Two mouth-watering ties down for decision in Tuam

IT all seems to be happening in a bit of frenzy on the Galway football scene these days as the Connacht Club championship deadline puts the pressure on to have county champions in place, at the latest, by the first Sunday in November.

Four clubs now remain in contention for the Frank Fox Cup and none of that quartet – Corofin, Annaghdown, Mountbellew/Moylough and Salthill/Knocknacarra – will be looking any further ahead than Tuam Stadium on Sunday.

The day starts early in the old stadium, with the extra-time option and the declining October light having to be pencilled into the equation as Mountbellew and Salthill square up to each other at 1.30pm.

That will be the curtain-raiser to what is expected to be the tie of the series so far, when five-in-a-row champions, Corofin, put their title on the line against neighbours Annaghdown (3.15pm).

This was a rousing encounter last year with Corofin just escaping with a point to spare after Annaghdown had dominated for long stretches of the game.

The biggest effort to get to the quarter-finals surely has undoubtedly been exerted by Salthill/Knocknacarra in their double extra-time ‘epic’ against Milltown that eventually was resolved at Pearse Stadium on Sunday.

In the event of a draw in any of the semi-finals, extra-time will be played, and if the sides are deadlocked at the end of that, the clubs have been notified that there will be mid-week replays under lights at a venue to be decided.

However, how clubs would react to a mid-week replay in the run-up to a county final on the following Sunday remains to be seen. In the case of Salthill/Knocknacarra that would have them playing four weekends in a row (three of them with extra-time), a mid-week replay, and if successful in that, a county final three to four days later. Surely not a realistic scenario!

With the first-round of the Connacht club championship lined up for the Galway champions on Sunday, November 11 (against Clan na Gael of Roscommon or their London opponents), there is only week of ‘grace’ to play around with, in terms of replays in either the semi-finals or final.

The plan is to have the county final played on Sunday week next, October 28 at Pearse Stadium; and if that match did end in a draw, the replay would take place on Sunday, November 4.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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