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Inside Track

All-Star snub for Galway Ladies leaves sour taste

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In happier times: Team captain Marie O'Connell and team mates celebrate with their Manager, Con Moynihan, on their arrival in Ballinasloe following their All-Ireland victory in the Junior Ladies Football final at Croke Park in 2002.

Inside Track with Stephen Glennon

It beggars belief each and every year that when the Ladies Gaelic Football All-Stars are announced that Galway gets continually snubbed when it comes to the gongs. It happened again last weekend when no Galway player was feted and this, not surprisingly, has left many in the county fuming.

All-Stars, by their nature, tend to generate debate and it is no different when the hurling, camogie and football teams are named annually. There are cases for and against. However, there does seem to be a trend in recent years that Galway ladies have to go that extra yard to secure some recognition.

This year, Galway were seen as the biggest threat to Cork’s ambitions of landing a 10th All-Ireland title in 11 years – particularly earlier in the year when it required a replay and extra-time to separate the teams in the National League Division 1 final before Cork finally emerged victorious.

The Tribeswomen bounced back from their league defeat to win their fourth consecutive Connacht title over Cora Staunton’s Mayo, with All-Star nominee Patricia Gleeson kicking a dramatic late point to snatch the victory.

Sadly, when Galway and beaten Munster finalists Cork met in the All-Ireland quarter-final in August, the reigning All-Ireland champions snatched the victory on a scoreline of 1-12 to 1-10. That two-point defeat was the same margin Dublin, who received a plethora of All-Stars, lost the All-Ireland decider.

If Galway and Cork had avoided each other for another round, until the All-Ireland semi-final, it may have strengthened their case in the eyes of the All-Star selection committee – yet, that said, would that have even mattered?

The All-Star nominations were released in October, with 45 players named on the shortlist. All-Ireland champions Cork understandably dominated with 11. They were followed by Dublin who received 10. Galway – for many regarded as the second best team in the country at present – received just five.

They were Sinead Burke, Áine Seoighe, Geraldine Conneally, Patricia Gleeson and Tracey Leonard, the latter of whom was one of the top forwards in the country in 2015 and absolutely terrorised Cork when she had the ball in her hands.

In the National League alone, Leonard tallied 8-35 – taking Dublin in the semi-final for eight points (seven from play) before going on to shoot another eight against Cork (six from play) in the drawn League final. She tallied three more (two from play) in their 0-14 to 1-10 loss to the Rebels in the replay.

In their own statement, the Ladies Association state “the players that are selected as being potential All Star nominees could be from either the winning or the losing sides regardless of the result” and that this criteria extends to all competitions, including the National League.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

 

Connacht Tribune

Tyrone will come out guns blazing but Galway will weather the storm

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Galway manager Fergal Healy with his wife Karen and children, from left, Finn, Tess, Rowan and Conn after their Leinster Minor Hurling Final victory over Kilkenny in Portlaoise on Friday evening. Photo: Stephen Marken/Sportsfile.

Inside Track with John McIntyre

SOMETHING very odd happened to Tyrone in the Ulster championship in early April. On their home turf of Healy Park, they were doing nearly everything expected of them when leading Monaghan by five points at half-time. You couldn’t say for definite that the match was done and dusted, but the 2021 All-Ireland champions were in pole position.

You would have expected them to drive on against an honest if limited Monaghan outfit. Instead, Tyrone didn’t score for the opening 16 minutes of the second-half and in an enthralling finale, were left stunned by defender Ryan’s Toole’s stoppage-time goal snatching the honours for the Farney men on a 2-17 to 1-18 scoreline.

A couple of weeks later, Monaghan themselves had exited the Ulster title race when Derry comfortably got the better of them (1-21 to 2-10), leaving us more puzzled than ever by Tyrone’s dramatic decline since overcoming Mayo to claim Sam barely 20 months previously. Last year, they crashed out of Ulster by 11 points to Derry and subsequently came up six short against Armagh in the All-Ireland qualifiers.

Against that background, their recent loss to Monaghan shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but it did. Tyrone may have made a shambolic defence of the All-Ireland title, but there is still a lot of quality in their ranks. They have an adventurous ‘keeper in Niall Morgan, while the long-serving Peter Harte, Darragh Canavan, Darren McCurry, Cathal McShane, Conor Meyler, Mattie Donnelly, and Conn Kilpatrick are all top-class performers when in the mood.

There’s hardly been a word about them for the past six weeks. Tyrone are lying low, desperately trying to rediscover the verve and cohesion which took them all the way in 2021. Their pride is on the line. It makes them dangerous opponents for Galway in the opening round of All-Ireland group matches at Pearse Stadium on Saturday.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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Connacht Tribune

Galway footballers are shaping like a team which could go all the way

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Galway team manager Padraic Joyce with his daughter Jodie and son Charlie holding the Nestor Cup, along with Captain Seán Kelly after Sunday's Connacht Final triumph over Sligo at MacHale Park. Photo: Joe O'Shaughnessy.

Inside Track with John McIntyre

GALWAY footballers won’t get much credit for their easy victory over Sligo in Sunday’s Connacht Final in Castlebar, but when a team achieves something that hasn’t been done for 20 years, perhaps we should be a little more appreciative of the Tribesmen retaining the JJ Nestor Cup for the first time in two decades.

To be honest, if Galway were to live up to their standing as serious All-Ireland contenders, they needed to be doing a number on Sligo. In this year’s National League, the counties were three divisions apart and though Tony McEntee’s team achieved promotion and were on a nine-match unbeaten run, a serious rise in class faced them at MacHale Park.

Granted, Sligo made a bright start with three points in the opening five minutes from Pat Spillane, Sean Carrabine and the accurate Darragh Cummins, but they would only manage two more by the break despite having the wind behind them. Though wing back Luke Towey was catching the eye with his runs up-field, Galway rarely looked under pressure.

Sligo were bravely committing numbers to the middle third, which meant they were a little light in numbers around their own posts. They couldn’t afford to lose possession coming out of their own half, but that’s what happened in the build up to Galway’s second goal. Damien Comer overturned Cian Lally and from his counter-attack, Matthew Tierney expertly finished to the net at the near post.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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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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Connacht Tribune

Leinster hurling race so predictable but skin and hair flying down south

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Galway’s Conor Whelan lays off a pass against Kilkenny’s Mikey Butler during Sunday's Leinster Senior Hurling Championship tie at Nowlan Park. Photo: Joe O'Shaughnessy.

Inside Track with John McIntyre

IS the Leinster hurling championship something of a sham compared to its Munster counterpart? Everybody knows who will end up in the provincial final in the east, but nobody knows the two teams who will feature in the ultimate battle for supremacy down south.

All-Ireland champions Limerick aren’t guaranteed to even make it out of the province, never mind reach the Munster final, after their narrow loss to Clare in Saturday evening’s epic at the Gaelic Grounds. Everything is still on the line for the five counties involved, although Waterford are again under serious pressure after losing their opening two matches.

In Leinster, there is little of that drama. Galway and Kilkenny are miles ahead of the rest; the only thing at stake is whether Dublin or Wexford – they meet in Croke Park on Saturday – will be the third team to emerge for the All-Ireland series. It’s a game which is hard to call. Wexford are going backwards while Dublin look callow as Micheál Donoghue is trying to build the nucleus of a new team.

Though Antrim are improving – they held the Dubs to a draw and only lost to Wexford by four points – the men from the Glens would be out of their depth in Munster; while Westmeath are proving cannon-fodder for everyone else. Since Galway headed east in 2009, they have clashed with Kilkenny in seven Leinster finals and another showdown is inevitable next month.

In contrast, every match in Munster is virtually do-or die. When Clare rolled into Limerick last Saturday, they knew another defeat after losing to Tipperary in the opening round would leave them on the precipice of exiting the championship. There’s a real dog-eat-dog appeal about all the games. In Leinster, there are two big hounds, and the rest are chihuahuas.

For more, read this week’s Connacht 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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