Last four county champions paired against each other in hurling quarter-finals
Stephen GlennonSports
SPORTING events nowadays usually have a strong selling point and Galway GAA certainly have theirs for the quarter-finals of the senior hurling championship after the last four winners of the Tom Callanan Cup were pitted against each other when the draw was made on Tuesday evening.
In what could be described as a ‘Clash of the Titans’, reigning county champions Sarsfields have been drawn against 2014 victors Gort while four-time All-Ireland club kingpins, Portumna – 2013 champions – face the previous year’s winners, St. Thomas’. As games go, they don’t get much bigger.
For their part, Sarsfields got the scare of their lives last Saturday when an emerging Kilnadeema/Leitrim took Cathal Murray’s outfit to extra-time. Indeed, were it not for a rampaging Joseph Cooney – who scored 2-3 – the champions’ reign may have unceremoniously come to an end.
As it was, they have advanced to face a Gort team that will have nothing but revenge on their minds after they were overturned by the men from New Inn/Bullaun in last year’s semi-final. Sarsfields won that game 0-21 to 0-17, Niall Morrissey tallying 0-12 of their total.
The meeting of Portumna and St. Thomas’ also whets the appetite although the news that Portumna sharpshooter Joe Canning will be out for a prolonged period with a hamstring injury that has required surgery leaves the 2013 champions vulnerable.
When these two sides met last year, both had already qualified for the knockout stages and so a measure of shadow-boxing took place in that 3-15 to 0-23 group victory for Portumna. A great deal more, however, will be on the line this time around.
St. Thomas’, too, have their injury concerns as former All-Star Conor Cooney was forced to sit out their 0-19 to 0-17 victory over gritty Beagh on Sunday. It remains to be seen if he can recover from a calf injury in time for the quarter-finals on the weekend of September 17-18.
2015 county finalists Craughwell have been drawn against an unbeaten Tommy Larkins in their quarter-final. Interestingly, this will be the third year in a row the sides will meet in the championship after Craughwell accounted for the Woodford/Ballinakill outfit in the 2014 quarter-final before Larkins reversed the result in the first round of the 2015 championship.
Another sub-plot to this fixture is that Tommy Larkins boss Mike Rourke lives in Craughwell and is highly regarded both inside and outside the club there. On one level, it is a good draw for his charges but, on a personal level, he must be thinking what he has done to anger the sporting gods!
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.