Connacht Tribune
Brave Connacht come up just short in European Cup play-off
Northampton 21
Connacht 15
HAVING first embraced his captain John Muldoon near the dugout, Pat Lam then begin a slow but purposeful walk across the Franklin’s Gardens pitch towards the large group of Connacht supporters who had made themselves seen and heard for the previous coupe of hours. Saints fans were streaming out, the season was over but Lam had one final task to complete.
When he and his squad reached those fans, they received a huge ovation. Lam lingered and then, in his own typical engaging fashion, made it his business to shake as many hands as he possible could. There were easily 250 followers at the game and he had a word for almost each of them.
It wasn’t the send off Lam wanted. How special would it have been to have seen him back at the Sportsground this weekend for one final game? The ground would have been heaving, win, lose or draw the scenes would have been emotional, resembling Eric Elwood’s swansong in 2013 no doubt.
Alas, sport and fate aren’t about neat and suitable narratives, they are instead about cold hard realities with the odd drop of magic every so often. Lam has experienced the hard truths many times in his career and the final season of his four in Connacht has certainly fallen into that category, but the three before this campaign were special, magic even but more than magic because the success was very real and measurable.
It was a success stemming from hard work and endeavour, a success that can be charted and explained. So let’s not just call it magic, lest anyone try to tell you that it can’t be repeated, lest anyone inside or outside Connacht try to set the bar lower for this province in the long term in the interest of creating a softer role for themselves or talking the region down because of its size or remote spot on the map.
Lam has shown the way, everyone knows it won’t be a case of trophies every year for sure, but they also need to know that last season shouldn’t be a drop in the ocean either. Saturday’s six point loss meant that Connacht failed in their objective to maintain their Champions Cup status for a second successive year, but the future still looks bright.
The former Samoan star built his revolution first by identifying the culture and character of the region, then by noting areas where he needed expertise and support and bringing the right people into his management team before finally empowering young emerging local players with leadership roles and multiple caps.
The one final surprising element for Lam will be the fact that he probably felt satisfied as he boarded the plane on Saturday night. He would never have imagined that anything other than completing his stated goal of Champions Cup qualification would have been enough for such a feeling, but all things considered, his side had left the field in Northampton with their heads held high.
Beforehand, the fear was that this could be a landslide. Such was the alarming drop off in work rate, attitude and skills in the Connacht squad over the last seven games that most people were predicting a big home win. Connacht’s game plan had looked predictable, the videos of the Munster and Scarlets games must have made for relaxing viewing for the Saints players.
Full report in this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
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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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
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.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
