Sports
Galway United kick off return to Premier Division with home tie against Derry
THE long wait is finally over for local soccer fans as Galway United kick-off their 2015 Airtricity League Premier Division campaign against Derry City in Eamonn Deacy Park this Friday night (7.45pm).
United are back in the top flight of the domestic league for the first time in four seasons, though you wouldn’t think so judging by the FAI’s Media Guide, which lists United as having been formed in 2013, wiping out almost 40 years of involvement in the League of Ireland.
While technically that is true, the spirit of the club today is that of the days of Chick Deacy and Miko Nolan, of Tommy Keane and Eugene Halion, and no amount of bluff from Abbotstown can change that.
The FAI didn’t treat wipe the slate clean on either Cork City or Derry City in 2010, when both names returned to the league under diffculties the previous season. The holding company operating Cork City was wound up by the courts, but a new club under the names Cork City FORAS Co-Op returned; and Derry City was expelled from the league and dissolved and replaced by a new club which operated under the name . . . ‘Derry City’. Both clubs have their pre-2010 history included in this year’s guide.
It is an act of pettiness by the people charged with operating the league, but will just serve to further bolster the fans who refused to let the name Galway United die since those dark days of 2011, when the club lost a staggering 23 games in succession, suffered relegation and was effectively kicked out of the league after being refused a licence by the FAI to compete the following season.
That can’t – and won’t – distract from the buzz of Friday night, and the games come thick and fast for Tommy Dunne’s side, with six outings in four weeks. After Friday night, they host Finn Harps on Monday night in the EA Sports Cup (7.45pm), followed by games against Bohemians, Drogheda, Cork City and Longford Town before the month is out.
However, striker Enda Curran says the fixture list has been kind to United as they play just one of the so-called ‘big five’ – Cork City – in that period, giving the club a great chance to get some early points on the board.
“I don’t know that I would say it is an easy start, but it certainly gives us a chance to get off to a good start as of the ‘big five’, we only play Cork City in the first few weeks,” said Curran – the other clubs in that group which is expected to battle it out for the title are defending champions Dundalk as well as St Patrick’s Athletic, Sligo Rovers and Shamrock Rovers.
“Against those top teams we have to be compact as a unit but we have to go and compete against them. We certainly have the ability – we had a great run at the end of last season, going 11 games unbeaten, and we won promotion by playing some lovely football.
For more, see 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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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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