Connacht Tribune
Moloney stars as Gort crash out of title race
Tynagh-Abbey/Duniry 1-19
Gort 0-19
Kevin Egan at Kenny Park
Gort became the first big casualties of the 2019 Galway Senior Hurling championship on Saturday evening when a sensational shooting display from Shane Moloney powered Tynagh-Abbey/Duniry to a memorable victory at Kenny Park in Athenry, snagging a preliminary quarter-final slot for the two-parish club in the process.
The result also means that Gort are out of the championship race after finishing fifth of six teams in their group of a championship campaign in which Gort were competitive in every game, but not clinical when it counted.
Tynagh-Abbey/Duniry led by 0-12 to 0-7 at half time after playing with a strong wind for the opening 30 minutes. Within 11 minutes of the restart Gort had scored five points without reply, the Tynagh-Abbey/Duniry forwards were starved of ball and shot three wides with their only three chances, so all the pieces were falling into place for the 2016 and 2017 finalists.
TAD were hanging on by a thread and they needed a lifeline – and Gort handed it to them when Johnny Conroy’s driving run was ended when he was dragged down 30 metres from goal, thus handing Moloney the chance to end his team’s scoring drought and boost his colleagues’ morale in the process.
Gort’s best chance to take a lead in the game came and went with that foul, and it wasn’t the first time that their own indiscipline proved to be a weight on their backs.
Conceding 10 points from frees wasn’t the only symptom of this ailment. In general, Michael Conway’s relaxed approach to blowing the whistle and flashing cards suited Gort, who were happy to raise the physical stakes.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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.