Sports

No contest in Connacht junior hurling final

Published

8 years ago

November 13, 2014

Mark Walsh

Annaghdown 2-11

Calry/St. Joseph’s 0-6

CALRY/St. Joseph’s hurlers managed to register the same total, and concede much less than their footballers the previous weekend against Killanin, but the final outcome was still the same. The Sligo outfit had three starters from the football team that were hockeyed 5-17 to 0-6, and were going for a third Junior hurling title in succession last Saturday.

However, Annaghdown were worth each one of the 11 points they won this Connacht Junior hurling final by. Similar to when they overcame Ballgar in the county decider, Annaghdown’s forward line clicked into gear in the second half playing with the breeze, even if they did shoot a total of 13 wides over the hour. The Connacht Centre of Excellence in Ballyhaunis is an excellent facility, but cruelly exposed to the elements.

Damian Comer was in from the start at full-forward, and very much looked the part. He rifled in two goals in the second half as Annaghdown completly dominated matters playing with wind advantage. They moved the ball better, and were more intelligent when in possession. Caherlistrane man Adrian Murphy, who played with the Roscommon hurlers earlier this year, was excellent in this regard when he made his entrance in the 42nd minute.

Calry/St. Joseph’s were dogged, especially in the first half. Every time a man in a maroon geansai got on the ball, he was hounded and surrounded by Sligo men. Keith Raymond looked particularly good at midfield, as did Ronan Cox, but Calry/St. Joseph’s didn’t have any real attacking threat.

Playing with breeze advantage, Calry needed to have been leading at the break, but they weren’t. Instead it was Annaghdown who rattled off the final three points of the half, to lead 0-5 to 0-3. Both sides missed chances early on, and it was Raymond who opened the scoring for the Sligo side in the third minute.

Jonathan Comer had an off day with his shooting against Ballygar, but last weekend his radar was more in tune. He opened Annaghdown’s account for the afternoon in the ninth minute from a free, and would follow up with four further efforts from placed balls during the game. Raymond then showed his quality a couple of minutes later, emerging from a cluster of bodies to send over a long range point.

Annaghdown pegged their opponents back when Cathal Gaffney raised a white flag, after a move involving Ronan Newell, Enda Mullarkey and Damian Comer. Ronan Cox had Calry/St. Joseph’s ahead for the third time in the 19th minute, but they would fail to score again until the 37th minute, perhaps unjustly as it turned out.

Full report in this week’s Connacht Tribune

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Not too many fireworks but minor hurlers get job done

Published

13 hours ago

March 30, 2023

John McIntyre

Galway full forward Aaron Niland who scored 1-10 in their Leinster minor hurling championship victory over Antrim in Darver on Saturday.

Galway 2-18

Antrim 1-10

John McIntyre in Darver

WE are little the wiser about the All-Ireland credentials of the Galway minor hurlers after their routine victory over a committed Antrim outfit at the Louth GAA Centre in Darver on Saturday.

Making their debut in the Leinster championship in the first of three round-robin group fixtures, Galway got the job done without setting off too many fireworks in a more competitive tussle than anticipated.

Though Fergal Healy’s charges didn’t look anything exceptional, there were mitigating factors, not least an extensive casualty list, the tiring long journey to the Louth venue, and it being their first outing of the championship.

Yet when Antrim full-forward Orrin O’Connor sent a low shot to the opposition net in the 49th minute, it left only six points between the teams (1-15 to 1-9). This wasn’t the expected script as Galway were not having things all their own way.

There was no sense of alarm, however, either on the field or on the sideline, as the Westerners quickly responded to that Antrim green flag with an unanswered 1-3 to leave them in good heart for this Saturday’s encounter with Laois at O’Moore Park.

For decades, Galway minors were accustomed to playing their first championship match in August and while their debut in the title-race has been brought forward in recent years with the introduction of All-Ireland quarter-finals, now having to start their campaign in late March does take a little bit of getting used to.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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Connacht Tribune

Galway get a wake-up call ahead of league showdown

Published

13 hours ago

March 30, 2023

Ivan Smyth

Galway's Ailbhe Davoren who scored three points from play in Sunday's National League defeat to Kerry at Tuam Stadium.

Kerry 3-11

Galway 0-17

Ivan Smyth at Tuam Stadium

GALWAY ladies footballers suffered their first defeat of 2023 as Kerry secured first blood with these sides set to meet again in the League final on April 15.

Despite both teams being assured of qualification for the decider at Croke Park before throw in, this was an entertaining affair with Kate Slevin’s eight point haul not enough to prevent Galway suffering their second successive defeat to Kerry after also losing out to to the Kingdom in the opening round of the championship last year.

Ultimately, Galway will be disappointed to lose this one. They led this game 0-7 to 0-2 but from the 22nd to the 48th minute, Kerry outscored their hosts 3-8 to 0-4 with the Tribeswomen falling eight points behind in the final quarter. Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh slotted 2-3 in the opening 30 minutes before being replaced at half time with the Kerry camp stating afterwards that the three time All-Star’s substitution was a pre-planned move.

With Galway shipping 2-3 and scoring just a point from the 22nd minute to half time, joint manager Fiona Wynne admits the side’s concentration in the moments before the break needs to improve: “We saw something similar when we played Cork in Pearse Stadium. We seem to be going very well and were well on top ,but towards the end of the first half in both scenarios we did get caught. Really happy with how we reacted to going behind against Cork. A little bit to do after today but it’s something we definitely have to look at.”

Chellene Trill, making her first start of the year, was given the arduous task of tracking the Corca Dhuibhne clubwoman. The Claregalway defender played well, storming out of defence twice with possession in the early stages but Ní Mhuircheartaigh at times was double teamed and still managed to kick scores that few others could.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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Connacht Tribune

Creggs left crestfallen after late heartache in Cup final

Published

13 hours ago

March 30, 2023

Our Reporter

Shane Purcell scoring a try for Creggs against Westport during Sunday's Connacht Junior Cup Final at the Sportsground. Photos: Joe O'Shaughnessy.

Westport 21

Creggs 19

Kevin Egan at the Sportsground

SOMEWHERE around the West of Ireland right now, there’s probably a newspaper report that would describe the dramatic scenes at the end of last Sunday’s Connacht Junior Cup final as bearing resemblance to the plot of a Hollywood movie.

If you travelled to the Sportsground to support Westport in their bid to win a first Junior Cup since 2015, that description might feel apt this week. However if you travelled in hope of watching Creggs end their 30-year drought in this famous competition, the manner in which the Galway-Roscommon border club had their double dreams shattered felt almost Shakespearean; like a cruel tragedy where it wasn’t enough to simply plunge the knife into the tragic hero, but there also had to be a considerable element of irony, and of expectations being flipped on their head.

As newly-crowned league champions, Creggs went into this game as favourites, and that weight of expectation was only encumbered further by the firm astroturf surface and the relatively benign conditions (notwithstanding a first-half downpour, but 80 minutes of good weather in Galway is too much to expect in July, never mind March).

Their skill and craft, particularly in the back division, was expected to slice open the West Mayo side, who many expected to struggle in the latter stages of the contest. Instead, it fell to a hugely promising young back from Westport, 18-year-old full back Cormac Lyons, to strike in the fifth minute of stoppage time and cancel out what looked like a match-winning try and conversion from Shane Purcell just six minutes earlier.

That Creggs would have trouble coping with the sheer power of the Westport pack was no surprise, and for the opening 15 minutes, the club that has recently become known as “The Bulls” did everything they could to live up to that name.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App

Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.

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.