Sports
Connacht host La Rochelle in Sportsground on opening weekend of new Challenge Cup
It is safe to say it, phase one of Connacht’s season has been a success and there are still three games to go before the international break. However, even a setback or two during the next few games won’t take away from the fact that this young side have given themselves a platform to make some significant progress through the Winter.
Pat Lam called it a “launchpad” and he can’t be far wrong. After the scrappy but gutsy 9-6 win in Treviso, Connacht sit fifth in the Guinness Pro 12 standings with total of 18 points garnered and just one defeat in six heading into two rounds of European Challenge Cup action including Saturday’s home tie with La Rochelle at the Sportsground (5pm).
The mission from the outset of the season has been a top six finish in the Pro 12 but the pathway to that target was always going to be a treacherous, especially in these opening months while the squad was not fully complete.
They knew that all three of the big Summer signings would not be available until the November 21 home tie with Zebre, and the squad’s young guns had to fill the void and deliver the results in the interim while we waited for Mills Muliaina (due to injury), Bundee Aki and Tom McCartney (both due to provincial rugby commitments in New Zealand) to arrive.
They’ve done that, and so much more. Names such as Darragh Leader, Jack Carty, Shane Delahunt, Dave Heffernan and Eoin McKeon were key in game six last Friday, holding their nerve when a momentum stopping defeat to an improving but much changed Treviso side appeared imminent.
Now they’re over round six, it’s safe to say that this Connacht squad have achieved everything anyone could have hoped for in the first two months of the season even before the final three games of that period.
The trips to Exeter and then the unbeaten Ospreys will be the bonus territory, a defeat to La Rochelle will of course be a setback but they are in position to ensure that come that game with Zebre, they’ll be very much in the mix for the start of the ‘middle period’ of this exciting campaign.
“We’re pleased,” said Lam after the win in Treviso, “when you consider what’s still to come, when you consider the youth of the team and the lack of experience in the team. To be in fifth place is a magnificent achievement but we’re not satisfied, we have just given ourselves a launchpad to pick it up once we get over these next couple of European games.”
He used the phrase “getting over” in relation to the forthcoming weekend which prompted a pertinent question: “what is the mindset in the Connacht camp ahead of these Challenge Cup game in terms of performance and results?”. Lam didn’t miss a beat with his confident answer.
“We have got a simple outcome, we want to be in the final in London. So just like in the Pro 12 where we want to be in the top six, we’ve set our benchmark, we’ve set our goal and we believe now that we focus on one game at a time.”
The wheel keeps turning then but it is easy to wonder just how the Westerners don’t switch off to some degree and make some alterations for a competition such as this after a good start with a small squad. Connacht assistant coach Dan McFarland, also speaking after the win in Treviso, was adamant that this wouldn’t be a problem.
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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