Sports
Accurate Geraghty holds his nerve in landing the winner
CASTLEGAR 0-16
CRAUGHWELL 0-15
DAVID CONNORS AT KENNY PARK
IT may have been the end of October but the sizeable crowd who turned up to witness this Junior A semi-final were treated to a game of high quality and intense drama to go along with the perfect weather conditions usually only associated with summer hurling in the county.
Throughout this game, the sides were level an incredible seven times, but remarkably Craughwell never gained the lead. Castlegar just kept edging ahead any time parity was restored and Craughwell never developed a chance to push on and truly take control of the semi-final.
In the end, it all came down to a battle of the free-takers with Damien Geraghty landing a 65 in the last minute of normal time to give Castlegar the lead by the slenderest of margins. This score would prove to be the difference.
Craughwell’s head marksman on the day, Brian Dolan, did have a chance to level the match, but he narrowly missed a free in injury-time. It would be unfair however to blame Dolan, whose accuracy throughout was one of the main reasons his Craughwell side were within touching distance. He ended the game with ten points which amounted to two-thirds of his team’s tally for the day.
Castlegar were probably the better side on Sunday and on another day they could have been well out of sight. They shot 13 wides over the course of the hour in comparison to the opposition’s six and seemed more capable of creating genuine scoring opportunities than their counterparts overall.
It took a mere eight seconds for Castlegar to open their account and it set the tone for what was a blistering opening period, with six points scored within the opening four minutes.
It was their hero Geraghty that opening the scoring from play for Castlegar, before Brian Dolan responded instantly with a free for his side. Paul Healy shot a point for the city side after some neat link-up play with James Murphy. Castlegar’s Brian Fahy then added a couple of points either side of a Dolan free in an opening period of pulsating action.
Dolan brought his side back level by scoring two frees before Geraghty landed a free of his own to give ‘Cashel’ a one point advantage at the midway juncture of the opening half.
The powerful Adam Mooney and the energetic David Farrell traded points for their respective outfits. Following this, Craughwell’s Niall Donohue drove directly at the Castlegar rearguard and slotted the ball between the posts to level the game once again.
Geraghty then won himself a free, which he confidently dispatched but it was cancelled out moments later by Craughwell midfielder Patrick Monaghan with a point from distance. Adam Mooney then slotted over his second score of the day after some excellent interchange play between Geraghty and Joe Healy.
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
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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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