By Dara Bradley

Gaelic football in Galway City received a major boost on Sunday when Salthill/ Knocknacarra claimed their third senior county title with a convincing five points win over Tuam Stars at Pearse Stadium.

It lashed rain for the hour of play at the stadium, but that failed to dampen the spirits of the Salthill support in the crowd of close-on 4,000, a disappointing turnout for the county decider but perhaps understandable given the atrocious weather and that it was competing with two hurling quarter-finals in Athenry, and was televised ‘live’ on TG4.

The producers at the Irish language television company would have been pleased with Salthill captain Finian Hanley’s speech, which was delivered with a ‘blás’ that a Connemara man would be proud of, as he accepted the Frank Fox Cup in front of the stand.

Full-back Hanley was really ‘up for it’ from the start and set the tone of his side’s ‘in your face’ defensive effort that laid the foundation for this 0-12 to 0-7 success; up front, another county star, Seán Armstrong, did the damage, outshining the rest of the players on show and scoring seven of his side’s final tally with a man-of-the-match display.
 

The squad celebrated the win at a gala dinner in the Salthill Hotel on Sunday, which lasted until the early hours, and again on Monday night in Tom Sheridan’s bar in Knocknacarra.

Chairman of the club, David Burke, agreed the win would provide a lift not only for the club but for football in the city in general.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.