Sports
Galway cricketers bat their way to cup success at last
THE County Galway Cricketers made history when they overcame Clare to win the Munster Senior Cup for the first time last weekend.
Played at the Mardyke in Cork city, the Munster Senior Cup Final has regularly been a bitter-sweet occasion for Galway for over three decades – they have regularly reached the final without lifting the trophy in the past.
Galway captain Umair Chaudhray praised his team’s convincing performance over Clare and said he was hugely honoured to become the first man to lift the Cup in the club’s history.
For wicket keeper, Ronan Mahon, it was a very special day as he has been on the losing side more than once for Galway since 2000. Both teams had overcome all of the Cork teams in the previous rounds.
Co Galway batted first and reached a total of 280 for 7 wickets in their 50 Overs. Shariq Nasim registered 56, Danish Ali 45, Subbu 40, Conor Mullen 45, Jaffer 23, Umair Chaudhary 19.
For Clare, Farman bagged four wickets, Kashif took two wickets and Bilal claimed one wicket. In reply, Co Clare were all out for 182 Runs in 45.3 Overs. Farukh 20, Tarik 39, Sukhpal 10, Bilal 18 and Farman was top scorer with 42.
The bowlers for Galway: Danish, Iliff, Rohit, and Muhammad Ali took a wicket each, Tabish took two wickets and Subbu took three which, together with his forty runs, made him Man of the Match.
County Galway Team: 1 Danish Ali. 2 Shariq Nasim 3 Conor Mullen 4 Subramanyam R 5 Muhammad Ali 6 Umair Chaudhary (C) 7 Rohit Bisla 8 Jaffer Hussain 9 Iliff Sumit 10 Tabish Ali 11 Ronan Mahon (WK)
Meanwhile, the Midland Cricket Association’s two knock-out trophies were decided this week. The Wallace Cup (for senior teams) saw County Galway pipped at the post by Mullingar in mid-week, losing by an agonising one run margin in the semi final.
However, Galway’s second team won the final of their competition against a strong Dundalk team, bringing home the Dick O’Neill Cup to Galway last Sunday. The victory was thanks largely to Subbu’s 104 not out who compiled well over half the Galway total himself.
In a tense final few overs in Bagnelstown in Carlow, the Dundalk lads fell just 8 runs short of the Galway target of 186.
Dundalk’s skipper, Andy Williams, threatened to take the game away from Galway with a brutal display of big hitting until Saleh Khan, fielding on the boundary threw in a lightning bolt return to keeper, Ruwan Migel who ran out the hapless Williams.
It was a turning point in the match and after that Dundalk struggled to keep up with the required rate against excellent bowling from Galway’s Mitul, Khan and Waseem.
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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