Sports
Connacht skipper to earn his 200th PRO12 cap in away clash with Cardiff
CONNACHT captain John Muldoon will mark his 33rd birthday this week by becoming the first player to break the 200-cap barrier in the PRO12 when the Portumna native leads out the league leaders in their clash against Cardiff Blues at Arms Park this evening (7:05pm).
Muldoon, who turned 33 on Monday, has been named in the back row alongside Academy flanker James Connolly with the returning Eoin McKeon handed the No. 8 jersey. Lauding Muldoon’s achievement, head coach Pat Lam described his captain as a “warrior”.
Lam has made eight personnel changes from Connacht’s recent victory over Munster – many of them enforced through injury – for this evening’s PRO 12 fixture. Darragh Leader comes in on the right wing for his 50th Connacht cap as Tiernan O’Halloran, a try scorer against Munster, is redeployed to full-back.
Jack Carty and Ian Porter have been named at out-half and scrum-half respectively while there is a new front row in for this one in Ronan Loughney, Dave Heffernan and Rodney Ah You. Quinn Roux returns from injury to team up with Aly Muldowney in the second row.
“With the short turn around and following a very physical game against Munster, we obviously see some changes in the side this week,” outlined Lam. “While we lost four more guys to injury in the last game, we also have players coming back into contention. And with competition as high as ever, it makes our job for selection that bit more difficult but that’s what we want as coaches.”
The province’s 18-12 victory – compliments of tries from Tiernan O’Halloran and Bundee Aki – over the former two-time Heineken Cup champions cemented Connacht’s place at the top of the PRO12 table on 32 points – ahead of Scarlets on 30 points and Irish rivals Munster and Leinster on 28 points apiece.
Unfortunately, it did come at a price with international Robbie Henshaw breaking his hand in the last play of the game. Henshaw, who used his power to great effect in setting up Bundee Aki for the match-winning try, had surgery on his left hand on Monday morning in Santry.
It is understood the injury will sideline the talented Athlone man for up to six weeks. Added to this, loosehead prop Denis Buckley and back row forward Eoghan Masterson sustained a high ankle sprain and fractured thumb respectively in the game. Both will be out for up to three weeks.
The trio join an already heaving injury list which was further compounded by the news this week confirming that flanker Nepia Fox Matamua did rupture his ACL in the recent Cup win over Brive. Surgery has been scheduled for January with six months of rehabilitation to follow.
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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