Connacht Tribune
Pressure rises as Galway hit the championship trail
WHETHER Galway hurlers like it or not, they are the new favourites to win the All-Ireland title. It’s not something we would have imagined even six weeks ago, but there’s been a drastic upheaval in public perception in the interim due to the unexpected meltdown of champions Tipperary.
Hammered by the Tribesmen in the league final last month, Michael Ryan’s charges rapid descent from being hurling’s leading force to now scrapping for championship survival has thrown the title race wide open, with Galway generally believed to be the best equipped to take advantage.
We all know that the favourites’ tag and Galway hurlers have been uncomfortable bedfellows down through the years and their new status certainly cranks up the pressure to deliver a long-awaited All-Ireland title in 2017, but this mantle is also a reflection of the terrific impression the men in maroon made at the Gaelic Grounds in late April.
Can we trust that league final form? Certainly, Tipperary were miles off the pace that day and their defeat to an unproven Cork team in last Sunday’s Munster quarter-final does diminish a little the substance of Galway’s runaway win, but they ticked a lot of the right boxes that day with their physicality and link-up play stand-out features of the county’s tenth league triumph.
It’s been a long time since a Galway team headed into the championship with such expectation – both local and neutral – behind them, but there have been a couple of negative developments since the league final which shouldn’t be ignored in the build up to the Leinster quarter-final against Dublin in Tullamore on Sunday (4pm).
Firstly, the ill-advised move to discourage panel members from lining out for their clubs in the local football championship stirred up a lot of bad feeling in the affected parishes the weekend before last and with the O’Flaherty brothers breaking ranks to field for Monivea/Abbey in any event, it proved a misguided effort to protect the players involved.
More worrying, however, was how sluggish Galway looked in a ‘closed doors’ challenge game against Clare in Ennis last Tuesday week. They were already behind (0-14 to 0-10) at the break when starting to take off players, and by the finish, the Banner men had stretched 2-25 to 1-15 clear.
It may transpire to be the perfect medicine in helping to keep Galway grounded for their clash with Dublin and while challenge matches have to be treated with huge caution, that outcome does raise the prospect that David Burke and his team-mates peaked for the league final and, naturally, will take time to hit such levels again.
Galway boss Micheál Donoghue said that while they had taken “confidence” from their league exploits, there was now a new chapter on the horizon. “The league is gone and we are now focused on the championship. The mood is good in the camp and we obviously have momentum.”
Full preview in this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
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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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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
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.
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
