Salthill/Knocknacarra 0-11

Oughterard 0-7

By DARREN KELLY AT PEARSE STADIUM

AS the top contenders gear up for their senior football championship next month, one dark horse positioned themselves ideally last Saturday when Salthill/Knocknacarra were crowned Division 2 League champions.

With the club league season concluding, attention is already turning towards Corofin, Mountbellew/Moylough and Maigh Cuilinn, but while these teams look best equipped to lift the Frank Fox Cup, two other clubs can’t be discounted.

Tuam Stars were just two points short of Corofin in the Division 1 decider on Friday. The following day, Salthill/Knocknacarra took second tier honours along with their first promotion in eight years.

The result came the evening before the sad news broke that former manager John O’Mahony had passed away. He led the city side to a county senior final in 2022 where only a late Peter Cooke goal denied them glory.

And no doubt, he would have taken great satisfaction from the work being continued by three members of his management team. Former Galway captain Finian Hanley took over the reins for 2024 and was joined by Seán Armstrong and Norman Costello.

“We don’t see too many finals around Salthill and we don’t win too many trophies,” stated Hanley. “I didn’t in my time. Any day you’re in a final, you want to go and win it.

“They wanted to go get a bit of silverware early on in the year and see how we take it from there. Delighted we got over the line. Oughterard were tough but the boys put in a good performance and we’ll move on now to the championship.”

Conditions were fine though a strong breeze blew away from the Prairie. Salthill/Knocknacarra showed composure to build a 0-7 to 0-2 interval advantage.

Pictured: Conor Halloran of Salthill Knocknacarra is chased by Oughterard’s Ronan Molloy during the Division Two senior football league final at Pearse Stadium. Photos: Iain McDonald.