Sports
Presentation College, Athenry retain the John Ryan Cup in impressive style
Presentation College, Athenry 0-15
St Brigid’s Vocational School, Loughrea 0-6
Mark Kelly at Kenny Park
Presentation College, Athenry picked up the John Ryan Cup for the second year in succession at the expense of St Brigid’s, Loughrea. and while the Athenry secondary school narrowly came out on top in last year’s decider 1-16 to 0-16, their victory this time around in Kenny Park was a clearer run thing.
An All-Ireland semi-final awaits for the Pres next weekend, but St Brigid’s are not out of the equation for ultimate honours either. Their management duo of Martin Raftery and Galway hurler David Burke will have been busy refocusing their troops this week, ahead of this Saturday’s All-Ireland quarter-final meeting with St Peter’s from Wexford.
The last time a Galway secondary school won an All-Ireland title in this grade was back in 1995. John Bruton was Taoiseach and Jack Charlton was still Irish soccer manager, and it was St Raphael’s of Loughrea who lifted the Dr Croke Cup 20 years ago.
Side notes aside, the Pres defeated St Brigid’s on Saturday for a couple of reasons. They started and finished well, scoring the first five and last five points of the game. In between, they restricted St Brigid’s to six points, and they better handled playing the majority of the game with 14 men.
In the 9th minute of the first half, referee Tom Connor dismissed Andrew Greaney of the Pres and Shane Fahy from St Brigid’s.
The flashpoint resulted after Fahy and Cillian McDaid collided in a race for possession. Players from both sides got involved, with Greaney joining the schemozzle to send Shane O’Brien to the floor with a shoulder. Problem was, he connected with O’Brien’s midriff with the butt of his hurl, and gave the referee little choice. Fahy’s red card was for striking in the act of tackling.
Perhaps the most important reason why the Pres won however, was because they had a more potent forward division. Brian Burke was the driving force in the final quarter from right-half forward, his physical presence causing the St Brigid’s half-back line no end of issues.
While Shane O’Brien, Damien Finnerty and Michael Lynch all looked dangerous on different occasions, the Pres defence coughed up very little in the way of space for St Brigid’s lighter forward line. As well as Burke, the Pres could rely on Cian Burke and Evan Niland for scores, and the trio contributed all but one of their team’s 0-15 total.
The Pres were 0-5 to 0-0 to the good when Greaney and Fahy were sent off. Niland scored four of those points from frees. Sean Loftus, who covered between his full and half-back lines throughout, chipped in with a monster score from play as well, and it wasn’t until the 11th minute before St Brigid’s got off the mark.
For more, read 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
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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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