Inside Track
Pacey Banner boys can finish year in a blaze of glory
Inside Track with John McIntyre
IT’S a measure of the unexpected upheaval in this year’s hurling championship that for the first time since 1997, the All-Ireland final will go ahead without Kilkenny, Tipperary or Galway parading behind the Artane Boys Band in September. In fact, the three favourites to lift the Liam McCarthy in early summer had all fallen by the wayside before the semi-finals and nobody saw that scenario coming.
Instead, youth will be having its fling in Croke Park on Sunday as both Cork and Clare, appearing in only their seventh ever senior final, battle it out for hurling’s greatest prize – two Munster teams in the decider and, curiously, neither of them heading to GAA headquarters as provincial champions which underlines just how much improvement the two finalists have made in the interim.
In spite of the county’s great tradition, Cork’s return to the big stage is something of a bolt out of the blue. Sure, they have come from nearly nowhere in the past to mould championship winning teams, but after losing to Clare (0-31 to 2-23) in a Division One relegation play-off at the Gaelic Grounds last April, key forward Paudie O’Sullivan on the long term injury list, and continuing grumbles about the axing of long serving goalkeeper Donal Og Cusack from the squad, even die-hard Rebels supporters were pessimistic about the summer campaign ahead.
They renewed rivalry against Clare in the Munster semi-final and emphatically turned the tables on a 0-23 to 0-15 scoreline. Newcomer Seamus Harnedy caught the eye in attack on a day the Banner forwards lacked the killer instinct when playing with the strong wind in the opening-half. Clare spurned several goal chances too amid mounting criticism of manager Davy Fitzgerald over his continuing deployment of an extra-defender. Cork dovetailed Brian Murphy to man-mark the roving Tony Kelly and the tactic paid off.
Murphy, however, was an absentee for the subsequent Munster final against Limerick after picking up a shoulder injury in a club match and with Pat Horgan controversially dismissed before half-time, Cork were unable to cope with their numerical disadvantage on a hot day at the Gaelic Grounds, losing by 0-23 to 0-15 and again failing to find the net. It left them facing an All-Ireland quarter-final against the fading title holders Kilkenny in Thurles.
Critically, Horgan had his red card rescinded and though Cork finished another big game without a goal, their overall pace had battle-weary opponents in trouble as they came through on a 0-19 to 0-14 scoreline. Kilkenny finished with 14 players after the harsh dismissal of Henry Shefflin and Cork were also to benefit from the teak-tough Ryan O’Dwyer getting his marching orders in the subsequent All-Ireland semi-final.
It was the game of the year and Dublin, if anything, were starting to dictate the terms of engagement and were a point ahead when O’Dwyer picked up his second yellow midway through the second-half. That incident turned the game on its head and with an opportunist goal from Horgan – incredibly, Cork’s first of the championship – the Rebels finally began to put some daylight between the teams, having five points to spare at the finish.
On the other side of the draw, Clare were also regrouping well. After hammering Laois in Ennis in the opening round of qualifiers, they were then careless against Wexford before readily pulling clear in extra time with the help of two Cathal McInerney goals. That victory set up a quarter-final date against Galway and with Pat Donnellan cleaning up in his sweeper role and Conor McGrath firing home a first-half goal, they were nearly always in the driving seat against disjointed opposition.
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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