Sports
Galway club relay teams in action
GALWAY City Harriers and Craughwell AC fielded strong teams at the National Road relays held in Raheny in Dublin last Sunday.
First off were the Craughwell masters men’s team who finished sixth in the Over 35s event. They were led off by Oliver Mullins, next up was the evergreen Gerry Ryan, who made a welcome return to competition with a fine run on the second two mile leg, while Peter O’Sullivan moved the team up to their final sixth position with a strong closing mile leg.
In the competitive four leg senior men’s event, Craughwell AC and a young Galway City Harriers team represented the county. Craughwell were placed 15th overall, with a strong three mile leg by Jason Broderick. The team also saw good runs from Neil Greaney, Peader Harvey and Damien O Boyle.
GCH were 20th team overall, led by Keith Fallon and supported ably by Joe Tannian, Niall McCarra and John Moroney. Both these young teams have plenty of potential for the coming years.
Meanwhile, Jane Ann Meehan of Athenry AC a produced a superb performance in the Manchester Marathon last Sunday as she clocked a time of 2hrs 54 minutes, which was the first time under the magic three hour barrier for her. She finished 6th female overall.
Meehan has been one of Galway’s top athletes for much of the last decade and this result is a testament to the her hard work and high mileage. Her clubmate Gearoid Rohan finished in the same time of 2.54, while there were also good runs and personal best times from Athenry’s Roseanne Trehy (3.13) and Chris Deakin (3.12). Brendan Kennelly of GCH came home in 3.22.
Matt Bidwell of GCH took yet another local road race victory, this time in the 4th annual Galway Sports Partnership 10k held in Labane, Ardrahan on Saturday last.
Bidwell took an easy win in 33.22, well clear of John Whiriskey second in 37 mins and Shane O’Rourke who was third in 37.04. First home in the ladies event was Grainne Ni Uallachain of Galway City Harriers in 39.48, with Veronica Colleran second in 40 mins flat and Deirdre Brophy third.
Brian Heavey took victory at last week’s Claregalway 5km hosted by Clare River Harriers AC. Heavey won in 18.12, just ahead of Kevin Carr second in 18.16 and Alasdair Conway in third. First lady home was Fiona Duggan of Castlegar AC in 22.47. The event was a huge success with over 250 athletes competing
The Galway City Harriers ladies continued their run of good form in the Ballinrobe 10k on Friday last, with victory going to Regina Casey in a personal best time of 36.50. Siobhan Egan also ran very well to take second with a time of 39.08, while the ever improving Niamh Hennelly clocked 40.56 for fifth spot.
Finally, day one of the Galway Juvenile Track and Field Championships takes place onSaturday in Dangan at the RSC track. The first day’s competition is for U9 to U12 athletes and a full programme of track and field events takes place, with proceedings beginning at 10 am .
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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