Sports
Hard earned win gets Connacht back on track
Connacht 18
Cardiff 7
THE fog is lifting for Connacht. The autumn has not been kind to Pat Lam’s men, five defeats in seven means they are a forgotten foe among the elite sides in the Pro12 and slightly to the edge of the radar of Wasps and others in the Champions Cup, yet there is a sense that all is not lost after this much needed home win on Friday.
The first ten games were a bit of a mess but hardly detrimental to the overall season goals. While a proper title defence would have been on the agenda, a much maligned and poorly planned pre-season proved very costly early on. They bounced back from three initial defeats and a fortunate postponement in Parma to beat Edinburgh, Ulster, Toulouse and Zebre but lost their way in Dublin and Newport.
On Friday evening at a freezing Sportsground, uncertainty was in the air as the sold-out crowd filtered in nice and early to enjoy some of the amenities along with the usual pre-match entertainment that seems to be making the whole Connacht rugby experience one of the more sought after tickets in the west these days.
That uncertainty was warranted, patchy form, numerous returning injured players with rust to shake off (Denis Buckley, Tom McCartney, John Cooney and Craig Ronaldson among others) all combined with the fact that the visitors had won five of eight to start the season and came in with just two players on Welsh duty compared with three for Connacht.
By full time, the sense was that that air of doubt had almost fully dissipated, not because this was some sort of fluid all conquering display, in fact more probably precisely because it wasn’t such a display and that there were still 11 points between the sides despite a litany of handling errors and miscues.
If Connacht are to finish sixth (they currently sit eighth, seven points off Cardiff but with a game in hand) then clean home victories like this are going to be vital. By clean, we mean by a margin of eight or more points ,thus denying their rivals that all important losing bonus point. Of the teams ahead of Connacht, both Cardiff and the Scarlets look catchable. Neither look infinitely better than Pat Lam’s men, that’s for sure.
The foundation for this win came from the set piece play. Scrum and lineout worked well, particularly scrum. Tighthead prop Conor Carey looks like a really clever off season acquisition. The former Methodist College star arrived from English second tier side Nottingham during the summer and has settled into an important role well. He’s old school in his size, scrummaging and rampaging runs but quickly settling into the new school when it comes to adapting to Connacht’s loose play.
The return of Buckley and McCartney also played a key role in Connacht’s early dominance in the various areas of restarting play. The first try came from a five metre scrum that had the Cardiff pack going backwards. All three of their front row had come on for Wales against Japan a week earlier but here they were in Galway looking less than comfortable. John Cooney marked his return with the try.
Full coverage in 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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