Inside Track with John McIntyre

THE pathway to an All-Ireland Club hurling final appearance for Loughrea in January looks significantly less difficult after the events of the weekend in the Leinster quarter-finals, headlined by new Kilkenny champions Thomastown being beaten out the gate by Westmeath’s Castletown Geoghegan.

Kilkenny teams have cast a long shadow over the Leinster title race, but with competition specialists Ballyhale Shamrocks, last year’s All-Ireland finalists O’Loughlin Gaels and now Thomastown out of the reckoning, whatever club eventually emerges from the province will hardly strike the fear of God into Loughrea.

The new Galway title-holders will be taking on the Leinster champions next month, with Kilcormac-Killoughey of Offaly the only past winners of the provincial title still in the hunt. They are joined in the quest for an All-Ireland club semi-final place by Na Fianna of Dublin, St Martin’s of Wexford, and giant-killers Castletown Geoghegan.

Beating Thomastown by 1-25 to 1-14 represented an epic achievement for the Westmeath club, and though their opponents had to operate with only 14 players for nearly all of the second-half after the dismissal of Jonjo Farrell, it was still a stunning result, with sharpshooter Niall O’Brien accounting for 1-13 of their tally.

Looking at the other three quarter-finals, Na Fianna were the most impressive in overcoming Clough-Ballacolla of Laois (3-20 to 1-15) as neither Kilcormac-Killoughey – 1-17 to 1-12 winner over St Mullins of Carlow – and St Martins, who beat Naas by five points (1-15 to 0-13) in a revamped Newbridge, were particularly impressive.

Only once before have Loughrea contested an All-Ireland club semi-final when, in February of 2007, they defeated Cushendall of Antrim (1-11 to 0-9) at Cusack Park in Mullingar. Vinny Maher and company were subsequently defeated by Ballyhale in the final at Croke Park on a 3-12 to 2-8 scoreline.

Though Ballygunner are undoubtedly the team to beat in the quest for the Tommy Moore Cup – they made short work of Tipperary’s Loughmore-Castleiney at Walsh Park on Sunday – Loughrea must fancy their chances of getting to the All-Ireland final regardless of who now emerges from Leinster, especially given the bounce they will have got from getting the job done in Galway last Sunday week.

It was a match Loughrea simply had to win given their prominence in the championship over the past three years. Though possessing a significant number of young players, they have built up considerable experience and were justifiable favourites to cope with the challenge of neighbours Cappataggle.

Pictured: Galway 2024 TG4 Ladies Football All-Stars award winners, from left, Olivia Divilly, Nicola Ward, who was also chosen as the Player of the Year, Ailbhe Davoren and Kate Geraghty at the presentation banquet in the Bonnington Dublin Hotel. Photo: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile.