Inside Track
Epic Connacht season shows no signs of coming to an end
Inside Track with John McIntyre
WE never thought we’d be taken here by Connacht. Four points clear at the top of the PRO12 table with only four games remaining; on target for a home semi-final in the competition; qualification for next season’s European Cup already assured; and still in contention for glory in the Challenge Cup.
No wonder Connacht are the talk of the nation’s rugby fraternity, while their growing local popularity continues to cross the sporting divide. Pat Lam’s squad have broken so much new ground this season that they are drawn favourable comparisons with Leicester City’s fairytale pursuit of the Premiership title cross-channel.
Like the Foxes, Connacht startling progress over the past few months has been as unexpected as it has been heart-warming. They have never finished higher than seventh in the league before, but since last September Ireland’s Cinderella province has been nearly sweeping all before them. Only five defeats – and a couple of them desperately unlucky – in 18 PRO12 matches so far represent a staggering level of consistency for the former minnows from the West of Ireland.
The latest examination of Connacht’s growing status came at a packed Sportsground last Saturday. Second in the table Leinster were rolling into town and the College Road venue was heaving with expectancy. Seven thousand, three hundred was the official attendance and if the famous old ground could have stretched its capacity, more would have come such is the team’s drawing power at present.
The match itself didn’t let the occasion down. It may have been the polar opposite of a thrill-a-minute try feast, but this low scoring, attritional and physically bruising encounter still had the crowd on tenterhooks right to its pulsating climax. Connacht were fighting a desperate rearguard action at the finish, but John Muldoon and his team-mates heroically refused to surrender in clinging on for a magnificent 7-6 victory.
The Connacht supporters went ballistic at the final whistle in scenes of jubilation reminiscent of Munster’s famous triumph over the All Blacks at Thomond Park in 1979. The sheer delight of the players themselves also underlined the scale of the achievement. Leinster knew what they were facing and though the Kearney brothers and Johnny Sexton were not involved, all there other heavy hitters were. By the finish, internationals Jack McGrath, Mike Ross, Sean Cronin, Devin Toner, James Heaslip and Eoin Reddan had been all summoned from the bench, but still the hosts refused to wilt.
Connacht scrum half Kieran Marmion got the game’s critical score in the 14th minute when he pounced on a precise chip ahead from winger Niyi Adeolokun in beating his Leinster counterpart Luke McGrath to the touchdown. With AJ MacGinty adding the extras, they led by 7-nil at the break but it hardly seemed a sufficient cushion with the wind to face to the resumption. Leinster tried everything to pull the game out of the fire but were restricted to just two penalties from Ian Madigan as Connacht defended with admirable discipline.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Inside Track with John McIntyre
SOMETHING very odd happened to Tyrone in the Ulster championship in early April. On their home turf of Healy Park, they were doing nearly everything expected of them when leading Monaghan by five points at half-time. You couldn’t say for definite that the match was done and dusted, but the 2021 All-Ireland champions were in pole position.
You would have expected them to drive on against an honest if limited Monaghan outfit. Instead, Tyrone didn’t score for the opening 16 minutes of the second-half and in an enthralling finale, were left stunned by defender Ryan’s Toole’s stoppage-time goal snatching the honours for the Farney men on a 2-17 to 1-18 scoreline.
A couple of weeks later, Monaghan themselves had exited the Ulster title race when Derry comfortably got the better of them (1-21 to 2-10), leaving us more puzzled than ever by Tyrone’s dramatic decline since overcoming Mayo to claim Sam barely 20 months previously. Last year, they crashed out of Ulster by 11 points to Derry and subsequently came up six short against Armagh in the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Against that background, their recent loss to Monaghan shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but it did. Tyrone may have made a shambolic defence of the All-Ireland title, but there is still a lot of quality in their ranks. They have an adventurous ‘keeper in Niall Morgan, while the long-serving Peter Harte, Darragh Canavan, Darren McCurry, Cathal McShane, Conor Meyler, Mattie Donnelly, and Conn Kilpatrick are all top-class performers when in the mood.
There’s hardly been a word about them for the past six weeks. Tyrone are lying low, desperately trying to rediscover the verve and cohesion which took them all the way in 2021. Their pride is on the line. It makes them dangerous opponents for Galway in the opening round of All-Ireland group matches at Pearse Stadium on Saturday.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Inside Track with John McIntyre
GALWAY footballers won’t get much credit for their easy victory over Sligo in Sunday’s Connacht Final in Castlebar, but when a team achieves something that hasn’t been done for 20 years, perhaps we should be a little more appreciative of the Tribesmen retaining the JJ Nestor Cup for the first time in two decades.
To be honest, if Galway were to live up to their standing as serious All-Ireland contenders, they needed to be doing a number on Sligo. In this year’s National League, the counties were three divisions apart and though Tony McEntee’s team achieved promotion and were on a nine-match unbeaten run, a serious rise in class faced them at MacHale Park.
Granted, Sligo made a bright start with three points in the opening five minutes from Pat Spillane, Sean Carrabine and the accurate Darragh Cummins, but they would only manage two more by the break despite having the wind behind them. Though wing back Luke Towey was catching the eye with his runs up-field, Galway rarely looked under pressure.
Sligo were bravely committing numbers to the middle third, which meant they were a little light in numbers around their own posts. They couldn’t afford to lose possession coming out of their own half, but that’s what happened in the build up to Galway’s second goal. Damien Comer overturned Cian Lally and from his counter-attack, Matthew Tierney expertly finished to the net at the near post.
For more, read this week’s Connacht 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.
Inside Track with John McIntyre
IS the Leinster hurling championship something of a sham compared to its Munster counterpart? Everybody knows who will end up in the provincial final in the east, but nobody knows the two teams who will feature in the ultimate battle for supremacy down south.
All-Ireland champions Limerick aren’t guaranteed to even make it out of the province, never mind reach the Munster final, after their narrow loss to Clare in Saturday evening’s epic at the Gaelic Grounds. Everything is still on the line for the five counties involved, although Waterford are again under serious pressure after losing their opening two matches.
In Leinster, there is little of that drama. Galway and Kilkenny are miles ahead of the rest; the only thing at stake is whether Dublin or Wexford – they meet in Croke Park on Saturday – will be the third team to emerge for the All-Ireland series. It’s a game which is hard to call. Wexford are going backwards while Dublin look callow as Micheál Donoghue is trying to build the nucleus of a new team.
Though Antrim are improving – they held the Dubs to a draw and only lost to Wexford by four points – the men from the Glens would be out of their depth in Munster; while Westmeath are proving cannon-fodder for everyone else. Since Galway headed east in 2009, they have clashed with Kilkenny in seven Leinster finals and another showdown is inevitable next month.
In contrast, every match in Munster is virtually do-or die. When Clare rolled into Limerick last Saturday, they knew another defeat after losing to Tipperary in the opening round would leave them on the precipice of exiting the championship. There’s a real dog-eat-dog appeal about all the games. In Leinster, there are two big hounds, and the rest are chihuahuas.
For more, read this week’s Connacht 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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