Search Results for 'Tiernan Killeen'

It was heartbreak for Tommy Larkins as Loughrea's experience told as they sealed a historic third successive senior hurling championship crown.

What could the sprawling urban surrounds of Salthill and Knocknacarra and the rural uplands of the Slieve Aughty Mountains possibly have in common?

After an opening round dominated by tight finishes, Round 2 offers several teams an early opportunity to take control of their groups in the Galway Senior Hurling Championship.

The second half of Galway’s All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Tipperary last summer made for painful viewing. The eventual Liam MacCarthy champions swept aside the Tribesmen with an ease that was as alarming as it was sobering in front of a sea of Tipp support.

Galway 3-25 Kilkenny 1-16

Some sporting victories end when the final whistle blows. Others continue long after the players have left the field. They travel home on buses and trains, into pubs and kitchens, across streets decorated with flags and into the memories of those who witnessed them.

As days following the Galway hurlers go, last Saturday afternoon in Croke Park will take some beating. Long after the final whistle had sounded, a wave of maroon euphoria swept around GAA headquarters as a unique rendition of N17 echoed around the stadium.

When two neighbouring clubs locked horns in Pearse Stadium in the past, the opportunity arose for one of the teams to seize more than just local bragging rights - to come away with a sizeable statement victory that would linger long after the final whistle. As the Galway hurlers dismantled Kilkenny on Saturday in Salthill, that instantly came to mind.

Championship changes everything. The margin for error disappears, the intensity lifts a notch and every decision — on and off the field — carries that bit more weight.

'What happened to all those good minor hurling teams over the past few years?' Or more pointedly: 'Why haven’t Galway been able to translate minor success into U-20 and senior?' If I had a euro for every time I’ve been asked those questions, I’d probably be able to sponsor the county board myself. Move over Pat McDonagh.