Inside Track
Galway double offers hope for summer hurdles ahead
Inside Track with John McIntyre
THIS is the right time of the year to be winning league matches, especially when teams are under pressure to do so. For different reasons, the stakes were high for both the Galway hurlers and footballers last weekend and it’s heartening to report that there was no shortage of positives emanating from the Limerick Gaelic Grounds and Tuam Stadium respectively.
The Galway footballers have been having a fraught campaign in Division Two of the National League. Almost expected defeats against both Meath and Donegal in the opening two rounds were followed by a demoralising away trouncing at the hands of Laois. Supporters were left in despair; players’ confidence was in tatters; and there were rumblings about the position of manager Alan Mulholland.
After three consecutive losses, the odds weren’t great against Galway avoiding the humbling drop to Division Three. In such an environment, it was never going to be easy for the Tribesmen to salvage their current status, but with the final round of group matches looming, the squad has admirably regrouped to such an extent that their destiny is now in their own hands.
A home win over Down stopped the rot and though Galway subsequently frittered away a winning advantage in drawing with Louth, at least they were getting results. It still left them desperate for victory over Armagh at Tuam Stadium last Sunday and though Galway mixed the good with the bad, when the needed was greatest, they had the bottle to land the last four points of the match from James Kavanagh, Paul Conroy, Michael Farragher and Tom Flynn.
In the circumstances, it was a massive win for the home team, especially as they had allowed 14-man Armagh to work their back into the contest, thanks largely to Tony Kernan’s goal in the 39th minute and some neat point-taking from Kieran Dyas. Critically, Paul Grimley’s outfit also had the momentum and the outcome was hanging in the balance until Galway pulled it out of the fire. It could be a season changer.
Mulholland and his mentors had shaken up their team for the visit of Armagh and there was some surprise when Gary Sice was left off the starting 15, but nobody was seemingly more surprised than the Corofin player himself if the bush telegraph is to be believed that he threw a wobbly and briefly walked away from the panel before sanity prevailed. In any event, Galway got off to a flier with two goals in the opening four minutes from Eddie Hoare, following a surging run from Gareth Bradshaw, and Micheal Martin.
Debutant Michael Lundy was central to Martin’s green flag and his pace was causing Armagh problems. With team captain Conroy having registered a point inside 15 seconds as well, Mulholland might have been forgiven for thinking that he was about to experience a stress-free day on the sideline. Unfortunately, Galway tend not to make life easy for themselves at present even if they were to enjoy a healthy interval advantage of 2-8 to 0-9.
Galway were still five clear by the 47th minute when Armagh defender Gary McCooey got his marching orders. That should have been the signal for the men in maroon to push on but, instead, they became overly defensive and handed the initiative to their visitors. Goalkeeper Tom Healy made a couple of vital interventions, but there were frayed nerves all over Tuam Stadium when Finian Moriarty levelled matters with just seven minutes remaining.
For more, see this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Inside Track with John McIntyre
SOMETHING very odd happened to Tyrone in the Ulster championship in early April. On their home turf of Healy Park, they were doing nearly everything expected of them when leading Monaghan by five points at half-time. You couldn’t say for definite that the match was done and dusted, but the 2021 All-Ireland champions were in pole position.
You would have expected them to drive on against an honest if limited Monaghan outfit. Instead, Tyrone didn’t score for the opening 16 minutes of the second-half and in an enthralling finale, were left stunned by defender Ryan’s Toole’s stoppage-time goal snatching the honours for the Farney men on a 2-17 to 1-18 scoreline.
A couple of weeks later, Monaghan themselves had exited the Ulster title race when Derry comfortably got the better of them (1-21 to 2-10), leaving us more puzzled than ever by Tyrone’s dramatic decline since overcoming Mayo to claim Sam barely 20 months previously. Last year, they crashed out of Ulster by 11 points to Derry and subsequently came up six short against Armagh in the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Against that background, their recent loss to Monaghan shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but it did. Tyrone may have made a shambolic defence of the All-Ireland title, but there is still a lot of quality in their ranks. They have an adventurous ‘keeper in Niall Morgan, while the long-serving Peter Harte, Darragh Canavan, Darren McCurry, Cathal McShane, Conor Meyler, Mattie Donnelly, and Conn Kilpatrick are all top-class performers when in the mood.
There’s hardly been a word about them for the past six weeks. Tyrone are lying low, desperately trying to rediscover the verve and cohesion which took them all the way in 2021. Their pride is on the line. It makes them dangerous opponents for Galway in the opening round of All-Ireland group matches at Pearse Stadium on Saturday.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Inside Track with John McIntyre
GALWAY footballers won’t get much credit for their easy victory over Sligo in Sunday’s Connacht Final in Castlebar, but when a team achieves something that hasn’t been done for 20 years, perhaps we should be a little more appreciative of the Tribesmen retaining the JJ Nestor Cup for the first time in two decades.
To be honest, if Galway were to live up to their standing as serious All-Ireland contenders, they needed to be doing a number on Sligo. In this year’s National League, the counties were three divisions apart and though Tony McEntee’s team achieved promotion and were on a nine-match unbeaten run, a serious rise in class faced them at MacHale Park.
Granted, Sligo made a bright start with three points in the opening five minutes from Pat Spillane, Sean Carrabine and the accurate Darragh Cummins, but they would only manage two more by the break despite having the wind behind them. Though wing back Luke Towey was catching the eye with his runs up-field, Galway rarely looked under pressure.
Sligo were bravely committing numbers to the middle third, which meant they were a little light in numbers around their own posts. They couldn’t afford to lose possession coming out of their own half, but that’s what happened in the build up to Galway’s second goal. Damien Comer overturned Cian Lally and from his counter-attack, Matthew Tierney expertly finished to the net at the near post.
For more, read this week’s Connacht 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.
Inside Track with John McIntyre
IS the Leinster hurling championship something of a sham compared to its Munster counterpart? Everybody knows who will end up in the provincial final in the east, but nobody knows the two teams who will feature in the ultimate battle for supremacy down south.
All-Ireland champions Limerick aren’t guaranteed to even make it out of the province, never mind reach the Munster final, after their narrow loss to Clare in Saturday evening’s epic at the Gaelic Grounds. Everything is still on the line for the five counties involved, although Waterford are again under serious pressure after losing their opening two matches.
In Leinster, there is little of that drama. Galway and Kilkenny are miles ahead of the rest; the only thing at stake is whether Dublin or Wexford – they meet in Croke Park on Saturday – will be the third team to emerge for the All-Ireland series. It’s a game which is hard to call. Wexford are going backwards while Dublin look callow as Micheál Donoghue is trying to build the nucleus of a new team.
Though Antrim are improving – they held the Dubs to a draw and only lost to Wexford by four points – the men from the Glens would be out of their depth in Munster; while Westmeath are proving cannon-fodder for everyone else. Since Galway headed east in 2009, they have clashed with Kilkenny in seven Leinster finals and another showdown is inevitable next month.
In contrast, every match in Munster is virtually do-or die. When Clare rolled into Limerick last Saturday, they knew another defeat after losing to Tipperary in the opening round would leave them on the precipice of exiting the championship. There’s a real dog-eat-dog appeal about all the games. In Leinster, there are two big hounds, and the rest are chihuahuas.
For more, read this week’s Connacht 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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