in the reigning county champions. Gort have some way to go to emulate the three All-Ireland club titles that Athenry have collected, but win this weekend against Portumna, and the momentum they’ll have gathered could propel them to a third county title in five years, and after that who knows.
Portumna will have had two weeks off since their tight win over St. Thomas’, and while Gort strolled to a facile win in the final quarter, there were a number of positives to take from their display.
With Gerry Quinn only being sprung from the bench, they showcased the strength of their squad, and the ability of different players to put their hand up on different days was noteworthy. Jason Grealish was outstanding against Athenry. Not only did he score 1-5 from play, but he was so often the catalyst for good Gort moves and scores.
Aidan Harte would have pushed Grealish for any Man of the Match award gong, and Richie Cummins also deserves mentioning for shooting 0-8 from play, four in four second half minutes towards the end. Gort could afford to withdraw Greg Lally seven minutes into the second half, the substituting of one of their inter-county contingent being more for an injury precaution than anything else.
One suspects Lally will be fine to play Portumna in Athenry on Sunday, a venue Gort will be more accustomed to than Clarinbridge. It was the first time a senior championship fixture was held in Clarinbridge this year, and considering all the sporting action taking place last weekend, a healthy crowd was in attendance for the Saturday afternoon throw-in.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GALWAY United need to guard against any kind of complacency when they make the short hop down the M18 this Friday to take on Treaty United at the Markets Field (7.45pm).
The game is a meeting of the two form teams in the division, and as in previous meetings between the sides, will have an additional edge given the number of former United players in the home side’s ranks, and the pair of Limerick lads playing for United.
There might have been just the eight meetings between the sides since Treaty became the latest iteration to represent Limerick in the League of Ireland in 2021, and while United have yet to lose to the men in the candy-cane strips, there has never been more than a goal in four of their eight wins.
The most recent of those was back in February, when Rob Slevin scored the only goal of the game in Eamonn Deacy Park after a tough battle against a side who made a slow start to the season, before finally finding their groove in the past month.
Having taken just three points from their first six games before finally getting a win against Longford Town, they reverted to type with just one point from their next three games, but are now on a run of four wins on the spin, scoring 12 goals and conceding just one.
Their most recent win was a 3-0 victory away to Longford Town last Saturday, and they could have won by double that against the only side to have beaten United this season. That in itself is a warning.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Soccer Wrap with Mike Rafferty
While the Salthill Devon men’s team might have lost their grip on the Connacht Junior Cup that they held for two seasons, the club’s women’s side have picked up the mantle and on Sunday last in Headford were crowned provincial champions with a 4-3 win over Manulla.
Following midweek wins for Maree/Oranmore and Knocknacarra, the stage is now almost set for the semi-finals of the Michael Byrne Cup with Salthill Devon meeting St Bernard’s on Sunday in an outstanding quarter-final, with the winners advancing to a semi-final against Maree/Oranmore, while Colga will face Knocknacarra in the other last four contest.
Just one league issue remains to be decided, with the Championship runners-up position up for grabs, as Dynamo Blues have to win their two remaining games in order to overtake Colemanstown United who have finished their programme.
WOMEN’S CONNACHT CUP FINAL
Salthill Devon 4
Manulla 3
Ellerose O’Flaherty scored twice as Salthill Devon were crowned provincial champions with a win over a Mayo side who were losing in the final for the second year in succession.
Backboned by a number of players who previously had League of Ireland experience with Galway WFC, Devon suffered an early set back when Jess Nolan put Manulla ahead, before O’Flaherty levelled matters with a cracking finish on 20 minutes, which was quickly followed by a long-range free-kick from Aoife Walsh.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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