Sports
Reigning champ Boyle heads record entry for Galway Rally
ON receipt of the biggest entry for any Irish rally this year, the Galway Motor Club hosts their Galway Summer Rally, the penultimate round of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship on Sunday next.
With some 240 crews submitting entries for the nine stage event, the Galway organisers will, due to the rally regulations, only be allowed to start 141 crews in the main field and twenty more in the popular Junior category.
The massive entry is, aside from its location, attributed to its inclusion in the hugely popular Triton series along with being rounds of the regional based Border Championship and the Top Part West Coast Championship. Outgoing national champion Donegal’s Declan Boyle heads the list in his state of the art Ford Fiesta WRC and is favourite to take event victory.
He won last year’s Galway Summer Rally in a Subaru WRC while his bid to become the first ever driver to record a straight hat trick of National titles was destroyed early this season with punctures on the opening rounds in Abbeyleix and Roscommon – at the time he led both events.
In Sligo, Boyle took a fine victory on his first national outing in his new car as fellow Donegal driver Donagh Kelly went on to clinch the title and capture the Vard Memorial Trophy.
The battle for second and third is still very much in the balance, former triple national champion Monaghan’s Niall Maguire (Subaru WRC) holds the advantage at present, although with dropped scores taken into consideration there is just five points separating the trio.
Maguire best haul of points (19) was in the Midland Rally, but since then he has switched to the ex-Boyle S12B Subaru WRC and is still adapting to his new acquisition.
For Roy White – third overall in 2013 and runner-up to Boyle (by a single point) last year – another top three finish for the Clonmel driver will be a fine achievement in his MG ZR. The bonus points from the Power Stage could play a deciding role.
Kerry’s Alan Ring (Subaru WRC) missed the last round in Sligo, his best performance was in the Midland Rally where he annexed twenty points – a similar performance in Galway would boost his bid to finish second in the Triton series.
Meanwhile, Welsh driver Steve Wood, a regular in last year’s series, netted third in the recent non-championship round, the Clonmel based Tipperary Stonethrowers Rally. Kevin Barrett in the Triton Showers liveried Subaru WRC will be aiming to secure a top five championship finish.
The top ten also includes Tyrone’s Paddy McVeigh in the ex-Patrick Elliott Subaru WRC, he has made only sporadic outings this season; former national champion Peadar Hurson (Subaru WRC), whilst seeded at number eight, could be amongst the main contenders for event victory; Monaghan’s Daniel McKenna will campaign a Ford Fiesta R5 as Motorsport Safety Group N leader Aidan Wray edges closer to claiming the showroom category of the Triton series.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
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.
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.
CITY TRIBUNE
United wary of the threat from Treaty
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.
CITY TRIBUNE
Devon crowned Women’s Connacht Cup champions
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.