St Thomas’ and Mellows renew rivalry in first round of group ties

LESS than a month after losing the All-Ireland SHC club final, county champions and injury-hit St. Thomas’ must begin the defence of their county crown without key players against 2017 Tom Callanan Cup winners, Liam Mellows.

It is one of a plethora of mouth-watering fixtures kicking off the 2019 county senior hurling championship. Others include local derby games between last year’s semi-finalists Cappataggle and 2015 champions Sarsfields and fierce local rivals Padraig Pearses and Ahascragh/Fohenagh.

The clash of Turloughmore and Portumna, albeit the latter will be missing Joe Canning (groin), is also interesting given this will be their first SHC meeting since their 2017 clash which was deemed null and void in controversial circumstances.

All-Ireland intermediate club champions, Oranmore/Maree make a long-awaited return to senior, where they will face a Craughwell side still smarting from relegation from Senior ‘A’ last year. It is a novel meeting, with the last SHC fixture between the two taking place back in 1970. On that occasion, Oranmore/Maree were victorious.

SATURDAY

SENIOR A

Portumna v Turloughmore

(Kenny Park, 3pm)

The big news from the Portumna and Galway perspectives was the confirmation that Joe Canning (groin) will be out for months and is not expected to return until mid-July at the earliest. It represents a major blow to both set-ups as neither can afford to be shorn of his creativity and work-rate. Portumna will also be without Jack Canning (Australia) for 2019.

Other than that, John Madden — former Tipperary hurler and ex-Tipp selector under Michael Ryan — takes over from Johnny Keane as Portumna manager. Madden was a selector with Portumna in 2013/2014.

The charismatic Dinny Cahill has returned as coach while David Canning and Dermot O’Brien are selectors. The team is captained by Martin Dolphin while forward Neil Connelly will be buzzing after helping his school, Borrisokane, to All-Ireland senior ‘C’ honours recently.

Turloughmore remain under the stewardship of boss Joe Hession and selectors Barry Cullinane and Peter Fahy. Having enjoyed success at underage in recent years, Hession will hope more of these young players can break through although it will be the Burkes — Daithí and Ronan — Kevin Hussey, Jamie Holland, Sean Linnane and Sean Loftus who will lead their title charge.

Last SHC Meeting: 2017 (Group Stages) Turloughmore 2-17, Portumna 0-18 (null and void).

Verdict: Turloughmore.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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.