Galway McDonagh
By Damian Lawlor
For years, Galway underage hurling teams have been starved of regular, intense and quality action until they finally get to partake in the All-Ireland series.
That has been a big lament of managers west of the Shannon - they have to sit back and watch their Leinster and Munster (mainly) rivals hone their game-plan and benefit from up to three games of high-quality championship hurling.
Meanwhile, Galway have had to wait for the All-Ireland quarter or semi-finals to get going. They often start out cold and, while they have enjoyed much success (two minor championships and one U-21 title in the past seven years), they have endured some frustrating times too.
But those frustrating times could be at an end thanks to the impressive nature of the three Galway teams in the 2017 Bank of Ireland Celtic Challenge.
Indeed, Galway's record in this year's series has been one of the most notable aspects of this year's tournament with only two defeats suffered by three teams thus far.
Galway has always been a county with a rich underage tradition and, with that in mind, they had little problem in producing three teams competing in this year's event.
This indicated the massive strength of juvenile hurling in the Connacht county. It also says much that two of the Galway teams participated in Division 1 of the competition.
Indeed, they played each other on the opening round of the competition with Galway McDonagh, named after the late former President of the GAA Joe McDonagh, emerging victorious over Galway Maroon on a 1-21 to 3-11 scoreline.
Until last weekend that was the only time that a Galway team lost a game in this year's tournament.
Galway McDonagh are managed by former Galway senior selector and current Galway camogie coach, Damien Curley. Curley has been to the fore of many Galway teams over the past two decades and has helped develop a generation of hurlers at local third-level institution, GMIT.
Former Galway selector Damien Curley is in charge of the Galway McDonagh team in the Bank of Ireland Celtic Challenge.
Curley is ably assisted by Willie Burke and Gerry Spellman, two others synonymous with hurling in the county.
They have a number of fine hurlers and they went through their group campaign unbeaten coming from four points down at half time to defeat North/Mid Tipperary in their penultimate game.
Mark Kennedy and Conor Molloy are two of their better known players with Kennedy already the holder of two county minor medals with his club Clarinbridge. Meanwhile. Molloy, whose father Kevin, is a selector on the Galway Maroon team, was the star forward on the St Brigid's College Loughrea team that claimed the Connacht Post Primary Senior "A" hurling title this year.
They have other capable players in Mark Gill (Castlegar), Caimin Killeen (Loughrea) and Diarmuid O'Brien (Ballygar).
McDonagh beat East Cork in their quarter-final game on Saturday June 10 at the Eire Og Grounds in Ennis. It was an intriguing game between two unbeaten teams and they now face their nearest and biggest rivals in the semi-final this Friday.
The Galway Maroon U-17 Celtic Challenge team.
Galway Maroon are under the management of Niall Canavan - his selectors are Joe Hession and the aforementioned Kevin Molloy.
They have steadily improved during this campaign culminating in a fine closing round victory over North/Mid Tipperary in Portumna which cemented their place in the Division 1 quarter-finals.
They have some fine hurlers including John Fleming (Meelick Eyrecourt), Niall Coen (Ballinderreen), Paul Creaven (Killimordaly) and Adam Callanan (Cruaghwell).
They beat West Cork on Saturday last in Ennis and will take on Curley's Galway McDonagh on Friday at Kilbeacanty in what should be a cracking local derby.
Finally, Galway Tribesman also had a prolific run in this competition until last weekend. They won all of their group games until they lost to Offaly after extra time in Birr in the Division 2 quarter final.
It was a great campaign overall for the Tribesmen whose management team comprised of Gordon Crowley, Frankie Enright and Dinny Forde.
It was also encouraging to see the Tribesmen cruise through their group with their top performers being Jack McCullough (Athenry), Tom O'Connor (Moycullen), Sean Brien (Portumna) and Jordan Ruffley (Rahoon-Newcastle).
While all three Galway squads were hopeful of victory on Saturday last, the fact that two made it to the semi-final stages is extremely impressive. With such industry and consistency, they have set the standard for this year's tournament.
And, from a Galway perspective, over 70 under-17 players from the county have participated in an intense series of games in a competitive environment which can only be good for their development and the promotion of hurling in the county.
