Five talking points from opening round of Galway senior hurling championship

Back-to-back county champions Loughrea were defeated by Tommy Larkins on Saturday evening in Duggan Park. Three second half goals from Jason Flynn (2) and Cian Daniels capped off an exciting opening weekend as the Woodford-Ballinakill team repeated their shock 2024 victory over then All-Ireland champions St. Thomas.’ Anthony Burns and Kieran Hanrahan were both absent from the Loughrea starting XV through injury.

2. Athenry turn over Turlough

Athenry caused a major upset in round one turning over Turloughmore in Kenny Park. Turlough appeared to be one of the form teams heading into the championship on the back of winning the Division One League title. Niall Sunderland’s charges produced an inspirational performance and they showed no reason why they can’t be dark horses for the Tom Callanan Cup. Galway senior star Jason Rabbitte, Cian Hannon and Cillian Lawless were all in impressive scoring form hitting 2-11 between them.

3. Ger Farragher continues to deliver

43 year old Ger Farragher continues to deliver for Castlegar and Farragher remains to be the vocal point for Cashel in attack. The Castlegar sharpshooter finished up with 0-7 in his side’s draw with Sarsfields and his 65 in the last play of the game meant both sides had to settle for a draw in Gort. It now leaves Group Three finely poised with St Thomas on two points, Castlegar and Sarsfields both on one point and Oranmore Maree on the bottom of the table on zero points.

READ NEXT: Tommy Larkins stun Loughrea in Galway Senior Hurling Championship

4. Clarinbridge getting the job done against Craughwell

Clarinbridge looked in control for long periods against Craughwell, and Cathal Coen will be pleased to have got his reign as club manager off to a winning start.The Bridge have quality throughout the team, from goalkeeper Chris Callanan to a number of players with Galway inter-county experience, including Evan and Aaron Niland, TJ Brennan, Gavin Lee and Joshua Ryan. They also have Galway U20 hurler Darragh Counihan, while Michael Fallon adds further quality to the squad.

There is no doubting the talent available to Coen, and if he can blend the group together, Clarinbridge will be firmly in the mix for championship honours.

5. Ardrahan and Gort both start their campaigns with wins

In both Ardrahan and Gort’s cases, it was vital to secure a win in the Galway SHC at the weekend. Gort edged past Moycullen in Group One on Friday evening at Kenny Park, with Aiden Helebert racking up an impressive tally of 0-15 to help Andy Coen’s charges get their campaign off to a winning start.

For Gort, with games against Tommy Larkins and Loughrea still to come, they are likely to go into both as underdogs. However, this victory could prove enough to see them reach the knockout stages of the SHC, even if they were to lose their final two group games.

Ardrahan also did just enough to get past Killimordaly, with Brian Callanan and Donagh Fahy combining for 1-11. Joe O’Leary’s side will also face a difficult task in their remaining group games against Athenry and Turloughmore, but their opening victory could prove crucial, with a place in the knockout stages potentially secured even if they were to suffer defeats in their final two games.