Turlough’s title chase gains traction with emphatic win

Killimordaly 1-8

THERE was a strange backdrop to this lively Senior A championship tussle in New Inn on Sunday . . . and it had little to do with Killimordaly and Turloughmore heading to the heart of Sarsfields’ country to mark the club’s official opening of their impressive new pitch development in New Inn.

For Turlough knew regardless of the result that they would still make it through to the knock-out stages of the title race, while conversely Killimordaly knew that irrespective of their fate, they would still need to overcome Ballinderreen in their final group outing to advance.

It perhaps would be churlish to suggest that this match was therefore academic, but both teams were aware the fixture could never masquerade as a do-or-die battle. Yet, there was no short of intensity until Turlough upped the tempo on the resumption to gradually pull away.

A healthy crowd of over 2,500 turned up on this red-letter day for the Sarsfields GAA Club and with a lot of fringe inter-county talent on show, together with the prestige of the occasion, there was an obligation on the rival players to not go through the motions.

As it transpired, Killimordaly threw down the gauntlet to Turloughmore from the start and only for nine first-half wides, they would have enjoyed a bigger lead than two points (1-5 to 0-6) at the interval having been backed by the wind.

Unfortunately, this inaccuracy – they hit another six wides in the second-half – began to erode morale as Killimordaly could only manage a paltry three points from Paul Creaven frees over the closing 30 minutes. Though you couldn’t accuse them of throwing in the towel, once the game started slipping away the focus may have been on preserving energy for the critical Ballinderreen clash.

Though there was some robust defending from the likes of Conor Daly and Declan Connolly, and Paul Madden’s bustling aggression troubled All-Star Daithí Burke in the first-half, they had no real attacking spark other than the excellent Creaven, whose early goal gave Killimordaly significant impetus.

A lot of attention would have focussed on Brian Concannon, but a couple of early misses from frees were frustrating and he also tended to carry possession into traffic when bearing down on the Turlough posts. Killimordaly’s second county panellist, Jack Fitzpatrick, didn’t really dominate at centre back either.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

Get the Connacht Tribune Live app The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and  county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.