Sports
Dervan saves the day for Mullagh in pulsating draw
Kilnadeema/Leitrim 0-16
Mullagh 0-16
HURLING supporters last Sunday missed a league final Thurles thriller, but Killimor served up a classic in an end-to-end battle between two evenly matched sides.
Cathal Dervan’s equaliser in the fifth minute of added time after Sean Hardiman was fouled ensured Mullagh a share of the spoils in a game that neither team deserved to lose.
The sides were level 11 times; they traded supremacy 11 times; no inch was spared in their ambitions to succeed; and even Hawk-Eye would have been kept active over various scoring attempts.
Both sides were so eager that the game threw in four minutes before its scheduled 5pm start and Kilnadeema/Leitrim registered their first chance before spectators realised play had commenced. That effort was wide as Des Roche’s team took time to get their accuracy in check and Mullagh took advantage in the opening ten minutes.
Dervan opened the scoring after Davy Glennon was fouled before he added a second on six minutes. Subsequently, Niall and Stephen Cahalan made it 0-4 to 0-0. Dessie O’Brien’s outfit were also guilty of spurned chances, but were ahead against the wind before Mikey Lynch finished a move involving David Tierney and Brian Molloy for Kilnadeema/Leitrim’s first point on 11 minutes.
The sweeper system has become a common theme in this year’s championship with Tierney on song between the two defensive lines. After getting off the mark, they took off with three Molloy frees helping them to the front supported by two great points. Ciaran Connor managed to hold his balance for a super strike from the right while Gary Winters set up Shane Lawless on 23 minutes making it 0-6 to 0-4 in Kilnadeema/Leitrim’s favour.
Challenges were equally intense but the game did finish with injuries to Kilnadeema/Leitrim’s Mark Kelly and Mullagh’s Kevin Briscoe. That just served to underline, however, the competitive nature of this game which left nobody in doubt this was championship hurling.
A late challenge on Padraig Kennedy allowed Mullagh a free with Dervan ending a 15 minute drought, while Paddy Hardiman levelled in the 26th minute following good work from Francis Hardiman and Glennon. With Dervan doing the work three minutes later, Finian Coone sent the sliothar over the bar for Mullagh to regain the initiative.
It was shortlived as Lawless supplied Molloy for all-square again but one from play from Dervan gave Mullagh an 0-8 to 0-7 interval lead.
The pace didn’t recede as the second half commenced. 19 seconds in, David Tierney and Lynch combined to give Tom Tierney his first point for Kilnadeema/Leitrim. 38 seconds later, Glennon provided Coone for his second. Molloy had suffered a dip in his free taking so Tom Tierney took the next free and levelled at 0-9 apiece with just three minutes of the half gone.
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.
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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.
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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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