Connacht Tribune
Brazilian back home for the hurling – in Galway!
Most people chasing All-Ireland final tickets this week will proclaim to be Galway’s No. 1 supporter – but they’d do well to surpass former Gort hurler Leonardo Gomes, who has flown over 9,000km ‘home’ from Brazil to roar on the Tribesmen this Sunday.
Six years ago, Leonardo was being touted as the next great Gort and Galway centre-half back.
With his athletic build, superb ball winning ability and deft touch, the stylish defender was pushing opponents like Galway senior Conor Whelan from Kinvara and minor sharpshooter Evan Niland from Clarinbridge to the pin of their collar.
However, Leonardo, who had spent almost a decade in Gort, subsequently returned to Brazil with his family – taking his silky skills with him.
Still, he never let go of South Galway . . . and when Anthony Cunningham’s men vanquished Tipperary in the All-Ireland semi-final, the 18-year-old die-hard hurling fan made a vow that he would be in Croke Park to shout them on to All-Ireland glory.
On Tuesday evening, he duly landed back in Gort where he was met by his brother Anderson, who he hadn’t seen in two years, and his former club-mates and class-mates, who he has continued to keep in touch with through Facebook and Snapchat. It was emotional stuff. The prodigal son had come home.
Yesterday morning (Wednesday), Leonardo and his former mentor John Commins – a current Galway minor hurling selector – met up with former Gort NS Principal Francis O’Connor, now in Kilchreest NS, and the reunion again was poignant.
“Leo was the model,” says Mr. O’Connor. “He was the one. When he started, every other one (Brazilian) said this is what I want to play. The club has had a lot of success since he left, winning county titles, and there is no doubt that if he had stayed he would have won a county medal. We are not saying that flippantly.”
Indeed, it would not have been beyond the bounds of possibilities that the former defender would have crossed swords with the great Henry Shefflin of Kilkenny when Gort clashed with Ballyhale Shamrocks in the All-Ireland club semi-final earlier this year if he had not left. Both O’Connor and Commins believe he would have seen game-time.
“I was convinced that if Leonardo stayed around, he would have been playing county minor last year,” insists his former coach Commins. “Back in 2008, when they won the U-12 and U-14 ‘B’, he was an outstanding hurler. He stood out in all those matches all the way up along.”
Longing to see his brother, when Galway seniors won the All-Ireland semi-final, this was the sign that it was time for Leonardo to return to Ireland.
He will be home for a month and he is enjoying catching up with his friends and recounting the battles he had in the Gort jersey with many of the current Galway minor crop, along with his senior rival Conor Whelan, who he hopes to meet after Sunday’s game.
The club has secured Leonardo, who has himself played at Croke Park as a youngster previously, a Hill 16 ticket for the clash with the Cats.
“Yeah, I am really excited for the match,” he beams. “I have been practising a bit but when you walk around with a stick [in Brazil] everybody is thinking what is he going to do next? Is he going to rob the shop?” he laughs.
The other problem has been that he has nobody to play with. “I have to hit it and then go and hit it back to myself,” chuckles Leonardo, who has brought two of his hurls back to Gort with him, along with, of course, his Galway jersey.
See full story – and get your free All-Ireland Final supplement – 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
