The prospect of St. Thomas’ exiting the race for the Galway senior hurling championship looms large as the group stages come to what should be a nail-biting conclusion this weekend, with Gort hoping to end the seven-in-a-row chasing club’s history-making ambitions in Kenny Park on Sunday afternoon.
With Micheál Donoghue’s return to the Galway senior manager’s position ratified at a county board meeting last Monday evening, the Clarinbridge native and his trusted backroom team of Francis Forde, Noel Larkin and Eamonn O’Shea will have plenty of action to decipher as the main protagonists jostle for position ahead of the knockout stages.
Gort have lost two tight encounters already in Group 3 and probably won’t be overawed by the task at hand, while St. Thomas’ exit will only be confirmed by a win for Killimordaly over table toppers Tommy Larkins in the other game in Duggan Park, a result far from outside of the realms of possibilities.
There will also be simultaneous throw-ins on Saturday afternoon in Group 1 as Turloughmore face Kilconieron in Pearse Stadium while Cappataggle and Mullagh square off in Duggan Park, both with 315pm throw-ins. Turloughmore’s form to date suggests a win to secure a place in the last eight is likely, while Cappataggle need a positive result to ensure progress and should get the better of Mullagh.
A cracking contest, arguably the game of the competition to date, is in store on Sunday in Group 2 when top spot will be decided as Loughrea and Clarinbridge go head-to-head in the second game of the double header in Athenry. These clubs met in the quarter finals last year and the semi-finals of 2022, with Loughrea winning on both occasions, so Clarinbridge will be looking to turn the tables and show that they are a real force to be reckoned with in 2024.
Craughwell and Maigh Cuilinn face off at 315pm on Saturday afternoon in Athenry with both sides anxious to avoid the prospect of slipping down to the Senior B ranks, while Group 4 also reaches a climax on Saturday when Ardrahan and Castlegar meet in Kenny Park while Oranmore-Maree face Sarsfields in Ballinasloe, with both games starting at 5pm.
Athenry’s Senior B Group 2 game against Ahascragh-Fohenagh on Sunday is a rare dead rubber as Athenry are assured of a semi final berth while Ahascragh-Fohenagh are unable to extract themselves from fourth position after two losses, but they will surely be hoping to generate some positive momentum before a relegation decider.
Portumna and Liam Mellows have a final four place to play for in Gort at 315pm on Saturday, while in Group 1 the contest between Kilnadeema-Leitrim and Padraig Pearses on Sunday will also produce a semi-finalist. Ballinderreen’s two wins already has them in the final four while Beagh are in preparation mode for their play-off against Ahascragh-Fohenagh.
Remarkably across the senior and intermediate championship there has only been one draw from the forty games played to date, which occurred in Group 4 of the intermediate ranks where Meelick-Eyrecourt, Ballygar, and Rahoon-Newcastle all still have a chance of claiming an automatic place in the quarter-finals.
