The opening weekend of the Brooks Group Galway Senior Hurling Championship kicks off tomorrow night when Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry take on Gort under the lights of Duggan Park. All 24 clubs are set for action as St Thomas’ aim to extend their recent dominance to a fourth year.
The news of Shane O’Neill’s decision to not seek an extension as Galway senior manager last week has deflected some attention away from what should be a festival of high-class hurling action, but the decision surely did not come as surprise. The official search for a replacement by the Galway hurling committee will aim to be completed as quickly as is feasible, but with the prospects of the senior team seemingly at a crossroads, it will be interesting to see in which direction their search brings them.
St Thomas’ are unsurprisingly early favourites to claim a fourth consecutive championship, but they will have nothing easy on Saturday against Killimordaly, who they beat in last year’s quarter-finals. The east Galway is the last side to knock St Thomas’ out of the Galway championship way back in 2017.
Last year’s beaten finalists Turloughmore will be chomping at the bit to go one better this time out, as they return to Pearse Stadium on Saturday to take on Craughwell. The other game in group one sees newly promoted Ahascragh-Fohenagh begin their senior A adventure with a Sunday fixture against Castlegar.
Surely sick of the sight of each other at this stage after a series of epic semi-final clashes which all went the way of the city side, Liam Mellows and Cappataggle lock horns once more in Kenny Park on Sunday in arguably the game of the weekend.
Group three could well be the most evenly matched quartet with Anthony Daly’s Sarsfields side taking on Tommy Larkins in Loughrea before last year’s surprise packets Loughrea play Oranmore-Maree in Athenry on Saturday afternoon.
A loss for any of the teams in senior A will not define their seasons, but they will all want to hit the right performance notes from the off.
In senior B, the second of group one’s fixtures will see Athenry looking to build on some positive displays last year when they take on Padraig Pearses on Saturday afternoon.
Clarinbridge is another club with genuine aspirations of promotion to senior A and maybe a longer run in the championship, and they will look to get the better of Ardrahan on Saturday.
Kilnadeema-Leitrim escaped the relegation trapdoor only recently and Mullagh will be tough opponents for them starting off on Saturday. Kilconieron have hardly had a chance to celebrate their recent intermediate championship win as they gear up for a tussle with Beagh in group three, while many eyes will be focused on how Portumna shape up this year when they begin their campaign on Sunday in the first part of the live-streamed double header in Kenny Park against Ballinderreen.
