Sports
Arch rivals Portumna and St. Thomas’ are drawn in the same group
GALWAY’S last two All-Ireland club champions – Portumna and St. Thomas’ – have found themselves in the proverbial dogfight after they were pooled together in a ‘Group of Death’ in this year’s county senior hurling championship.
Holders Gort also face a number of tricky assignments. They were pitted against 2010/11 All-Ireland club winners Clarinbridge and South Galway rivals Ardrahan when the eagerly anticipated draws took place at the Salthill Hotel on Monday evening.
With it agreed that last year’s 2014 semi-finalists – Gort, Portumna, Craughwell and Beagh – would be seeded to head up the respective four groups, all eyes turned to the other leading contenders, such as St. Thomas’, Loughrea and Ardrahan, to see what drama could be produced.
The draw didn’t disappoint with the main talking point quickly becoming Group C or, to use the well-worn cliché, the ‘Group of Death’. Consisting of five teams with two to advance to the last eight, St. Thomas’ and Portumna have been joined by Turloughmore, Mullagh and 2014 quarter-finalists Killimordaly.
Aside from the impending battle between former All-Ireland club winners Portumna and St. Thomas’, who needed a replay to separate them when they last met in the 2013 county semi-final – Portumna taking the win on a 0-18 to 2-11 scoreline – there are various other sub plots to this group.
None more so than that of last year’s defeated finalists Portumna and Mullagh. In 2014, former Clare trainer Mike McNamara had Mullagh under his stewardship but since then he has departed that set-up and joined Portumna’s backroom staff. It should add some spice to that encounter.
Then you have Turloughmore, who were at the centre of the controversy that saw the suspension of the senior hurling championship for two months last year after they contested their expulsion from the competition for fielding an illegal player. They should be eager to prove a point in 2015.
Elsewhere, reigning champions Gort have been drawn in a six-team group which also consists of Ardrahan, Padraig Pearses, Clarinbridge, Athenry – buoyed by their U-21 ‘A’ win last year – and Kiltormer. Gort should have enough to see them through to the knockout stages with 2014 quarter-finalists Ardrahan front-runners for the other spot.
The other six-team group – Group A – will be a free-for-all. 2014 semi-finalists Craughwell will renew their rivalry with Tommy Larkins, the side they accounted for in the quarter-finals. City outfits Castlegar and Liam Mellows – two of the dark horses in the championship – and Kilnadeema/Leitrim and Carnmore make up this section.
Beagh head up the remaining five-team group – Group D – where they are joined by one of the leading contenders Loughrea, Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry, Sarsfields and 2014 county intermediate champions Cappataggle.
Two from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals with the rest of the teams to play off for the remaining four places in next year’s 12-team restructured Senior ‘A’ competition. The other 10 teams will make up Senior ‘B’, along with this year’s intermediate finalists.
Kinvara, relegated from senior in 2014, will be favourites to secure one of those places, with Ahascragh/Fohenagh, Abbeyknockmoy and Rahoon/Newcastle sure to lead the chase for the other spot.
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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