Archive News
Failure of U-21 hurlers worrying ahead of the big one
Date Published: 29-Aug-2012
THERE were bad tidings from Thurles on Saturday evening. A Galway under 21 hurling team top heavy with survivors from last year’s triumphant squad and players with inter-county senior championship experience utterly failed to justify their exalted reputation when coming up well short in a high stakes encounter against Kilkenny.
Only two outstanding individual goals from Davy Glennon and Joseph Cooney saved the Tribesmen from a really heavy defeat, but the overall disappointing Galway display and the manner in which Kilkenny cut holes through their defence left supporters with an even greater sense of foreboding ahead of next month’s senior showdown between the same two counties.
Psychologically alone, this was an important match to win for Galway and with 17 senior panellists involved with the Under 21s, they appeared to have the artillery to fend off the Kilkenny challenge, but they flattered to deceive in Semple Stadium and can have no complaints about the outcome with several key performers failing to deliver.
Given that the Galway senior management were also over the U-21s – with a little help from Portumna’s Johnny Kelly – it placed even greater significance on the result, but the champions just didn’t fire after an encouraging opening in which they opened a 0-6 to 0-3 lead with Niall Burke picking off a couple of excellent points.
Gradually, things started to go downhill. The Galway midfield and defence were starting to have their limitations exposed and were basically over-run as Kilkenny struck for three goals in a devastating 11 minute spell. Ollie Walsh, whose shot ought to have been saved by Fergal Flannery, John Power and Ger Aylward all found the net to lay the foundations for thoroughly deserved seven point victory.
There was far more cutting and method to Kilkenny’s hurling and though Fergal Flannery really ought to have saved Walsh’s opening goal, there was no doubting Kilkenny’s superiority. They didn’t stand on ceremony either and Galway struggled to cope in the physical exchanges. Jonathan Glynn, however, was a notable exception, repeatedly winning hard ball and landing two fine points to boot in the opening-half.
By the 22nd minute, Galway midfielder Padraig Brehony and Jason Grealish, who is hardly a natural corner back in the first place, had been called ashore as the team management tried to stop the rot and though pointed frees from Burke (two) and Tadhg Haran, who tried hard, had reduced the deficit from ten to seven by the break, we all knew they now faced a nearly impossible task to overhaul the Cats.
When Power rattled the Galway net from a 21 yard free soon after the resumption, Kilkenny were never going to be caught. By the 48th minute, they were 4-11 to 0-13 ahead and coasting, only for the title holders to launch a spirited comeback out of nothing. Glennon completed a brave run with a booted effort past goalkeeper Dylan Walsh before a 50 yard surge from Cooney ended with a perfectly placed shot to the far corner.
With Burke and Haran raising white flags, suddenly Galway were only three points adrift, with momentum behind them, and seven minutes left on the clock. True to form, however, Kilkenny lifted the siege and, as if to emphasise their superiority, they were able to sufficiently regroup for Kevin Kelly (free), Power, Aylward and Walter Walsh to close out the game with late points.
Given there was so much hope attached to these young Galway hurlers, Saturday’s disjointed effort offered few consolations. Most of them came off second best in their personal duels although Jonathan Glynn must now be pressing for a starting slot on September 9 after a really noteworthy display, typified by his ability to win aerial battles. Cooney could come into the reckoning too after some impressive moments, most notably for that cracking second-half goal.
Few of the rest came through unscathed. Niall Burke, however, did pick off three classy points from play and that is his primary function, while Glennon, Haran, Richie Cummins, early on, had their moments, but the Galway backs just couldn’t cope with the pressure. Daithi Burke did improve as the game progressed, but the damage was already done.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
People’s living conditions less than 100 years ago were frightening. We have come a long way. We talk about water charges today, but back then the local District Councils were erecting pumps for local communities and the lovely town of Mountbellew, according to Council minutes, had open sewers,” says Galway County Council archivist Patria McWalter.
Patria believes we “need to take pride in our history, and we should take the same pride in our historical records as we do in our built heritage”. When you see the wealth of material in her care, this belief makes sense.
She is in charge of caring for the rich collection of administrative records owned by Galway County Council and says “these records are as much part of our history as the Rock of Cashel is. They document our lives and our ancestors’ lives. And nobody can plan for the future unless you learn from the past, what worked and what didn’t”.
Archivists and librarians are often unfairly regarded as being dry, academic types, but that’s certainly not true of Patria. Her enthusiasm is infectious as she turns the pages of several minute books from Galway’s Rural District Councils, all of them at least 100 years old.
Part of her role involved cataloguing all the records of the Councils – Ballinasloe, Clifden, Galway, Gort, Loughrea, Mountbellew, Portumna and Tuam. These records mostly consisted of minutes of various meetings.
When she was cataloguing them she realised their worth to local historians and researchers, so she decided to compile a guide to their content. The result is For the Record: The Archives of Galway’s Rural District Councils, which will be a valuable asset to anybody with an interest in history.
Many representatives on these Councils were local personalities and several were arrested during the political upheaval of the era, she explains.
And, ushering in a new era in history, women were allowed to sit on these Rural District Councils – at the time they were not allowed to sit on County Councils.
All of this information is included in Patria’s introductory essay to the attractively produced A4 size guide, which gives a glimpse into how these Rural Councils operated and the way political thinking changed in Ireland during a short 26-year period. In the early 1900s, these Councils supported Home Rule, but by 1920, they were calling for full independence and refusing to recognise the British administration.
“I love the tone,” says Patria of the minutes from meetings. “The language was very emotive.”
That was certainly true of the Gort Rural District Council. At a meeting in 1907, following riots in Dublin at the premiere of JM Synge’s play, The Playboy of the Western World the councillors’ response was vehement. They recorded their decision to “protest most emphatically against the libellous comedy, The Playboy of the Western World, that was belched forth during the past week in the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, under the fostering care of Lady Gregory and Mr Yeats. We congratulate the good people of Dublin in howling down the gross buffoonery and immoral suggestions that are scattered throughout this scandalous performance.
For more from the archives see this week’s Tribunes here
Date Published: 23-Jan-2013
SLIGO 0-9
GALWAY 1-4
FRANK FARRAGHER IN ENNISCRONE
GALWAY’S first serious examination of the 2013 season rather disturbingly ended with a rating well below the 40% pass mark at the idyllic, if rather Siberian, seaside setting of Enniscrone on Sunday last.
The defeat cost Galway a place in the FBD League Final against Leitrim and also put a fair dent on their confidence shield for the bigger tests that lie ahead in February.
There was no fluke element in this success by an understrength Sligo side and by the time Leitrim referee, Frank Flynn, sounded the final whistle, there wasn’t a perished soul in the crowd of about 500 who could question the justice of the outcome.
It is only pre-season and last Sunday’s blast of dry polar winds did remind everyone that this is far from summer football, but make no mistake about it, the match did lay down some very worrying markers for Galway following a couple of victories over below par third level college teams.
Galway did start the game quite positively, leading by four points at the end of a first quarter when they missed as much more, but when Sligo stepped up the tempo of the game in the 10 minutes before half-time, the maroon resistance crumbled with frightening rapidity.
Some of the statistics of the match make for grim perusal. Over the course of the hour, Galway only scored two points from play and they went through a 52 minute period of the match, without raising a white flag – admittedly a late rally did bring them close to a draw but that would have been very rough justice on Sligo.
Sligo were backable at 9/4 coming into this match, the odds being stretched with the ‘missing list’ on Kevin Walsh’s team sheet – Adrian Marren, Stephen Coen, Tony Taylor, Ross Donovan, David Kelly, David Maye, Johnny Davey and Eamon O’Hara, were all marked absent for a variety of reasons.
Walsh has his Sligo side well schooled in the high intensity, close quarters type of football, and the harder Galway tried to go through the short game channels, the more the home side bottled them up.
Galway badly needed to find some variety in their attacking strategy and maybe there is a lot to be said for the traditional Meath style of giving long, quick ball to a full forward line with a big target man on the edge of the square – given Paul Conroy’s prowess close to goal last season, maybe it is time to ‘settle’ on a few basics.
Defensively, Galway were reasonably solid with Gary Sice at centre back probably their best player – he was one of the few men in maroon to deliver decent long ball deep into the attacking zone – while Finian Hanley, Conor Costello and Gary O’Donnell also kept things tight.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Date Published: 23-Jan-2013
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