Inside Track
Galway’s bad Thurles record is reaching nightmare levels
Inside Track with John McIntyre
Thurles continues to strike fear into the hearts of Galway hurling supporters – and the statistics show why. A sixth consecutive competitive defeat at Semple Stadium last Sunday underlines the county’s appalling record at a venue which is regarded as the sport’s most hallowed.
The Tipperary stadium has never been a great hunting ground for Galway hurlers, but over the past decade Thurles has more often than not become a graveyard for their visitors from the West. Apart from their championship qualifier win over Cork in 2009 and a league final triumph the following year, the Tribesmen invariably depart the venue with tails between their legs.
Leaving aside Galway’s desperate league record against Tipperary in Thurles – just two wins from their last 18 clashes – they have bowed out of the championship five times in the past seven years at hurling’s spiritual home, while also losing there to Kilkenny in last year’s league semi-finals. It’s not funny anymore and Galway’s complex about Semple Stadium must be reaching nightmare proportions.
On some of those occasions, Galway were simply beaten by the better team, but in the championship of 2008 (Cork), 2010 (Waterford) and last year (Tipperary), they had launched themselves into winning positions only to implode down the home straight. Nobody wants to be talking about a Thurles jinx when it comes to Galway, but the reality is becoming difficult to ignore.
Take Sunday’s Division 1A league encounter against Tipperary, for instance. It was another game Galway could have won but they fell asleep on the resumption and then lost their composure after almost reeling in the home team when bravely rallying from a ten point deficit. Each stumble in Thurles can only be adding to the demons stalking the Galway players about the place.
The match itself lacked the spice associated with Galway’s edging out of Clare the previous weekend. The hurling was loose and the intensity of the exchanges only occasionally stoked the passions of the disappointing small crowd. Both teams mixed the good with the bad but, in the end, Tipperary carried the day thanks to converting two goal chances when Galway had momentarily switched off.
Frankly, I thought Anthony Cunningham’s charges had the hard work done in the opening half after which they only trailed by three points. Galway had faced the elements but some good points from Cathal Mannion, Padraig Breheny, whose replacement early in the third quarter beggared belief, and James Regan, together with Jason Flynn’s placed balls had kept them on Tipperary’s coat-tails.
Unfortunately, Galway went on to pay the maximum price for a sloppy start to the second half. Within 14 seconds John O’Dwyer, who was subsequently lucky to escape the ultimate sanction for a late pull on impressive substitute Greg Lally, had the ball in the net after defenders John Hanbury and Johnny Coen appeared to get in each other’s way. That was an untimely blow for the Tribesmen but worse was to follow.
For more, read 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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