Great day for Galway teams in Tuam Stadium

Date Published: 11-Nov-2010

Dara Bradley

AFTER a disappointing summer on the inter-county stage, Galway football received a timely boost at the weekend with Killererin qualifying for the Connacht senior club championship final and St. James’ being crowned the 2010 Connacht intermediate club champions.

Killererin will face the 2006 Connacht champions, Roscommon’s St Brigids, in the provincial final on Sunday week, November 21, at Tuam Stadium after the Barnaderg men defeated Mayo kingpins Ballintubber after an almighty struggle last Sunday.

In the preceding match of the double-header in Tuam, St. James kept intact their unbeaten run in all competitions this season when they withstood a second-half onslaught from Roscommon’s Strokestown to hold on for a deserved victory in the intermediate decider.

The city club followed in the footsteps of former Galway intermediate football champions who went on to conquer Connacht – Caherlistrane, Moycullen, St Michael’s and Leitir Mór – and became the fifth club from the county to lift the title since the provincial competition was introduced in 2004.

Killererin, without the inspirational Pádraic Joyce who was on honeymoon, looked totally out of sorts in the first half of the senior semi-final and it took them at least 15 minutes to get to the pace of it. By that stage Ballintubber, who were facing a very strong breeze, had established a 1-3 to 0-3 lead – the goal coming from a penalty kick by Pádraig O’Connor after Gary Dillon was fouled by Tommie Joyce in the area.

Things were looking grim for the Galway champions but two crucial scores from Nicky Joyce (one free) and a point from Ger Butler in the second-quarter narrowed the gap to 1-4 to 0-6 and gave them hope at the interval.

The second-half was an ugly spectacle but filled with excitement and drama as Killererin used their shrewdness, cuteness and never-say-die attitude to eke out a one-point, 0-9 to 1-5 win. Goalkeeper Alan Keane, who looked shaky under the high ball at times, stepped up late-on and drove over a match-winning ‘45 with a massive kick into the stiff wind.Ballintubber in many ways were the architects of their own downfall.

Playing a sweeper and negative game was the wrong tactic when they had the wind and were chasing a lead.But Killererin can take huge credit for once again showing how good they are at holding a slender lead once they get their noses in front.

The referee could have played another eight minutes of additional time and it was unlikely Ballintubber would have been able to land the equalising score such was their lack of confidence and precision in front of goal and Killererin’s dogged defence.