Sports
Kelly and Flanagan emerge tops in challenging Galway International Rally
By Sean Hassett
THE 2015 Colm Quinn BMW Galway International Rally will go down in the history books as one of the best ever. Unusually dry weather greeted the drivers over the weekend, but with early morning ice and fog added, the route was extremely challenging for the drivers.
Donegal man Donagh Kelly and navigator Kevin Flanagan in a Ford Focus WRC took their first ever international rally win after driving a faultless event. Kelly commented at the Sunday finish ramp, outside Colm Quinn BMW, that he was “delighted to take the victory” after a very challenging event.
“The rally win to me is even more poignant as I have won the Galway International Rally in a car that was once owned by the late JJ Fleming of Galway,” added the Donegal driver.
Eugene Donnelly put in a late charge to finish second in his Colm Quinn backed MINI WRC. He beat Monaghan man Sam Moffett by a mere .7 of a second after 175 competitive kilometers.
The rally got underway on Saturday morning with the 12.8km Skehanagh stage. Fastest out of the blocks was last year’s event winner, Declan Boyle, in his Subaru WRC, setting a stunning time to pull out a six second advantage over Donagh Kelly.
He extended this lead over stages two and three but it all went wrong on stage four for the Donegal man. The Subaru’s engine refused to start before the stage and thus he incurred a three minute time penalty. This dropped Boyle from 1st overall to 10th just behind Dean Raftery from Craughwell. Raftery was beginning his comeback drive after issues in the morning caused him to hemorrhage time to the leaders.
Donagh Kelly inherited a slender lead over Gary Jennings but on the very next stage Jennings’ challenge ended when his Subaru had an altercation with a Galway dry stone wall. This promoted the Colm Quinn MINI of Eugene Donnelly into 2nd place, fiveseconds ahead of Sam Moffett. The order didn’t change during the final stage of the day with Kelly holding a 38 second lead over Eugene Donnelly overnight. Donnelly, in turn, was six seconds ahead of Sam Moffett.
Sunday morning and Kelly really stamped his authority on the event when he took the fastest time over the infamous Black Road stage. As the crews made their way from the end of the stage to the start of the next, it became apparent that the mornings fog was not clearing and stage 8 had to be cancelled on safety grounds.
By the midday service, Kelly had extended his lead to 47 seconds but the main interest was now between Donnelly and Moffett. They were having a really close battle with seconds being traded on each stage. Donnelly led going into the final loop of stages by a mere one second.
Mofett took the quickest time on the penultimate stage to go ahead by over three seconds. It looked like too big of a margin for Donnellyto make up but he drove the door handles off his Colm Quinn MINI WRC on the final stage to claim second in the rally, only .7 of a second ahead of Moffett.
Donagh Kelly cruised through the final stages, with a comfortable lead over the chasing pack, it was a case of damage limitation. When he came to the finish line of the final stage he was clearly emotional as tears ran down the Donegal man’s face. “I can’t believe it! We have been trying to win an International rally for a long time. We have come close on a number of occasions but to win and in Galway is just amazing.”
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
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.
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.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
