St Thomas’ to start chase of title hat-trick against Cashel

COUNTY champions St. Thomas’ will get their three-in-a-row bid underway against Castlegar in the senior club hurling championship before facing 2015 champions Sarsfields and 2013 winners Portumna in the subsequent rounds.

All was revealed in the Lough Rea Hotel on Monday evening when the new draws for the revamped hurling championships – across all grades – were made post the Covid-19 lockdown.

One suspects, St. Thomas’ will be reasonably happy with their draw, given they accounted for two of their three opponents in the group stages of last year’s competition – defeating Castlegar on a 1-16 to 0-12 scoreline before thumping Portumna 6-26 to 0-19 in their next group tie.

However, given the sporting upheaval of the Covid-19 lockdown, no one can say for certain how teams will react upon their return to championship action on the weekend of July 25/26 and the champions will be wary of the threats posed by all three outfits in their Group 3 campaign.

2019 county finalists Liam Mellows also havea number of tricky assignments in Group 2, no more so than their championship opener against last year’s semi-finalists, Turloughmore.

When the two sides met in the group stages last year, Mellows manager Louis Mulqueen had to receive medical attention following an incident along the sideline.

To compound the 2017 champions’ woes, Liam Mellows lost that game 1-20 to 2-11 in their only defeat in the group phase and, no doubt, they will be eager to set the record straight when the sides meet again later this month.

The other two teams in Group 2 – Clarinbridge and Oranmore/Maree – were both promoted from Senior ‘B’ last year and, in a quirk of fate, they face off against each other in their first game upon their return to top-flight hurling. It’s a huge fixture for both clubs as whoever wins will, most likely, retain their Senior ‘A’ status for 2021.

In Group 1, 2019 semi-finalists Cappataggle have been drawn against great rivals Loughrea once again. The teams are no strangers to each other having met on numerous occasions in the past number of years, including the 2019 County League final, which Cappy won, and the group stages and quarter-finals of last year’s championship.

Although Loughrea got the upperhand in the group game (1-18 to 1-15), it was Cappy that took the plaudits in the quarter-final when they brushed aside the ‘Town on a 2-18 to 0-14 scoreline to advance to the semi-finals.

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

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