Sports
Galway minor footballers’ agony
Mayo 3-7
Galway 1-12
SEVEN years have passed since Galway minor footballers last claimed a provincial title, a campaign that ended with Paul Conroy climbing the steps of the Hogan to collect the Tom Markham Cup, and of all the near misses and narrow defeats that have come in Connacht in the intervening years, Saturday’s one-point defeat to Mayo at Tuam Stadium must surely hurt the most.
Six points up late in the first half and playing some superb football, Galway were firmly on track. In truth, they should have been completely out of sight. A lack of ruthlessness with their finishing combined with the concession of a soft penalty kept Mayo in the game before half-time and it all unraveled after the contentious sending-off of key midfielder Michael Daly with little over 20 minutes remaining.
This will be a difficult defeat to come to terms with for manager John Donnellan, his selectors Enda Daly, PJ Kelly and Seamus Burke, the extended backroom team of Alan Keane and Michael Donnellan, and the entire 30-man Galway panel. A huge effort went in since last winter but a season that held plenty of promise comes to an abrupt end with no backdoor or second chances available. This was an avoidable defeat and a shot at both the Connacht title and progress to the All-Ireland series have all slipped away in the most frustrating of circumstances.
There will be more than just a few regrets in the Galway camp this week, from how they failed to turn the screw during a totally dominant opening 25 minutes to allowing Mayo back into the match and on to the dismissal of Daly by referee Ray McBrien. That decision that changed the entire course of the match and dealt Galway a blow they could never recover from.
On a yellow card from late in the first half, the Mountbellew-Moylough midfielder received his second following what seemed an innocuous foul in the shadows of the stand. The Leitrim referee appeared to be taking no action until his linesman intervened and a second yellow card was issued. All in all, it looked an extremely harsh call and in terms of determining the outcome, it was a decisive one.
The bottom line is that the reigning provincial and All-Ireland champions advance to a provincial decider against Roscommon at MacHale Park, Castlebar on July 13 in a curtain-raiser to the senior final between Galway and Mayo. Roscommon and Mayo, in particular, have dominated Connacht since ’07 and Saturday’s defeat means Galway remain without a win against Mayo since ’05 and their overall losing streak against the province’s two other heavyweights at the grade rises to seven matches.
For more, read this week’s Connacht 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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