Sports
Resilient Loughrea survive a tough test from Turlough
Loughrea 1-17
Turloughmore 0-18
THEY haven’t gone away just yet, Loughrea, and while the names and the face of the team may change, the same ethos of hard work and a never-say-die attitude is continually nurtured within the camp from year to year.
Yes, there were times when Turloughmore had Loughrea on the ropes in this tight Senior ‘A’ hurling championship affair at Kenny Park, Athenry on Sunday evening but like the old pro, the Town bobbed and weaved their way out of trouble before landing the counter punch.
The most significant blow was Jamie Ryan’s goal on 38th minute when the equally impressive Shane O’Brien set up the diminutive sharpshooter for a clinical strike to put Loughrea 1-13 to 0-10 ahead and, more importantly, left Turloughmore chasing a result.
That Turlough would later gain parity on the stroke of full-time following three unanswered points from Ronan Badger (2) and Conor Shaughnessy (free) said something about Damien Fox’s charges fighting spirit but they then coughed up two cheap frees in injury-time to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Loughrea captain Neil Keary, who would finish with nine points, nailed those two dead balls after Oisin Coyle and Eoin Mahony were fouled on 62 and 63 minutes respectively.
While Loughrea will be delighted with sealing an opening day win, Turloughmore, by the same token, will ponder where they went wrong. They enjoyed as much possession than Loughrea – even more – but were unable to translate this into meaningful scoring opportunities.
On this front, perhaps the stop-start nature of the contest didn’t help. In all, there were 31 frees and Turloughmore, at times, just couldn’t get to grips with the lack of rhythm whereas Loughrea were better able to manage the game-time.
Indeed, Loughrea are the masters of broken play and they have this ability to inject intensity into their game when the ball is alive. On this front, coach Gerry Spelman is a good fit and his fingerprints could be seen on this performance in terms of the manner in which Loughrea harried and hassled their opponents into overturning possession.
So, although Turloughmore had secured over twice as many puck-outs as Loughrea in the opening period, it was Loughrea who had built up a four-point advantage on a scoreline of 0-11 to 0-7.
Points in that opening half from O’Brien and Keary (free) had got Loughrea off the mark but then Turlough hit five points on the bounce through Conor Shaughnessy, Darren O’Shaughnessy (3) and a long range Jamie Holland free to jump into a 12th minute lead.
From there, however, the wheels somewhat came off the wagon for Turlough as Loughrea outscored them nine points to two over the remainder of the half. Keary was on target with five of those – all from placed balls – while Johnny Coen, Gearoid Loughnane, Oisin Coyle and Jamie Ryan also contributed.
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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