Galway's Rugby League club, the Tribesmen, have qualified for their first semi-final in the All Ireland Championship.
The Tribesmen finished in fourth place in the league table and will now meet table toppers Dublin City in the knock-out game on Saturday, while the Athboy Longhorns will host the Athy Sharks.
It has been a good season for the local club which will also host the first Republic of Ireland v Northern Ireland, State Of Origin match at Galwegians RFC on August 13. The State Of Origin is a two-legged contest between the best players in the South and the best players in the North, and this is first time the ‘home’ fixture will be played outside of Leinster.
Before then the Tribesmen will be looking to qualify for their first final against a strong Dublin team that edged the league on points difference (+7 ) over the Longhorns. However the Galway club, which has made great progress this season, have been boosted by their emphatic victory over the Longhorns who were unbeaten in 2016 until the Tribesmen's final home game.
The Galway men, who had been unlucky in a couple of games, grabbed a 10-4 half-time lead through scores from Alan McMahon and Conor Mackey, with a conversion from Daithi Joyce.
The Longhorns levelled in the second half, but some strong running from Andrew Antonio and Enda Stanford opened a few gaps, exploited by Ethan Moloney who scored at the corner flag. The Longhorns, however, took the lead for the first time, but the Tribesmen, through Joyce, struck a vital blow to secure the victory and a semi-final place.
