Sports
Magnificent westerners crown great season with fairytale win
Connacht 20
Leinster 10
THE audacity of it all. The rugby team that represents the province of Connacht are now PRO12 champions after a campaign where they made a mockery of conventional wisdom in every conceivable way and a mesmerising performance in this final that neatly encapsulated the ambition and talent underpinning all that had gone before.
At a sun drenched Murrayfield on Saturday, the masterplan reached fruition and the heroes in green scorched Leinster with three never to be forgotten tries and 80 minutes of uncompromising, unyielding and uninhibited rugby. The perfect day.
Yet this match report can’t do the afternoon justice by merely covering the 80 minutes of rugby on the field. This game started at 4:10, not 5:30. It started when the Connacht team bus turned off Roseburn Street and in through the gates of Murrayfield. Players and management immediately spotted the sea of green that was there to greet them. ‘Game on’, the must have thought.
The bus pulled up outside the west stand entrance and thousands of supporters in green bellowed out the loudest and most haunting rendition of the Fields of Athenry one is ever likely to hear as the team got off the bus and walked in. Pat Lam led the way, briefly turning around to take it all in, looking up on the packed steps and balconies all around that had provided a natural amphitheatre to the whole scene.
Afterwards, Lam spoke of the emotion in the Connacht dressing room after that welcome and his belief that it would only bring a positive reaction. The notion of hype or pressure from your own fans affecting performance has always been a ridiculous one and the novice finalists from the western province underlined as much by conjuring up a performance that has had the rugby world talking ever since.
The winning of the game came in the first half hour, Connacht withstood some early testers as Jamie Heaslip and Leinster came out with a fire and brimstone effort. However, the men in white were repelled and repeatedly disrupted by the westerners in the first ten minutes. Tom McCartney, Ultan Dillane and Eoin McKeon notched up some huge tackles during that period.
Such tackles allowed Connacht time to get to grips with the breakdown area where they initially seemed to be on the back foot and where Eoin Reddan seemed to have the time to move the ball quickly. He would play second fiddle to Kieron Marmion from that point forward. It was a testing period but not one for panic and the early signs were good on that front.
The first attacking spark from Connacht came appropriately from a brilliant break out of the 22, ambition and skill combined with AJ MacGinty’s brilliant pass releasing winger Matt Healy deep inside his own half. The kick and chase from the prolific try scorer had Leinster scrambling and led to a 90 metre gain. While Connacht didn’t score at that point, the tone was set, this was going to be a day of high octane rugby and Leinster had better be ready. They weren’t.
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.
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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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