Sports
Galway team captain Conroy expecting a tough battle in Carrick-on-Shannon
THE jetlag is long gone and the skyscrapers of the Manhattan skyline are a distant memory.
Galway’s 2015 Connacht campaign got underway with a 16-points win over New York a fortnight ago in Gaelic Park but the provincial championship ‘proper’ begins this weekend.
There’ll be nothing lovely about Leitrim on Sunday. The Galway senior footballers know that full well. Leitrim will be organised and dogged and hard-working and will pile plenty of men into a crowded defence. They’ll want to frustrate Galway from the outset.
Kevin Walsh’s men expect an early onslaught from the home side, who relish the underdogs tag especially in Carrick-on-Shannon.
The prize for the winners is a semi-final date with All-Ireland contenders, Mayo, who are seeking a five-in-a-row of Connacht titles. But for Leitrim, the reward of scalping Galway, one of the ‘big two’ out west, is almost as big an incentive.
St James’ captain Paul Conroy, chosen as Galway captain for a second year, is aware that Leitrim are waiting in the long grass. “They knew since the start of the year that they’d be playing us. This is the big one for them. This is their All-Ireland final. And they’ll be trying their best to get one over on us,” he warns.
Galway has a good record against Leitrim but this particular group of players hasn’t much experience of playing them in Summer. Four members of the current squad – Conroy, Gary Sice, Finian Hanley and Gareth Bradshaw – were involved the last time Galway beat Leitrim in championship back in 2008 at Pearse Stadium. And just one of them – full-back Hanley – has played against Leitrim in senior championship at Páirc Seán MacDiarmada.
Galway won the Connacht championship semi-final that day in Summer 2007, to record their eight win on the trot against Leitrim since their breakthrough year of 1994. But it was tight (1-10 to 0-17) and so, too, was the clash the following year, in Salthill, which is the most recent championship outing between the pair when Galway held them off, 2-14 to 1-13.
Leitrim, like Galway, finished the National Football League campaign strongly; and that is solid form even if they are playing at a lower level, in Division Four.
Shane Ward’s men shared the spoils with two of the teams that were promoted to Division three, Longford and Offaly. And they comfortably won their last three league matches against London, Carlow and Waterford. Emlyn Mulligan, their top-scorer and talisman, is abroad this season, which blunts Leitrim’s attacking threat. In their favour, Leitrim has been fully focused on this weekend since the fixtures were announced; whereas Galway had a transatlantic distraction.
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.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
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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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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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