Date Published: 02-Jun-2011

CIARAN TIERNEY

COUNTY champions Killererin will have to see off the challenge of 2005 title holders Salthill-Knocknacarra in a repeat of last year’s tussle at the same stage after the sides were drawn together in the second round of the senior football championship on Sunday evening.

Padraic Joyce, Nicky Joyce, and company overcame the city side by 0-16 to 1-11 in the same round last year, on their way to winning their third title in seven years – and it was Nicky who rescued their cause in a stirring first round fight-back against another city club, St Michael’s, last month.

The North Galway club, which never knows when it’s beaten, needed a dollop of good fortune, in the form of three controversial refereeing decisions, to see off a St Michael’s side who suffered further heartbreak when St James’ condemned them to the relegation series at the weekend.

Killererin will need to show an improvement if they are to overcome a Salthill side who, it could be argued, have underachieved since winning the All-Ireland title in 2006. Salthill also suffered a bit of a scare in the first round when they had just two points to spare over Cortoon Shamrocks.

The tie of the round is also a repeat of the memorable 2004 county final at Pearse Stadium when Padraic Joyce staged a remarkable recovery from injury to take his place in the Killererin team who registered a 1-10 to 0-10 victory over the seasiders. These teams have built up quite a rivalry over the past decade.

Newcomers St James’, who reached February’s All-Ireland Intermediate final after winning the Galway title last October, will now take on Moycullen in the last 16 after their comfortable victory in the city derby last Saturday.

St James’ had five points to spare over St Michael’s in the back door round at Pearse Stadium, a victory which guarantees them senior football for next season and a welcome turnaround after their opening day defeat to Claregalway.

This is St James’ first season in the senior ranks and, after showing some nerves against Claregalway, they will now feel they have nothing to lose with the threat of demotion removed. St Michael’s now have to take on Mountbellew-Moylough in a relegation semi-final.

For their part, Claregalway will take on a NUI Galway side who only enter the championship at this stage, while Bearna have been left with a tough task after drawing 13 times champions Corofin, who knocked them out at the semi-final stage last year (0-11 to 0-9).

Gary Sice and Damien Burke were the stars for Corofin in their 2-11 to 1-6 victory over Micheal Breathnach in the first round last month and they will be keen to regain the county crown after winning three titles in a row between 2006 and 2009. But they will take nothing for granted against a side who pushed them all the way last year.

Late goals from Ray Conneely and Kieran Hanley gave Bearna a hard-earned 2-10 to 0-11 victory over Leitir Mor, after the city side found themselves five points down after just seven minutes of action, and they should have revenge on their minds when the second round fixtures take place on the weekend of July 2-3.

Cortoon, who had six points to spare over Caltra in the qualifiers on Sunday, will take on Micheal Breathnach. The Connemara men recovered from their heavy first round loss to Corofin to overcome Mountbellew-Moylough by two points at the weekend.

There are two North Galway ‘derbies’ in the second round, with Kilkerrin-Clonberne set to face Tuam Stars after overcoming Killanin in their back door tie (1-11 to 0-11).

It’s surely the draw which neither team wanted, as they have already faced each other in the first round, when Tuam were victorious on a 3-14 to 1-8 scoreline. This fixture may yet lead to some ‘tweaking’ with the format of the senior championship, as it surely unfair on teams to meet again in the second round if they already faced each other first time out.

Milltown, victors over Leitir Mor in the first round, will do battle with Caherlistrane. Both of these sides won their first round ties, as Caherlistrane had three points to spare over a Caltra side who now face the relegation dog-fight after their defeat to Cortoon in the qualifiers.

In the remaining fixture, Annaghdown will take on An Cheathru Rua. Annaghdown needed three goals to see off Tuam in a bizarre, error-ridden first round tie, in which the sides managed to register 28 wides between them.

An Cheathru Rua will start as favourites after hitting an impressive 1-17 in another bizarre game against Killanin, in which the Corribsiders managed to score five goals but still lose (they hit 5-2 over the hour). Cillin De Paor was hugely impressive for An Cheathru Rua in that tie, scoring 1-5.

Second round draw: Moycullen v St James’, Micheal Breathnach v Cortoon Shamrocks, Bearna v Corofin, Salthill-Knocknacarra v Killererin, Milltown v Caherlistrane, Claregalway v NUI Galway, Kilkerrin-Clonberne v Tuam Stars, Annaghdown v An Cheathru Rua.

Relegation draw: Play-off: Caltra v Leitir Mor; semi-finals: Mountbellew-Moylough v St Michael’s, Caltra or Leitir Mor v Killanin.