Sports
Champions Corofin and former kingpins Salthill set for first round clash
GALWAY GAA certainly won’t need any promotional gimmick when it comes to marketing the 2015 county senior football championship after the two local super-powers – champions Corofin and Salthill / Knocknacarra – were pitted against one another in the first round.
No doubt, the draws for the Galway senior and intermediate football championships, which were broadcast live on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta on Monday evening, have certainly thrown up some fascinating pairings, none less than the meeting of Corofin and Salthill/Knocknacarra.
Although the sides did not clash in last year’s championship, they did spar in the 2013 county decider, with Corofin underlining their status as Galway’s most successful team of the last two decades with a resounding 2-13 to 0-7 victory.
What was disappointing from the city side’s perspective was that they were reigning county champions at the time – having accounted for Tuam Stars in the 2012 final – yet they never got to grips with the power and pace of their opponents.
That said, Corofin have been the form team since getting back on the glory trail in 1991. Up to this point, they had just three titles to their name. As of today, they have 16, with only Salthill/Knocknacarra and a now declining Killererin posing any real threat to their dominance in recent years.
At any rate, the clash of Galway’s two big guns will whet the local appetite, particularly if Corofin enter that first round fixture as newly crowned All-Ireland club champions. Should they do so, they would be meeting the last Galway team to have lifted the Andy Merrigan Cup, which was, of course, Salthill/Knocknacarra in the Spring of 2006.
The draw also threw up some other interesting pairings. Last year’s beaten finalists St. Michael’s will begin their campaign with a tricky championship opener against Cortoon Shamrocks while 2010 county champions Killererin, having escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth, will face Leitir Mór.
Two other sides with title ambitions, Mountbellew/Moylough and St. James’, will be another tie to watch while a fixture that is sure to tingle the senses will be the all-Connemara clash between Micheal Breathnach and An Cheathrú Rua.
Another of the Connemara representatives, Carna Caiseal face Annaghdown, a side with some potential, while 2014 intermediate champions Killanin will travel in from the West to take on last year’s county semi-finalists Barna in the first round.
The remaining SFC ties see Tuam Stars facing Kilconly; Caltra taking on Kilkerrin-Clonberne; and Caherlistrane meeting Milltown, a team, one suspects, will be anxious to make a winning start to their championship after getting wiped out by Corofin in the semi-finals last year.
In the intermediate championship, the stand-out first round fixture is the derby between last year’s beaten finalists Moycullen and Oughterard. Having conceded ground to neighbours Killanin in the 2014 decider, Moycullen will not want to bend the knee to another of their local rivals.
For more, read this week’s Galway City 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
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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