Sports
Galway footballers fail to impress in fending off limited Leitrim challenge
IT was more hard watch than it was hard won. Anyone travelling to Carrick-on-Shannon on Sunday hoping Galway might beat Leitrim out-the-gap was bitterly disappointed.
Kevin Walsh’s men did nothing more than get the job done, with an eight-point Connacht Championship quarter-final victory, 1-13 to 0-8, over their hosts.
At times it was a hard slog but, just like in New York a fortnight previous, there was never really any sense that Leitrim would upset the odds, even though they created a few decent goal chances.
It was a boring game to watch; scrappy, dominated by defences, littered with errors and polluted with unnecessary fouling. It lacked championship intensity, too.
The crowd of 5,400 certainly did not get value for money for their tickets, which were priced a bit steep by the Connacht Council at €25 for the stand.
That matters little to the winners, who have, as expected, booked a semi-final clash with Mayo on Sunday, June 14 at Pearse Stadium.
Afterwards, Leitrim manager Shane Ward complained that Galway were “very negative”. And in other news, the pot called the kettle black.
True, Galway lacked a cutting-edge up front, and they relied heavily on Leitrim fouls for their scores. But the way Ward was talking you’d swear Leitrim approached the match as if they’d six Lionel Messi figures, who played with abandon in attack. They didn’t.
Regularly the Leitrim player count inside their own ’45 was 11, as they piled players back and tried to build attacks, slowly through the hands. Bad teams drag you down to their level. And that’s what happened with Galway here: They were better without the ball than with it.
Hopefully Galway will raise their game for Mayo’s visit – they’ll certainly have to because the reigning provincial champions, who are going for five-in-a-row of Connacht titles, are operating at a different level to what was on show at Páirc Seán MacDiarmada.
The match was probably over at half-time, as Galway, having not played well at all against the wind, made it to the break with a 1-7 to 0-6 advantage. Target-man Damien Comer bagged the crucial score; on the edge of the square, he snatched a high ball from Peadar Óg Ó Gríofa, swivelled and buried to the net before half-time.
In the second-half Galway shut up shop and outscored Leitrim by six points to two. Yes, it was as grim as it sounds. Comer had a big influence on proceedings from limited possession, and others who impressed were Cathal Sweeney at corner-back, Paul Conroy at midfield, Seán Denvir at wing-back, and goalkeeper Brian O’Donoghue; and the likes of Micheál Lundy and Gary Sice worked hard.
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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