The business end of the club football season well and truly starts this weekend seeing the first of the intermediate quarter-finals and finishing with two mouth-watering senior football clashes in Tuam Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Senior Football Championship
Corofin v Salthill/Knocknacarra - Sunday 2.15pm, Tuam Stadium
Having been the dominant force in Galway football for three decades Corofin went on a famine of sorts by their standards, going three years without a county title until regaining the crown last year. This year, just like the other three teams in the semi-finals, Corofin have not been overly impressive, seemingly struggling for form and to maintain consistency for 60 minutes. Players like Dylan McHugh and Liam Silke have had a long year but Corofin are seeing the benefits of Kieran Molloy not having played a huge amount of time for Galway this year. The wing back has been in fine form for his club and seems back near his best almost two years after his dreaded cruciate injury. Corofin have had a pretty settled team this year with only Bernie Coen and Conor Carson being newcomers to senior football so far. With loads of experience all over the field Kevin Johnson’s side have gotten to this stage winning all four games.
Salthill/Knocknacarra have been threatening a breakthrough for a few years now with Maher, Finnerty, Culhane and Sweeney all playing important roles for Galway they are now looking like they have come of age. Silke and McHugh are likely to pick up their Galway teammates Culhane and Finnerty on the day while Molloy will likely pick up Thompson from the start.
Corofin’s management of Salthill’s attack is where this game will be won or lost. Corofin themselves have plenty in attack if they can get going, but on paper Salthill have more firepower up front.
Tuam Stars v Maigh Cuilinn - Sunday 4pm, Tuam Stadium
The second game of the day sees Maigh Cuilinn travel to face Tuam in Tuam Stadium. Tuam in their own back yard and won’t fear playing anybody there. Despite losing two games in their group, they have steadily improved throughout the season and the final score in their win over Annaghdown last time out didn’t do their dominance justice. Jamie Murphy continues to play a massive role for his side but Brian Mannion has played himself into form with a fine display in their recent wins over Mountbellew/Moylough and Annaghdown.
Maigh Cuilinn so far have flattered to deceive with their performances. With so much talent in all areas of the field they have been playing in second gear for most games, struggling through sides that they have much more football than. Niall Walsh and Dessie Conneely are doing what needs to be done up front while the return of Peter Cooke is paying huge dividends with his fantastic performance against Oughterard being the difference. Scoring 1-5 in total and 1-4 from play his long-range shooting in a blustery Pearse Stadium was a joy to behold.
Although Corofin and Maigh Cuilinn are favourites to set up a repeat of last year’s county final these are both incredibly tight games to call and Salthill/Knocknacarra v Tuam Stars in the county final would be a surprise but not necessarily a huge one.
Monivea/Abbey v Caherlistrane - Saturday 2.15pm, Tuam Stadium
Also this weekend Monivea/Abbey will face Caherlistrane in the relegation final. Monivea/Abbey will feel unlucky to be in this position after drawing with St. James’ and coming up short to Dunmore MacHales by just a point when a draw would have seen them through. Having just come up from intermediate football in 2023 an immediate drop down would be a huge blow for the team.
Caherlistrane are expected by many to go down as they have been comfortably beaten in all of their championship games this season and have been struggling to score all year. Neil McHugh’s side have looked like a team out of their depth this campaign and unless there is a massive performance from his side on Saturday it is hard to see them playing senior football in 2025.
Intermediate Football Championship
Oranmore-Maree v St. Brendan’s - Saturday 2.45pm, Duggan Park
Next up is the intermediate championship with the four quarter-finals being played on Saturday. First up, Oranmore-Maree will play St. Brendan’s in Duggan Park on Saturday afternoon. St. Brendan’s narrowly came through against Corofin in their preliminary game with Diarmuid O’Brien’s early goal helping his side to a one-point win. Oranmore so far have a perfect record in this years championship, winning all three games and putting up some impressive scores, averaging over 20 points a game.
St. Gabriel’s v St. Michael’s - Saturday 4.30pm, Duggan Park
The second game in Duggan Park will see a rejuvenated St. Gabriel’s come up against a St. Michael’s side attempting to return to the top table at the first time of asking. Having regularly being involved in relegation battles over the years St. Gabriel’s topped their group this year with wins over An Spideal and Williamstown with a draw with Corofin sandwiched in the middle.
After losing to Oranmore in their opening game, St. Michael’s regrouped with impressive wins over Menlough and Glenamaddy before defeating Cortoon Shamrocks in a low-scoring preliminary quarter-final.
Clifden v Glenamaddy - Saturday 3.30pm, An Spidéal
In An Spidéal on Saturday afternoon, Clifden and Glenamaddy clash in their quarter-final. Clifden have steadily improved since returning to the intermediate ranks after their Junior Championship win in 2022. The return of Ger Gibbons has helped no end with his sides upturn in fortunes providing that extra bit of a clinical edge.
Glenamaddy have made tough work of getting this far but they are clearly a battle-hardened side. Having defeated Menlough in their opening game they lost to Oranmore and St. Michael’s before defeating An Spidéal by two points in their preliminary quarter-final.
Caltra v Kilconly - Saturday 4pm, Tuam Stadium
The final game in the quarter-finals will see Caltra and Kilconly play each other in Tuam Stadium. Caltra won all of their group games by at least seven points. Alan Naughton is currently the top scorer in intermediate football with 1-23 to his name and his form has played a huge part in his side's successful year so far.
Kilconly on the other hand have struggled so far to find the form that brought them to the last two intermediate finals. Conor Marsden has been a huge loss for his side, but Paul Mannion is playing some fantastic football having scored 0-19 so far in this year's championship.
Williamstown v Kilkerrin/Clonberne - Saturday 2pm, Dunmore
Finally at 2pm in Dunmore on Saturday, Kilkerrin/Clonberne come up against Williamstown in the relegation final. Both sides were in the relegation groups last year and have been on a downward spiral in recent years.
Clonberne will be favourites to stay up after some huge losses for Williamstown in the group stage, but they showed some fight against Oileáin Árann in their relegation semi-final that will give some hope for Saturdays game.
