Claregalway secure senior status with battling win

Claregalway 3-12

An Cheathrú Rua 1-16

James Kent in Clonbur

AT first glance, there may have been little to play for in Clonbur on Saturday – neither Claregalway or An Cheathrú Rua could make the senior football quarter-finals – but the spectre of being dragged into the relegation play-offs still hung over both clubs.

There was also some eve-of-the-match drama as the fixture was taken out of Moycullen due to concerns over the venue coping with the demands of a double header, and instead was moved to this scenic setting in Joyce Country.

Ultimately, Claregalway had secured their senior status following an invigorating encounter, the match-defining period coming during a third quarter spell of dominance in which they hit An Cheathrú Rua for 1-6 without reply and left the Connemara side with far too steep a mountain to climb thereafter.

It’s a result which consolidates Claregalway’s place at the top table and on the evidence of their performances against Corofin, St James’, Cortoon Shamrocks and now An Cheathrú Rua, their young, emerging side looks well at home in their first season back at the top level and appear primed to grow and develop further in the next few years.

For An Cheathrú Rua, a third consecutive loss of the campaign means it’s now all about survival but a win over Tuam Stars next time out would save them from the dreaded relegation group phase where half of the six remaining clubs will drop to intermediate grade next year.

The south Connemara club played some excellent football themselves in spells, scored 17 times and in Oisín Ó Gríofa had a finisher at the top of his game, both from frees and open play.

The former Galway U-21 panellist is a powerful presence at the top of An Cheathrú Rua’s attack and an accomplished finisher as a return of 1-8 over the hour underlined.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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