Sports
Connacht’s top six hopes in real jeopardy
Connacht 9
Munster 16
THESE are challenging times for Connacht. Home form since October has been the saving grace for a team beset by bad luck and reeling from post title squad departures. Well the home form has taken a dip now too with this vital inter-provincial defeat at a miserably wet Sportsground on New Year’s Eve.
While most of the world welcomed 2017 with a sense of relief and hope after a year generally described with negative connotations, Connacht fans might be dreading what lies ahead and yearning for a chance to go back.
The year 2016 will forever be regarded as a glorious breakthrough one for rugby in the west, but no one thought this new found place at the top table was untouchable and even before the players boarded that plane back to Knock from Edinburgh, trophy in hand, everyone knew that the squad for next season was already shorn of some key frontlines.
Fast forward seven months from that great day in Murrayfield and Connacht are now treading water in terms of the race for a top six finish. Of course a spring surge – if some much overdue luck with injuries comes their way – might yet see Pat Lam’s men work their way back into contention, but they trail Ulster by 12 points in the standings and are back in the old familiar position of needing favours from others.
The home form this season has included wins over Edinburgh, Ulster, Toulouse, Cardiff, Treviso and Wasps. A vital run of results that has helped steady the ship from a awful start. Saturday night was never going to be season defining as Munster are always a serious force at the College Road venue and arrived on the back of a run of eight wins in nine.
Yet Munster made 11 changes from their first choice starting lineup that defeated Leinster. They were smack bang in the middle of a run of seven games which included two encounters against Leicester, that home derby with the men in blue and forthcoming games against Racing Metro, twice, and Glasgow.
This was the game they had to sacrifice in terms of selection but such is the mentality of Rassie Erasmus and his squad these days that they weren’t about to give up on the result. With just 38% of possession and 43% of territory, they outfoxed, outsmarted, outmanoeuvred and outfought the westerners in a way that just isn’t meant to happen to the reigning champions.
Connacht were hoodwinked here, tricked into playing for tries when kicks at goal offered a match lead, sucked into giving away turnovers, cajoled into giving away two scrum penalties, despite total and complete domination in that department, and made to look completely at odds with their own plans when it came to the much maligned lineout which once again misfired in a major game.
Full coverage in this week’s Connacht 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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