Inside Track
Revitalised Sarsfields show the importance to tradition
Inside Track with John McIntyre
THE value of tradition should never be under-estimated in county finals. You couldn’t argue definitively that Sarsfields were significantly the better team at Pearse Stadium last Sunday, but they were certainly the more intuitive and streetwise one in local hurling’s showpiece event.
In the context of virtually coming from nowhere to claim the club’s seventh Galway senior hurling title and fortunate to survive a fraught group campaign, Sarsfields’ greater know-how in this competitive replay may be perceived as surprising, but they are one of these teams which tend to visibly grew in stature when progressing in the title race.
Naturally, for an outfit which had zero familiarity with competing at the business end of the championship, their inexperience showed at times, especially with some wayward shooting in the second half, but the team’s inner-belief never seemed to waver on a day substitutes Sean Kelly and Kevin Cooney, in particular, made telling contributions.
Ultimately, it was Noel Kelly’s injury-time first half goal – the product of a well judged overhead connection to Niall Quinn’s long range free – which proved the critical moment of the match. That score left Sarsfields 2-6 to 0-8 ahead at the break and must have proven a demoralising blow to a Craughwell team which produced an uneven display, characterised by storming into an early 0-4 to 0-1 lead, only to then find themselves three behind before rallying to trail by just a point prior to Kelly’s green flag.
As they have been doing all year, however, Craughwell didn’t buckle in terms of spirit or energy and they had managed to reduce an early five point second half deficit to 2-8 to 0-13 by the 47th minute, even if their efforts were aided by some woeful opposition inaccuracy. Stephen Glennon’s charges now had every chance of carrying the day, but Sarsfields held their nerve with late points from Niall Morrissey (free) and Kevin Cooney (two) propelling the New Inn/Bullaun men to a first county title since 1997.
Craughwell might still have pulled off a dramatic victory, but substitute Keelan Cullinane’s handpass to the unmarked Niall Healy was over-hit and Sarsfields managed to scramble the sliotar clear and, in the process, maintain their impressive record of not conceding a goal in the knock-out stages of the championship.
In front of an official attendance of 6,183 – the crowd appeared significantly bigger – this replay was a somewhat more open encounter than the drawn struggle, but it was also less savoury. Referee Shane Hynes was forced to brandish numerous yellow cards over the hour and a couple of them could have been red. There was a nasty melee straight from the throw-in and on several occasions players were sorting each other out in off-the-ball incidents.
Obviously, neither team backed away from the physical exchanges and one player who thrived amidst all the aggression was Sarsfields captain Joseph Cooney, the most influential player on the field, and who produced the individual highlight of Sunday’s replay with a terrific and timely first-half goal after rampaging through the Craughwell cover.
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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