Sports
Forde hits out at the media backlash after loss to Cats
GALWAY senior hurling selector Francis Forde has likened the media backlash to a form of “bullying” following Galway’s Leinster Final defeat to Kilkenny.
The Galway side were labelled as “gutless” by ex-manager Ger Loughnane and were highly criticised by a number of other sources in both local and national media following the display.
Forde who works as a teacher said: “If it’s acceptable in a local or national paper to absolutely castigate a bunch of lads then how do you go into a classroom as a secondary school teacher and say you can’t say this about people on social media.”
“As a secondary teacher myself, we cover things like bullying all the time in school. If this becomes acceptable in society as the norm in a local or national newspaper, radio, TV just to sensationalise things or maybe justify someone’s position in the job, then for society that’s not good for me. That’s what I would have a big issue with actually the personal attacks on people.”
Many experts believe that they are well within their rights to be critical of players who were fundamentally behind the removal of previous manager Anthony Cunningham despite reaching last year’s All-Ireland final. For many, it’s a time for the players to stand up and be counted after Cunningham’s resignation and excuses won’t be accepted at this point.
The Tribesmen take on Clare this weekend in Thurles in what is a season defining game for both sets of players and management. A defeat for either side ends their year in July, while the winner will only be two wins away from an All-Ireland title. The stakes are sky high.
When asked about whether the management used those comments as a motivational tool, Forde stated, “I don’t think so. You’re going out there in an All-Ireland quarter final. This is what we focused on all year and you know while there may be some people in Galway that take different views in regard to what happened last year, we are still doing this for Galway.”
“We are doing our best to get to an All-Ireland semi-final for our county and that has been the approach of players. They know they have to take a lot of flak but they are the lads who are willing to cross the white lines, they are the lads who are willing to get on with it and do their very best for themselves, for their clubs and for their county,” the Turloughmore clubman said.
Galway weren’t exactly disgraced in their performance against Kilkenny and they were leading at half-time. It did always feel like Kilkenny could raise their level of performance another couple of levels though and a second half Richie Hogan inspired performance meant Kilkenny ran out to a reasonably comfortable victory in the end.
When it was put to Forde had Galway scope for improvement? He was in agreement, “There is no question we have and I suppose in analysing the game we certainly highlighted areas where we didn’t make life easy for ourselves. We made a lot of mistakes in the game and that’s what we tended to focus on when looking back on the game.”
For more, read this week’s Galway City 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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