All to play for as Galway football championship heats up
Heading into the second last round of group fixtures in the Galway football championship, there is still much at stakes for all clubs.
With no team yet guaranteed to progress to the quarter-final or preliminary quarter-finals, and no team condemned to the relegation fixtures, this year’s county championship is set to heat up.
Group 1
Fixtures: Saturday September 9, Annaghdown v Milltown, Tuam Stadium, 5.45pm
Sunday September 10, St James’ v An Spidéal, Pearse Stadium 2pm; Maigh Cuilinn v Naomh Anna Leitir Mor, Pearse Stadium 3.45pm
A win for Maigh Cuilinn over the so-far pointless Leitir Mor would put the reigning champions through, while also ensuring Naomh Anna would be in the relegation mix with the bottom two from each group in the relegation play-offs.
An Spideal will suffer the same fate if St James’ continue their recent form. Having come very close to being relegated to intermediate last season, the Jimmies have benefitted hugely from the return of Johnny Duane with the continued development of their impressive u19 team from 2022.
After their poor league form and their disappointing opening day defeat, Annaghdown have won two on the bounce and are joined by this weekend’s opponents, Milltown and St James on four points each after three rounds. A win for either side here would put them in pole position for a quarter-final berth.
Group 2
Fixtures: Saturday September 9, Caherlistrane v Corofin, Tuam Stadium, 4pm; Salthill/Knocknacarra v Barna, Pearse Stadium, 4.15pm; Oughterard v Killannin. Pearse Stadium, 6pm
Having underperformed in rounds two and three, a win for Kevin Johnson’s Corofin over near neighbours Caherlistrane will guarantee top spot - hugely important for a side hurting after three successive years with no Frank Fox for just the second time since 1991.
Caherlistrane’s last-minute winner over Barna in round three gave Tommie Joyce’s side its first points of the campaign. A second win this weekend would guarantee the north Galway side senior football for 2024, while also putting them in a great position for what seemed an unlikely quarter-final berth just two weeks ago.
Salthill/Knocknacarra and Barna will meet in the opening game of a group two double-header in Pearse Stadium. A third win on the bounce for John O’Mahoney’s side will almost certainly ensure last year’s runners-up make the quarter-final, while leaving Barna sweating over their final fixture.
In the final game of this group, a win for Oughterard would put them in a great position to progress. Relegation-threatened last season, Oughterard’s results have improved this season, while Killannin, so far, have failed to impress.
Group 3
Fixtures: Sunday September 10, Claregalway v St Michael’s, Tuam Stadium 4pm; Tuam Stars v Dunmore MacHales, Tuam Stadium, 5.45pm
With five points from the opening three rounds, and sitting pretty at the top, Mountbellew/Moylough have their bye game this weekend, while a win for either Claregalway or St Michael’s will see them almost certain of a quarter-final spot - the losing side paying attention to the second game in Tuam Stadium to see how they will fare heading into the final round.
Tuam Stars have disappointed in their opening two games. After almost toppling Corofin in the league final, they have lost to Claregalway before pulling an unlikely draw out of the bag against St Michael’s.
Dunmore MacHales surprised many with a draw against Mountbellew/Moylough in round two, but were extremely unlucky not to come away with the win, and this local derby against Tuam Stars in the stadium on Sunday evening has all the ingredients to be the most exciting game of the weekend.
Intermediate championship
Heading into the final round of the intermediate group stage, every team has a chance of advancing.
Having changed the format for 2023, every third-placed team will play a second-placed team in a preliminary quarter-final with only the top side in each group guaranteed a quarter-final place.
With no draws in any game so far in the intermediate championship, all the final fixtures have worked out that the top two and bottom two teams in each group will face each other.
The final weekend of the intermediate championship is quite self-explanatory. The top two teams are already guaranteed to progress to at least the preliminary quarter-final, with the winner of these head-to-head games securing the automatic quarter-final spot. At the other end of these groups. The bottom two teams will fight it out to see who can get the other preliminary quarter-final spots. The losers of these games will be put into the relegation group.
