End of road for Salthill men

Tuam Stars 1-08

Salthill / Knocknacarra 0-09

FRANK FARRAGHER

LAST Sunday, ‘The Stars’ went back to go forward, returning to their traditional roots of sprightliness, pace and forward dash as they ended the championship challenge of Salthill in a full blooded senior semi-final encounter at a dank Tuam Stadium.

It was an absorbing battle from start to finish with plenty of big hits given and taken during an intense hour of football played on a grey October day, but right from the opening moments it was clear that Tuam were the side with the hunger and drive to make it through to the county final.

Indeed if Tuam could have added an extra measure of composure to their attacking play in terms of making that final pass to a player in a better position, then the margin of victory would have been at least a few points more.

This was a disappointing conclusion to the 2011 championship campaign for Salthill-Knocknacarra whose flame had burned very brightly in mid-season, racking up big scores against Killererin and Moycullen, but when the pressure came on over recent weeks, their attack just lacked that added level of flair and inventiveness to see them over the line.

Referee Muiris Mac Gearailt dished out a fair scatter of yellow cards, eventually leading to one red being issued to Salthill midfielder, Stephen O’Reilly in the 50th minute for an off-the-ball foul on Brendan Devaney, but while some of the tackles were crunchingly hard, the match generally remained within the ‘hard and fair’ parameters.

Tuam Stars defended very solidly all through with centre back Tony Costello delivering a series of early clearances that set the tone for the match – over the course of the hour, the Salthill attack didn’t manage to create one genuine clear-cut goal chance.

Sean Armstrong and Seamie Crowe were the two Salthill hit men that Tuam had identified as the main threat to their defensive citadel with both players continually sheperded away from goal into outfield spaces outside the scoring zone.

The other main foundation stone of the Tuam victory structure was the pace at which they moved the ball from defence to attack – over the course of the hour they just had that extra yard of pace to take them clear of danger, with the player in possession never short of support.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.