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Inside Track

Coen and Keary hold key to Loughrea title hopes

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Inside Track with John McIntyre

We have been here before. Four times previously, in fact, since 2002. So there is no shortage of history – or bad blood for that matter – between the clubs.

Portumna and Loughrea last met in local hurling’s showpiece event in 2009 and the general assumption over the following seasons was that a fifth big day collision involving the teams was hardly imminent.

Having contested seven consecutive finals and winning five of them, Portumna were the undoubted heavyweights of club hurling – a fact also underlined by three All-Ireland triumphs – during this time and though the breaks haven’t always been on their side since their last Galway success in 2009, there was also an increasing school of thought that the glory days might be behind them.

Four years ago, they trounced their old foes by 19 points in that county final and we all rushed to the conclusion that Loughrea were finished, but they have never lacked resilience and Sunday will be their third Galway decider to contest since then. It will be their seventh in total over the past 11 years and the club’s latest chance to improve on an appalling big day record at Pearse Stadium where they have lost five of their six previous final appearances.

That desperate record would test the resolve of even the most battle-hardened group of players, but Loughrea have never raised the white flag or subjected themselves to long periods of self-pity. Each new campaign brought fresh impetus and hope, but when they fell to St. Thomas’ in the county final 12 months ago, the morale of their longer serving soldiers probably hit an all-time low. Portumna were no longer the tormentors, but they had now been passed out by a new group of young, talented stickmen from St. Thomas’.

It was no wonder that their preparations for 2013 were slow to kick into gear; Enda McDonnell became a reluctant manager; and there was precious little evidence in an unremarkable but significantly unbeaten group campaign to suggest that Loughrea were much worse or better than in recent seasons. Consistency has been their forte, but those extra touches of class which separate the challengers from the champions appeared to be still beyond them.

Yet, I remember thinking during the opening 20 minutes of their group tie with Castlegar (I was involved with the city club this year), that there appeared to be an extra dimension to them in the current championship . . . more pace, more movement, especially in a youthful half forward line. Subsequently, they almost ran aground against Pearses in the quarter-finals, but the Ballymacward men can be notoriously obdurate opponents and, perhaps, Loughrea were also led astray by reports of Pearses’ poor form in challenge matches.

They may have staggered over the line, but Loughrea heeded the warning and cut a far more vigorous unit against Beagh in the semi-finals. There was a vibrancy and quality to their play which the outsiders couldn’t match with Neil Keary putting in another big performance up front, and Brian Mahony and young Sean Sweeney leading the way in defence. All through the field, there was a bounce in Loughrea’s play and there was no obvious sense that they remain haunted by past failures.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

 

Connacht Tribune

Tyrone will come out guns blazing but Galway will weather the storm

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Galway manager Fergal Healy with his wife Karen and children, from left, Finn, Tess, Rowan and Conn after their Leinster Minor Hurling Final victory over Kilkenny in Portlaoise on Friday evening. Photo: Stephen Marken/Sportsfile.

Inside Track with John McIntyre

SOMETHING very odd happened to Tyrone in the Ulster championship in early April. On their home turf of Healy Park, they were doing nearly everything expected of them when leading Monaghan by five points at half-time. You couldn’t say for definite that the match was done and dusted, but the 2021 All-Ireland champions were in pole position.

You would have expected them to drive on against an honest if limited Monaghan outfit. Instead, Tyrone didn’t score for the opening 16 minutes of the second-half and in an enthralling finale, were left stunned by defender Ryan’s Toole’s stoppage-time goal snatching the honours for the Farney men on a 2-17 to 1-18 scoreline.

A couple of weeks later, Monaghan themselves had exited the Ulster title race when Derry comfortably got the better of them (1-21 to 2-10), leaving us more puzzled than ever by Tyrone’s dramatic decline since overcoming Mayo to claim Sam barely 20 months previously. Last year, they crashed out of Ulster by 11 points to Derry and subsequently came up six short against Armagh in the All-Ireland qualifiers.

Against that background, their recent loss to Monaghan shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but it did. Tyrone may have made a shambolic defence of the All-Ireland title, but there is still a lot of quality in their ranks. They have an adventurous ‘keeper in Niall Morgan, while the long-serving Peter Harte, Darragh Canavan, Darren McCurry, Cathal McShane, Conor Meyler, Mattie Donnelly, and Conn Kilpatrick are all top-class performers when in the mood.

There’s hardly been a word about them for the past six weeks. Tyrone are lying low, desperately trying to rediscover the verve and cohesion which took them all the way in 2021. Their pride is on the line. It makes them dangerous opponents for Galway in the opening round of All-Ireland group matches at Pearse Stadium on Saturday.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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Connacht Tribune

Galway footballers are shaping like a team which could go all the way

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Galway team manager Padraic Joyce with his daughter Jodie and son Charlie holding the Nestor Cup, along with Captain Seán Kelly after Sunday's Connacht Final triumph over Sligo at MacHale Park. Photo: Joe O'Shaughnessy.

Inside Track with John McIntyre

GALWAY footballers won’t get much credit for their easy victory over Sligo in Sunday’s Connacht Final in Castlebar, but when a team achieves something that hasn’t been done for 20 years, perhaps we should be a little more appreciative of the Tribesmen retaining the JJ Nestor Cup for the first time in two decades.

To be honest, if Galway were to live up to their standing as serious All-Ireland contenders, they needed to be doing a number on Sligo. In this year’s National League, the counties were three divisions apart and though Tony McEntee’s team achieved promotion and were on a nine-match unbeaten run, a serious rise in class faced them at MacHale Park.

Granted, Sligo made a bright start with three points in the opening five minutes from Pat Spillane, Sean Carrabine and the accurate Darragh Cummins, but they would only manage two more by the break despite having the wind behind them. Though wing back Luke Towey was catching the eye with his runs up-field, Galway rarely looked under pressure.

Sligo were bravely committing numbers to the middle third, which meant they were a little light in numbers around their own posts. They couldn’t afford to lose possession coming out of their own half, but that’s what happened in the build up to Galway’s second goal. Damien Comer overturned Cian Lally and from his counter-attack, Matthew Tierney expertly finished to the net at the near post.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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Connacht Tribune

Leinster hurling race so predictable but skin and hair flying down south

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Galway’s Conor Whelan lays off a pass against Kilkenny’s Mikey Butler during Sunday's Leinster Senior Hurling Championship tie at Nowlan Park. Photo: Joe O'Shaughnessy.

Inside Track with John McIntyre

IS the Leinster hurling championship something of a sham compared to its Munster counterpart? Everybody knows who will end up in the provincial final in the east, but nobody knows the two teams who will feature in the ultimate battle for supremacy down south.

All-Ireland champions Limerick aren’t guaranteed to even make it out of the province, never mind reach the Munster final, after their narrow loss to Clare in Saturday evening’s epic at the Gaelic Grounds. Everything is still on the line for the five counties involved, although Waterford are again under serious pressure after losing their opening two matches.

In Leinster, there is little of that drama. Galway and Kilkenny are miles ahead of the rest; the only thing at stake is whether Dublin or Wexford – they meet in Croke Park on Saturday – will be the third team to emerge for the All-Ireland series. It’s a game which is hard to call. Wexford are going backwards while Dublin look callow as Micheál Donoghue is trying to build the nucleus of a new team.

Though Antrim are improving – they held the Dubs to a draw and only lost to Wexford by four points – the men from the Glens would be out of their depth in Munster; while Westmeath are proving cannon-fodder for everyone else. Since Galway headed east in 2009, they have clashed with Kilkenny in seven Leinster finals and another showdown is inevitable next month.

In contrast, every match in Munster is virtually do-or die. When Clare rolled into Limerick last Saturday, they knew another defeat after losing to Tipperary in the opening round would leave them on the precipice of exiting the championship. There’s a real dog-eat-dog appeal about all the games. In Leinster, there are two big hounds, and the rest are chihuahuas.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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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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