Salthill last the pace better in squeezing past battling Caltra

Knocknacarra 1-9

Caltra 0-10

Alan Dooley at Tuam Stadium

CALTRA suffered another heart-breakingly narrow loss at the hands of Salthill-Knocknacarra on Sunday afternoon in Tuam Stadium, falling agonisingly short when it appeared they were in pole position with nearly three quarters of this contest played.

Despite playing against the breeze in the second period, Caltra had taken control of proceedings and four points on the trot had stretched them into a three point lead. Michael Meehan, as ever, was kicking points for fun and Salthill-Knocknacarra looked powerless to stop him, with brothers Cathal and Padraic Mannion providing able assistance.

Meehan kicked his seventh point on 42 minutes off his so-called weaker right foot to put Caltra 0-10 to 1-4 in front. The city side had not scored for almost ten minutes, and were calling on reinforcements to shore up their defence. A goal at this stage would have surely put Caltra in the winners’ enclosure.

They had their chances, but Evan Duffy stood tall in the Salthill goal and denied Padraic Mannion before John Maher produced a crucial block on 52 minutes to deny Oisin Kelly a clear strike on goal. This Salthill-Knocknacarra side had proven their resilience in similar circumstances when defeating Leitir Mór, and once more they began to turn the tide in their favour.

Slowly but surely they chipped away at the deficit, and when six minutes of added time were signalled after Meehan had shipped a heavy knock, the Seasiders were only one behind. The prospect of extra time loomed, but Salthill won a couple of crucial turnovers in stoppage time and Seán Armstrong (two frees) and substitute Shane Kelly delivered the decisive scores to see them through to the quarter finals.

Caltra will wonder how it all went so badly wrong in the end, having not scored for over twenty minutes when it mattered most, but they had expended a lot of energy in getting into that position, and a Salthill Knocknacarra side that has a decent blend of youth and experience came good in the closing minutes.

While far from a classic contest overall, this game had quite a unique scoring sequence, in which Caltra started well before conceding a goal, but then kicked six points in succession. Salthill kicked the next four scores either side of half time before Caltra drove on with four of their own, only for Val Daly’s side to end with five points in a row to win by two.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.