Sports
Forwards must deliver on judgement day in Thurles
JUDGEMENT day has arrived for the Galway senior hurling panel. On the eve of Race Week, the Galway hurlers face a do-or-die clash with Cork in Thurles on Sunday (4pm).
Win and they qualify for an All-Ireland semi-final and are Croke Park bound. Lose and the usual loose talk about the management in particular, and players, will dominate discussion between races at Ballybrit.
Since the arrival of the Qualifiers, it was ever thus. It’s a high-stakes, high-pressure game. Just the sort of game that hasn’t really suited Galway in the past decade, which is probably why Cork are slight favourites with the bookmakers (Cork are 5/6 with Mulholland’s, Galway are 6/5).
The general consensus is that there won’t be a puck of the ball between these two outfits, and they’re just siding with the Rebels because of the question marks over Galway’s big-match temperament.
The men in maroon have the ability to advance, but in the heat of battle, will they have the character and necessary bottle to back it up?
In fairness, since the depressingly familiar loss to Waterford in the league, they have, to an extent, answered those questions and Galway showed no shortage of spirit and battling qualities in the draw and replay win over Dublin and in defeat to Kilkenny.
Galway should have no reason to fear Cork either, having beaten them on their three most recent meetings in 2012, 2011 and 2009.
True, the Rebels ousted Clare from the championship, in the qualifiers, but the 2013 All-Ireland champions were no great shakes this season.
That win will have emboldened Cork, though, particularly since Clare were in a position to win it, until the Leesiders were bailed out by four points on the trot from Patrick Horgan, who is on fire this season.
Against Kilkenny three weeks ago, Galway produced a fairly decent performance that wasn’t rewarded with a result – the Leinster champions were simply too good.
On Sunday against Cork, manager Anthony Cunningham will settle for a result of any description . . . at this stage of the championship it’s all about winning.
Kilkenny were the better team that day, there’s no question but at least Galway mixed it with them, and there was a healthy attitude from the get-go and a ferocious work rate that is not always a quality found in abundance by men wearing maroon jerseys.
“The mood is very good,” said Cunningham mid-week. “It’s excellent; couldn’t be better really. It doesn’t get any bigger than this, there’s a place in the All-Ireland semi-final at stake so we’re looking forward to it. We’ve had a nice break, we’ve had three weeks to prepare and a round of club championship in between and that was good to refresh fellas as well. We’ve trained hard and worked hard and we’re really all set.
“When you look back on the Leinster final, if we tidied up a bit, we weren’t far off. There were a few small points in defence and a few small points in attack. It’s easy to pinpoint two or three scores we coughed up easily and two or three scores we should have taken, so there was very little in it. Definitely the intensity that the lads played at and the work-rate was good and it’s going to have to be at that level again on Sunday.”
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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