Sports
Curran grabs a hat-trick in five-star display by Galway United
Bray Wanderers 0
Galway United 5
Galway United came of age in the Premier Division on Saturday evening when Tommy Dunne’s side finally put in a complete 90-minute performance – and the finishing to match – to blow away the challenge of a woeful Bray Wanderers in the Carlisle Grounds.
United have performed well in patches in most games this season, and while the results haven’t matched that, there was the feeling that once they ‘clicked’, they would do some damage. Cue Saturday evening.
It’s not being greedy to say United could – and possibly should – have won by more. They opened the scoring after just 84 seconds, and could have put the game to bed after just five minutes. They had 16 shots on target, were narrowly wide with a couple more and restricted the home side to testing Ger Hanley just the once – rarely can the goalkeeper have had a quieter night between the sticks.
It was wonderful to watch if your alignment was with the men from the West, and the 60 or so noisy fans who made the trip to Bray will have a job to enjoy a better day by the seaside this year.
They had stars to hail all over the pitch, but Enda Curran’s first Premier Division hat-trick rightly grabs the headlines. His haul moves him to second in the Premier Division scoring charts, but more importantly has helped United jump three places in the table to eighth with one game left in the first round of fixtures.
It was just a third win in 10 games, but it should be noted that Tommy Dunne’s side have played every one of the top four away from home this season, and now that the young squad seems to have finally found its feet, a mid-table position is well within their grasp.
Of course, saying that makes a hostage to fortune for the visit of St Patrick’s Athletic this Friday night, but if nothing else it should be an entertaining game which the home side will approach bursting with confidence.
Curran fired United into the lead in the second minute on Saturday evening when Bray ’keeper Stephen McGuinness made a hames of dealing with a Ryan Connolly corner from the right, only managing to palm the ball straight to Padraic Cunningham. The Headford teenager flicked the ball to his strike partner, and Curran drilled a half-volley into the net.
Connolly fired straight at McGuinness two minutes later when clean through on goal; and Jake Keegan headed wide when left unmarked on the edge of the six yard box 60 seconds later. United threatened to run riot, but had to wait until four minutes before the break to extend their lead.
The home side should have been reduced to 10 men in the 10th minute when Cunningham hassled Hugh Douglas into making a mistake, and defender playing the ball straight to Curran who got in behind Alan McNally and clear on goal.
The defender appeared to clip Curran inside the box. Stephen Walsh and Sam Oji were show red cards for similar incidents this season, but Dublin referee Dave McKeon saw nothing wrong with the challenge and waved play on.
For more, read 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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