Joe Kernan’s Galway look to be odds on to book their place in the FBD League final this weekend after picking up back to back victories over both Sligo and Leitrim. This Sunday the Armagh man’s charges will face a sort of homecoming when they take on the students from GMIT at 2pm in Moycullen, and with a comprehensive score difference in their pockets from their two wins, the Tribesmen would have to go down by more than nine points to be denied a place in the home final. The students have two points on the board in the competition and will be full of confidence heading into the clash as they step up their preparations for Sigerson Cup action in the not too distant future.
In Galway’s outing last weekend they managed to bag 2-9 over the 60 minutes with Nicky Joyce the chief tormentor scoring 1-6 for Galway. By half time he had a personal haul of 1-4, Galway’s total for the half when they went in leading by 1-4 to 0-2. The second goal from Barna man Paddy Kennedy killed off the game as a contest. The students were hauled back from a winning position at the death, on Sunday against Sligo, when a last second effort from Sligo’s Colm McGee saw them share the spoils with the Yeats’ county men.
In the other section, Galway’s other students saw themselves slip to their second defeat of the competition when they lost to Fergal O’Donnell’s Roscommon in Dangan. The NUIG men started their campaign with a defeat at the hands of Mayo in Garrymore, and once again Sean Armstrong was the star of the show for the students scoring five points of the college’s six scores, and levelled the game up with around five minutes to go, but the side in primrose and blue had the final say thanks to a point from Terence Kelly late in the day.
Hurlers ready to shake off the cobwebs for the new year
The Galway hurlers will “clash the ash” this Sunday when they make the trip to Rathdowney to take on Laois in the semi-final of the Walsh Cup. The midlands men saw off the challenge of the Galway students from GMIT in the semi final by a dozen points last weekend. With the national league a few weeks away, the Walsh Cup will offer John McIntyre the chance to try out a few new faces and see how his side are shaping up before a possible final against Kilkenny, providing they see off the challenge of the faithful county this weekend.
