Connacht hurlers recover from early scare to ease home
Date Published: {J}
Eoghan Cormican At Duggan Park
A weekend to remember for Anthony Cunningham even if Sunday’s mundane Inter-provincial clash failed to add any fire to the argument of saving the competition.
Connacht’s comfortable ten point victory over Ulster may not have reached the dizzying heights of Saturday’s club semi-final between Garrycastle and St. Brigids, nonetheless Cunningham is sure to be delighted with a satisfying weekend of results.
The game itself though, watched by no more than a couple hundred die-hards was a poor spectacle in term of promoting the series. The intensity, pace and physicality of the exchanges was well below par. Put frankly, the hours fare resembled more of a challenge match that anything else.
That said, the openness of the tie suited Connacht with forwards such as Iarla Tannian, Eanna Ryan and Niall Burke picking off scores at their ease.
Ulster got the perfect start when Neil McManus drilled over a free and that was followed by points from Neil McAuley, Michael Armstrong and a second McManus free. Karl Stewart split the posts subsequently and all of a sudden, the Ulstermen had established a commanding five point lead with no more than eleven minutes played on the clock.
Niall Burke, Connacht’s top scorer on the day, had the homeside off the mark with a long range free. Indeed, Burke was among a plethora of scorers, including Eanna Ryan and Johnny Coen, which guided the all Galway selection back into contention, cancelling out similar efforts from Neil McManus (2), before Iarla Tannian pounced for the game’s opening goal.
Damien Hayes instigated with score with a clever ball to Donnie Fox and though the Carnmore midfielder mis-controlled the leather, he snapped up possession at the second time of asking before offloading inside to Tannian. The result was inevitable, the Ardrahan sharpshooter blasting the sliotar to the Ulster net.
Connacht continued to push on, Eanna Ryan (2) and Niall Burke (2, -1 free) adding points in the closing minutes of the half, while McManus tallied the visitors first score in over fourteen minutes to make it 1-8 to 0-8 at the break.
Connacht could – and should – have added to their goal tally in first half stoppages but astute goalkeeping from Down’s Graham Clarke denied Donnie Fox.
For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.