Sports
An Spidéal book place in Junior A decider
An Spidéal 1-14
Turloughmore 0-13
A Fiontáin Ó Cuanaigh goal in the opening minute of the second half set An Spidéal on the road to victory over a resolute Turloughmore outfit and secured the Connemara men a place in this year’s Junior ‘A’ hurling decider.
Played in ideal hurling conditions in Clarinbridge, An Spidéal, who won the J1 competition last year, underlined their championship credentials with a display of some note. Extremely effective at winning primary possession in the middle third, An Spidéal also had the players inside to hurt the opposition.
No more so than Ó Cuanaigh, who hit an incredible 1-5 from play, including that decisive 31st minute goal which followed good work from the equally influential Cillín Ó hEochaidh.
Indeed, when Ó hEochaidh caught the resulting puck-out and shot a neat point to put An Spidéal 1-11 to 0-8 in front, it appeared as if they might cruise their way to victory. However, they only hit three further points in the contest – not scoring for 20 minutes in that time – and this, no doubt, will be an area of concern heading into the decider.
In truth, Turloughmore did play their part, hitting five unanswered points between the 39th and 50th minutes with free-taker Joe Hession (three placed balls), full-forward Michael Costello and defender Shane Morris from a free the contributors.
That scoring burst left just one between the sides – 1-11 to 0-13 – and the game was back in the melting pot with 10 minutes remaining. An Spidéal, though, found their way back into the contest again, ably led by Ó Cuanaigh and another of their shining lights, Padraig Eoin Ó Curraoin.
They hit the last three points between them while Ó Cuanaigh could also have added another goal to his personal tally had Turloughmore goalkeeper Gary Hurney, who would have been disappointed to concede the first goal, not pulled off the most remarkable save on 57 minutes. It was brilliant.
At any rate, An Spidéal had done enough to get over the line on a day when every man performed. This included Galway senior football goalkeeper Maghnus Breathnach who proved to be a pivotal figure in settling the team and stemming the Turlough’ tide when he was introduced on 49 minutes.
While Turloughmore never lost sight of the opposition or the possibility of securing a result, there were times when An Spidéal, aside from their 20 minute lapse in the second half, were extremely authoritative in this contest.
They led 0-10 to 0-8 at half-time and where it not for the free-taking accuracy of Turlough’s Joe Hession, that An Spidéal advantage could possibly have been greater. As it was, the victors gave an exhibition under the puck-out and, in this respect, wing forward Padraig Eoin Ó Curraoin was like a human Hoover.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Galway United 6
Finn Harps 0
GALWAY United marked their 800th competitive game at Eamonn Deacy Park in style on Monday evening when they smashed six goals without reply past hapless, hopeless Harps, to remain 10 points clear at the top of the table at the half-way point in the season.
A stunning couple of hours, both in terms of the weather and the football played by the home side, started on a more sombre note when three people with strong links to United were remembered in a minute’s silence that was impeccably observed.
Paul Cahill from Shantalla (and formerly of Cahill’s Shop on Cooke’s Corner) was a lifelong United who died suddenly while on holiday in Thailand, and he was remembered before the game; as was Salthill native Pat Diskin, a freelance journalist who covered United across three decades from the 1980s to the 2000s.
The thoughts of everyone in the ground were also with Bernie Ward, who buried her sister, Bridget Sweeney, on the morning of the game. Bernie’s husband, Mike, owns the catering trucks that serve at food at every United home game, and Bernie works tirelessly at every United home game, feeding the fans.
United paid tribute to that trio with a stunning opening to the game, which saw the three points wrapped up before we had even reached 20 minutes at the clock, by which time visiting goalkeeper, Tim Hiemer, had picked the ball out of the net four times.
There were four changes to the side which had been held to a 1-1 draw by Bray Wanderers at the Carlisle Grounds on Friday night. Rob Slevin was sent off in that game on two yellow cards and so served an automatic one-match ban on Monday.
Conor O’Keeffe picked up a nasty gash on his face thanks to a stray Bray Wanderers elbow and missed out on Monday; while Francely Lomboto and Vince Borden dropped to the bench, the first game all season that Borden has not started.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
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The Salthill Fives came back in style at the weekend when crowds thronged Salthill Park for two days of non-stop football and entertainment.
Salthill Park was transformed with three 5-a-side pitches, a food village, music in the bandstand, pilates, yoga, circuits, kids coaching sessions, football KitBox with their unusual shirts, and the barbershop where hair and beards were trimmed all weekend; while Croí was on site as designated charity partners offering free blood pressure checks.
The centre-piece, however, was the actual football, which saw three tournaments held over the weekend: competitions for U-13 boys and U-13 girls, and the main event, the men’s tournament, with Deputy Mayor, Cllr Mike Cubbard, on hand to present the medal’s after the various finals.
Marvoy’s Classic Seven emerged as victors with former Galway United star, Padraic Cunningham, scoring the winning goals as they came from a goal down to beat Corrib Rangers. To cap a perfect weekend for the Headford native, he was also awarded the Diarmuid Fadden Player of the Tournament Award.
The ‘Ray Healy’ award for fair play was awarded by the referees to Eoin Roche of Smack your Pitch Up, who was presented with his award by Ray’s mother Christine; while a new award this year, The Spirit of the Fives in memory of Pat ‘Chippy’ Colman, was presented to Jimmy Jennings of Corrib Rangers.
Speaking on the pitch after the final, Salthill Devon Chairman Pete Kelly, thanked everybody who made the event possible.
“Where would we be without sponsors? Ground & Co came on board as main sponsors; Seven Bar, Seapoint Leisure and Blackrock Cottage were pitch sponsors with the boys and girls being sponsored by Dough bros and Curry’s Funfair.
“In addition, the support of the Village Salthill and the Salthill Devon committee made the ‘Return of the Fives’ a resounding success. The support of the Galway City Council was, as ever, an invaluable element in the entire operation – these partnerships can deliver quality events for the city, and planning has already started for 2024,” he said.
A week after hitting the half-way point in the First Division campaign, the league is set to enter its annual two-week midseason break after this Friday’s round of fixtures, and taking all three points on offer from their trip to Ferrycarrig Park to take on Wexford FC (7.45pm) will see United’s players heading for the country’s airports with a spring in their step.
The players are understood to be getting a week away from the weekly routine of collective training – though they will be expected to do their own little bits and pieces while they down tools – and they won’t want to sour the holiday mood by dropping points against a side they have beaten twice already this season.
It took them a while to make their dominance count on the scoreboard in the first meeting between the sides back in April, but once David Hurley opened the scoring in first-half injury-time in Ferrycarrig Park, there was only going to be one winner, and second-half goals from Francely Lomboto, Darren Clarke, and Vince Borden sealed a 4-0 win.
They were far more comfortable than the final 2-0 scoreline suggests in the second meeting between the sides in May, when the visitors to Eamonn Deacy Park parked the bus in trying to keep the score down, which they at least managed to achieve.
They will welcome United to their home patch on a bit of decent form, having taken seven points from their last three games, and they possess a real thereat in Aaron Dobbs, a man who would look great in a United jersey not only in the second-half of this season, but in the top-flight next year as well.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
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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.
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