Sports
Galway captain Conroy regrets not taking their chances against Mayo
GALWAY senior football captain Paul Conroy travelled to McHale Park on Sunday to win. Not many gave the visitors hope of achieving that aim.
But Conroy was quietly confident. If he wasn’t, there wouldn’t be much point in turning up, now would there? Fans crossed the border more in hope; the St James’ clubman and his team-mates carried an expectation.
In the tunnel afterwards, naturally, Conroy was cut-up at losing again to arch rivals Mayo on Connacht final day at Castlebar.
His side’s biggest regret in the 3-14 to 0-16 defeat? Not finishing several goal chances, and not starting the first half the way they did the second half, with an unshackled confidence.
“I’m just very disappointed. It’s just a very disappointed dressing room in there. I don’t know. I thought maybe we didn’t take a couple of chances and that cost us dearly,” said Conroy.
“We thought we were in a good state coming down here. We felt we had no pressure on us, we were underdogs and we just said we’d give it a go and, I think we did that today, but we gave away a few cheap goals. That could be the game summed up there – they took their chances and we didn’t. Every time we seemed to be coming back at them they went up the other end and got a goal. You know, we’re going to have to tighten up in that regard.
“I think we started okay but there was a middle period through the first half where we struggled with the breaks. During that time we had chances to pop over one or two points to keep us in touch but we missed those chances and that cost us dearly. They were very physical, they are seasoned and they have been in the top two or three in the country in the last number of years. We’ve a bit to go to catch up with them but I think we’re going in the right direction.”
At times in that opening half, the game passed Galway by, as they had difficulty in getting hold of possession. Conroy, who led by example and was Galway’s top performer, finishing the day with four points from play, felt the complexion of the game could have been different if his side ‘had a go’ at Mayo from the off; and if they’d found the net.
“At half-time we just said: ‘Just give it a go’. And we did that. It’s a pity we weren’t like that from the throw-in. When we ran at them we troubled them and it’s just a pity we didn’t get a goal during that period after half-time. Shane Walsh hit the crossbar – that would have been a massive score for us. I’d another chance that just went over and we had the penalty saved as well. There were a couple of bad wides as well, and we’ll have to work on that stuff. We don’t have too much time now, it’s great we’re out again in two weeks against Tipperary.”
The city-man has identified a number of areas where Galway needs to improve on as it strives to reach the last eight with a win over in the qualifiers over Tipperary, who they defeated last year in the back-door.
“I think we’ve got to work on not letting runners through our defence – they got three goals today and it was from a runner and, yeah, exactly they could have had a couple more. Get more clinical upf ront – that’s definitely another area where we’ve to work on.
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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