Sports
Sarsfields finish in blaze of glory to upset the champs
Sarsfields 0-21
Gort 0-17
SARSFIELDS are back with a bang. After a 13 years absence, the East Galway outfit return to a senior club championship county final after sensationally dethroning holders Gort in the semi-final in Athenry.
Huge crowds of supporters from New Inn and Bullaun lingered on afterwards to savour the victory; and most waited until Francis Madden’s charges had finished their warm down and gave them a rousing reception as they departed the field and headed for the dressing rooms.
What will the scenes be like if they beat Craughwell in the final at Pearse Stadium Sunday week? That’s another day’s work but they were right – even if the focus of the squad had already turned to the decider, sweet victories like Sunday’s don’t come around often and they should be savoured in their own right.
It wasn’t the most fluid performance, and the game itself left much to be desired at times with far toomany frees – 20 of the 38 scores were placed balls. But what it lacked in quality and intensity it made up for in raw tension and excitement, as Sarsfields finished strongly and pulled off the shock of the year.
Gort were hotly tipped to account for Sarsfields and very early on things were going according to plan. After eight minutes, Gort were 0-4 to no score up, as a jittery Sarsfields skewed four wides and were frozen with nerves. It looked ominous and the fear was those misses would come back to haunt the underdogs.
Even when they weren’t motoring well, there was a sense that Gort would have enough about them to get over the line. Maybe the players felt that, too; Sarsfields’ iffy start perhaps gave them a false sense of security. But Gort failed to drive home their early advantage and were guilty of some awful first-half wides as well.
Then, when Sarsfields put it up to them, and went at them, the South Galway men just couldn’t find a higher gear. Gort battled and tried hard to the finish but ran out of steam. They were flat throughout. And they lacked the spark and energy and intensity that were features last year in their march to the final, where they overcame Portumna. Gort has never won back-to-back titles and on Sunday we learned why: It’s an extremely difficult feat.
Sarsfields, after so many years in the wilderness, were far hungrier and hurled like a team that craved success. The longer Sarsfields hung in there, they grew in confidence and belief surged through the team; Gort just couldn’t shake them off and their forwards never got a rhythm going as they relied too much on the free-taking prowess of ever-reliable Aidan Helebert to keep the score board ticking over.
Good teams can win even when playing poorly and of course Gort had chances to turn things around. A key moment came with just two minutes of normal time remaining. Aidan Harte was burrowing through the heart of the Sarsfields’ defence and bearing down on goal before Niall Quinn with a brave and vital challenge flicked the ball away from danger.
Had Quinn mistimed the challenge, it would have been a penalty; and had he not made it, Harte would almost certainly have found the net. From the ensuing play, Sarsfields stretched their lead to three points, 0-18 to 0-15, with Kerril Wade feeding finisher Noel Kelly. That was a four-point swing.
For more, read this week’s Connacht 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.
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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.
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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.